


Stand Up, the LRIG!

by Stardustdragon123



Series: Stand Up, the LRIG! Continuity [1]
Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard, selector infected WIXOSS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, First 20 or so chapters are not up to later standards, Imported over from my account on FF, Possible ships later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-02-26 06:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 94
Words: 663,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardustdragon123/pseuds/Stardustdragon123
Summary: Summoned to an unbalanced world where a darker secret hides among the cards present there, Kai Toshiki is suddenly brought into a conflict beyond anything he can ever imagine. With new allies by his side and new rivals and foes to face, he struggles to seek out the answers he is looking for to discover the truth behind the battles that take place in the world before him.





	1. Arc 1 - Ride 01: That Boy is Kai

**Author's Note:**

> **DISCLAIMER:** Cardfight! Vanguard is owned by Bushiroad and TMS Entertainment and Selector Infected/Spread Wixoss is owned by Takara Tomy and J.C. Staff. Neither franchises belong to me and are the sole properties of their respective owners.
> 
> _Set after Cardfight! Vanguard: Legion Mate (before Neon Messiah) and AU of Selector Spread Wixoss (with elements from Destructed and Peeping Analyze coming into play later)_  
> 
>  **Full Synopsis**  
>  The game of Wixoss, a mysterious new breed of cards with a darker secret behind them. The players known merely as "Selectors", chosen by LRIGs that are alive and breathing in the cards they hold, battle it out with one another to uncover the truth behind a certain rumor, the strongest will obtain the wish of their desire. However, with a quest for great reward comes great risk. Whoever loses 3 of these Selector Battles will not only suffer terrible consequences, but receive a fate worse than anything they could ever imagine. Their wish becomes tainted and true despair will be brought upon them. As to expected with any game with the stakes raised that high, all is not as it seems.
> 
> Shortly after saving Sendou Aichi back in his own world, Kai Toshiki is suddenly brought into the conflict with little to no memory of how he arrived to be at this point in time. With his old Kagero deck back in his possession and transformed to suit the rules of this dark and mysterious game as well as obtaining Kominato Ruko's original LRIG, Tama as his guide, Kai sets out to discover the truth of why he's been brought to this world and find out more about the mysteries behind Wixoss. Along the way, he will make new friends, rivals and enemies before confronting a demon from his past as he struggles to get the answers he wants behind the Selector battles and return home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after long contemplation, especially after having my previous one-shot related to this fic on ArchiveonOurOwn for some time, I've decided to bring over the entirety of Stand Up, the LRIG! over in batches to here, until I have caught up to the most recent chapter so that I may do simul-uploads both here and FF for new chapters in the future. For now, I hope you enjoy what I bring over. Expect the batches to be almost daily with at least 3 to 4 chapters per one until I've caught up to the most recent chapter.

Outside of a large city at the very top of a grassy hill, a harsh breeze was whistling throughout the air. On the ground lay a tall brunet, in an unconscious like state. He wore his usual school uniform, bluish blazer with a white shirt and bluish trousers. When he began to open his green eyes, the vision he had was blurred, as if he was waking up from a very deep slumber. As his eyes began to adjust to the brightness that was left in the daylight, the evening sunset already present in the far distance, he could now see exactly where he was. He noticed the large city just below him at the bottom of the hill, but he still had no idea of where it was exactly that he woke up in. He clutched his head as he tried his hardest to remember anything as to how he got to this place at this point in time.

_The last thing I remember is waking up one day and heading to Card Capital… everything after that point... is a complete blank…_

Deciding not to ponder any longer on the most confusing of scenarios that he had gotten himself into, he decided to take the initiative and head towards the city to see if he could get any information in regards towards both his current situation and whereabouts. Standing up from the grassy hill that he was previously unconscious upon, he briefly flexed his arms and legs before beginning his descent towards the city below. Little did he know however was that those first few steps that he had taken had now brought him ever so closer towards the calamity that was already present and taking place in a sense, right beneath his feet. Not that he knew of it or at least, not yet.

* * *

The boy began to wonder around the streets of this large city that he happened to wake up just outside of. By the time he had gotten to the bottom of the hill and started exploring around, the evening sky above had already darkened even further, indicating that the sun was slowly vanishing over the horizon. Taking that into account, he knew it would only be a matter of time before it went completely dark, so he felt it would be best to try and find the answers he sought out and quickly. The city definitely did not seem familiar to him at all, even with the amount of travelling he had done in the past. The evening air was looming throughout the streets and there were still some small crowds that were moving about around him. He overheard some chatter from a group of people nearby, but chose not to worry about it and continue on his way. Thankfully for him, the way they were talking seemed very familiar to him as it didn't appear to sound foreign to him at all.

 _This place is not one I have seen, but the people here seem to know my language_  he thought in a serious manner _I must still be in Japan if that is the case._

As he ventured deeper into the city, he could hear several murmurs and conversations going across a mere few of the crowds of people that he passed by, something to do with a "special event that took place yesterday" and "Wixoss". Whilst he was unfamiliar with the last term, the mention of this special event did raise some intrigue of what this "Wixoss" could be about. The boy had then found somewhat found a brief idea as to what it was when he passed by several posters attached to a few walls he passed by and some of the electronic billboards present on the more taller buildings. Whatever this Wixoss was that he was hearing about and somewhat seeing, in a manner of speaking, it appeared to be a popular brand in the area he now found himself in.

As he was passing by a nearby park in the city, still uncertain as to where exactly he was, he could overhear two girls chatting from the bench nearby. One had purple hair tied up in a single ponytail by a ribbon that was both the same colour with the other half being white along with matching purple eyes and the other girl, presumably her friend, had golden yellow eyes and had her light brownish hair tied up into twintails by two black ribbons. Whilst the boy had ignored most of the beginning of their conversation, just passing by the area, one of them spoke out the subject that he had overheard earlier from several people that he had passed by and seemingly expanded more on it. He suddenly stopped in mid walk and glanced behind him over his shoulder, intrigued by what was being mentioned at this very moment.

"If only we both hadn't been held back from that event yesterday thanks to all that homework," the twintailed girl moaned before sighing under her breath "I would have liked to have the chance to battle Urazoe Iona herself up close in person."

"Mako, you know that even your skills haven't been polished up lately, even before we both got into all of this," the other replied "But then again, I wonder what kind of Selector she would have been like?"

"Still though Yuragi, who would have thought about the whole Wixoss myth of actual LRIGs would actually be true?"

The first girl, Mako, had seemingly dropped more detail about the whole 'event' and Wixoss itself, now linking the two together for him to understand the scenario a little better. Then there was Yuragi, who had seemingly been giving her reasons to her friend for not being able to attend this event. But that had only led to raise more questions about the whole topic, especially when she mentioned about the "myth of actual LRIGs". In addition to that, she also mentioned this Urazoe Iona that she wanted to battle in person on the day of that event. Perhaps that person had some knowledge of what was being said out. The boy could only ponder further, wondering what exactly was going on in wherever it was he had wandered into, but the way it was sounding to him still seemed far too vague for him to make out everything that he was hearing.

"Still, that doesn't concern your wish, does it Yuragi?"

The boy's eyes suddenly widened as he heard a voice speak out loud, his ear twitching for a brief moment. He didn't recall a third person, also female, being present amongst the two girls behind him and this was beginning to raise suspicion. As he turned around, he suddenly found Mako and Yuragi looking over towards him, with seemingly confused looks present on their expressions. They stared blankly at him, unsure about why they seemingly caught his attention at this very moment just now.

"Um... Are you lost or something?" asked Mako.

"I thought I heard a third voice," the boy spoke, his gaze seeming serious as it trailed upon the girls.

"Well... I'm pretty sure you were just hearing things..." Yuragi said as she scratched her head, laughing nervously under her breath. "S... Sorry if we confused you there!"

"I see..." he muttered "Then I apologize for eavesdropping on your conversation." The boy felt though as if he wasn't being told the entire truth, but decided to press onwards into the city, hoping to find answers elsewhere. Looking on at him as he disappeared into the streets amongst the crowds of people in the distance, the two girls look at each other and shrug before a slight tug or shake or somewhat a mix of both came from Yuragi's pocket. She dug into said pocket to fish out what appeared to look like a card.

"Did you get all that?" she murmured, seemingly speaking to the card.

"I don't know, but..." the voice from earlier replied "It seemed like he was somewhat aware of my presence."

Yuragi and Mako could only blink in confusion in response to that same voice, before looking forward into the crowds in the city streets ahead of them, wondering what exactly was up with the boy they had briefly encountered moments ago. Looking at each other for a brief moment before shrugging, they got up from the bench and walked off together in the opposite direction, the lingering thought having just left the back of their minds, not concerned with whatever business the boy had in the first place.

Needless to say though, he was already well on his way through his current trek. As the boy continued to pass more people, particuarly girls who were either around the same age as the two he encountered earlier or slightly older, he continued to hear brief glimpses of additional voices, but with the loud chat of the crowds of people around him, he couldn't exactly tell if he was hearing things or not. He continued on his long walk, heading towards the tallest building near the center of the city which seemed to catch his interest. The height of which was very imposing, almost like a giant pillar, showing its great dominance over everything in the city that stood before it. The building looked like it was incomplete in construction, but appeared safe to traverse.

_This building... Why do I feel as though something is drawing me inside?_

Curious as to why he was feeling this way and wanting to also find an answer as to what stirred these murmurs that he had been hearing, including those voices he couldn't indentify with the people he passed by, he decided to take the time to enter the building that stood before him. When he had entered through the doors, he could see that the bottom floor, as he had expected, appeared to look deserted. The only thing of interest was the large flat screen monitor on the other side of the room, which he suspected was inactive. After gazing around the bottom floor before briefly looking upwards to see exactly how tall the building really was, he knew that it was definitely going to take him a long while to search all of the rooms on each floor of the 'giant pillar'.

Ascending via the stairs and elevators present as he explored each of the rooms of the many floors, the boy could find nothing that seemed to answer any of the questions that were brewing in his head by the second. After at least an hour, he was sure that he already more than halfway up the tall building. Continuing with his search for the answers he sought, as he ventured nearer and ever so closer towards the roof of the building, he noticed something in a dark corner in a room on one of the topmost floors. He walked on over to said corner to find a pile of cards, seemingly dropped by someone who had been here earlier. They were unfamiliar to him as their designs in appearance and borders were completely different to what he would normally expect.

He turned over the back of the card he picked up and found a star like design on a black background with a single word along with a small passage of text beneath imprinted on the backing. That single word spelled out Wixoss. This along had now managed to answer one of his many questions at last. Wixoss was a term referring to a game that was commonly played around, wherever it was he woke up in.

_If that's the case, my deck won't be of any help around here._

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a box containing a deck of his own. The casing was colored in solid black with a small wedge at the top beside the open end of the box, the evening sunlight from the open window to the boy's right gleaming off the reflective surface. But as he pulled the cards out, he immediately noticed that something was different about them. Bringing the deck of cards out into view, he glanced over at the frontmost card, somewhat surprised by what he was now seeing before him, but mostly confused.

_Dragonic Overlord? But I don't remember having my old Kagero deck in my possession. More importantly…_

He briefly looked at Dragonic Overlord, then at the card he briefly took a look at. The design markings were almost identical to the ones on that card he had picked up earlier, though he could tell that there were some differences compared to the other card he was holding. Placing the single card in his other hand back on the earlier pile, he briefly fanned out his deck to notice it was resembling a Kagero deck he had used before in previous Cardfights up to this current point in time, only this time, not only had their designs been altered, but there were several new but unfamiliar cards among the deck now. His cards had the words SIGNI, LRIG and ARTS imprinted in their borders allowing him to identify the different types of cards his deck had changed into. When he looked at the backs of the fanned cards, he could see that 40 of them had black backings whilst 9 of them had white backings. He checked the front of the cards again and was able to confirm the LRIG and ARTS cards that he held had white backings.

_So my deck has changed to adapt to the rulings of Wixoss? Just what is going on here?_

Deciding to worry about the answer to that question for a later time, he placed the deck back in the case which he in turn placed back into his trouser pocket before he continued to explore the rest of the building. He walked out onto the floor balcony as he looked over to the next door that was over towards his right, entering the room immediately. Unbeknownst to the boy on the far opposite side of the floor that he had just explored, Ulith who was in possesion of the body that belonged to Urazoe Iona had taken a brief glance across towards him when he looked at one of the dropped cards and peeked through his deck via the door that he had left open. She was curious as to why a boy like him would go about his business into looking around this place after yesterday's events had already occurred, seeing as how this place had seemingly served its purpose for her.

Before she could murmur something like "scum" or "trash" under her breath as she would have done during her time as an LRIG as a silent insult towards him, in a sense, she saw something glow from her pocket. Pulling out the Wixoss deck that Iona had in her possession before becoming an Eternal Girl, she suddenly noticed something different about the backs of the top card. Fanning out the deck from the back, she could see that the text that was imprinted beneath the Wixoss logo appeared to had changed. It read out:

_A Boy carrying a heavy burden of sin._

_Called upon from his fight "Vanguard"_

_wielding the flames of perdition._

_Seeking a way to end this conflict..._

_Victory will be the only way for his_

_wish to revolutionize._

_Now, shall his "Wish Across" be ignited._

Ulith stared at this in disbelief for a moment, not quite sure about how this had come to be. How did the prophecy on the back of the cards change? Within the blink of an eye, literally, the text had reverted back to how it was before which read:

_A Girl prayed to fulfill her wish._

_Scattered strange gene "Wixoss"_

_all around the world fusion into one form._

_Searching in vain for a fight..._

_Victory will be the only way for her_

_wish to revolutionize._

_Now, shall her "Wish Across" be conquered._

Believing that she was just merely seeing things, Ulith placed the deck in Iona's coat pocket, or rather her own now that she was in full control over her body. Despite her view of the brief scenario, she couldn't help but wonder at what this could have meant and could that boy she saw just now have something to do with it? Deciding not to bother with pondering any further on the subject, she turned around and went to take the nearby elevator to the ground floor so she could be on her way.

 _Hmph. Just a trick of the light,_ she thought smugly whilst waiting for the lift.  _As if a boy scum would actually be a Selector._

* * *

Later at the top of the building, the boy walked out onto the roof, only to find it to be completely deserted, save for the construction materials, some of which were covered by tarpaulin, that were left on the floor and on one or two platforms that were held up by some scaffolding. The rooftop as a whole was desolate now that yesterday's events had fully transpired, events that he was fully unaware of. He could see over in the distance that the sun had almost completely set, meaning that it was now going to be dark very soon. As the boy was about to turn around and leave, he looked up and noticed a small, but brilliant glow coming from the sky above him. This glow slowly made its way down to where the brunet was standing.

He held his hands out in front of him to catch the falling glow. When he caught it, the glow suddenly faded out from a bright white light into a single card. The picture depicted a starry blue background that had a sleeping girl with plain white hair. Her hairs were tied up into two for each sides with pinky white and orange ribbons each. She wore a simple white sleeveless dress and white long boots. The brunet pondered as to what this card was and why it was sent to him this way. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a yawn coming from somewhere. He briefly glanced around on the roof to see if he could find where it was coming from. When he looked back at the card however, he was surprised. This girl, inside the card he was holding, appeared to be waking up from a long sleep.

"Yawn… Huh?" The girl who had just opened her white eyes looked at the brunette in surprise and confusion. Who was this person and how did she end up in his possession?

"Who are you?" the brunet asked, his gaze trailing upon her.

"T... Tama," the girl answers, unsure of how she even got into this boy's hands "...?"

"I am Kai Toshiki," the boy replied "More importantly, how are you able to talk inside this card?"

"Kai doesn't know?" Tama asked.

Kai shook his head in response. He had no idea of what he had just witnessed before his own two eyes from what he was now holding. First he woke up in a completely unfamiliar place with possibly no idea of how to return home and now here he was, on top of a deserted building, talking to a girl inside a card that came from the sky above. Kai mentally face palmed as could only just imagine if Miwa, one of his closest friends, was here at this time with a goofy grin over this whole scenario, if only such an occasion was suitable for a more light hearted tale. His trail of thoughts was interrupted when Tama waved up towards him to get his attention over to her.

"Oh, Tama knows!" she exclaimed "Kai must be some kind of Selector!"

"Selector?" Kai replied in confusion.

"Selector is someone who has a LRIG like Tama who can talk, though it is usually a girl who is a Selector," Tama explained as she looked up at him "Kai has played Wixoss before, right?"

"No," he answered. A small frown appeared on Tama's face as she pouted in disappointment.

"Aw," she moaned. Kai looked blankly at Tama's card, then heard her mutter something under her breath that was quiet, but loud enough for him to hear.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Tama wants to go back to Ru," she answered.

"Ru?"

"Tama wants to be with Ruko!" cried Tama.

This had only ended up leaving Kai with even more questions than he had answers. Who was this Ruko that the LRIG was speaking of? Was this person or "Selector" as Tama briefly brought up along her explanation, the original owner of her card? What could have happened for this girl in particular to end up in his hands at this very moment? Kai was still baffled of how he even ended up in this city in the first place and had no memory of how he got here and how to return home. Now that Tama did mention Wixoss and LRIG much like Mako when he overheard her conversation, he felt she could be useful in finding out more about what exactly was going on around him. For now though, he thought that it wouldn't hurt to try and help the LRIG get back with this Ruko, if it meant getting somewhere in this most strangest of scenarios that had befallen him.

"Alright then Tama. I will help you," Kai spoke.

"Really?! Tama thanks you dearly!" Tama exclaimed happily, albeit a tad too loud for his liking. He was merciful however that he didn't have to shield his ears from her rather loud cry of joy.

"First though, do you know anyone else who may know Ruko?" Kai asked. It didn't take long for Tama to reply with an answer.

"Oh! Tama knows other Selectors who are friends!" she exclaimed "Tama will let Kai know if we see them!" Kai nodded in agreement with the LRIG. They were already on the right track and he managed to get some answers to what was going on around the place he now found himself in. He had more questions that he was willing to ask her, but felt as if he could put those on hold for the moment. Kai slipped Tama's card into his front blazer pocket as he turned to the door behind him so he could finally exit the building.

* * *

When he eventually made it back to the bottom floor and walked out through the front door, Kai began exploring the city streets. Even with what little brightness was barely still present in the evening sky, there were still some people that were going about the streets, albeit not as many as there were before. Any one of them could have known about Ruko so that he could reunite Tama with him or her. Taking into account of her earlier explanation, it appeared that only certain girls would be able to understand exactly what he and LRIG would be talking about. Holding out the LRIG's card in front of him, he looked around across the many people that he passed by, but Tama didn't seem to recognize any of them that would know anything about Ruko.

A few minutes later, he began to walk down a pathway through the park that he had passed by earlier. The bench that was occupied by Mako and Yuragi was now empty and the whole area seemed almost too quiet, aside from several footsteps that grew louder and faster as he continued to walk on. Looking down at Tama's card for a brief moment, before he could even think of anything else, he felt a sudden bump from behind as he almost fell forward right onto the floor. Kai stumbled for a brief moment before he turned around to see who exactly had run into his back. The girl that bumped into him had dullish brown hair and green eyes, her hair tied into two on each side with green ribbons. She wore round glasses and a dark brown hairband. The girl then saw Kai look at her and immediately started panicking.

"S...Sorry about that!" she stuttered, trying hard to apologize to him.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. She nodded and hurried away from him, not wanting to cause any more trouble with him. At this moment, Kai felt his hand somehow twitch. It was likely that Tama was trying to get his attention onto something. He looked down at the card he held to see what she was trying to tell him about.

"Tama knows her, bring Tama to her!" she exclaimed. Kai nodded and hurried after the girl that bumped into him.

"Hey, wait!" he called out. The girl froze on the spot in worry and turned around as he caught up to her. Kai then held out Tama's card towards her.

"Do you know her?" he asked. Looking at Tama's card and recognizing said LRIG immediately bought the girl a sigh of relief, quelling her earlier doubts and panic from before.

"Yeah…" she answered. That was when another voice decided to join in on the conversation.

"Hey, what's with all the ruckus?"

The girl reached inside her uniform and brought out a card of her own, holding it out towards Kai and Tama. It held a girl inside who could talk, much like the aformentioned LRIG just npw. She wore a red top with matching tights, the upper half of which had bandages of the same colour wrapped across as well as some red bandages wrapped around the lower portion of her arms to match the fiery background of her card. This girl also had black hair which was tied up into a long ponytail by a red scrunchie along with light brown eyes. She briefly stared up from her card towards Kai and was surprised to see him looking down at her, before she then turned attention to the fact that Tama was in his possession.

"Tama! Are you okay?!" she called.

"Tama's fine!" the LRIG answered with joy "Kai's going to help Tama find Ru!" The girl inside the other card sighed in relief, having been worried about Tama herself and looked back up at Kai.

"So you can hear and see us?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Kai "I assume that only Selectors can see LRIGs like you?"

"That's right," she answered "Selectors are... well... I'm not sure why a boy like you can see LRIGs in the first place, but I guess if you're holding Tama and can somehow see her, that somewhat makes you a psuedo one I guess... Anyway, name's Yuzuki, this is Hitoe. Kai was your name, right?"

"Yeah," he answered "Kai Toshiki."

"N... Nice to meet you Kai!" said Hitoe, bowing in respect and as a possible apology for her earlier carelessness of bumping into him from behind. Kai merely nodded in response, unsure of what to make of it.

"Do either of you know where I can find a Selector named Ruko?" he asked. At this point, both Hitoe and Yuzuki held their heads down as both Kai and Tama were unaware of what happened to the aforementioned Selector as of late. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, you see…" Yuzuki began "We have a bit of a problem."

"Huh? What happened?" Tama asked. Yuzuki cleared her throat. She knew it was very likely that Kai had absolutely no idea as to what happened in wherever it was he woke up in and Tama herself was unaware of what happened to Ruko within the previous day.

"Considering that Kai has no idea of what's been going on," she said "We need to explain everything from the very beginning."

"I see," said Kai "Please tell me."

"Very well," replied Yuzuki. The LRIG then proceeded to tell the whole story about themselves up to this point in time along with an introduction to know who Ruko was so Kai would have a better idea of her. Yuzuki then explained of how she got Ruko into the game of Wixoss with the inclusion of the Selector Battles, the proposals of winning enough battles and becoming an Eternal Girl to grant their deepest desires, the dark nature of those battles and what had recently transpired from them. Both Hitoe and Tama interjected at times involving their personal sides of the story so far and how they came to be in this point in time. After a few minutes of explaining the story so far, Hitoe and Yuzuki had finally gotten to the part they were dreading.

"When Iona performed her contract for becoming an Eternal Girl, not only had her LRIG Ulith taken control of her body, but Iona herself also became Ruko's new LRIG," Yuzuki explained "After that... Ruko was in a complete state. Before we could try and sort things out... she ran away. Not even her grandmother and brother knows where she's gone now."

Tama having listened to the end of the whole story was close to the verge of tears. She was abruptly absent from Ruko when those events occurred as she was confronted in an unknown space by a mysterious person, unbeknowst to her was actually named Mayu who Yuzuki had met before, that had previously made her reconsider going through with Ruko's wish to free everyone that was trapped in the cards. Now realizing that she was possibly deceived because of this revelation, she had no idea of whether to be upset for not being there for Ruko when she needed her the most or to be angry for possibly being tricked by the person that had made her reconsider Ruko's wish.

Kai who had listened very carefully to the whole story wasn't letting it show, but deep down, he was horrified of what Yuzuki, Tama and Hitoe had just told him. Every Selector but the group he now knew of were on a doom collision course in their Selector Battles where both outcomes came with terrible consequences for any Selector, no matter who won or lost those battles. In addition, the fact that the LRIGs that were inside the cards that were held by said Selectors and unable to speak the entire truth of their own free will, at risk of being trapped forever had only made his skin crawl. He wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for those that had suffered from those battles or to feel angry that they were pulled into a darker picture where they had no idea imaginable of what could happen to them.

When he overheard about the promise of becoming an Eternal Girl to grant any wish possible or so an LRIG would claim as Yuzuki's original LRIG Hanayo had told her so before she deceived her by snatching control of Yuzuki's body to fulfill her wish whilst trapping Yuzuki herself inside the card by this Mayu's rules, this only managed to bring back bad memories of how he was mostly responsible for the Link Joker invasion that nearly destroyed the world that he came from, just so he could fulfill his own desire of becoming the strongest Vanguard fighter. Looking back on that and comparing it to the current situation, he could see how they were feeling, having come across similar circumstances in sacrificing his former self to obtain the power of that clan.

"I understand how you feel, especially you Yuzuki," he spoke "I once pursued my own wish selfishly that I couldn't care less of the consequences that followed. At the end of it all, I could see that my actions were only hurting other people around me. I felt I wanted to just disappear, but a close friend managed to convince me that living in solitude all alone would not solve anything and he helped me to pull myself together. If what you say is indeed true, I feel as if we all share a common experience from everything that has happened to us." The group listened to what Kai had to say and started to feel a bit sorry for him. It wasn't easy to bring up personal demons from the past, especially if they somewhat related to the current situation at hand.

"It… It's okay," said Yuzuki "You didn't have to bring your end up."  _My heart may belong with Kazuki, but I can sympathize with Kai. Speaking of which, I can only hope that traitorous Hanayo hasn't made any dirty moves on Kazuki because I'm not leaving this card until that stinking bitch gets what's coming to her!_

"I may not know why I have been sent here or why Tama has ended up with me," said Kai "But I do know this much. I need to reunite her with Ruko and find out more about this dark charade in the works." The group could only offer him some warm smiles and nodded in agreement to let him know that they had his approval and were willing to help him out in this whole mess. Before they had time to think of anything else, Kai suddenly glanced behind him and noticed a blunt object flying towards them. He quickly slipped Tama's card back into the front blazer pocket, much to the LRIG's sudden surprise, as he moved forward towards Hitoe.

"Look out!" he called.

She briefly gasped as Kai quickly pushed her out of the way to dodge the object which flew just inches past the back of his blazer and struck the ground with a loud noise, piercing the earth on the floor. It was a blunt knife and that alone was more than enough to scare Hitoe. This in fact had scared her so much that she cried in panic and held onto Kai's left arm, wanting this to be over already. The cardfighter looked around the park, trying to look out for the attacker and to be on his guard for any additional attempts to strike him or Hitoe come their way. A small, but sinister giggle had immediately caught his attention. Kai suddenly turned around to find the person that had thrown the knife at them, who was standing atop the branch of a nearby tree. She had orange hair and a bloody mark over her right cheek to indicate that this wasn't an everyday normal person that he was confronted by. Her dark brown eyes looked bloodthirsty, locked onto both him and Hitoe.

"Just who are you?!" Kai demanded.

"That's Akira!" whimpered Hitoe, remembering what happened back then having explained about her to him. Akira smiled viciously and jumped down to the ground, landing perfectly on her feet in a crouched like state. Kai kept an intense gaze upon her as she stood back up, knowing from both Hitoe and Yuzuki's explanations that this was someone that he could not take lightly at first glance.

"Oh? So you remember me, Aki-lucky," the psychotic girl replied before looking over towards him. "What's this? You found a human shield? Or are you afraid from the fact you've become a Selector once again?"

The cardfighter gritted his teeth in response to Akira's musings. As much as he disliked the idea of being a human shield, he knew that with whatever she was capable of, it was too dangerous for Hitoe to be near Akira in her current state. After already having a knife thrown towards them, he also knew that there was no telling as to what she had planned to do next. Upon hearing the word Selector however, he made a decision. Kai reached into his trouser pocket for the case containing his Kagero deck and took it out of his deck box.

"Battle me!" he called. This caused both Yuzuki and Hitoe to gasp in shock and horror.

"Wait Kai!" the LRIG cried "You said you don't know how to play Wixoss! There's no way you'll defeat Akira in battle if you are unfamiliar with the rules!" Akira suddenly noticed Yuzuki inside the card that Hitoe held and burst out into an uproar of maniac laughter.

"Oh my...!" she giggled sinisterly, almost choking over her own amusement "Yuzu-pon got stuck inside a card and became Hitoe-pon's new LRIG?! What an upset!" Kai took a step forward to make his proposal to battle Akira clear.

"If I win, you must leave us alone!" he called.

"Kai, forget about Akira!" called Yuzuki "We should worry about getting Hitoe away from her!" She suddenly looked up at him, shocked to see his expression as of now. His eyes were full of determination and his serious resolve was unshaken. "Kai…" Akira however had a different viewpoint into this proposal as her laughter had somewhat died down, to a controllable extent.

"... You're kidding me, right," she snickered "... Even if you were to know the rules right off the bat already, there's no way I'd agree to battle you. Only 'girls' who hold LRIGs like mine can participate in Selector Battles and as far as I'm concerned, you aren't eligible for that. Hitoe-pon over there however..." Kai then interrupted Akira's musing by suddenly pulling out Tama's card from his front blazer pocket and holding her out towards the Selector in order to make his point clear to her.

"Is the fact that I can see LRIGs and have one in my possession eligible enough for you?" he asked. Akira could only raise an eyebrow in partial confusion as to how this was even possible, considering that she knew that Tama was Ruko's LRIG from their previous battle. As she was about to respond in utter confusion to the current scenario before them, in precisely two seconds, she got her reply to Kai's question as the LRIG that was within her possession answered out aloud for her.

"It is fine," spoke a voice in an emotionless, monotone like state. Akira growled at this, pulling the card from her hoodie and holding it in front of her, the back of which was turned to Kai, Tama, Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"Piruluk-tan, let me speak for myself!" she snapped back. The Selector then turned back to face Kai, her earlier expression having already returned to her lips.

"Alright then, Aki-lucky," said Akira "I will accept your little proposal. But seeing as Yuzu-pon pointed out that you don't even know the rules, you should not expect me to show you any mercy as I enjoy putting you out of your misery." Kai nodded in agreement to the terms of the battle and placed Tama's card at the bottom of his Kagero deck, in front of Dragonic Overlord's card.

"Tama, if you are able to, please help me as much as you can," he said.

"Mhm!" called Tama "Battle!" Akira smiled maliciously at Kai. This was going to be fun, for her that was.

"Very well then," she sneered "My newest victim, lucky, lucky..." She then held out LRIG card that had spoken out earlier and pointed the back of it to Kai. "Open!"

At that moment, several rectangular flashes emitted from the card, straight at the cardfighter. As he stared at both Akira and the card she held in shock, the area around him along with Hitoe beside him, just seemed to vanish altogether in a bright flash of white. Just like that, everything that Kai could see before and around him, now became a complete blank white canvas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! So to anyone who's confused about Akira's state at the beginning... that was admittedly an error on my part when I first started out. I have however rectified it somewhat with a much later chapter revealing that Ulith was bluffing to Ruko about Akira's wish being tainted then (and that she was hallucinating when she attacked Ruko and Yuzuki in infected).


	2. Arc 1 - Ride 02: That Battle is Fierce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **NOTE:** In the Selector Battles in this fic, SIGNI are also capable of materializing when put into play, retaining back to their in-game lore of being spirits that manifest to take on the powers and appearance of what's depicted on that specific type of card.

When Kai had eventually come to his senses, he slowly opened up his eyes to find that he was no longer in the city streets. All around him, he could see what appeared to be the silhouettes of multiple buildings, shrouded in both blue and red colors. In front of him, he could see that before him lay some sort of table that he was seated at. On the center most spot, he could see that were seven white lights surrounding the centralmost space, seven black cards were set face down behind said space and five of his cards were face-up right in front of him. As he looked down the table, he noticed both his main and LRIG decks beside each other on the right end of the table. He could only assume that was part of the rules to start a Selector Battle or in simpler terms to the outside world, a game of Wixoss.

"This is…" he spoke.

Looking forwards over towards the far opposite side of the battlefield, he noticed that Akira and her LRIG, was in the opposite direction from where he was and she was already raring to go. Kai could only assume that this was 'Piruluk-tan' as the Selector bluntly put it in her annoyed response to her reply to his offer. Sh was dressed in a dark blue garb with a whitish blue dress underneath and a strange orb like object hanging off the front bangs of her lighter blue hair. Her expression to everyone present seemed disinterested as she normally was, her earlier tone in response to Kai's request to challenge her Selector in Hitoe's place having been an indicator to that. However, if anyone could see through her cold gaze at this very moment, they would have known that her attention was directed at the boy himself.

 _So he is capable of hearing and seeing us_  the blue LRIG thought _In addition to that, it appears he has the means to compete. Let us see if he has the necessary skill for that compatibility._

Kai remained silent, awaiting for a sign of some sort to indicate when exactly the battle could begin, given that Akira herself had opened up the field that they were now present in. Looking over to where Piruluk was standing and then to that same spot on the table in front of him, he then realized that he already had a problem. There was no LRIG he had in play to begin the battle and Tama for the moment was nowhere to be seen. Remembering the white backings that the Kagero units that had been turned into LRIG cards had possesed, he decided that was the first place to start looking for the answer to his current problem. Meanwhile, Akira was lying back in the seat that was behind her table as she waited impatiently for Kai to prepare himself, the fact that she went as far as to hold up her feet on the table's surface having been an indicator of this.

"Well, what are you waiting for Aki-lucky?" she taunted "Let's get this battle started already!"

Kai then searched through his LRIG deck to see if he could find something from amongst the cards that were currently present there to begin the battle. Several of his already familiar cards along with the ARTS cards that he had gained upon arriving in the city, were already among the LRIG deck, including Dragonic Overlord. He could see that Tama's card was also part of the LRIG deck now, presumably from him placing it amongst his cards when Akira had opened up the battlefield. The LRIG looked up at him and smiled enthusiatically.

"Choose a LRIG to start!" she called.

Kai nodded in compliance and in agreement with her statement, knowing that this was the only way for him at this moment to even make a start to the battle. There appeared to multiple LRIG cards of different levels in his deck, indicated by the large number that was closest to the top left hand corner. All of the cards that were LRIG cards, he was familiar with in one way or another. For some reason however, as if it was almost like familiar instinct, he felt as though using the higher level LRIGs from the very beginning was not the right thing to do. He looked back over his options and made a decision. He placed the other cards back on their previous space that was outlined on the table and placed the LRIG card he had chosen on the centermost spot.

"I'll start with Lizard Runner, Undeux!" he called.

Then to his and everyone else's sudden surprise, a bright orange glow emitted from the space where he placed Undeux's card. When the light had eventually died down, the figure that was depicted on the card had finally appeared before everyone in the field. From what it appeared, Kai had chosen a red lizard like creature with armored wings and multiple swords stashed on his back armour as his LRIG for battle. Akira raised an eyebrow in confusion and was somewhat bewildered at this sight, given that Undeux was nothing like she was expecting. By this point, she had finally taken her feet of her table and was seemingly leaning forward to get somewhat of a better look at the Lizard Runner, just to see if her eyes were somewhat decieving her. In this case however, they weren't.

 _What the hell? LRIGs are normally girls who are a Selector's avatar who help them in their bid to become an Eternal Girl and claim their wish and yet this boy's LRIG is some sort of creature. I was expecting him to use that LRIG Ru-pon originally had._  However, only shortly after processing that thought, she could only increase her smile even more, feeling that she had nothing to be concerned about by this point.  _Doesn't matter, this boy looks even more clueless than I thought and that is something that I like to see._

"Very well then," she sneered "Look above you."

A creaking noise suddenly sounded throughout the entire space as Kai then immediately looked above him to find the source of that sound. A giant wheel of some kind already begun spinning in a clockwise direction, each slot had either red or blue imprinted in it. A small stylized tringular point was stuck in place just beneath the rotating roulette, indicating that this would have an impact in how the battle would eventually play out. Kai took a brief glance back to the opposite of battlefield to look back at Akira and Piruluk, noticing the LRIG stood atop the card representing her basic form. He took immediate note that it was coloured blue whilst his Lizard Runner, Undeux card had a red colour. He could only assume that the colour represented both the deck type and the player on the roulette.

Eventually, the noise of the giant wheel began to die down as it began to spin slower and slower, until it came to a complete stop. Kai could only inwardly grimace upon noticing that fortune had seemingly not gone in his favor, seeing that the arrow was now pointing over a blue slot. He could only assume that whatever advantage Akira knew about this system landing in her fortune that he did not know beforehand, she was about to reveal to him at this very moment. Needless to say, his assumption was somewhat correct, given the sneer that he could see coming from the Selector.

"Too bad, Aki-lucky," she spat "I'll simply take this advantage of the roulette to go first."

Akira drew her single card before looking amongst the options that she had available within her hand. Then picking out a different card from one she just drew, she revealed it to be a blue SIGNI card by the name of Code Art SC and threw it towards the far left hand side of her table. Finally, she held out her right hand wide towards Piruluk, to which the LRIG seemed somewhat unfazed.

"Grow, Code Piruluk K!" she called.

A brief series of rectangular white flashes rose up around Piruluk as her body was briefly enveloped by a small bright glow. Nothing much of her appearance changed, apart from her blue and white garb which now had what appeared to be crystal like wings on the back. She stared closely at Undeux, still curious as to how this creature was able to manifest itself as an LRIG for Kai to use when he could of simply used Tama. Deciding to ponder on that later, she decided to focus on just obtaining victory from this battle.

"I summon Code Art RFR and use her ability!"

As the SIGNI appeared in directly in front of Piruluk, Akira then discarded 1 of the cards in her hand and drew one card from the top of her deck. She sneered for a brief moment upon seeing what she had managed to get at this very moment before concealing it amongst the other cards that were present in her hand and turning her attention back towards Kai. His gaze remained cautious, indicating that he was carefully taking everything he had seen from the way she had been playing into account as he looked back at the cards in his hand.

"Over to you, Aki-lucky," Akira spoke shortly afterwards.

Before Kai could begin his turn, he suddenly saw a small, but somewhat bright glow from his LRIG deck. Then out of the light, Tama appeared beside the pile of cards, standing up on her own two feet with her arms crossed. Since she was not battling for him, the LRIG could only assume that she was able to appear was because of her acting as a spectator, much to her partial annoyance as evidenced by the pouty mood on her face. That mood immediately dropped when she looked up at Kai, who was little surprised to the fact that this was possible. Remembering that he mentioned that he wasn't aware of the full rules for a Wixoss battle, she felt now was the time to take up the role of tutor and give him as much advice as she could from her previous experiences in battle alongside Ruko.

"Kai!" she called.

"What is it Tama?" he asked.

"Now that the first turn is over, both players now draw two cards from their black deck at the start of their turns for the rest of the game," she explained "In addition, Kai may put one card in hand or a SIGNI on the field into Ener before Growing each turn."

Kai nodded in response, now that he was at least starting to understand the many twists and turns the game had to offer. He drew two cards from the top of his deck and placed them amongst the other cards in his hand. Looking over his options carefully, he picked out a card named Metallica, Natural Stone from his hand and likewise how Akira threw a card from her hand to her Ener Zone, he did so in the same manner and held his hand over towards the LRIG space.

"I grow Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!" he called.

As Undeux vanished in a bright orangish white glow, a large demon, clad in red armor and wielding a large black sword with a yellow trim on the blade, appeared on the LRIG spot on Kai's table. Although Tama was surprised that he somewhat managed to learn the concept of Grow without even asking, her attention however was drawn to the 'LRIG' he used right now. Despite knowing little about the Selector Battles beforehand herself, she knew that each Selector would normally have just one LRIG as their sole avatar that would grow stronger with every Level it went up, yet Kai seemed to have cards that depicted multiple LRIGs. Even Piruluk, who normally had a very level composure couldn't help but be a little confused about this.

"I summon Gatling Claw Dragon!"

In front of Bahr, a figure around the same height appeared onto a space in front of him. This figure unlike the demon seemed to resemble some kind of dragon, evident by the shape of its head, the tail and the flames sprouting from its back that represented wings. It was covered in red armour with gold trims and on the end of its right arm was some kind of gatling gun, evidenced by the multiple barrels sticking out from the weaponized arm and the ammunication cartridge dangling from beneath it. The dragon emminated a low growl as it fully materialized onto the field.

"Gatling Claw Dragon's skill," Kai spoke as he gazed over to the only card in his Ener Zone. "I pay 1 red card from my Ener Zone and move Gatling Claw Dragon there to choose one of my opponent's Level 1 SIGNI that has 2000 or less power and send it to their Trash Pile."

Gatling Claw Dragon raised its gun and rained bullets on Code Art RFR as the SIGNI screamed in pain from the effect before vanishing. Akira gritted her teeth having not expected Kai to even have the capability to already have control of the battle, even though it was his first time playing. Gatling Claw Dragon vanished from Kai's field as the card moved to his Ener Zone.

"Finally, I summon Iron Tail Dragon!" A red dragon appeared directly in front of Bahr. It had two yellow blades running down the lower halves of its arms down to its claws along with an additional blade at the end of its tail.

"Yes!" called Tama "Now we get to the good part! Battle Kai!"

"Iron Tail Dragon attacks!" Kai declared.

The card went down sideways as Iron Tail Dragon took flight, charged across the battlefield towards Piruluk and slashed her. The Blue LRIG seemed hardly unfazed, despite her initial raised curiousity on what Kai had brought into the battle. One of the seven face down cards on Akira's table behind the LRIG space flew and flipped face up and entered her Ener Zone. That card was revealed to be a Blue SIGNI by the name of Code Art RFR. At the same time, one of the seven lights around Piruluk on the LRIG space of the Selector's table had gone dim. Kai noticed this before looking at the Life Cloth cards he had face-down and the lights that were surrounding Bahr.

_I presume if all the cards in this zone are no longer present, the Selector somehow loses the battle. If that's the case, I must be careful._

"Is Kai wondering about the card that flew into Akira's Ener Zone?"

He suddenly blinked as he heard Tama speak out her question to him before looking down to her, noticing the LRIG's somewhat curious expression.

"Yeah," he answered "Could you give me some detail into how much it will affect the game?"

"Mhm! Let Tama explain!" she called. "Each time an LRIG suffers a hit from a successful attack, the top card of their Selector's Life Cloths is moved to the Ener Zone. Kai needs to damage Piruluk 7 times before Kai can win. Once Akira has no Life Cloths left and Kai makes a successful eighth attack on her by then, Kai will automatically win!"

Kai nodded now that he understood how the 7 Life Cloth cards he also had were important. He now knew that he couldn't be complacent as he would continue onwards throughout the rest of the battle ahead.

"Bahr attacks next!" he declared.

The Embodiment of Armor dashed forward across the field as he charged across the field towards Piruluk before slashing her with his blade. The LRIG didn't seemed fazed by the fact that Kai had gained an early lead, whether he knew it or not. Bahr took a giant leap back to the LRIG space on Kai's table. Another light around Piruluk went dim as another card entered Akira's Ener Zone, Code Art PZL. Unlike the previous Life Cloth, this one was glowing.

"Too bad for you, Aki-lucky," she sneered "Life Burst activated. Now we both must discard one card from our hands."

Kai simply huffed upon hearing this. These Life Burst abilities that the Selector had described almost worked like Damage Triggers in his sense, but he wasn't expecting such a thing with an effect that could cripple him. He discarded the Level 2 SIGNI, Burning Horn Dragon, something he felt that could of helped him later. He looked at both Bahr and Iron Tail Dragon to notice both cards had gone sideways after he waged their attacks. He could only assume it was similar to Rest and that he would have to wait until his next turn to attack with them again.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 3 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Code Piruluk K**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 3**

"Draw," called Akira "Ener Charge and I'll pay the cost of 1 to Grow! Code Piruluk M!"

As one of the cards from her Ener Zone move to her Trash Pile, just like before on her first turn, a series of rectangular lights rose up around Piruluk, only slightly altering the blue LRIG's appearance to vary from her Level 1 form. The only changed elements were the fact that she had gained an additional blade to the orb in her hair and the number of wings on her back had doubled from two to four.

"Summon!"

Two more SIGNI appeared on both the left and right sides of Piruluk. They were Code Art MMR and WTC, both of whom were Level 2. The first of the two blue SIGNI glowed in a shimmering light blue aura as Akira drew one card from the deck before immediately dropping another into her Trash Pile. She then pointed a finger across to Kai's table, her easily identifiable smirk having come back to her lips.

"WTC, freeze Iron Tail Dragon!" she called.

A blue circle with several incomprhesible runes inside of it appeared in the SIGNI's hand as she raised it until she had it pointing right in the direction of Iron Tail Dragon. Suddenly, a blizzard of some sort was summoned from the circle as the dragon was instantly encased inside a huge chunk of ice. Some ice formed around the card as Kai quickly noticed. Tama ended up shivering a little from the effects of the icy wind having come quite close towards her.

"With this, Iron Tail Dragon cannot Up at the start of your next turn," Akira spoke "All your SIGNI can do is stay still as Piruluk and my forces annihilates you, one hit at a time!" Kai briefly stared at his current situation, having felt that with the way things were going, the Freeze mechanic that she had brought up wasn't as completely alien to him as he briefly anticipated before he then looked back at her.

"I may not be completely familar with Wixoss or the Selector Battles," he spoke "But I'm no stranger to these types of tactics." Akira briefly held a confused look at him for a moment, not quite getting at what he meant, but brushed it off.

"My SIGNI, attack Bahr!"

Code Art MMR and WTC nodded and charged across the field towards the Embodiment of Armor. WTC summoned another blue circle to cast another blizzard, this time encasing Bahr in half a chunk of ice up to the demon's waistline. MMR leaped up and held out her right hand unleashing a flurry of electric bolts at Bahr, shocking him. Two lights around the LRIG space went dim as two cards flew from Kai's Life Cloths to his Ener Zone. The first card was Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara whilst Seal Dragon, Artpique was revealed as his second Life Cloth. Artpique's card was glowing as Kai noticed the black section at the bottom of the text box.

"Got a Life Burst effect," he spoke "Draw." Akira sneered as she raised her hand across the table.

"Piruluk, give Bahr and Kai a taste of pain!" she called.

Using the four crystal like wings that were present on the back of her garb, Piruluk took flight and soared across the field towards the Embodiment of Armor. The blue LRIG then held out her hands, materializing a large ice crystal within them. She tossed it at Bahr, the crystal exploding on contact after hitting the demon who groaned out in pain. Tama briefly held her arm out in front to shield herself from the aftershocks of the impact, with several pieces of ice having almost been sent flying right in her way whilst Kai simply remained unfazed at this point, his focused expression having not wavered at all. When the smoke cleared, another light around Bahr dimmed as Silvan, Natural Stone entered his Ener Zone.

"Over to you," spoke Akira, signalling the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Code Piruluk M**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon (Frozen) - EMPTY : Code Art WTC - EMPTY - Code Art MMR**

**Ener - 4 : 3**

"Is Kai okay?!" called Tama.

"Yeah," he replied "I understand your concern."

Having taking into account that Kai was fine, Tama beamed a smile and nodded for him to continue. He focused his attention back to the battle before beginning his turn immediately. Looking over his hand and remembering that Akira had to pay a cost to Grow Piruluk with cards from her Ener Zone, he looked down to Bahr's card, finally noticing an icon showing the red colour symbol and a number beside it, in this case being 0.

 _I see now_ he thought  _Ener now isn't just for abilties or ARTS, it's also essentiall for growing LRIGs up to higher Levels. If that's the case..._

He then tossed Dual Axe Archdragon from his hand to his Ener Zone before holding out his hand over the LRIG space.

"Grow, Dragon Knight, Nehalem!" he called.

As Seal Dragon, Artpique moved from Kai's Ener Zone to his Trash Pile, Bahr vanished from the LRIG space in a fiery orange glow before a knight who stood atop a large dragon entered the battlefield. The knight had dark blue armor and wielded a long lance his right hand along with a large shield in his left. The upper half of his face with the exception of his green eyes were obscured by his helmet. The dragon that Nehalem stood atop of had large red wings and was covered in armour, its gauntlets covering the claws each being adorned with a set of three razor sharp talons. It gazed upon Piruluk as it let out a low growl from under its the breath, the blue LRIG still remaining unfazed having now expected Kai to utilize 'LRIGs' that weren't exactly... human.

Meanwhile from a distance away in a tower that was in a sense between both colours of red and blue in the background, Hitoe and Yuzuki had been watching the battle since the start on the sidelines. Even though she was still bound to her card, the LRIG had been sitting on the Selector's shoulder as the dimensional space they were in allowed non battling LRIGs to spectate from outside of their cards alongside their Selectors. Yuzuki had been somewhat in awe and intrigue over the cards that Kai had put into play over the course of the battle and was quite intrigued that he was somehow able to summon multiple creatures to his aid, as both LRIGs and SIGNI, even if a majority of them just happened to be dragons.

 _Those cards, they're nothing like I've ever seen_  she murmured in her thoughts _Kai Toshiki, just who exactly are you?_

"I summon Flame Edge Dragon and Berserk Dragon!" Kai called.

A dragon with two heads and a red dragon wielding two orange blades appeared onto the field alongside Nehalem and the dragon that he stood atop of.

"I pay the cost of 2 for Berserk Dragon to choose a Level 2 or lower SIGNI and banish it!"

After two more cards moved from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile, he then pointed towards a certain spot on Akira's table. The two headed dragon roared and let loose two fireballs, one from each of its heads which struck Code Art WTC, removing the Blue SIGNI from Akira's field as the card representing her moved to the Selector's Ener Zone.

"Berserk Dragon attacks Code Art MMR!" Kai declared.

The dragon once again launched 2 fireballs from its heads directly towards MMR, incinerating her in an instant the moment they exploded on contact with her. The defeated SIGNI entered her Ener Zone, something that Kai quickly took note of.

"Next, Flame Edge Dragon attacks!" The dragon immediately took flight and unleashed a torrent of flames from its mouth which struck Piruluk, forcing her to shield her eyes from the flames, though she did so by only raising her right arm in front of her face. Another light in her LRIG space dimmed as one card flew from Akira's Life Cloths to her Ener Zone. Code Art KEY glowed as once again, Kai had ended up triggering a Life Burst. Tama briefly pouted having noticed this.

"Too bad, Aki-lucky," the Selector sneered "Draw."

"Flame Edge Dragon's ability," he spoke "When the attack against an LRIG is successful, I can Ener Charge the top card of my deck." The top card of his deck, Silvan, Alluring Stone, entered his Ener Zone before he turned his attention to his current 'LRIG'.

"Finally, Nehalem attacks Piruluk!"

At this moment, Akira slapped down a card in front of her center SIGNI zone, Servant D. She sneered as the card began to emit a blinding white light across the field.

"Guard!" The SIGNI in question that she was guarding with briefly appeared in front of Piruluk before being struck by the lightning sent her way by Nehalem's lance. Kai could only maintain a 'I should have known' look as he stared across the battlefield towards the LRIG and Akira who remained rather smug at the result. He briefly turned towards Tama, feeling there was something he had to ask.

"That Guard she used," he said "Can it block any attacks?"

"Not all," she replied "Only LRIG attacks."

Kai nodded in confirmation, having managed to understand how Guarding worked. He briefly glanced at his hand to notice he had Wyvern Guard, Barri available to Guard any of Piruluk's attacks when he needed it to.

"Turn end," he spoke. At this moment, the ice around Iron Tail Dragon shattered indicating that the freeze effect had worn off. It growled as it flexed its arms and wings after being frozen for a long while.

**End of Turn 4**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Code Piruluk M**

**SIGNI: Flame Edge Dragon - Iron Tail Dragon - Berserk Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 6**

Akira simply drew two more cards more her deck to begin her turn, her sinister sneer having not left her lips for one second. Kai couldn't help but even feel a little unnerved from her appearance at the moment, not because of her scar, but from what he had been told about the Selector from both Hitoe and Yuzuki, he knew that this wasn't the time to let down his guard. After revealing a card from her hand by the name of RAINY and throwing it to her Ener Zone, the Selector held out her hand towards the LRIG space on her table.

"Grow, Code Piruluk G!" she called.

In a few brief flashes, Piruluk gained two additional wings on her garb whilst two more smaller "blades" appeared on the orb in her hair. Two more Blue SIGNI by the names of Code Art PZL and Code Art JV appeared in front of and to the left of Piruluk. The first of the two SIGNI was Level 3, indicating that Akira was now beginning to utilize her more powerful SIGNI that she could be conserving within her hand.

"PZL, freeze Flame Edge Dragon!" she declared.

Kai could only watch on as much like before on the previous turn with Iron Tail Dragon, Flame Edge Dragon was encased in a large chunk of ice summoned by Code Art PZL. He then looked forward just in time to notice that Akira's lips begin to form a malicious smile.

"And now... ARTS!" she called as a card rose from her White Deck and revealed itself to all "Peeping Analyze!"

As three blue cards moved from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile, over in the tower, Yuzuki and Hitoe could only gasp in horror upon hearing the name of that card. Akira had Piruluk use this manuver on them before and although the card's effect had somewhat relied on a gamble for the chance to discard a large number of cards from Kai's hand, the fact that Piruluk had some sort of a strange connection with it that allowed her to read their wishes and have the Selector torment them about them was devastating to their composure and had also resulted in them losing to her in their respective battles against said Selector. Now the same thing was about to happen to Kai and they almost felt terrible in not warning him beforehand.

 _Kai... you better brace yourself!_ Yuzuki thought in worry.

"Now then Piruluk-tan, let's take a closer look inside Aki-lucky!" she sneered "Show me what his wish is about!"

As Piruluk opened her eyes and aimed Peeping Analyze at Kai, her eyes emitted a wave of some sort that transmitted towards him. This way, she could transfer the information Akira wanted about his wish to her. However, as she cast the ARTS and her 'sight' of Kai's possible wish could properly manifest, a huge haze of fire suddenly consumed her vision. The intense heat was too much to handle for the LRIG as she suddenly felt that needed to cancel the effect now before she could be 'blinded' by the flames. Before she did so, the LRIG could see two large yellow eyes from within the flames and the shadow of a large non-human like figure with the silhouette of wings before a loud roar forced her to come out of her vision.

As Piriluk eventually came back to her senses, she could see that Kai was still staring intensely across towards her and Akira. Nothing had happened to him from her attempt to read his wish, evidenced by his fierce gaze having remained where it was, completely unfazed by what had just happened. To an extent, she could have sworn that even he was not aware of what she had just seen.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Akira growled, interrupting her trail of thought "You were supposed to get what I want from Aki-lucky over there!"

"I... I don't know," replied Piruluk.

"What do you mean Piruluk-tan?!" the Selector barked fiercely.

"Something from that boy is blocking my power," she replied "It was like I was staring into the flames of hell itself."

The image of the flames was still burning fresh in her mind, though Piruluk was more curious of whatever she saw in that fire, from those two yellow eyes, the large shape of who or what she had seen and that fierce roar to follow on. Akira, unaware of this and annoyed of not being able to see Kai's desire was starting to lose her patience with both the LRIG and the boy, wanting to finish the battle immediately after this unexpected setback.

"Fine, whatever!" she growled "For Peeping Analyze's effect, I choose to declare Level 2! Now show me what you're holding!"

Kai having to comply with the card's effect, simply closed his eyes and calmly revealed his entire hand to both Akira and Piruluk. The cards were all red SIGNI and they had comprised of Dual Axe Archdragon, Wyvern Guard, Barri and Dragon Monk, Gojo, none of which were the number of the Level that the Selector had declared for her Peeping Analyze ARTS, much to her shock and frustration.

"What?!" she gasped "You mean?!"

"You should have taken your time," Kai replied as he concealed and shuffled the cards in his hand once again. "I have no Level 2 SIGNI in my hand, so you wasted quite a powerful ARTS."  _Akira's playstyle seems to be somewhat of a mix between Nubatama and Megacolony, but she seems to lack the ability to properly utilize it._

Akira gritted her teeth as she glared across the field towards him. The boy's somewhat calm and determined demanor was really starting to drive her to the point of pulling her own hair out in anger. Not only was this his first ever game, in either Wixoss or the Selector Battles, but it appeared that he was beginning to assume complete control of the battle and that she was beginning to slip up because of it. Having had enough with his outlook, she took another card from her hand and placed it onto the field as another blue card from her Ener Zone entered her Trash Pile.

"I'll use TOO BAD!" she declared. As the Spell was cast onto her field, she pointed her finger towards Kai, like in the shape of a gun. The mannerism seemed somewhat familiar to him, as if he had seen someone use that kind of manuver before, albeit not for a very long time.A pulse of blue energy shot from her fingers and struck one of Kai's cards in his hand. When it was revealed which card that she struck, she could only sneer. It was the Guard SIGNI she saw just a few moments ago and that was good for her as she finally regained her sinister smile.

"Bye bye Barri!" she sneered as she watched the Guard SIGNI fall into Kai's Trash Pile. He himself however did not seem concerned about this turn of events as he just stared at the card before looking back towards the Selector who was finally prepared to bring on her onslaught.

"Code Art PZL, JV! Attack!" called Akira. The two SIGNI held out their arms as sparks rained from them to Berserk Dragon and Iron Tail Dragon, defeating them in an instant. The two defeated SIGNI vanished and reappeared in Kai's Ener Zone.

"Next! Piruluk, attack Nehalem!" she declared.

The LRIG raised her right arm, materializing multiple ice projectiles around her. When she pointed right at Nehalem, the spears launched at and struck both the knight and the dragon he stood atop of, disorienting him in the aftermath as he struggled to keep his balance upright. Another light around the LRIG space dimmed as Kai noticed the card that entered his Ener Zone. It was glowing which meant he had triggered another Life Burst.

"Dragon Monk, Genjo's Life Burst!" he called.

"Oh, so you'll Ener Charge or draw another card, right Aki-lucky?" Akira mused.

"No," replied Kai "This one is different."

"How so?"

"With this Life Burst," he explained "If I have equal or fewer Life Cloths than my opponent when I trigger it, the top card of my deck is placed on the topmost side of my Life Cloth zone face down, without me looking at what it is." Akira's eyes widened in surprise and shock, albeit not as much as when Kai had not only somehow repelled Piruluk's power to see whatever wish he could possibly have.

"What the?! How does a Life Burst like that even exist?!" she gasped. Even Tama stared at Kai in awe over this turn of events. Over on the sidelines, both Hitoe and Yuzuki were surprised, not expecting Kai to have something like that present in his deck already.

 _There's a Life Burst that allows him to do_   _that?!_  the LRIG thought _First his deck consists mostly of dragons rather than different types of girls, except for a few common Red SIGNI he's placed in his Ener Zone and now he's used a Life Burst that will prolong his defeat?_

 _Maybe Kai does have a chance after all._ Hitoe pondered within her thoughts as she closed watched the battle from where she was standing.

Akira could only pout in annoyance over this turn of events, but remained cool and somewhat composed as she kept in mind that she took out the only two SIGNI that weren't frozen.

"Turn end," she spoke, huffing under her breath as she did so.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 2 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Code Piruluk G**

**SIGNI: Flame Edge Dragon (Frozen) - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Art JV - Code Art PZL - EMPTY**

**Ener - 5 : 1**

Before starting his turn, Kai looked over his frozen Flame Edge Dragon. He couldn't up it this turn, making it useless to him for the time being other than acting as a brick wall for Akira's next wave of attacks. He suddenly remembered back to what Tama had told him at the start of his very first turn in the battle, specifically in the mechanics of the Ener Phase and what he could do then.

"Draw," he spoke "I Ener Charge with my frozen Flame Edge Dragon!" The ice around the dragon suddenly shattered in a brilliant flash as the SIGNI card disappeared and then reappeared in his Ener Zone. "And... I choose not to grow this turn!" Tama along with Yuzuki and Hitoe from the tower could only let out a large "EH?!" from their mouths in shock. Whilst Piruluk had simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, her Selector had then then burst out into a fit of uncontrollable and sinister laughter.

"What?!" Akira giggled "You had the opportunity to remain on even ground and you choose to hold back a Level?! Too bad for you Aki-lucky!" The blue LRIG could see that Kai however was not fazed by this as he continued his turn.

"Summon!" Another Gatling Claw Dragon appeared in the space that was formerly occupied by Flame Edge.

"Gatling Claw attacks Piruluk!" Kai declared. Gatling Claw Dragon opened fire on the LRIG as a light dimmed in the space she stood in. Code Art CPU entered Akira's Ener Zone, the Life Burst present on it glowing.

"Oh well," sighed Akira, though Kai could easily tell the sarcasm in her voice. "I Ener Charge."

"Nehalem, attack!" As the Dragon Knight unleashed another volley of lightning from its lance, another SIGNI appeared in front of Piruluk to take the attack. The card, Servant O dropped into Akira's Trash Pile.

"Hold back all you want, but victory will still be mine," she spoke. Kai didn't say anything back in response as Tama looked up at him in worry.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 3 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Code Piruluk G**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - Gatling Claw Dragon : Code Art JV - Code Art PZL - EMPTY**

**Ener - 6 : 3**

"I'm not sure why you chose not to grow then, but all I can say is that it's gonna cost you, Aki-lucky," Akira sneered "I Ener Charge with JV on my field and Grow! Code Piruluk T!"

In a brief series of flashes, Piruluk's garb appeared to have changed completely, looking more stylish and having eight wings present on the back from the previous six. The blades on the orb in her hair had gotten slightly larger, but not by much.

"Summon, Code Art RMN and ASM!" Two Level 4 SIGNI to the left and right of Piruluk. Once again, Akira pointed her fingers towards Kai.

"Discard!" Code Art RMN fired a blue energy pulse that struck a random card in Kai's hand. He watched as Dragon Monk, Gojo dropped straight into his Trash Pile.

"RMN, take out Gatling Claw Dragon!" Code Art RMN materialized two blue discs of some sorts and hurled them at Gatling Claw. The attack connected, the discs exploding on contact with Gatling Claw. The card moved to Kai's Ener Zone.

"Then PZL and ADM!" The two SIGNI rained sparks down on Nehalem, electrocuting the Dragon Knight at a high voltage. Two more lights dimmed as Iron, Alluring Stone and Iron Tail Dragon entered Kai's Ener Zone.

"Now Piruluk!" The LRIG raised her hand, summoning even more ice projectiles than her previous Level was capable of doing and firing them at Nehalem.

"Wyvern Guard, Barri!" Without warning, a knight atop a mechanical wyvern appeared in front of Nehalem. A hexagonal barrier appeared in front of it, nullifying Piruluk's attack as the ice projectiles shattered on contact. The Wyvern Guard then vanished from the field, having finished its job.

"How boring," she mused "Turn end."

Over inside the tower on the sidelines, Yuzuki and Hitoe let out a sigh of relief. Kai had managed to survive Akira's onslaught of attacks thus far, but things were still looking rather grim for him. He had put himself at a disadvantage by choosing not to grow to Level 3 last turn, no SIGNI in play, only two Life Cloths left and Akira herself still had 3 cards in her hand to his 2. However, because of Akira's relentless attacks, his Ener Zone was now buffed up to 9 cards, something that he had been counting on, whether she had realized it or not by now. Piruluk however stared closely at him.

 _Why did he choose to skip growing his LRIG last turn?_ she pondered  _There must be some reason he put himself at such a disadvantage._ Kai having somehow read her mind opened his eyes and stared across the field towards the LRIG and her Selector.

"Allow me to show you… my true form!" he spoke as he begun the start of his turn. "Up and draw. Ener Charge and…"

A card from the LRIG deck flew straight past Tama and straight into the LRIG Zone, just beneath the hovering dragon that Nehalem had stood atop of, but it was face-down for the moment though.

"Grow the Vanguard!" he called "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

As Kai spoke the ride chant, the card flipped face up and a large column of fire consumed Nehalem, removing him from the battle. A white Vanguard circle with a red aura to it briefly flashed in front of the column of fire. A tall shadow appeared in the flames, resembling that of a giant dragon. A pair of familiar yellow eyes were present from the shadow's head. Tama, Hitoe and Yuzuki were looking on in awe for this sight. The flames begun to disappear to reveal what Kai's Level 3 LRIG was as he gazed fiercely towards both Akira and Piruluk, now showing that he was serious in the way he was playing now.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards used by Kai Toshiki:  
>  **Lizard Runner, Undeux**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Kagero
> 
>  **Embodiment of Armor, Bahr**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Kagero
> 
>  **Dragon Knight, Nehalem**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 1 Red  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Kagero
> 
>  **Gatling Claw Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Red and move this SIGNI to your Ener Zone: Choose 1 of your opponent’s Level 1 SIGNI with 2000 or less power and send it to their trash.  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Iron Tail Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 3000
> 
>  **Burning Horn Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 6000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Overlord” in its name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Dragonman  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Red and move this SIGNI to your Ener Zone: Choose 1 of your opponent’s Level 1 SIGNI and banish it.
> 
>  **Seal Dragon, Artpique**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Move this SIGNI to your Ener Zone: Choose one of your Red SIGNI, that SIGNI gains 3000 power until end of turn.  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Dual Axe Archdragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your opponent has less than two SIGNI, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Flame Edge Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI’s attack hits an LRIG, if you have a Red LRIG, Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Berserk Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Pay 2 Red SIGNI: If you have a Red LRIG, choose one of your opponent’s Level 2 or lower SIGNI and banish it.
> 
>  **Wyvern Guard, Barri**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Dragonman  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Red LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Dragon Monk, Genjo**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Dragonman  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Dragon Monk, Gojo**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Gillman  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Down: Discard 1 card from your hand and draw 1 card.


	3. Arc 1 - Ride 03: That Flame is Eternal

As the column of fire died down, Dragonic Overlord was standing tall on the LRIG space on Kai's table. The dragon was large in a dark red color and had large spikes sticking out from its shoulder armour, the edges of the chest muscles pointing forward and the front of the waistline. Several pieces of darker armour were present on the lower halves of the arms and legs as well as the dragon's waistline. The feet had two spikes on the front besides the main part of them, acting like additional toes along with a single spike that acted like an ankle. A large spike was present on the dragon's back and the tail had a small pair of red wings present near the end of it. Overlord's wings were mostly a plain colour with the same dark red trim with a large spike present on the topmost edge of each wing.

The dragon's head was red with a pair of familiar yellow eyes along with what appeared to be a pair of small red wings running from the back and a spike sticking out from the top of the head. The neck mostly had a dark blackish colour. It held a large sword in one of its claws, the hilt covered with what appeared to be small red wings. Dragonic Overlord let out a huge roar in the direction of both Akira and Piruluk who were even surprised that a dragon such as this could manifest itself as a Level 3 LRIG. Tama who was standing over beside Kai's LRIG deck could only look up at "The Wind of the Apocalypse", surprised that Kai had been hiding this from her, Yuzuki and Hitoe in their first meeting.

"Dragonic... Overlord," she breathed in awe.

"The hell is that thing?!" gasped Akira "I've never seen a LRIG that is a dragon that huge!"

 _What is_   _this?_  Piruluk pondered _Why do I feel something strange from this Dragonic Overlord?_

The blue LRIG could only look up at Overlord in all of its glory, wondering how this was even possible to begin with, considering the other 'LRIGs' that Kai had ended up using over the course of the battle, them being Unduex, Bahr and Nehalem. All that she knew from this turn of events and how the battle had played out so far however meant that there was only one conclusion that she could draw up from this. Kai could somehow enter the Selector Battles because of 'them' and he could call them to his aid, but for why this was remained a mystery to both her and her Selector at this point in time.

Meanwhile from a different part of the space that Akira and Kai were battling in, their battle had not gone unnoticed from just Yuzuki and Hitoe, including Tama as well to some extent, watching on their own parts of the sidelines. Ulith was amongst one of the silhouetted buildings in the background, having observed the battle from the very beginning. As she stared closely at Dragonic Overlord and remembering back to Kai's plays throughout this battle, she couldn't help but feel something in the back of her mind was piecing itself together.

 _This boy scum... the one I saw earlier. Back when I thought I saw the prophecy on the cards briefly changed,_ she thought  _If what I saw was the truth, could he be...?_  As Ulith stared closely down at Kai's table to the left end from her perspective, she suddenly noticed Tama standing beside his LRIG deck. Her expression changed to utter shock upon noticing this.

 _What?! How did that little trash escape?! I was sure that 'she' made it impossible for her to appear in another card!_  Deciding to ponder on that later, she decided to continue to monitor the battle for its outcome.  _Seeing as his opponent Akira, I'm looking forward to seeing her suffer from her 'actual' third loss._

Back on the battlefield, Kai continued on with his turn as he revealed three more Red SIGNI that went by the names, Dual Axe Archdragon, Burning Horn Dragon and Wyvern Strike, Tejas as he placed them in the SIGNI Zones on his table from left to right. As the three figures materialized alongside and in front of Dragonic Overlord, Kai held out his hand towards the LRIG spot on the table, his fierce gaze having not left his green eyes for even a second since his turn had begun.

"Dragon of explosive flame, use your apocalyptic roar to reduce all before your presence to ash!" he declared "Counterblast!"

Overlord roared loudly and raised its sword high into the air as a large whirlwind of flames surrounded the mighty dragon, forcing Tama to shield her eyes from the intense heat of the fire. 3 Red SIGNI cards then flew from Kai's Ener Zone to his Trash Pile so that the cost for Dragonic Overlord's ability could be fulfilled at this very moment before another card suddenly left the Ener Zone in response to something else. The answer was a red ARTS that Kai had picked out of his White Deck and revealed it to all on the battlefield.

"And ARTS! One Rule, Two Birds!" he called.

A fiery red aura was now present around Dragonic Overlord as it roared loudly from recieving the effects of the ARTS. Although Kai was certain that he had indeed bestowed a mighty power upon the dragon from the card that he had played just now, having read over its effects from before, there was something that he was still partially uncertain about. Tama upon noticing this in his expression decided to help clarify things better for him after reading One Rule, Two Birds' effect from the card now that it was present in the LRIG Trash pile.

"Double Crush will make it so Dragonic Overlord will deal two damage when its attack hits!" she called "Go Kai!"

 _Now I see_  Kai thought after nodding to clarify that he perfectly understood what Double Crush meant  _It's not exactly a Critical Trigger, but in this situation, it will do._

"For this turn," he spoke "Dragonic Overlord gains Double Crush and you're not allowed to use any Level 1 SIGNI to guard!"

Akira could only growl a loud "TSK!" under her breath as the Servant O card that she had held in her hand at the start of her previous turn began leaking sparks, indicating she couldn't use it to stop Dragonic Overlord's next attack. Piruluk having been aware of this could only prepare herself for what was to befall her, though a part of her in the back of her mind couldn't help but ponder over the dragon's appearance, as if she had indeed somehow seen it before Kai had brought it into play at this very moment in time.

"Burning Horn Dragon!" he called. The dragon roared and took flight towards Code Art PZL that was right in front of it who could only brace herself for the worst to come. "Burning Horn's ability adds 3000 power since my LRIG has Overlord in its name!"

**Burning Horn Dragon: 6000 - 9000**

With the power bonus that it had gain from just fighting alongside Dragonic Overlord, Burning Horn Dragon roared loudly and unleashed a torrent of flame right at Code Art PZL, banishing the SIGNI within mere seconds as the card moved to Akira's Ener Zone. For the moment, the Selector had remained completely unfazed despite her initial reaction to the appearance of Dragonic Overlord, still feeling smugly confident from the fact that Kai had chose to not grow into it one turn sooner so that he could try to level the playing field. The boy then held his hand towards the LRIG space with fierce determination, prepared to go all out in the battle from here on in.

"Overlord, attack Code Art ASM!" he declared.

"You... Are you dumb or something Aki-lucky?!" sneered Akira "Have you forgetten that LRIGs ignore the SIGNI and attack the opposing LRIG instead?!"

"When I use Overlord's ability by paying the cost," Kai explained "It can attack a SIGNI this turn. Since LRIGs don't have base power, when Overlord attacks with this effect, his power is equal to that of the SIGNI it's battling. The question remains though is will you still be able guard?"

"Huh…?"

The Selector immediately looked over her hand to see that Servant O was still leaking sparks, recalling that One Rule, Two Birds had completely sealed her from using it to stop any of Dragonic Overlord's attacks, regardless of who or what it was attacking.

 _I have Servant O available, but I can't use her because of the ARTS he played!_  the Selector growled within her thoughts _Doesn't matter, I can deal with one less SIGNI as his other SIGNI can no longer attack this turn from using Overlord right now._  "Fine, whatever," she spat, seemingly more annoyed than concerned.

Dragonic Overlord roared loudly before unleashing a torrent of crimson red fire at ASM who could only watch as the flames immediately consumed her, banishing the SIGNI from the battle as her card moved to Akira's Ener Zone. Whilst Piruluk could only ponder about this choice in slight confusion, Yuzuki and Hitoe looked on in worry from the tower that they standing in. Right at this moment, the only question that was running through their minds was "Just what was he thinking?". They soon got their answer by looking at Kai's expression to see that he wasn't fazed by this in even the slightest. Over from where she was standing beside the LRIG deck, Tama was curious as to why he had decided to have Dragonic Overlord attack one of Akira's SIGNI instead of Piruluk head on. Needless to say, they would now get their answer.

"The flames of purgatory never rest," Kai spoke, prompting Akira to stare across towards him in confusion. "Stand up once more, Dragonic Overlord!"

Overlord roared loudly as it rose up from its previous attack, seemingly ready to strike again as evidenced by the fierce glint in its yellow eyes and the low growl that eminated from it. Akira looked on in shock as she then immediately noticed on the Kai's table that several flames surrounded Dragonic Overlord's LRIG card as it suddenly upped itself. Upon seeing what this had meant, she had no idea of how to properly react about how this had even happened in the first place. Piruluk however could only stare on at Overlord, now seemingly understanding why Kai had chose to attack a SIGNI instead.

"What the hell just...?!" the Selector gasped.

"My next attack," Kai interrupted "Overlord, attack Code Art RMN!"

"O... Oi, wait a..."

Akira could only watch as her remaining SIGNI was immediately burnt to ashes from Dragonic Overlord's attack, interrupting her sudden demand for an explanation at this very moment considering that she couldn't even Guard at this very moment. The dragon roared as it stood up again with the card upping itself in turn, indicating that it was ready to take on one more attack, this time at Piruluk herself who felt that she could only brace herself for the intense heat and flames that was about to come right her way at any given moment.

"How the hell is Dragonic Overlord upping itself after each attack?!" Akira demanded angrily "Tell me now!"

"Dragonic Overlord's skill," Kai explained "When his ability is active during this turn, each time he attacks and banishes a SIGNI, he Ups himself to prepare for his next attack."

The Selector now realizing what this had meant then gasped in horror. The boy had forced her into a corner by wrecking her SIGNI formation, which had Level 4 SIGNI no less and she knew that she had no other means of stopping Dragonic Overlord's next attack at Piruluk, which would resulting in two of her Life Cloths being crushed at once. She could only clench her teeth in anger as she glared towards Kai.

"Damn you...!" she growled.

"If I were to assume correctly from the course of this battle," Kai spoke "If Overlord remained down after attacking with him without attacking with my other SIGNI first, my Attack Phase would immediatly end as those SIGNI are no longer permitted to attack. But since Overlord is still upped at the end of that battle, I can still attack with him."

Over from the right side of his table, Tama was amazed at the fact that he had managed to keep his cool throughout the majority of the battle, despite needing her help in the clarification of a few term and mechanics of Wixoss. And yet here he was, turning around the battle in his favor with this Dragonic Overlord that he had brought out into play to wreck Akira's formation. Over in the tower, Yuzuki and Hitoe could only stare at the large red dragon in both surprise and amazement. It was one thing to find strange that this dragon was somehow able to manifest itself as an LRIG for battle, much like the other 'LRIGs' that Kai had used, but it was even more shocking to see that he had been holding back on purpose just to use it to its full potential. In a sense, it was if he had already been familiar with it before.

"Amazing..." murmured Hitoe.

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "To think he would hold back a Level just to take advantage of the Ener that he had available. Dragonic Overlord... That looks like a force to be reckoned with."

"Overlord, attack Piruluk!" Kai declared.

Dragonic Overlord took flight into the air and soared across the battlefield until it stopped and hovered several feet above Piruluk. The dragon roared loudly before it unleashed a large torrent of crimson fire from its mouth which consumed the LRIG in an instant. As she struggled through the intense heat, Piruluk looked up at Overlord. Something then suddenly clicked in her head as she stared at the dragon's head, taking note of the shape but focusing her gaze mostly on something else that she could at least make out through the fire.

 _Those eyes..._  she thought, her mind flashing back to when she attempted to read Kai's wish through Akira's Peeping Analyze several turns ago.  _They're the same as the ones I saw in those flames!_

As the crimson fire subsided, two more lights around the blue LRIG dimmed as Servant T2 and Code Art SMP entered Akira's Ener Zone, the last card glowing indicating a Life Burst. The Selector herself could only growl in both anger and annoyance as she drew her card in frustration. She had certainly not been expecting Dragonic Overlord to turn things around for Kai like this and now he had an advantage to win because of it. Overlord flew back to and landed on the LRIG space of Kai's table, having finished its attacks as he kept his serious gaze upon both Akira and Piruluk at once.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 8**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 0 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Code Piruluk T**

**SIGNI: Wyvern Strike, Tejas (Up) - Burning Horn Dragon (Down) - Dual Axe Archdragon (Up) : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 5**

Akira drew more cards to begin her turn as she stared across the battlefield towards both Kai and Dragonic Overlord, completely nerved from what had just happened last turn. Her expression alone was more than enough for them to tell that she had somewhat reached the breaking point of her own temper.

 _Don't screw with me!_  she growled within her thoughts _Allow me to show you that something like that Dragonic Overlord or whatever you call it won't make you win!_

But as she began to conduct her Ener Charge, she wasn't paying close enough attention to the fact that she moved Servant D2 from her hand into her Ener Zone. Kai quickly noticed this, having seen the Guard Icon and Level that were present on the card, gazing intensely at the scenario he just saw. He inwardly sighed, upon seeing what this actually meant.

"ARTS, Draw Two!" Akira called.

As the ARTS was played, both Servant D2 and Code Art SMP moved from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile whilst two more cards were drawn from the top of her deck to her hand. Then in an instant, two copies of Code ART SMP appeared alongside Piruluk whilst another Code ART PZL had simply appeared in front of her. The SIGNI that was summoned to the center space had immediately called upon another blizzard that immediately encased Dual Axe Archdragon in a chunk of ice. Immediately afterwards, Akira's lips formed another malicious smile, this time more crazed than composed as noted from the expression in her eyes.

"Then... ICE BREAK!"

As the Spell was cast, a blue beam struck the frozen Dual Axe Archdragon, obliterating it in an instant and causing several fragments of ice to fall to the surface of Kai's table which immediately melted in the presence of Dragonic Overlord. The card representing Dual Axe Archdragon then immediately reappeared in his Ener Zone to show that it had been banished by the effect of the Spell card.

"Attack!" Akira declared.

Kai didn't respond as Burning Horn Dragon and Tejas were defeated instantly from the attacks that came before them from both Code Art PZL and one of the two Code ART SMPs. The cards representing the banished then moved over to his Ener Zone from their respective SIGNI Zones. Then immediately afterwards, the second Code ART SMP's attack hit Dragonic Overlord head as Dual Axe Archdragon was no longer present to intercept it. The second to last Life Cloth that Kai had in his possession flipped face up and moved to his Ener Zone, revealing itself to be another Gatling Claw Dragon. The card glowed showing that the attack on Overlord just now had indeed triggered a Life Burst.

"Got a Life Burst," Kai spoke "Draw."

"Next, Piruluk!" Akira declared.

Piruluk summoned more ice projectiles with the power she commanded from her current form and immediately fired them at Dragonic Overlord. The dragon shrieked in pain as the icicles crashed into him, shattering into pieces before it let out a lash of flames to melt the remaining fragments in retailiation. Kai's last Life Cloth entered his Ener Zone and it was glowing. It was another Seal Dragon, Artpique.

"Got another Life Burst," he spoke "Draw."

"Turn end."

Akira looked back at Servant O that was still in her hand, sneering maniacally as she did so, believing that she was now in the clear to claim victory at this point.

 _With this formation, victory is assured in the next turn!_ she thought.

**End of Turn 9**

**Kai vs Akira**

**Hand - 2 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Code Piruluk T**

**SIGNI: EMPTY- EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Art SMP - Code Art PZL - Code Art SMP**

**Ener - 9 : 3**

Kai looked over his field as a breeze swept over the dimensional space of the Selector Battlefield. As he composed himself for the last chance that he had to end this battle, before he could think of anything else, he suddenly felt a strange vibe. He looked over towards the LRIG space to where Dragonic Overlord was standing up, suspecting this was the reason that he was only now feeling this way. Suddenly, as if he felt his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him, the dragon turned its head back slightly. Its gaze was directed towards him and it seemed to speak only a mere few words.

"Let's win, my Vanguard..."

Kai though feeling partially unsure of how this was even possible, nodded in agreement. He looked back over the cards in his Ener Zone and the only card in his hand, before ushered two words that he hadn't spoke of in a while. He had put himself off from using them constantly, but he felt that from what happened thus far, especially with a near death experience from earlier before the battle, Akira had it coming to her.

"Final Turn!"

Several gasps and shocked expressions appeared on everyone else that was currently present in the battlefield at this point in time. Dragonic Overlord just remained simply expressionless, saying nothing more in response to Kai's declaration. Over from where she was watching, Ulith simply just stared across at him in partial disbelief, not entirely sure of what to make from this sudden declaration, though she could only assume that this was showing that he intended to end things here and now at this very point in time.

"F...Final Turn…? What are you getting at Aki-lucky?!" Akira spat "I still have a field full of SIGNI and 1 Life Cloth! If you're saying that you'll win in this turn or something, you're dead wrong!"

However, deep down, she was feeling uneasy from his words just now. He had played flawlessly with little effort throughout their confrontation and it was only his first ever Selector Battle, let alone even his first game of Wixoss. She had already been well aware that Kai had 9 cards in his Ener Zone once again and that he could choose to activate Dragonic Overlord's ability, depending on what he could draw next and wreck her formation again. However, she looked back at Servant O amongst the cards in her hand and then to her LRIG deck, quickly regaining a bit of her composure and still believing that he was somewhat bluffing in regards to his situation.

"Up and draw," Kai spoke as he began his turn "Ener Charge and Summon!"

After revealing another copy of Dragon Monk Genjo from his hand and throwing it into his Ener Zone, he then immediately put into play from left to right, another Dual Axe Archdragon along with Blue Ray Dracokid and Silvan, Alluring Stone as they appeared alongside and in front of Dragonic Overlord. Silvan was the first regular red SIGNI that Kai had brought into play and he felt that all of them were somehow paramount as to how the battle could end.

"By paying 6 Ener, I use two copies of the ARTS, Dominating Fury!" he declared "With them, I banish the Code Art SMPs in front of Dual Axe Archdragon and Silvan!"

As the two ARTS of the same kind were was cast, six of Kai's ten Ener moved straight to his Trash Pile as the two cards shot out bright red beams at Dragonic Overlord, who then unleashed a torrent of flames that covered over Akira's entire table, forcing both her and Piruluk to shield their eyes as both Code Art SMPs were immediately incinerated within an instant, the SIGNI cards moving over to Akira's Ener Zone. Kai then turned his attention back to Piruluk who he could now get two attacks on to win the battle.

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so confident," she sneered "I still have something that can render those two SIGNI unable to do anything this turn!" she sneered "Even if I lose my remaining Code ART PZL this turn, I can still seal you down and block Overlord's attack. Then in my next turn, Piruluk will finish you off! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As Akira burst out into hysterical laughter, Hitoe and Yuzuki could only watch on from the tower in worry, concerned for how Kai was even going to get past her last line of defences as the Selector had so boldly declared. But as they looked back at him, they suddenly found him to be smiling for some apparent reason. Tama noticed this as well, curious as to why he was smiling at a time like this.

"I am aware of the fact that you could use something to Freeze my SIGNI," he spoke "But, even I can sense that there is a flaw in your plan. The fact that you yourself said you could stop my two open SIGNI is enough for that."

Akira then stopped laughing and looked back at him. "What are you talking about?" she mused with a hint of insanity present within both her voice and expression "Your Final Turn or whatever it was ended up being a complete waste!"

"I'll now use another ARTS! One more, Dominating Fury!" Kai declared "With this, I can banish the only SIGNI left that's standing between Blue Ray Dracokid and Piruluk."

Akira's eyes then widened in horror as Kai then immediately pointed in the head on direction of the other Code ART SMP that was in front of Blue Ray Dracokid as the SIGNI vanished in an eruption of flames. After the card had moved over to her Ener Zone, the Selector then looked down on the last line of defence she had left within her hand at this very moment, Servant O. Upon seeing it, she immediately regained her composure, albeit a small fraction as Kai observed closely.

 _I can still protect_   _myself!_  she muttered in her thoughts _I still have my one Get Down ARTS to stop two of his SIGNI attacks and then with this, I can put a stop to Dragonic Overlord. There's no way Kai will have another copy of..._

"Not yet," Kai spoke, interrupting the Selector's current trail of thought.

"What now?!" she growled, staring at him at this very moment.

"I still have one more ARTS left to play," he replied "One more, One Rule, Two Birds!"

Her expression then suddenly changing to shock and horror, Akira then immediately realized what this meant. Her Servant O which was her only means to stopping Dragonic Overlord was now rendered useless again and she would now be out of Life Cloths from this next Attack Phase. The large red dragon roared loudly from gaining the power of the ARTS again as a whirlwind of flames surrounded it once more. Piruluk simply closed her eyes, having been already aware of how this scenario had come to pass from the very beginning.

"But... this means..." Akira stuttered "No! You can't!" But as the ARTS was played, it was clear from Kai's smile that he just did.

"This was possible from your own actions," he spoke "Look at your Trash Pile and remember back from what happened from last turn."

The Selector growled and looked back at her Trash Pile, replaying all of her actions from the previous turn throughout her head when she had overwhelmed Kai's previous formation to knock him down to zero Life Cloths. Then, upon recognizing the name of the Guard SIGNI card that she had sent there along with what Level that it possessed, sudden realization then hit her harder than she actually anticipated.

**Flashback**

After drawing at the start of her turn, Akira placed Servant D2 in her Ener Zone before summoning her formation that would later be wiped out by Kai's 3 Dominating Fury ARTS. Then, when she used the Draw Two ARTS, she had recalled used Servant D2 as part of the cost.

**Present**

Now thinking over to where she had brought herself into, the Selector then looked down on Servant O within her hand, realizing her mistake all too late as it began leaking sparks once again.

 _Impossible... I made a misplay?!_  she gasped within her thoughts If _I had just put Servant O in my Ener Zone instead, then...!_

Piruluk having noticed that her Selector had only just realized about this now rather than sooner could only let out a small uninterested sigh from under her breath. The blue LRIG then turned her attention back to Kai and Dragonic Overlord before closing her eyes.

"Victory is yours," she spoke. Kai nodded, having already realized that before starting his turn.

"Blue Ray Dracokid attacks!" he called.

The small blue dragon aimed at Piruluk with its blaster and opened fire. As the flaming projectiles struck the LRIG, the final light dimmed. The final Life Cloth revealed itself to be another Code Art RMN as it entered Akira's Ener Zone, but the Life Burst was rather meaningless as Kai nonchantly threw away the last card in his hand, Wyvern Guard, Barri, knowing that it would not contribute to stopping his final attack. He gazed upon Akira who could only panic upon realizing that there was nothing she could do to stop him or Dragonic Overlord from finishing the battle.

"Final attack! Dragonic Overlord, attack Piruluk!" he declared.

The Selector could only watch in horror as Dragonic Overlord flapped its large wings to take to the air and soared towards her table, ready to finish the battle. Fire was already beginning to form in the dragon's mouth as it eventually stopped and hovered only a few feet above both Akira and the motionless Piruluk, who had already accepted the inevital outcome that was to follow.

"Take this!" Kai called "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash! Eternal Flame!"

Dragonic Overlord let out a huge torrent of crimson fire from its mouth towards Piruluk who just stood in place, not moving an inch from knowing the end result already. Akira who couldn't believe what was happening upon staring at Dragonic Overlord then glared towards Kai and raised her fist in anger and frustration.

"Just who the hell are you?!" she demanded. The boy then just stared intensely over towards her and Piruluk.

"Kai Toshiki," he replied before closing his eyes "That is all."

The attack from Dragonic Overlord then consumed Akira's table in a large blaze of fire, obscuring all view of the Selector and Piruluk from view. Akira no longer had any Life Cloths present when the attack hit, winning Kai the battle. When the intense blaze had subsided, the blue LRIG was on her knees, her garb being charred from the intense heat of Dragonic Overlord's Eternal Flame as she simply looked across towards Kai, with not a hint of resentment present in her expression.

"Akira," he spoke "You lose."

The Selector could only look down at her table in shame, mostly from the fact that she made a simple mistake that allowed him to come back from behind and pull an upset in front of her own eyes and to make matters worse for her, there was nothing she could do about it. Over on the sidelines, Hitoe and Yuzuki could only look on in awe. Akira had not just been beaten by a first timer in a Selector Battle, but this Selector was also a boy and despite his limited, but slowly gaining knowledge of the game, it looked as if he had played with those cards all his life through experience or something more.

"Kai... won?" Hitoe murmured in wonder.

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "To think he managed to see through Akira's misplay like that and still win. More importantly, to think he was holding back to use Dragonic Overlord to wreck her formation before dealing the final blow." She then put her hand to her chin as she went deep into thought.  _Kai Toshiki... Just what kind of person are you?_

Down on Kai's table, Tama could only look up at Dragonic Overlord in amazement as it hovered back down to the LRIG space after flying back to join them. Despite the boy only needing a small majority of her help to win the battle, it didn't matter if it meant seeing the large red dragon in action.

"Those LRIGs are nothing that Tama has ever seen," she spoke in awe "Dragonic Overlord… amazing…"

With the battle now over, the red colour in Kai's half of the space covered the background of the entire battlefield before everything suddenly went dark, surprising him for a brief moment as everything went pitch black in a mere instant.

* * *

When the group came to their senses, they were back in the city park exactly from where they were standing, Yuzuki and Tama having returned back to their respective cards. The sky had gotten even more darker with the sun having almost vanished from plain sight, indicating that it was now night at this point and a large majority of time had passed by during this battle. Akira was now kneeling on the floor in shame, still in denial to believe that she had not just lost to a 'beginner' in a Wixoss or Selector Battle, but a boy no less who could somehow enter those same battles. She briefly glanced backwards to a particular spot and trudged her way over whilst Kai and Hitoe were currently distracted. Meanwhile, the boy looked down at Tama's card at the front of his deck, having remembered placing it there before the battle began.

"Cool!" she called "Dragonic Overlord was so strong! Tama likes Kai's play!" Hitoe then walked up to Kai.

"C...Congratulations Kai!" she said with a smile as Tama let out a cry of joy for his victory.

"That was amazing!" called Yuzuki from her card. Kai nodded and then turned to where Akira previously was. But he turned around and looked forwards ahead just in time to see her grab ahold of the knife she had threw at him and Hitoe earlier before their proper introductions. Kai quickly slipped both his deck and Tama's card back into his blazer pocket before bracing himself for what could happen next.

"Screw this!" Akira yelled as she charged towards him.

Hitoe and Yuzuki gasped in horror and closed their eyes, awaiting for the bloody aftermath to follow. However, as a few seconds passed, it was soon clear to them that never came to be. They opened their eyes to see in shock that Kai had managed to swiftly grab ahold of Akira's wrist, forcing her to drop the knife. She continued to struggle, but his strong and firm grip on her wrist was far too powerful for her to break out of as he held her up in the air. He stepped forward onto the blade of her knife with the heel of his shoe, crushing the brittle blade into thousands of tiny pieces. With her only weapon gone, Akira had no way to escape Kai's grip. She turned her head to face him and lost all composure as she looked into his now fierce eyes.

"Leave now!" he declared, glaring intensely at her. Akira realizing she was out of options could only nod in agreement. Kai simply huffed as he let her go and dropped her to the ground. She immediately got back up and began to run away from the group but not before looking back at him.

"Mark my words Kai-lucky!" she yelled "This isn't over!"

By this point, she was finally out of sight from the group. Hitoe and Yuzuki could only let out a sigh of relief that Kai didn't get seriously hurt or injured for that matter. He pulled out Tama's card from his blazer pocket now that the imminent danger had passed over.

"Thank you for your help Tama," he said.

"Mhm! Tama says Kai's welcome!" she replied "Tama would like to see Kai and Overlord battle again soon!"

"Yeah," Yuzuki interjected as she looked closely at him. "Besides, where did you happen to get cards like that?"

"... I don't know how I got them," he answered "All I know is that I feel as though I have used them before, yet this is definitely my first game of Wixoss."

Although his answer to her question wasn't entirely true, he knew it was unlikely that Tama, Yuzuki and Hitoe would believe him for the moment if he had just told them that his LRIGs and some of his SIGNI were units that originally existed from a different planet and were depicted as cards from another game that he was more familiar with. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how exactly Dragonic Overlord was briefly able to communicate with him shortly before he had declared his Final Turn in that battle. Whilst he was thinking it over, that was when Hitoe suddenly remembered something.

"Oh! I was supposed to be home about an hour ago!" she gasped in realization before she turned to Kai. "Thank you again Kai! Um… if it isn't too much trouble, could you escort me home? I know Akira's now gone, but I'm still feeling uneasy."

"I understand," he answered "Lead the way."

Hitoe smiled in relief and acknowledgement before starting walking a little distance in front of him. As Kai walked with her out of the park, unbeknownst to them, Ulith stepped out of the shadows and watched both Selector and Cardfighter walk out of the park together.

"So that boy scum is a Selector," she murmured, her mind flashing back to when the prophecy on the back of the Wixoss cards briefly changed for a few seconds and then to the battle when she witnessed Dragonic Overlord, wondering if it was related to "the flames of perdition" that the changed prophecy mentioned. "Kai Toshiki. Could he be the one the changed text referred to?" Netherless, she took out the card that she was formerly inside of during her time as an LRIG, now empty from her absence and held it to the ground.

"Open!" A brilliant flash erupted from the ground for a brief moment as Ulith disappeared from the park, without anyone seeing her vanish without a trace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards used by Kai Toshiki:  
>  **Dragonic Overlord**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 3 Red SIGNI: This LRIG can attack any of your opponent’s SIGNI this turn. When attacking a SIGNI this way, its power is equal to that of the attacked SIGNI until the end of that battle. When the cost for this ability has been paid, this LRIG also gets “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG’s attack hits and banishes a SIGNI, up this LRIG and it can attack again” until end of turn.”
> 
>  **Wyvern Strike, Tejas**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Winged Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 4000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI declares an attack, it can attack an opponent’s SIGNI in a different column instead.
> 
>  **Blue Ray Dracokid**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your Red SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER


	4. Arc 1 - Ride 04: This World is Not My Own

Later that night, after a long trek through the city streets, both Kai and Hitoe eventually arrived outside of the Uemura household, Hitoe's home. During their trek, the two of them had deep thoughts over what had happened in the evening. Kai from finding out he had somehow ended up in a place that he was not familiar with and his old Kagero deck somehow coming back into his possession, only it was adapted to the rules of Wixoss with several changes among it. In addition, he still couldn't help but ponder over how he could see LRIGs like Tama who had somehow come into his possession after looking around the tallest building in the city where unbeknowst to him, until his first meeting with Hitoe and Yuzuki, was the place where everything changed for Kominato Ruko along with her sudden disappearance from the group's social life, seemingly because of Iona after she became the Selector's new LRIG.

Hitoe meanwhile was thinking back to how she and Yuzuki first met Kai and shivered slightly at the thought of how Akira had almost had her at her mercy again. Thinking back over the battle, she couldn't help but admire his bravery in the face of the danger that the Selector Battles held. Deep down though, she still was worried for Ruko, but her spirits were slightly lifted after Kai revealed that Tama was now in his current possession and was willing to help both her and Yuzuki find their lost friend. Yuzuki almost had the exact same thoughts as Hitoe, only she had raised curiousity in Kai's Kagero units, wondering how it was possible that the many creatures among the clan, Dragonic Overlord in particular, could manifest themselves as LRIGs to battle for him. During their trek over to the Uemura household, Yuzuki had asked if she could see the card in order to see if she could communicate with it at this point in time.

Kai had then showed the card to her and her curiousity only got deeper when the card that was shown looked like any other LRIG that did not belong to a Selector with nothing more than a still image and the printed text. And yet despite all that, she could still feel a strange presence from the card that maybe he was aware of. If that was indeed the case, then there was something that he was not telling her or Hitoe for the time being. When the Selector and the boy had eventually arrived outside of the steps to the front door, the Selector turned around to Kai who had Tama's card held out in front of him.

"T... Thank you again Kai," she said.

"Don't worry about it," he replied "I can only hope I haven't caused too much trouble for you arriving home late."

"Everything should be fine," said Yuzuki "I'm sure Hitoe's mom will understand if we keep quiet about the Selector Battles."

Kai nodded in response to clarify that he understood, though he felt that if he was going to keep his word in helping the pair find their friend from the next day and presumably onwards, there was still something that he had to ask them about.

"How will I know where to find you tomorrow?" he asked.

"Don't worry Kai!" called Tama, causing him to turn his turn to the LRIG that he held "If Tama can feel Yuzuki nearby, Kai can find Hitoe no problem!"

"I see..." Kai replied as he then began to turn around to begin walking away.

"See you tomorrow Kai!" called Hitoe.

Kai waved a hand back to say goodbye as she went in through the front door. Once the door had closed, he then turned his attention right back to his current dillema. It was late at night, in a city he was completely unfamiliar with, which meant that finding a place to stay for the night was going to be a challenge at this time. As much as he didn't want to stay out in the open, until he could find a better option tomorrow in the daylight, he had to find someplace to sleep. Before he did so, he took out his mobile phone he had to try and get through to Miwa to let him know of his dillema. But when he attempted to make the call, the only reply he recieved was the number not being in service.

Kai just stood there confused at this very moment. The phone had still displayed a full signal and yet, if anyone knew him better than Aichi, it would have to be Miwa. But the question that was brewing in his head was why was his mobile not picking up on his signal, let alone saying that it was not in service? Did something happen to his friend? Immediately, he then shook his head clear of that thought. Just to be sure of himself, he attempted to call through to Foo Fighter Headquarters. As much as the thought of calling a certain 'accomplice' in this scenario sounded less plausible, especially at this time of night, he had to be sure that he could still contact someone that he knew well. But to his disappointment, that number listed under the name Ren, didn't appear to be in service as well.

This was starting to feel very strange for him. Just why couldn't he remain in contact with the people he knew well whilst he was stranded in a city he knew almost nothing about? Then in a mere few moments, something started to click in the back of his head. Flashing back to when he found that his cards had somehow been altered to adapt to Wixoss, he started to remember something that happened to him earlier that day concerning his sudden arrival, being able to picture what had happened back then.

_That's right! When I was walking to Card Capital earlier today among a quiet street, a Vanguard Circle suddenly appeared beneath my feet in a blinding flash. After that, I somehow ended up blacking out. Then I woke up outside of this place, eventually finding out my deck had changed. If this place is not as familiar as I thought, then..._

"Is Kai alright?" Tama asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah," he replied as he looked down to the LRIG "Sleeping outside has not been one of my more favourable ideas, but it will be easier to find a place to stay when it hits daylight tomorrow."

Tama nodded, though she had remained unsure of what to make of this answer. Most of the time at night, her card had always been indoors in Ruko's room back at her apartment, but she never had slept inside her card outdoors. Nonetheless, she yawned loudly as she began to drift off to sleep, being tired out from the long day she had been through. Kai noticed this, staring at her briefly before slipping her card back into his blazer pocket. He then began to walk back to the park, having remembered seeing a bench present there that had previously been occupied by both Yuragi and Mako before Hitoe had bumped into him several hours after his first meeting with Tama.

By the time he reached his destination, the moon was already partway in the sky, indicating that it was already very late into the night and the park was very quiet, not a person or Selector for that manner present in the vicinity. Kai then walked over to the empty bench and lay his back down on it, looking up at the night sky above him and thinking about how the day had played out for him. Much had happened since he arrived in this city and he knew that his first battle with Akira would only be the first step that he would have taken into solving the mystery that was before him.

_I don't recall of how I came to be in this very city, now having dragged myself into a conflict beyond most peoples' imagination. But what matters for the moment is to keep my word to Tama and reunite her with Kominato Ruko so I can hopefully find some more answers into these Selector Battles._

Kai stared up at the stars in the sky for a few more moments before he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**'The White Room'**

"So this Kai Toshiki you speak of Ulith, he is now somehow a participant in the Selector Battles?"

"That is right, Mayu."

Deep inside a mysterious large room with a bright white glow to it, known only to LRIGs and those who became Eternal Girls, a conversation of important matters was already taking place. The room was strange in design, with multiple gate like structures appearing in the walls all around the two people that were in their discussion. Ulith was speaking to someone who was sitting on a large throne, colored in an almost negative like hue. The other being, named "Mayu" was conversing with her over the discussion of the day's recent events, particuarly regarding Kai's arrival and sudden entrance into the Selector Battles. What intrigued Mayu the most was how Tama had managed to end up in his possession and that seemed to partially trouble her.

"More importantly, how the hell was Tama able to escape this place into that boy scum's hands?!" exclaimed Ulith.

Mayu as if to answer her question without speaking summoned a brilliant glow from behind her throne, to Ulith's right. There, right in front of her own eyes was someone shackled to a stone slab about two thirds of the height of Mayu's throne. The person in question was clearly male, evidenced by his weak groan. He wore a white shirt with long sleeves and trousers of the same color. The person had white hair with a green striped mark on his forehead and his arms and legs were fastened to the slab by several locks to keep him restrained.

"Who the hell is this trash?" Ulith asked.

"The person that aided in Tama's escape," answered Mayu "I'm unsure as to how he arrived in this place, but I have taken away most of his powers as a precaution to prevent him from breaking himself free."

The boy weakly opened his golden yellow eyes, his sight eventually coming back to him as he noticed both Ulith and the one who had imprisoned him sitting on the throne that was in front of him. He could still remember it clearly of how he ended up in this situation in the first place with many questions still going across his head as to why this was in the first place.

**_Flashback_ **

Earlier, the boy had somehow brought himself over into the 'White Room' that he was now within. Whilst traveling back from the Planet Cray to Earth after dealing with the messenger of Link Joker in a long and somewhat desperate struggle, he somehow heard a pleading cry for escape from someplace else. Deciding to investigate, he teleported himself to the source of the noise that he had heard and that was how he came to be in this situation. Walking around his limited path available to him, he eventually came across Tama, who had been feeling down after being denied the chance to return back to Ruko to sort things out with her.

After Iona had completed her contract to become an Eternal Girl and recieve her wish, to become Ruko's LRIG in the first place, she abruptly disappeared from her original card and ended up back in this very domain. When Mayu held her trapped within one of the gates, she desperately pleaded with her to return back to her former Selector in an attempt to try and talk things over with her. Sadly for Tama, it was to no avail as her hostess had left her on her own with nothing else to say to her. The boy then walked over to the gates that Tama were imprisoned inside and looked down at her, noticing her upset expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Tama looked up him, unsure of how to answer.

"Tama wants to go back," she answered, partially sobbing. Something then clicked in the boy's head, now recognizing that this was the voice he had been hearing before he arrived at this place.

"I heard your cries before I arrived here," he said "How did you end up like this?" Before Tama could try and answer his question, she turned and suddenly gasped. The boy turned as well and suddenly saw Mayu before him.

"An intruder," she spoke "You will be dealt with swiftly." Before she could do anything else, the boy suddenly held out his arm to the gates surrounding Tama as the green mark glowed brightly on his forehead, brielfy blinding Mayu in the process. The gates suddenly shattered around Tama as she looked up at the boy.

"Run Tama! Quickly!" he called.

Tama although startled and somewhat confused as to what was happening right now, nodded in compliance with the boy's request and got up to her feet. She quickly made a run for the nearest open passageway that she could find whilst she still had a chance to escape the place that she was imprisoned in. When Mayu had regained her line of sight through the brightness that had previously blinded her, she tried to seal the other gates as fast as she could, preventing the boy from joining Tama in her desperate attempt to escape in the result. But Tama was already gone from the 'White Room' by the time the final gate was sealed, the LRIG having just slipped through the closing gap by just a fraction of a second. Mayu turned and glared at the boy, not pleased with his actions at this very moment.

"Just who are you and why did you imprison her?!" he asked.

Rather answering his question however, she held out a hand in front her as a strange dark aura suddenly appeared and surrounded her entire body. A beam from the dark aura suddenly struck the boy in an instant, almost like it was somehow impaling him. As he fell to the ground, before he completely lost consciousness, he suddenly had a terrifying thought cross his mind.

 _That power... It can't be..._ Those were the last thoughts he had before he blacked out. When he reawakened, he found himself shackled to the slab that he was now bound to. Mayu stood in front of him, displeased by the recent events that he caused.

"W... Why is 'that' power with you?!" the boy demanded "Don't you realize you're endangering your entire world with it?!"

"That is not of my concern," replied Mayu "What matters is that I will fix the mess that you just caused." She held out her hand as a dark aura suddenly surrounded the boy, causing him great pain. He suddenly felt even weaker as his power was suddenly being drained over to Mayu.

_If this world falls into that 'same' chaos, then I must call apon a strong fighter now!_

The mark that was on his forehead suddenly glowed even brighter as it ever had done before, only whilst the light wasn't as bright to blind Mayu, it was enough to make her pause in her action at this moment. When the glow eventually subsided, he passed out again from exhausting himself through the use of whatever strength he had leftover. Unbeknowst to him after he had lost consciousness once again, Mayu had taken the opportunity to drain more of his power.

**_Present_ **

"I see," murmed Ulith "This boy scum just put the 'system' on the brink of collapse! If Kai reunites that LRIG trash with that Selector scum and boots off her LRIG from her possession, then..."

"That is no longer of any concern," spoke Mayu. The Selector just stared at her in confusion as she looked out to one of the open gateways in the 'White Room'. "I have faith in her abilities as Ruko's new LRIG. She will not fall as easily as you may think." Mayu then turned back to Ulith.

"Ulith, I want you to monitor Kai Toshiki, but do not engage him," she spoke "Unless we are certain he will pose a threat to the 'system'."

Ulith nodded before Mayu opened a portal for her to return back to the world that she had lived within, but at the same time was also not the one that Kai was familiar with. As the portal closed, she glanced back at the boy she had imprisoned who weakly glared at her. He held his head down as he went deep into thought.

_Kai Toshiki... So you were the one I ended up summoning... Everything is now... in your hands..._

* * *

**Kai's Dreamscape**

In the midst of it all, Kai had somehow found himself within a rather dark environment. The city all around him felt the same as the one he had ended up in earlier in the day. Crimson dark colors were present all around the sky and the buildings themselves looked like they were falling into ruin, creating a very gloomy atmosphere that he now stood within. He looked around to see several shadowy figures rush past him, a majority of them looking human like judging from most of the shapes he saw to say the least. Some of them clashed with one another, evidenced by the sound of what appeared to be weapons, some of which appeared to sound as if they were made of metal.

What caught Kai's attention the most however was what he saw on the backs of a few of the shadows that caught his eyes and for one reason or another, it looked and felt rather horrifyingly familiar. As he looked up to the darkened blood red sky, just above the tallest building in the city which seemed to resemble the building that he had traversed earlier to where he met Tama for the first time, the strange black round object with an aura of dark red radiating from it that he could see there had already all but confirmed his suspicions about what was seemingly going on.

_It's them! But how is this...?!_

Before Kai could finish processing that thought, he heard a disgusting morphing like noise from behind him. He turned around and saw the monstrousity that was now in front him. Whatever it was that he was seeing, it looked almost exactly like Tama having possessed nearly identical features to Ruko's former LRIG, only she was mutated into whatever this monster was that was now in front of him. The Tama lookalike raised her head and looked directly at Kai with a creepy smile. He could only gasp in horror as whatever he had just seen was advancing swiftly towards him, increasing her speed with her stride that she took.

* * *

**City Park**

Kai's eyes suddenly went wide awake as he shot upwards from the park bench, almost sweating from the experience that he had just witnessed as he briefly palmed over his forehead. He panted heavily before taking several deep breaths to regain his usual composure, feeling somewhat unnerved by what he had experienced at this very moment whilst sleeping on the bench since late into the evening. Eventually, he looked up to see that the sun was already beginning to rise partway into the morning sky with the sound of a few birds chirping to accompany said rise.

 _A nightmare..._ he thought  _But, why do I feel it is some sort of premonition? If that's the case..._

His thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly heard a rather loud yawn coming from his blazer pocket. He took out Tama's card and turned it around to face him, just in time to see the LRIG waking up from her long sleep. She rubbed her eyes and stretched out her arms wide before looking over to Kai and blinking for a short moment, upon noticing that his gaze had now fallen upon her now that she had woken up from her slumber.

"Good morning," he spoke.

"Mhm!" she called, The LRIG then suddenly noticed his somewhat concerned expression, having been completely unaware of the nightmare that he had just woken up from. "Did Kai sleep well...?"

"Tama, have you ever had what we call a 'bad dream'?" asked Kai.

"Um... Tama doesn't think so..." she pondered, unsure of what to make from his question and leaving a somewhat awkward silence between the two. "Why does Kai ask?"

"It's nothing," he replied, feeling that she wouldn't quite understand the concept in itself, even from her time around Ruko.

For now, he felt unwilling to discuss anything about the earlier nightmare and keep any of the details of what he experienced disclosed from her. Tama though unsure of why he almost felt like this, believed him for the moment. Immediately afterwards, she then beamed a wide smile again to try and cheer him up from his current mood, having little success in doing so. Before the two could think of anything else, they suddenly heard a large growling sound coming from somewhere near them. Kai, having realizing what this was, could only close his eyes in embarassment.

"What is it Kai?" asked Tama.

"It appears my stomach has grown rather hungry since my arrival in this place," he answered, realizing he hadn't had anything to eat since arriving in the city. He then got up from the bench and back onto his feet.

"Wait in my pocket until I have caught up on breakfast," he spoke.

"Mhm!" replied Tama.

Kai nodded in response before slipping her card back into his blazer and leaving the park to head back into the city streets in order to find a place to eat.

**_One hour later..._ **

By the time that he had managed to calm down his stomach, Kai was wandering around a different part of the city that he didn't get the chance to explore earlier. Thinking over the possibility of why he couldn't contact his friends last night, he was relieved to find that his allowance worked in the same currency as where he came from, otherwise he would have been in serious trouble with very little to do about his situation. This portion of the city was slightly more crowded than it was on the streets he explored yesterday, leading up to that one building where he first discovered the changes to his Kagero deck and where he eventually met Tama for the first time, not knowing about who or what Ruko was until he met Yuzuki and Hitoe.

Lots of people were bustling about from different buildings and malls present in the streets he wandered down and much like the previous day, some of the advertisements that he could see from both the occasional posters and electronic billboards were shown to have been advertising the Wixoss card games, one of which even depicted what appeared to be a girl with fair skin, jet black hair and brown eyes. Unbeknowst to him, this was the body of the real Iona Urazoe that Ulith had been in possession of since the Selector's final battle with Ruko or so it would seem. When Kai eventually came to sit down on a nearby bench for a brief rest, a few minutes later, he held out Tama's card in front of him.

"Can you sense Yuzuki from here?" asked Kai. Tama closed her eyes, went deep into thought for a few moments and then nodded.

"Tama can feel Yuzuki and Hitoe nearby!" she called. Before Kai could get up and begin walking, Tama continued, pointing her hand like a compass arrow for the card. "Right over there!" He looked over the many people around on the streets to see Hitoe among them. He got up from the bench and walked over towards her. Hitoe herself looked over in Kai's direction and saw him coming towards her.

"Hello Kai!" she called. Over from her card, Yuzuki saw him and waved. Kai nodded and held out Tama's card before him.

"Did you two manage to find out anything more about Ruko's whereabouts?" he asked. In response however, both Hitoe and Yuzuki shook their heads.

"Sorry Kai," the Selector replied sadly "We looked around earlier this morning, but we couldn't find her anywhere."

"What's more pressing is that I can't track her at all," Yuzuki interjected "I can only assume that Iona must be somehow blocking her Selector Rights from us and I'm also guessing she somehow knows you have Tama in your hands."

Tama's expression dropped as the LRIG could only let out a sad sigh in response, knowing that from the way things had been playing out so far, they weren't getting any closer to finding Ruko.

"I see," said Kai "Since Iona has recently become a new LRIG for Ruko, it may take some time before her new Selector Rights become present." When he had finished speaking, Yuzuki then looked up at him.

"Kai..." she spoke "I hope this doesn't sound troubling to you or anything and I know we don't want to end up facing one another in a Selector Battles thanks to our truce, but I was wondering if Hitoe and I could quickly take a look at your deck?"

Before Hitoe could protest in response to Yuzuki's question in the event that she would not get on Kai's nerves from such a request, he had already brought out his Kagero deck from his pocket and taken it out of the case.

"Here," he said, handing it over to the Selector.

She fanned through the cards that were present before her, seeing the cards that Kai had used against Akira as well a few others that he had not used in battle yet. Yuzuki looked over the many cards of the deck and pondered deep in thought about what she was now seeing before her eyes. A majority of them seemed strange to say the least and she had a feeling that Kai would know the answers as to why this was. After finishing looking over the cards that were within her viewpoint, the LRIG nodded and motioned for Hitoe to return the deck back to Kai, to which she did so.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Not at all when I think about it," replied Yuzuki "I have noticed you seem to lack a Level 4 LRIG and you don't seem to have any Spells in your deck, but knowing your skill, I don't think it really matters." She paused for a moment to think over something before continuing. "When I looked over at the LRIGs you had, I could feel something from them. It felt like they had the Wixoss factors that both Selectors and their LRIGs pick up on over battles, but at the same time, it felt like they weren't LRIGs at all. Then of course, I noticed that despite being different cards, they all have the same LRIG type, Kagero."

Hitoe and Tama could only look at both Yuzuki and Kai in confusion, not quite getting at what she was trying to say to them, but the cardfighter felt as though she was somewhat putting the pieces together to find the answers that both of them were seeking, albeit from different perspectives. The Selector-turned-LRIG then looked up at him with a serious gaze.

"I will ask again like I did last night," she said "How did you obtain those cards?"

Kai now thinking about the conclusion he came down to last night when he couldn't get in contact with either Miwa or Ren and remembering back as to how he ended up in this unfamiliar city, felt it was finally the time that he explained everything he knew to Tama, Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"This may be difficult for you to believe or to accept, much like myself," he spoke "But this world... is not the one I come from."

Hitoe and Tama gasped whilst Yuzuki could only stare up at him in disbelief. She was finding it hard to believe him from the fact that he was just saying that he came from a different world seemingly out of the blue. But then again, if the concept of other worlds was possible, especially with the existence of the 'White Room' that she and Tama had visited on seperate occasions, maybe Kai was teling the truth.

"Go on," she motioned.

"As for your curiousity about my cards," he continued "You're correct in that they aren't exactly 'LRIGs'. The truth is that they exist from a different game that I am more familiar with."

"What game?" asked Tama.

"Cardfight Vanguard," Kai answered "The cards that were unfamiliar to you represented units from a planet similar to the world I have come from along with this world to some extent. That planet is known as Cray."

To Tama, along with Yuzuki and Hitoe, the answers to the mystery behind his cards were beginning to unravel before them. Now that they were beginning to know more about these 'units' he was mentioning, things were starting to sound more clear to them.

"So... those creatures are from this 'Planet Cray'?" the Selector asked.

"I'm not so sure," replied Yuzuki "I mean, he said his cards represented the units from the planet. I'm not sure if his LRIGs would be the actual creatures... Unless..."

"That's what I was curious about myself," said Kai "Normally in the game, the Cardfighters picture themselves on the surface of Cray as astral spirits in the form of Vanguards as on the surface of the planet. I have been wondering if the same effect somehow ended up being vice-versa for the Kagero units becoming my 'LRIGs'..."

"Then the Wixoss factors must be somehow allowing your units' astral spirits to materialize in their true forms!" she gasped.

Hitoe and Tama were surprised from the conclusion that Yuzuki had drawn up. It was strange enough that Kai had come down to the conclusion that he was from another world entirely, but the fact that his cards were actually were from a different game and the units they represented were summoned from Cray to battle for him was something else to take in altogether. At that point, that was when Tama had a question of her own to ask.

"Kai, what is Kagero?" she asked.

"Kagero is one of the clans of Cray," he answered "And it's one that I'm most familiar with. I have used other clans as well. Royal Paladin, Narukami and..." He then paused as he held his head down before continuing. "One other clan." Tama, Yuzuki and Hitoe were confused. Just what was with his brief pause. Then, Hitoe remembered back to when Kai told them about the desire of pursuing his own wish, regardless of who he hurt to obtain it, eventually coming out of it with regret.

"Does it have something to do with that wish you said you once went after?" she asked.

Kai sighed under his breath and grimaced for a brief moment, having hoped to not have to discuss this subject around them. But given how far Yuzuki had already pushed him into answering her question, he knew that there was no avoiding it and he would have to tell them.

"Yes it does," he said "The clan I used to pursue my desire of becoming the strongest Vanguard Fighter was... Link Joker."

As the cardfighter finished his sentence, all the memories he had of wielding the clan came rushing back to him. He clenched his teeth upon recalling everything he had been through in the duration of his stay within the power that he chose to wield, known only as Reverse.

"What's Link Joker?" asked Yuzuki.

"Link Joker... was an evil clan," said Kai "It is the avatar of a supernatural presence known as the Void. It has existed for millions of years, bringing ruin apon dozens of worlds, reducing them to nothingness. I knew from firsthand experience that this clan was one I shouldn't have used, but I let my desire to surpass Aichi and Ren at that time get the better of me. As a result, I ended up killing off the person I used to be before I wielded Link Joker as my own."

Yuzuki having listened closely could see now why he was hesitant to reveal this particular bit of information about himself, especially given what he had done over the course of those events. Thinking back over the past events in her own adventures within the Selector Battles, she remembered that in her efforts to try and get across her true feelings to her brother Kazuki, she had to heavily rely on her former LRIG Hanayo to make her wish come true. And in the end, the overall result was betrayal from the LRIG because of Mayu's dominance over the Selector Battles and how she had governed the rules from within her domain, the White Room.

She could see that she was somewhat in 'the same boat' as Kai as the both of them had gone to great lengths to obtain their desires on their own seperate occasions, only she couldn't just spit out her dillema to anyone for one reason, the only person knowing about this being Ruko herself. Her wish overall would have meant jumping into the boundaries of forbidden love and she knew about the heavy backlash she would end up recieving from other people that would result in both her and Kazuki suffering from this. Focusing her attention back to the group's discussion, Yuzuki decided to worry about that topic for a later time, considering she thought that Hitoe and Kai, or at least one of the two would somehow find out eventually.

"I see," she said "So you've been carrying a heavy burden."

"That's right," replied Kai "If Aichi hadn't brought me to my senses back then, then I'm sure that I wouldn't have stood before you as of now."

"So... what exactly happened when you used Link Joker?" asked Hitoe.

"I traveled across my world," he explained "Reversing Cardfighters as if it meant nothing to me, as long as I would surpass both Aichi and Ren. Link Joker in the game is dangerous due to their nature of locking units to gain more of an advantage on the battlefield. Although your world has its own fair share of chaos with the dark nature of the Selector Battles, Eternal Girls and LRIGs, you should be thankful that evil I made so many people back home experience firsthand has not descended here. I wouldn't want to imagine if the Selectors and LRIGs were to face that power whilst also having to not just worry about losing 3 times or becoming trapped within Mayu's twisted vision."

As a harsh breeze whistled across the place from where Kai and Hitoe were standing, a sudden chill ran down her spine, as well as Yuzuki's. Both the Selector and LRIG almost tensed up from hearing everything that he confessed to in his time alongside Link Joker, having not previously expected the weight of recalling such an event, especially if he was practically the cause of it to have been so great.

Over from her card, Tama could only stare up at him. He had just openly admitted that he once almost destroyed his own world with an evil power to fufill his desire of surpassing this Aichi and Ren that he mentioned. Taking that into thought and thinking back to several occasions she had witnessed with Ruko breaking down over the fact that she was slipping into her secret desire of enjoying the Selector Battles, despite the pain that they brought to anyone else in her path, she couldn't help but wonder if a similar scenario to Kai's was already happening because of Iona's influence as Ruko's new LRIG. She held her head down in worry, the thought of the inevitable having already crossed her mind.

"Yuzuki, Hitoe... Kai doesn't think..." she said.

"No way!" Yuzuki interrupted "Ruko wouldn't enter any Selector Battles unless all of her options had been considered! We can't just give up on her like that!"

"Yeah," said Kai "I gave my word that I would return you back to her and I have no intention on going back on that promise."

Tama looked up at the cardfighter to see that he was serious in what he said and could only give out a large smile with the knowledge that he was going to make sure that she and Ruko were reunited with one another.

"Mhm!" she called, having cheered up now. Kai smiled a little before turning his attention back to Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"Do you know a place where I can find the means to possibly adjust my deck for whatever lies ahead?" he asked.

"I know a place where we can find a way to fix up your deck," answered Yuzuki "I've been there with Ruko and Hitoe before." She then looked up at said Selector. "If you would kindly lead the way there?" she asked. Hitoe nodded and turned to Kai.

"Follow me," she said.

Kai nodded in response before the two set out together into the streets, in search of a place that would be necessary for him to make the necessary modifications to his deck for the challenges that would lie ahead in their search for Ruko. Over from a nearby lampost that was beside from where they were previously standing, Ulith who had been sent back to this world to monitor Kai for Mayu had listened in on every bit of their conversation.

_So this boy scum is not from this world. And his LRIGs are actually units from a different planet. How interesting..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it after the successful transfer of the first bunch! Hope you newcomers to the story I've worked on for a long while now are having a good time with it! A note of caution. As these first four chapters were revamped in 2016, expect a dip in quality until around 20-ish or so (apologies for that in advance). That aside, I'll see you again very soon with the next four or five chapters in the next bunch. Even if they have already been completed for some time, I would still very much appreciate hearing all of your thoughts and criticisms, for they will still be useful as I continue to work on the latest chapters of Stand Up, the LRIG! in its original home. With that in mind, I hope you've enjoyed these first few chapters.


	5. Arc 1 - Ride 05: That Clan is Kagero

The local store known as Card Luck was not as busy as it would normally be on weekends and certain special events, particuarly those related to Wixoss as of recently. Even though most of the casual players in the store were unaware of the Selector Battles and the secrets that they held within, the game itself had recently seen an uprise in the number of female players, partially due to those circumstances. The shopkeeper was busy overlooking some of the games that were currently going on in the store at the current moment, whilst also having her mind preoccupied by a certain thought. Earlier in the morning, she seemed to notice an oddity in one of the booster box shipments that the store had recieved and she didn't want to put it up on the sale yet, unless she was absolutely certain that the set was legitimate. Her preoccupied thoughts were interrupted when she heard some footsteps over from the stairs that led to the bottom floor of the building. She then turned to see Hitoe enter the store with Kai walking behind her.

"Oh, welcome Hitoe-san," she greeted.

"Hello," replied Hitoe. The shopkeeper greeted her with a kind nod before looking over to Kai.

"So who is this person you've brought along?" she asked.

"My name is Kai Toshiki," he replied "I am currently a novice into the game of Wixoss. Hitoe told me I could come here if I needed to find a way to fix up my deck." Hitoe blushed a little inside. Though Kai had said it out to cover up the details of Yuzuki's current state, it was Yuzuki's idea to head over to Card Luck in the first place and she was a little embarrassed for taking credit where it wasn't due.

"Well, you've come to the right place," replied the shopkeeper "So what kind of LRIG do you specialize in your deck?"

"Kagero," he answered. The shopkeeper suddenly froze a little at the mention of that name. Kai noticed this.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"N... no," she replied "Its just that, earlier today, we had an oddity in our shipment and now that I think about it, I definitely remember seeing the name Kagero somewhere within the shipping details. Hold on a second." She reached down behind the counter and eventually came back up holding a single box of Wixoss on the front counter now. The box had the Wixoss logo imprinted on the front face with a crimson fiery red colour in the background and the words "Flames of Purgatory" imprinted beneath the logo. Looking at the top face of the box, Kai could already see several units that he was already familiar. Staring closely, he could recognize those units as "Vortex Dragon", "Blazing Flare Dragon" and "Blazing Core Dragon" and also noticed the words "Unleash the fiery blaze of Kagero!" imprinted on the box, just above Vortex Dragon's right wing.

"I see," he murmured "So this may be the set I require to adjust my deck."

"I guess so," replied the shopkeeper "Seeing that you somehow know something about this Kagero, I'll be kind enough to sell as many boosters as you want, at the same price as the other packs here of course." Kai then briefly glanced at the other booster sets, noticing their price tags for either a single booster or a whole box, then he took out his wallet and lay down a handful of cash on the counter.

"I'll purchase the entire box if it's alright with you," he said. The shopkeeper nodded happily as she made the transaction for Kai's payment.

_**A few minutes later...** _

Kai had opened his way through all of the packs that the single box had to offer, finding both SIGNI and LRIGs that his units had transformed into as well as several other ARTS and Spells that he could consider teching into his current deck. Needless to say, he was pretty pleased that he was getting some of his old units back by his side to aid him in his struggle to find Ruko and discover the truth behind the Selector Battles. Hitoe sat beside him whilst he went through the packs, taking great interest in some of the Kagero units that he had managed to pull from the packs. Yuzuki and Tama, having watched from their cards, noticed the pack opening as well and took greater interest into the LRIG cards he had managed to obtain.

"Kagero..." murmured Tama "Looks amazing."

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "Kai mentioned he had used these units before in that other game he mentioned playing back in his own world. Cardfight... Um... What was the last word again?"

"Vanguard!" replied Tama.

"Right, sorry about forgetting that," she said in embarassment "Anyway, with something he's more experienced with fighting beside him, our chances of finding Ruko may have just gone up even more." Tama nodded in both excitement and agreement. Before she, Yuzuki or their respective holders could even think of anything else, she suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. Yuzuki glanced across to Tama before recieving the same feeling as well.

"I feel a Selector nearby!" she called "Heading straight for us!" Before Hitoe or Kai could even ask her about anything else...

"I found more!" called a loud voice from the bottom of the stairs. As the two turned their heads towards the exit, right in an instant, a blur had leaped all the way up the stairs into the shop room. The newcomer in the shop was shorter than Hitoe and Kai and surprisingly fast on her feet. One moment she was right by the top of the stairs and the next, she was already over by the table. Hitoe almost jumped from the sudden energy that this girl had whilst Kai remained still, slightly caught off guard by the girl's sudden arrival. She had two long braids of dark hair, each held up by a pink hairband of some sort that had the design pattern of a cartoonish skull. Her bag that she carried appeared to harbor the same design of a cartoonish skull, only it was colored white rather than pink. She wore pink goggles on her head with white rims and a very large scarf or something of the sort that she wrapped into a ridiculously large bowtie. She also wore a long pink coat over her lighter colored shirt, some yellowish colored shorts and some pink and black striped stockings under her long white boots.

"You were right Eldora!" she called "We've found more Selectors here today!" She suddenly stared across the room, then back to Hitoe and Kai, with a partially confused look. Then, she reached out in her pocket for her LRIG in question and pulled out the card.

"Eldora, I thought you said there was more that one Selector around here!" she snapped, partially annoyed by this turn of events.

"I did Chiyori," replied Eldora "There was this girl and..." The LRIG looked across her surroundings and upon looking at Kai, she suddenly found the answer to qwelll her Selector's doubts.

"So you're the LRIG that led this Selector to us," he spoke "Eldora and Chiyori were your names if I'm correct?"

"T... That's right," the LRIG answered "How is it you can see me?" Chiyori stared at Kai and could only let out a very confused "EH?!".

"I would say it would be a rare coincidence," said Kai "If I wasn't in possession of an LRIG myself." He then revealed Tama's card to make his point clear. Upon seeing Eldora, Tama greeted her with a wide smile.

"Tama says hello!" she beamed. Eldora could only greet her with a warm smile, but at the same time, she felt some sort of strange vibe. Like she somehow knew this LRIG from before, but couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Hey Chiyori!" called Yuzuki. As Chiyori and Eldora scanned the room to find out where Yuzuki's voice had come from, Hitoe brought over the card from the table that she and Kai were sitting at. Yuzuki looked at both Eldora and Chiyori, the latter of which was surprised to see her in this state.

"Do you remember me?" she asked. Chiyori nodded to response to her question.

"Wait, you two met before?" asked Hitoe.

"But of course," answered Eldora "You were the Selector that Chiyori had her first battle with and promptly lost to." A small tick mark appeared on Chiyori's head as she pouted in annoyance. Once in a while whenever she went out to look for Selectors, Eldora would sometimes tease her about her first battle with Yuzuki with the overconfidence she had back then. As much as she found her LRIG fun to hang around with, at times she felt that Eldora could be a little annoying when she felt like it. Yuzuki then cleared her throat to try and get the conversation back onto the topic at hand.

"Chiyori," she said "If you want what's best for yourself and Eldora, turn your back on the Selector Battles now!"

"Erm... Why exactly?" asked Chiyori.

"Do you want to end up like Yuzuki?" replied Kai "Is this what you're willing to go through for the sake of winning?" Chiyori pondered for a moment, taking what Yuzuki and Kai had just said into account. Then, she finally had answer of her own.

"Oh that's right!" she replied "The Selector becomes the LRIG themself and the story continues from there!"

"Story?" pondered Tama, curious as to what she meant. Chiyori dug into her bag and pulled out a book. She showed it briefly to Kai and Hitoe before putting it back inside her bag.

"That's a novel," murmured Yuzuki "She showed one to me when we first met. Only this one is..."

"That's right!" replied Chiyori "Volume 2 to be precise! My true wish is to venture into the world of Wixoss itself!" As soon as she realized that she had said her wish out aloud however, she quickly shut her mouth in embarassment. Kai and Yuzuki could only sigh at this.

"Come to think of it, what would be a good name for me if I became an LRIG?" she pondered "Chiyorinda? Chiyoringa? Chiyo-number blah, blah, blah..." As Chiyori continued to murmur away at the prospects of becoming an LRIG whilst sharing some banter with Eldora, Hitoe and Yuzuki only looked at each other in worry. Kai had equal concern for the Selector's state of mind as well whilst Tama just stared at both the Selector and LRIG in confusion before turning to him.

"Why does Chiyori want to be an LRIG?" she asked.

"I wish I knew," he answered "But I believe that novel she is reading may hold a clue as to why." As he finished his sentence, Chiyori jumped right in front of him to his utmost surprise.

"Say "boy" Selector!" she called "What's your name?"

"Kai Toshiki," he answered.

"Would you be honored to give Chiyori a battle?" she asked. Hitoe gasped in worry whilst Tama's eyes widened in excitement, looking forward to seeing if Kai was willing to accept Chiyori's challenge.

"Wait Chiyori!" called Yuzuki "Do you really want to go through with this? How many times have you lost since our battle?!"

"Relax," she replied "My first battle was the only one I lost."

"But you haven't found many other Selectors," said Eldora "I'm not sure if challenging Kai immediatly would be wise."

"Are you saying I can't beat him?!" snapped Chiyori. Before Eldora could reply to her question, Kai got up from his seat and looked down on Chiyori.

"I will accept your challenge," he said "But are you sure you don't want to take this battle into a casual game? From what I can see, both of us are still not fully familiar with what the Selector Battles may hold." Before Chiyori could reply to his answer, Eldora had already spoken out for her.

"He does have a point," she said "It would be wise if practice would make perfect for your state." Chiyori pouted for a brief moment, annoyed that Kai was only willing to take this battle to a casual battle so the real Eldora would not be involved.

"Fine," she sighed "I will battle under those conditions. But the next time we battle each other, we will enter a Selector Battle, okay?" Kai nodded in agreement to those conditions.

A few minutes later, the two of them borrowed a double sided playmat from the shopkeeper to use for their battle and laid it down on the table. Kai and Chiyori were seated on opposite ends of the table, preparing for their casual battle whilst Hitoe watched from the center with Tama, Yuzuki and Eldora's cards held up for them to observe the battle.

"Geez," sighed Chiyori "Just battling without the real Eldora might make this a boring match."

"There may be a way for you to keep your attention focused," replied Kai.

"How so?" she asked.

"Image it," he answered "The two of us have been transported to the space where our LRIGs are prepared for battle under our command."

"Oh, I see!" called Chiyori "So you imagine yourself there to avoid from being bored of these casual battles!"

"In a sense, you're right," said Kai "Now then, are you ready?"

"Mhm!" The two then reached for their starting LRIGs on their respective ends of the playmat.

"Open!" called Chiyori.

"Open, "the" LRIG!" called Kai. As they flipped up their starting LRIGs, Chiyori briefly stared at Kai in confusion.

"Is "the LRIG" really that necessary?" she murmured. Netherless, she turned her attention back to playing the game as it was.

"Eldora=Mark 0!"

"Lizard Soldier, Conroe!"

Chiyori looked closely at the card in disbelief for a moment, having not been familiar with Kai's Kagero cards before.  _Is this LRIG even legitimate? Even so, I wonder what Kai here has for this battle._ "I'll go first!" she called as she drew her card "Ener Charge and grow, Eldora=Mark 1'!" In the battle that was pictured in Kai's mind as well as Chiyori's to some extent, nothing changed much of Eldora's appearance, but the LRIG had recieved a large pink hammer with gold faces and a dark bluish pole that the barrel of the hammer was attached to. _  
_

"Growing Eldora in this state will now let me discard 1 of my cards in exchange for drawing 1 more," Chiyori spoke as she performed the action that was required. "Summoning Una, Water Phantom and using her ability. I peek at the top card of my Life Cloth and leave it there."After looking at the top card of the Life Cloths she had, she looked back to Kai. "Over to you."

"So she can peek at the Life Cloths she has?" asked Hitoe.

"That's right," replied Eldora "Chiyori's deck focuses on the using my abilities as well as her SIGNI, Spells and ARTS to manipulate Life Cloths."

"I was only lucky to win my battle against her due to her inexperience at the time," said Yuzuki "But if she has gotten better, Kai may be in for a mindboggling time."

"Go Kai!" called Tama from her card.

"My turn," spoke Kai "Draw and Ener Charge. I grow Embodiment of Armor, Bahr and summon 2 Iron Tail Dragons!" In the battle pictured in his mind, Bahr appeared in the place of Conroe whilst the Iron Tail Dragons appeared both in front of the demon as well as to the left.

"My first Iron Tail Dragon attacks Una!" Chiyori moved the defeated SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Then my other Iron Tail Dragon attacks Eldora!" As the first Life Cloth, 'Ryuuguu, Water Phantom', moved to Chiyori's Ener Zone. She caught her eye on the black section at the bottom of the text box.

"Got a Life Burst," she said "I move one Life Cloth to my hand and put the top card of my deck in its place."

"Finally, Bahr attacks!"

"Servant O will guard!" In the battle that Kai was picturing, Servant O took the brunt of Bahr's attack whilst Eldora swung her hammer to counteract the next swipe of the demon's blade. The impact of the hammer swing knocked Bahr back to Kai's side of the field. Back to reality, Chiyori placed the Servant O card in her Trash Pile.

"Turn end," Kai spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Eldora=Mark I'**

**SIGNI: Iron Tail Dragon - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 3**

"Yes! Now it's the heroine Chiyori's turn!" called Chiyori. Kai could only look at her in curiousity for her term 'heroine'.  _She reminds me somewhat of Kamui, both are full of energy and seek an intense battle. 'Heroine...' Could her wish be...?_

"Hey, what's the matter?" she asked.

"It's nothing," replied Kai "Please continue."

"Alright then! Draw and Ener Charge!" she called "Grow, Eldora=Mark II'! Then I summon Chounan, Water Phantom!" In the battle pictured in Kai's mind, Eldora's pigtails grew longer and her hammer had vanished into thin air. Chounan appeared in front of Eldora in a kneeled stance, facing Bahr and the two Iron Tail Dragons that were present.

"With Chounan's ability," Chiyori explained "I trash a Life Cloth and add the top card of my deck in its place." She moved on of her hands over a Life Cloth of her choice and flipped it face up. The card revealed was Octo, Water Phantom before it was moved to Chiyori's Trash Pile. The top card of her deck was then placed at the top of the pile of Life Cloths. "I also summon a pair of Kozame, Water Phantoms. With their abilities, their powers becomes 5000 and Eldora's own ability powers up all of my SIGNI by 1000 at all times."

"Impressive," murmured Kai "By taking advantage of each of their abilities, you've managed to assemble a strong formation in your second turn. But this battle is far from over."

"Mhm! And now to battle!" called Chiyori "My first Kozame attacks Bahr!" In the battle pictured in their minds, Kozame unleashed a torrent of water at Bahr, knocking the demon back a few steps. Back into reality, Kai revealed his first Life Cloth.

"Blue Ray Dracokid's Life Burst!" he called "I give 5000 power to my center Iron Tail Dragon as well as the Lancer ability. Those power increases will last until the end of my next turn."

"Tsk! So Chounan can't beat the Iron Tail Dragon in front of it," pouted Chiyori "But your other one is still exposed to my other Kozame. Attack!" Kai moved the defeated Iron Tail Dragon to his Ener Zone. "Next, Eldora!"

"No guard," spoke Kai as he moved his second crushed Life Cloth, Cross Shot Garp, to his Ener Zone. No Life Burst was present on it though.

"And now, the heroine Chiyori ends her turn!" called Chiyori.

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 4 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Eldora=Mark II'**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : Kozame, Water Phantom - Chounan, Water Phantom - Kozame, Water Phantom**

**Ener - 4 : 3**

"Chiyori has taken the lead," murmured Yuzuki.

"But, she could have wrecked more of Kai's formation if she attacked the 2 Iron Tail Dragons first," replied Eldora "I'm sure she's still in over her head."  _Even so, what was with that weird feeling I had from those LRIGs Kai used?_

"Battle Kai!" called Tama.

"Up and draw," spoke Kai "I Ener Charge and grow Dragon Knight, Aleph. I summon Embodiment of Spear, Tahr and pay the cost for Aleph's ability." Chiyori looked across in wonder to see what Kai was about to do next. "I move a copy of Bahr from my LRIG deck to the stack underneath my current LRIG and Tahr to my Ener Zone. By doing this, I can search my LRIG deck and grow!" Chiyori then gasped, realizing what Kai was about to perform.

"Superior Grow! Embodiment of Victory, Aleph!" Over on the imagined battlefield, both the dragon and Aleph transformed in a blinding orange glow. When it subsided, Aleph looked far more demonic that it was previously whilst the dragon's skin colour had just merely changed from orange to grey.

"You managed to get to Level 3 in only your second turn?!" gasped Chiyori.

"Impressive," murmured Yuzuki "Hitoe has a card herself that allows the same effect on me."

"Tama wonders if Kai will use Overlord at this point though," said Tama. She then turned back to the battle to see how things would play out from there.

"I use the ARTS Fiery Spring Landscape and check the top card of my deck," spoke Kai.

"Ah, I know this one!" called Chiyori "If it's a Gem or Ore SIGNI, you can draw it and 1 additional card. Will you be lucky though?" Kai flipped the top card over, revealing Alluring Stone, Silvan.

"Since Silvan is a Ore SIGNI," he spoke "I add it to my hand and draw. I then summon that SIGNI with Dual Axe Archdragon!" As Chiyori looked over Kai's field, she could only groan from the advantage he had just pulled. "First, I'll have my powered up Iron Tail Dragon attack Chounan!"

"So long," she sighed as she placed the card in her Ener Zone.

"Not yet," spoke Kai "Iron Tail Dragon still has the Lancer effect it gained from Blue Ray Dracokid's Life Burst until the end of this turn so your LRIG takes 1 damage!" Chiyori then placed the top Life Cloth she had into her Ener Zone. It was another copy of Una, but no Life Burst was present on it.

"Next, Silvan and Dual Axe will attack your other two SIGNI!" Both copies of Kozame moved to Chiyori's Ener Zone after being defeated.

"Finally, Aleph attacks!" Chiyori placed her next crushed Life Cloth, PLUS RUSH, into her Ener Zone. She smiled in joy when she noticed the Life Burst effect on the bottom of the card.

"Yes!" she called "Searching my deck for a SIGNI with a Life Burst and putting it into my hand!" She searched through her main deck and revealed Servant Q to Kai before concealing it in her hand and shuffling the deck.

"Turn end," spoke Kai.

**End of Turn 4**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Eldora=Mark II'**

**SIGNI: Alluring Stone, Silvan - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 3 : 5**

"Let's go!" called Chiyori "Draw and Ener Charge! Grow, Eldora=Mark III'!" Over on the imagined battlefield, Eldora gained a large X like structure on her back as well as a transparent azure visor and retrieving back her trusty hammer. The hammer's barrel was now mostly pink and some of the folds on her skirt had gotten longer.

"Using her ability, I look at my top two Life Cloths and put them back in any order." Chiyori picked up the topmost two Life Cloths she had and put them back in the opposite order after taking a good look at them.

"Attack!"

"No guard," spoke Kai before he moved the topmost Life Cloth he had to his Ener Zone. The card revealed was Seal Dragon, Artpique.

"Got a Life Burst," he said "Draw."

"Turn end," replied Chiyori.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Eldora=Mark III'**

**SIGNI: Alluring Stone, Silvan - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 5**

"That's strange," murmured Yuzuki.

"What's strange?" asked Tama.

"Chiyori didn't summon any SIGNI this turn," answered Eldora "Her hand must not be looking so good or she's saving something."

"I see," said Hitoe "She must be saving some SIGNI to use later when Kai has finished with his attacks."

"Up and draw. Ener Charge." Kai then looked across to Chiyori, the small Selector still holding both excitement and determination in her eyes. He then closed his eyes as he spoke towards her.

"It seems you aren't as bad as Eldora made you out to be," he said "Your deck has an interesting balance of power and manipulation. But from what I can gather, you've still got a long way to go to becoming a strong Wixoss player." Chiyori pouted a little from what Kai had to say, but she didn't let it get her down.

"So you think I could maybe...?" she asked in curiousity.

"Maybe," replied Kai "But, the world of Selectors is not forgiving as it appears. Allow me to teach you that." He then opened his eyes with fierce determination.

"Grow the Vanguard! The blazing hellfire that reduces everything in its presence to ash!" he called as he placed his new LRIG onto Aleph's card.

"Vortex Dragon!" Over on the imagined battlefield, a whirlwind of an inferno consumed Aleph, removing him from the battle before two large bluish grey wings with a very light yellow wingspan emerged from the blaze. As the flames faded out, the blazing inferno had revealed a large bluish grey dragon with dark red eyes and three pronged claws. It stared ominously at the imagined Eldora, hovering just a few feet above the ground. Back in the shop, Chiyori could only stare in confusion.

"Why would you swap out one Level 3 LRIG for a different one?" she asked "You do realize you wasted 2 Ener in doing so, right?" She then looked back at Kai to see he wasn't concerned in the slightest.

"Allow me to show you, the true power of the Kagero clan!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards used by Kai:  
>  **Lizard Soldier, Conroe**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Red and move this card stacked beneath your current LRIG to your LRIG Trash: Search your deck for 1 Level 1 Red SIGNI, add it to your hand and shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Dragon Knight, Aleph**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 1 Red  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Red, choose a card from your LRIG Deck named “Embodiment of Armor, Bahr” and move it underneath your LRIG and choose a SIGNI named “Embodiment of Spear, Tahr” and move it to your Ener Zone: Choose a card from your LRIG deck named “Embodiment of Victory, Aleph” and Grow it, ignoring the Grow conditions.
> 
>  **Embodiment of Victory, Aleph**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 4 Red: This LRIG gains Double Crush until end of turn.
> 
>  **Embodiment of Spear, Tahr**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your Red SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER


	6. Arc 1 - Ride 06: This Strength is Overwhelming

As the battle between Kai and Chiyori continued to play out, those who were watching from the side of the table looked closely at Vortex Dragon's card. Hitoe and Yuzuki were still curious as to why he decided to swap out Aleph who was already Level 3, with Vortex Dragon who was also Level 3. Even Tama was surprised by this play, considering she mostly expected him to Grow Dragonic Overlord at this point. She turned to Yuzuki.

"Why isn't Kai using Overlord?" she asked in curiosity.

"I guess Kai wants to test out Vortex Dragon's abilities," murmured Yuzuki "Considering that it is the first time he's used it in Wixoss."

Over from her card, Eldora stared closely at Vortex Dragon's card, curious as to how something like this even existed as an LRIG.  _This is nothing like the LRIGs that Chiyori and I have come across. Even though it appears to be like any other LRIG card that belongs to a non-Selector, I can still feel a strange presence..._

"Are you curious about Kai's cards?" asked Yuzuki, interrupting Eldora's thoughts. Chiyori's LRIG snapped out of her ponder and turned back to Yuzuki.

"Yeah," she answered "Do you know something about them?"

Yuzuki nodded and began to explain everything that she knew about Kai's Kagero cards and the Planet Cray to Eldora. Tama also joined in on the conversation, though most of her comments were more about Dragonic Overlord and how strong it looked in Kai's first Selector Battle. Meanwhile, just beside the entrance to the shop room, a girl in a dark school uniform was observing the battle. She wore a dark black shirt along with a short red skirt. A portion of her brown hair covered over one of her brown eyes. The girl held a card in her right hand and was staring closely at the table where the battle was taking place, mostly intrigued by what Kai had to offer. Back over to said battle, Kai continued on with his turn.

"With Vortex Dragon's ability," he spoke "I flip over the top card of my deck. If it is a Red SIGNI, it goes to my Ener Zone. Anything else and it is sent to the bottom of the deck and I must also trash a card from my Ener Zone."

"So you're taking a gamble?" murmured Chiyori "This 'ought to be fun! Now then, let's see what you get!" Kai nodded and flipped over the top card. It revealed Dragon Monk, Genjo.

"Since it's a Red SIGNI, I move it to my Ener Zone," he said as he moved the card there. "Now then, to my Attac..."

"Not so fast!" called Chiyori "ARTS, But Any Other! With this, I declare a number between 1 and 4 and if my top Life Cloth happens to be a SIGNI of that Level, none of my Life Cloths can be crushed this turn!" Yuzuki at first was about to blurt out that a gamble was going to be ridiculous in this scenario, but Eldora glanced across to her to tell her that there was nothing that Chiyori had to be concerned about. Yuzuki turned back to face Kai who didn't seem fazed by this, though she could tell there was a small hint of disappointment on his expression. He looked across to Chiyori and smiled a little.

"Impressive," he said "By utilizing Eldora's ability last turn to swap your top 2 Life Cloths from looking at them, you know exactly which Level to declare."

"Of course!" replied Chiyori "I declare Level 4!" She revealed the Life Cloth to be Servant Q before placing it back on top of her other Life Cloths.

"In that case, I will just end my turn," spoke Kai "But, your ARTS forces you to trash one of your Life Cloths at this point." Chiyori didn't worry about it as she picked the second Life Cloth she had placed back on the previous turn, revealed to be another copy of Chounan, Water Phantom and placed it in her Trash Pile.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark III'**

**SIGNI: Silvan, Natural Stone - Iron Tail Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 2**

"My, Chiyori's actually doing better than recently," murmured Eldora "She's still hanging in there, making the best of the resources she has at her disposal."

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki "Had she not seen her top two Life Cloths last turn, Kai could have brought her down to 1 Life Cloth in an instant."

"How so?" asked Hitoe.

"Don't you remember? Chiyori used a Life Burst earlier to put Servant Q in her hand at the ready to fend off Vortex Dragon," she answered "Even if Kai used the ARTS One Rule, Two Birds, Chiyori would still be able to Guard as Servant Q is Level 4." Tama over from her card just pouted from the fact that Kai couldn't get a single attack through that would do anything to swing the game in his favour. Nonetheless, she was intrigued to see what Vortex Dragon was capable of.

"Yes! And now, the great heroine draws and Ener Charges!" called Chiyori "The time has come for her LRIG to emerge at the height of its potential! And with it, the story will shine the torch of victory on the amazing Chiyori! Grow, Eldora=Mark IV'!" On the imagined battlefield, an aura of sparks and electricity coursed through Eldora, making her appear more brighter than before. Her hammer had also been affected by this aura, turning into a gold colour with sparks coursing through it.

"Then I'll Summon 2 Shiira's and a single copy of Octo!" Kai noticed the SIGNI appear in front of his own. Both Shiira, Water Phantoms were Level 4 and despite going through the packs, he didn't obtain a single Level 4 LRIG to use as his own.

"Attack!" called Chiyori. Kai moved all of his defeated SIGNI to his Ener Zone before briefly looking back at his hand. "Then Eldora will bring the hammer down on Vortex Dragon!"

"No guard," he spoke. In the battle he pictured, Eldora took a giant leap into the air and with a swing of her hammer, she knocked quite a punch into Vortex Dragon. Kai flipped over the crushed Life Cloth, revealing it to be Wyvern Guard, Barri.

"Got a Life Burst," spoke Kai "Ener Charge." Chiyori held a wide grin from managing to turn the tide of the battle, for now at least.

"Turn End!" she smiled.

**End of Turn 7**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 5 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Shiira, Water Phantom - Octo, Water Phantom - Shiira, Water Phantom**

**Ener - 10 : 0**

"Draw and Ener Charge," Kai spoke "Using Vortex Dragon's ability, I flip the top card of my deck." He revealed the card to be Gatling Claw Dragon, which he placed in his Ener Zone afterwards. That was when Chiyori began to notice something.

"Wait a second," she said "Don't tell me... Your deck doesn't have a single Spell?!"Over from her card, Eldora could only look up at Kai in surprise, wondering why he had chosen to settle with a build such as this.

"That is correct," replied Kai "Whilst I admit this wasn't the best option I had in mind to building this deck, it helps to build up the Ener I need, for this!"

"This?" murmured Chiyori.

"Allow me to show you, Vortex Dragon's true power," he spoke "Megablast!" As all 12 cards in Kai's Ener Zone entered his Trash, Chiyori started to feel nervous all of a sudden.

"Image it," said Kai "This very battlefield and all who stand on it before us shake under the weight of an omonious dragon!" Chiyori suddenly began to picture the way things were being carried out on the battlefield. A whirlwind of crimson fire swirled around Vortex Dragon as it began to charge up power for its ability.

"The flames of purgatory raging within can no longer be contained! Its fiery roar reduces everything in this world to ash! Vortex Dragon, Burning Hell!" Vortex Dragon unleashed a torrent of crimson red fire right at Eldora. The LRIG managed to jump back to dodge the blaze, but the SIGNI were not so lucky. They were caught in the inferno and incinerated in an instant. As the cards moved over to Chiyori's Ener Zone, she could only stare at Vortex Dragon's card in shock.

"How did... How did you manage to take out all of my SIGNI at once?" she asked.

"Vortex Dragon's Megablast," explained Kai "By paying 12 Red SIGNI cards from my Ener, I can choose up to 3 SIGNI and banish them."

"I see!" gasped Yuzuki "Vortex Dragon's ability for Ener Charging made it possible for Kai to pay the cost earlier!"

"But even so, Kai's no longer got any cards in his Ener Zone," said Hitoe "Won't that affect him badly?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," replied Eldora "He just took out 2 of Chiyori's strongest offence and he doesn't seem to be stopping there."

"Go Kai!" called Tama with upbeat enthusiam.

"I summon Calamity Tower Wyvern and pay the Exceed cost of 2," Kai spoke as he moved the two copies of Bahr stacked beneath Vortex Dragon to the LRIG Trash. "I draw a card. Summon!" Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara and Silvan, Alluring Stone were placed alongside Calamity Tower Wyvern.

"Calamity Tower Wyvern will attack Eldora!" Chiyori could only "TSK!" as she couldn't do anything to stop the SIGNI from attacking. The first Life Cloth, Servant Q, had its Life Burst triggered allowing her to Ener Charge Pearl, Water Phantom.

"Using Eldora's ability," she said "I draw 1 card each time one of my Life Bursts is triggered."

"Next!" called Kai as he downed Kimnara's card. The next Life Cloth Una entered Chiyori's Ener Zone, no Life Burst present on the card. Then as Kai downed Silvan's card, Servant O entered her Ener Zone, triggering another Life Burst allowing her to Ener Charge Ryuuguu, Water Phantom before drawing another card.

"Vortex Dragon!" On the imagined battlefield, Vortex Dragon let out a roar at Eldora before flapping its large wings and charging towards her, ready to strike with its raised left claw.

"Guard!" called Chiyori as she pulled and revealed Servant Q out of her hand. Kai nodded before she placed the card in her Trash Pile.

"Turn End."

**End of Turn 8**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'**

**SIGNI: Silvan, Alluring Stone - Calamity Tower Wyvern - Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 8**

Kai looked at Chiyori who had her head down.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He was suddenly met with the unexpected response. Chiyori bounced back up with even more energy than she had before and an energetic smile to match that.

"Awesome!" she called "I didn't think your Vortex Dragon was capable of something like that! But now, the real battle begins!" Kai could only smile a little from her enthusiasm and nodded.

"Come then!" he replied.

"Yes! Draw and Ener Charge!" called Chiyori "Summon and ARTS, Cloth Crush Flash!" She moved Servant O and Una, Water Phantom from her Ener Zone to her Trash before gazing back at Kai's Life Cloths.

"Now reveal the top Life Cloth you have," she said. Kai revealed the card to be Dual Axe Archdragon. "Since it has no Life Burst on it," Chiyori continued "You must place it in your Trash." He nodded and placed Archdragon's card in his Trash.

"Then I'll use the same ARTS again!" called Chiyori "Now reveal your next Life Cloth!" Kai revealed the next Life Cloth to be Iron Tail Dragon in which he promptly placed the card in his Trash Pile like before. "One more!" Kai flipped up Berserk Dragon before placing it into his Trash Pile.

"Then I'll use Plus Rush to look at your last Life Cloth and Trash it," Chiyori continued "But there is an upside. That Life Cloth is replaced with the top card of your deck." Kai revealed the Life Cloth to be Dragon Monk, Genjo before placing it in his Trash Pile and putting the top card of his deck in its place.

"I don't know if I can watch," murmured Hitoe.

"Chiyori's not done yet," said Eldora. Yuzuki and Tama looked at her before turning back to the game to see what she meant.

"With Eldora's ability," spoke Chiyori "I pay the cost and banish Silvan!" Kai nodded and moved the card to his Ener Zone.

"Ryuuguu, attack Vortex Dragon!" On the imagined battlefield, Ryuuguu surrounded herself in a veil of water before launching herself towards Vortex Dragon. The jet of water and the Phantom that travelled inside of it hit the dragon head on, knocking it to the ground. Vortex Dragon roared before flapping its wings to hover just above the battlefield. Kai revealed the final Life Cloth to be Dragon Monk, Gojo before placing it in his Ener Zone.

"Kai's got no Life Cloths left!" gasped Tama.

"Which means unless he Guards against the LRIG attack..." murmured Yuzuki. She suddenly paused when she glanced at Eldora. "What's up?" The LRIG could only sigh.

"I wouldn't be certain that Chiyori's won this just yet," she replied "Just take a look at Kai's hand." Yuzuki, Tama and Hitoe looked over at Kai's hand to notice that he still held 4 cards.

"Next, Ouika and Kozama!" called Chiyori. Kai simply moved the SIGNI to his Ener Zone before glancing back at his hand. Chiyori held a smirk after seeing that his SIGNI spaces were now empty.

"Now Eldora, deliver the final blow!" she declared before downing the card. On the imagined battlefield, Eldora gripped onto her hammer tightly and took a giant leap into the air before swinging the barrel down towards Vortex Dragon.

"Behold!" called Chiyori "This is my strongest move! 'Chorizo in the Fantasy!'" Eldora could only facepalm when she heard her Selector say "it" out loud.

"I told you that 'Chorizo' doesn't exactly sound right like that!" she groaned.

"What else did you want me to say?!" replied Chiyori "Hammer Time?"

At this point, everyone else except for Kai could only sweatdrop at this whilst Tama just stared in confusion, unsure of what she actually meant. Kai meanwhile could only look at her with a look of partial disbelief and confusion. 

 _I'm not sure which one sounds more ridiculous_ he thought to himself  _'Chorizo in the Fantasy' or Ishida's 'Break Time'._

"Guard!" he called as he revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri in his hand before placing it in his Trash Pile. Chiyori could only pout in disappointment from this turn of events.

"Turn... end," she groaned.

**End of Turn 9**

**Kai vs Chiyori**

**Hand - 3 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Vortex Dragon : Eldora=Mark IV'**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Kozame, Water Phantom - Ouika, Water Phantom - Ryuuguu, Water Phantom**

**Ener - 3 : 0**

Kai looked on at Chiyori, noticing her disappointment. "You did well, but this is the end of the line," he spoke. "Final Turn!"

Chiyori could only stare in confusion at him for this sudden declaration, but chose not to reply as she glanced over her current situation. She had no cards in her hand, her SIGNI were her last line of defence and she only had one Life Cloth left.  _Not yet! I can still pull through this!_

"Up and Draw," spoke Kai "Then Vortex Dragon's ability." He revealed Embodiment of Spear, Tahr from the top of his deck before placing it in his Ener Zone. Chiyori could only grit her teeth. Thanks to her last attack on Vortex Dragon, she practically handed Kai the means to the end of the battle.

"Using the effect of ARTS, Dominating Fury, I banish Ryuuguu!" As Kai paid 3 of the Ener he had, Chiyori moved Ryuuguu's card to her Ener Zone.

"Then using One Rule, Two Birds," he continued "I give Double Crush to Vortex Dragon and you're not allowed to use any Level 1 SIGNI to Guard." Chiyori could only groan a little. Kai was managing to keep up the pressure to minimize her chances of making his Final Turn fail.

"I summon Dragon Monk, Genjo and attack Eldora with it!" Chiyori reached forward for the last Life Cloth she had available. It was all or nothing now.  _Come on, as long as I can still grab something to save Eldora from Vortex Dragon!_ She flipped the card over, revealing Octo, Water Phantom. She could only sigh in disappointment.  _You win Kai._ Kai having read her expression nodded in agreement.

"Vortex Dragon, final attack!" he declared as he downed the card. On the imagined battlefield, Vortex Dragon charged up a vast amount of energy in its mouth before unleashing a torrent of crimson red fire at the imagined Eldora. The LRIG could do nothing as the blaze consumed her in an instant.

Back in the store, the girl who was watching the battle was still staring at Kai, curious about his strength and skill. She still held a card in her hand whilst she was watching the entire match. She held it in front of her, revealing a girl with a large dark dress with long and large white sleeves. This LRIG in particular also appeared to wear a headdress that mixed in both colours from her dress. She had long brown hair and dark green eyes. The LRIG had observed the battle as well as her Selector, sharing equal curiousity about the Kagero cards that Kai had used. As the Selector held up the card in front her, the LRIG looked up at her.

"Well, what do you think Fumio-san?" asked the LRIG. Fumio said nothing in response. She briefly glanced across towards Kai before turning back to her LRIG.

"I've seen enough Anne," she replied.

At this moment, Kai suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine. He quickly turned around towards the room's entrance, but Fumio was already gone. Tama looked up at him in concern whilst Hitoe, Yuzuki, Eldora and Chiyori just stared at him in confusion, unsure of what to make from this.

"What's wrong Kai?" asked Hitoe.

"It felt like we were being watched," he replied "Someone was observing us."

"You think it could be a Selector?" said Yuzuki.

Kai pondered on this for a moment. If someone else knew about the fact that his LRIGs were actually from Cray or looking to oppose him in his efforts to help Tama, Yuzuki and Hitoe find Ruko, there was no telling what they could be up to. Regardless, he looked back at the group and answered Yuzuki's question.

"Possibly," he said. He then turned back to Chiyori.

"Thank you for our match," he spoke "I hope that fortune favours you well until we next battle, as you wanted." Chiyori bounced up from her seat in excitement, despite being downcast from losing earlier.

"Mhm!" she replied happily "I look forward to the next time we face each other!" She then picked up Eldora's card before the two waved goodbye to the group. Kai, Hitoe, Yuzuki and Tama waved goodbye as Chiyori went running out of the store. With that aside, they turned back to one another.

"Now there is only one thing left for me to do," said Kai.

"Oh that's right!" replied Yuzuki "You mentioned you were going to find a place to stay whilst you were stuck in this world. We'll leave it to you, right Kai?" Kai nodded in response.

"Hold on a second Kai!" called Hitoe as she dug through her bag before pulling out a small white cell phone. "You do have a phone of your own, right?" He nodded before revealing his mobile phone.

"Is it alright if we trade numbers?" she asked "Just in case one of us happens to find Ruko and so we don't lose each other the next time we meet up."

"It is fine," he replied. After the two had exchanged numbers, they placed their respective phones back in their pockets.

"Well then Kai," said Yuzuki "Good luck on finding a place to stay here. We'll keep in touch whenever we can."

"Yeah," he said "I'll see you two later." Kai then waved goodbye to Hitoe and Yuzuki before exiting the store and wandering out into the city streets once more. He held Tama's card close to him in case they happened to come across Ruko during his trek. Sadly after about half an hour later, Tama eventually gave up trying to track her, having used up a lot of her energy in doing so. Kai having noticed this, suggested she took a rest to which the LRIG agreed. He slipped the card back into his pocket before continuing on his trek.

* * *

_**Elsewhere in the city...** _

"No way Eldora! Kai's LRIGs are actually creatures from another planet?!" Chiyori had been told everything about the Kagero clan and Cray, courtesy of Eldora who had learned about this from Yuzuki during the battle earlier.

"Well, that's what she said she knew," the LRIG replied whilst shrugging her shoulders "But, I could still feel a strong presence from Vortex Dragon's card, despite the appearance that it was a plain LRIG card that non-Selectors have." Chiyori's eyes only went wider with awe, curiosity and excitement all at once before she briefly jumped up a few times.

"Amazing! What a twist!" she called "This is way beyond what the novel's plot suggested! I'm really looking forward to seeing those dragons in the flesh!" Eldora could only sweatdrop and sigh.  _Provided she doesn't go to her head and lose 2 more Selector Battles before we meet with him again._

* * *

**_Around 3 hours later..._ **

It took a long while, but Kai had eventually managed to purchase some essentials along with the place he needed to stay at. As he walked across to the building where his 'temporary' home away from home would lie in one of the apartments present there. As he approached the building's entrance, he stopped to briefly notice his surroundings. Looking up, Kai could see the building that he first met Tama in the distance, its size still looking ominously imposing like a giant pillar in the middle of everything that stood before it. Netherless, he turned his attention back to getting accomendated back to his rented apartment. He entered the building before turning a corner to find a list of numbers on a series of boxes before him. Taking out the card he had recieved when he rented the apartment, he found the number he needed to be at. Before leaving, he quickly noticed one particular number with a single name jotted beside it.

**802 "Kominato"**

_That's Ruko's last name_ he pondered  _So her family is close to where I am staying. Visiting them out of the blue this moment may not be wise unless Hitoe is with me._ _  
_

Deciding to worry about it later, he continued up the stairs to where his apartment room awaited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards used by Kai:  
>  **Vortex Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Start of Main Phase] Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is a Red SIGNI, place it in your Ener Zone. If it is not, send it to the bottom of the deck and trash 1 card from your Ener Zone. This effect is always mandatory.  
> [Action] Pay 12 Red SIGNI: Banish all of your opponent’s SIGNI.
> 
>  **Calamity Tower Wyvern**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Exceed 2 (Put 2 cards from the bottom of your LRIG into the LRIG Trash) OR Pay 2 Red: If you have a Red LRIG, draw 1 card.


	7. Arc 1 - Ride 07: That Mystery Deepens

Fumio sat in her chair, deep in thought over recent events that had transpired and what she saw earlier in the day. Her room consisted of a single double bunk bed, several bookcases littered with novels and a desk with her personal computer housed on it. Several books were littered on different parts of the bedroom floor, most of them were already stacked in small piles. Several sticky notes were tabbed on both the end wall of her room and the edges of her computer monitor. One of these notes had a single name jotted down, "Mayu". This would indicate that Fumio had some basic knowledge about the mastermind inside of the White Room, unaware of her current prisoner from Cray. Her LRIG Anne, had her card placed standing up beside the lamp that was also on the desk. She looked up at her Selector, curious as to what she was thinking about as of late.

"Are you thinking about that boy from earlier?" she asked.

"Yeah," Fumio answered "If what I thought I saw earlier before that non-Selector Battle was true..."

"You mean that time when you thought you saw the words on the back of your cards changing for a moment?" murmured Anne. Fumio nodded her head in response to that question.

**_Flashback_ **

Like Ulith back from the evening of Kai's arrival, the 'prophecy' on the backs of Fumio's cards had changed for brief moment. Although the message appeared and disappeared just like that in the blink of an eye, that moment could still be recalled from her memory. Fumio glanced to a recent note that she had jotted down with the precise words that she believed to have seen for that single moment. Anne had chosen not to believe her at first believing that Fumio was being played for a fool by a trick of the light, but conceded to follow along her lead to get some meaning from what she was trying to explain to her. Eventually in the following day leading up to this current point in time, Fumio had unexpectedly found 'that' boy engaged in a non-Selector Battle with another girl. She kept in mind to remember the name Chiyori from her LRIG spectating the friendly battle, but made a mental note to remember Kai from his name being said out several times.

Keeping her distance from the shop entrance, she observed the battle from start to finish. Although she was confused as to how his Kagero cards were even able to manifest as LRIGs, Anne could still feel a strong presence, particuarly from the moment where Kai grew Vortex Dragon. After seeing the battle come to a close in Kai's victory, she stated to Anne that she had seen enough and quickly left before he had a chance to spot her. As she left the shop, she held out Anne's card in front of her as she treked back to her apartment.

"You really think he is that boy mentioned in the note you jotted down from what you thought you saw?" the LRIG asked.

"I don't know," Fumio replied "But you felt it too, didn't you?"

"Yeah," answered Anne "It wasn't a Selector Battle, yet those cards he played..." She paused in mid sentence, trying to comprehend the whole situation, particuarly regarding Kai who they had seen earlier. Fumio had shown her to a non-Selector battle where she believed that a boy from something that she thought she saw earlier and jotted down. Yet to Anne herself, the LRIG cards he used felt like they were ones that belonged to an actual Selector, even if they looked a lot 'different'. She looked up back at her Selector.

"Should we look into this further?" she asked. Anne didn't need to wait for an answer to come her way. Fumio nodded in response to her question, confirming her choice before returning to her home.

_**Back to the present** _

Fumio moved her chair over to her desk and picked up the note where she jotted down what she thought she saw on the cards for that brief moment. She still wasn't quite sure if she had jotted down everything correctly, but the words read out:

_A Boy carrying a heavy burden of sin._

_Called upon from his fight "Vanguard"_

_wielding the flames of perdition._

_Seeking a way to end this conflict..._

_Victory will be the only way for his_

_wish to revolutionize._

_Now, shall his "Wish Across" be ignited._

She showed the note to Anne who took her time to read through it. After several minutes of looking at it thoroughly and re-reading it, she turned to Fumio.

"I suppose I can sort of get the jist of it," she said "I mean, his LRIGs mostly resembled dragons which could account for ' _the flames of perdition_ '. But what I don't get is that 'Vanguard' part from what you wrote down."

"I'm not so sure myself," replied Fumio "But that's one of the words I definitely remember seeing when I saw the text change." She looked over to the curtains blocking her view of the night sky, deep in thought of what was to come. "Even so," she continued "When the time is right, we'll approach him ourselves." Anne nodded in agreement, she herself having shared interest in Kai's appearance to the Selector Battles.

* * *

**Kai's Rented Apartment**

After taking around an hour or so to get used to his new surroundings, Kai had managed to set up everything for his living accomendations to his 'temporary' home. It was quite small having only a joint kitchen and living space along with one bedroom and a single bathroom. Despite this size, he didn't seem bothered by it that much when he purchased the apartment. For the moment though, he was at the single table in the kitchen eating away from a stew that he had cooked up earlier. It was one that he helped to prepare on Quadrifolios's first training camp back when he was still a member of the team. Over from her card, Tama watched him prepare this meal from start to finish and although she imagined it would look tasty, her heart sank when she took into account that she was still trapped inside her card. Ruko even once mentioned to her that any attempt to feed her could result in damaging the card. Nonetheless, she looked back up at Kai in curiosity.

"How does Kai manage to cook something that looks so good?" she asked.

"I've lived on my own for several years," he answered "If it wasn't for you being trapped, I would have offered some." After he took another bite from the stew he cooked up, he looked over to Tama with a question of his own. "Besides, how do you manage to survive without consuming food or drink considering you are stuck in this card?" he asked. The LRIG held her hand under chin, pondering over the answer to this question.

"... Tama usually feels something funny in Tama's stomach once in while," she answered "Other than that, Tama doesn't know."

"I see," murmured Kai. An awkward silence fell in the apartment between the two before he continued to eat at his meal. After he had finished and cleaned up, he went over to his bedroom. It was small, having only a single bed, a cupboard beside the door and a desk in front of the window present. Kai had laid out his deck from his current build around Vortex Dragon on the desk before cooking his meal. Whilst he sat down to reconfigure the deck, he looked through a Wixoss catalogue that he had purchased shortly after his battle with Chiyori to grasp a better understanding of some of the other LRIG types that were available in the game and possibly the Selector Battles for the long run. Tama's card was resting on the lamp that was present on the desk as she watched him reconstruct the deck from scratch, noticing him switch out some of his LRIG lineup for Blazing Core Dragon and Blazing Flare Dragon. She also noticed some different Kagero LRIG cards in a pile beside some spare cards he had outside of the deck, one of which depicted Amber Dragon, Eclipse.

Tama then looked over to Dragonic Overlord's card. Although the card itself had depicted a still image, she could still feel the strong presence coming from it, the same feeling she had when she saw it in battle against Piruluk. That was when she had something on her mind that she wanted to tell Kai.

"Kai?" she murmured.

"What it is Tama?"

"Does Kai think we can find a way to talk to Dragonic Overlord?" she asked. Kai paused for a moment. He thought back to his battle against Akira when Overlord had briefly managed to communicate him via a few words, wondering if such a feat was even possible. From the lores of Dragonic Overlord that he read back in his own world, he knew the dragon was capable of speech, particuarly since the existence of Tatsunagi Takuto and the power of PSY Qualia to a few individuals, Aichi and Ren included, had also confirmed the existence of Cray and the stories told through those lores. Picking up the card and looking at it closely, the words that Dragonic Overlord had spoke to him back then rang through his ears once again.

_Let us win, my Vanguard..._

Pondering back on that occasion, Kai himself despite managing to draw up a theory with Yuzuki of how he was able to summon his units to battle as LRIGs and SIGNI still felt he was being left in the dark on the whole scenario. Thinking over what Tama had just asked him, perhaps finding a way to talk to Overlord would answer some of those questions.

"If we can enter that space where the battles occur," he spoke "Then summoning Overlord there may give us the chance we need to speak with him." Tama nodded in agreement with a large smile on her face. Kai looked back at the time on his phone realizing that it was already late.

"Good night Tama," he said, before switching off the lamp and getting into his bed.

"Tama says goodnight!" replied Tama before yawning and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**Uemura Household**

Over at Hitoe's home, all was silent and dark with everyone tucked in for sleep. Well, almost everyone. Over in her bedroom, Hitoe was already lying down in her bed, staring out of the window at the night sky. She couldn't sleep for the moment, her mind being preoccupied by something she couldn't stop worrying about. Over from her card, Yuzuki noticed this and looked over towards her Selector.

"Is something troubling you?" she asked. Hitoe nodded in reply confirming Yuzuki's suspicions.

"I'm guessing it's about Ruko," she murmured.

"Yes," Hitoe answered "I'm happy that we managed to find Tama and to know that we have Kai to help us out. But, I'm worried about what's going on with her now that..." She paused in mid sentence, unsure of what to say next. Her heart felt like it was being wrenched just thinking about it.

"I know," replied Yuzuki "With Iona in her possession, I'm not liking this one bit." She then raised her head to look back at Hitoe. "Is there anything else?"

"I'm just wondering where Midoriko could be," said Hitoe. Yuzuki pondered for a moment. Ever since Hitoe had lost 3 Selector Battles before she became her new LRIG, they had no idea of where Midoriko had gone. She hadn't seen her at the White Room when Mayu revealed the flipside of becoming an Eternal Girl and they had no idea of what happened to Hitoe's former LRIG since that fateful day. Deciding to worry about it later, Yuzuki looked back at Hitoe.

"It's getting late now," she said "We'll need all the rest we can get if we want to find Ruko and hopefully get to the bottom of this." Hitoe nodded in agreement before yawning and pulling the covers over her.

"Good night," she said. Yuzuki nodded before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_**The next morning...** _

As morning rose over the city, Kai eventually woke up from the brightness that entered his apartment room. He looked over to the deck where he left his reconstructed deck last night with Tama's card still leaning on the lamp. Tama herself on the other hand was still sleeping soundly as if nothing had bothered her from the previous night. He looked from the window across towards the center of the city, deep in thought over all that had happened so far. Even so, part of him couldn't help but wonder about how his friends had been doing since his disappearance from back home. Kai knew for a fact that Aichi would not take this news well once he found out that he was missing from the face of 'his' Earth and would probably do something drastic to find out where he was. Despite that though, he knew he had something to do and he wasn't going to stop until he had the answers he needed. His trail of thoughts was interrupted when he heard Tama yawn loudly.

"Good morning," she said, her speech almost broken up by her yawn. Kai looked over to her and nodded in agreement. A few minutes later, after having breakfast and changing into some clothes that he bought before his arrival to his rented apartment, he set out into the streets once more with his phone, deck and Tama's card on hand. His new wardrobe consisted of a dark red shirt along with some dark trousers and a plain colored short sleeve jumper with a dark brownish shade from the collar down to the sleeves. Continuing on through the streets, he looked across the many crowds of people for Ruko. Since he got a more accurate description from Yuzuki and Hitoe on the previous day, being able to tell her apart from the rest was easy enough. The problem was finding the girl that matched the exact description and Tama wasn't faring any better with trying to track Iona. Before they could consider taking a short break, a familiar voice had called out from nearby.

"Hello again!" Kai turned around to see Chiyori dashing through some crowds of people until she stopped right in front of him. Tama called out loud and waved hello as the Selector came rushing towards him.

"Chiyori," Kai greeted nonchalantly. The young Selector nodded in excitement.

"And so, fate draws us to meet again!" she called out loud "And pretty soon already I might add." A sigh came over from where she was standing. From the tone present, Kai and Tama could tell that it was Eldora.

"If your definition of pretty soon was somewhere close to around 20 hours," she spoke "I'm surprised if you even managed to practice enough to challenge him to a Selector Battle in that timeskip." A tic mark appeared of Chiyori in annoyance, but she knew Eldora had made a fair point.

"Besides," the Selector said, briefly pausing to ponder over something "Could you take a look at this?"

"What is it?" asked Kai. Chiyori dug into one of her pockets and revealed to him a single card, Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon.

"I haven't seen this registered in any Wixoss card guides," she explained "So it was pretty surprising to find this one when I went through a few packs. I was wondering, seeing as your cards are from this Planet Cray, you would know something about this?" Kai looked closely at the card. He wasn't surprised for some reason as if he had seen it before, yet it looked different.

"I do," he replied "You've somehow managed to obtain a unit from the Aqua Force clan. A Quintet Wall to exact."

"Quintet Wall?" murmured Tama.

"A means of defense gained through a gamble," Kai explained "From what I know in the game of Vanguard, a Quintet Wall can be used to call 5 units from the top of a fighter's deck to defend their attacked unit. From what I could read, it works differently but in the exact same sense. It also appears that you can also use it to defend against SIGNI attacks as well as LRIG attacks."

Chiyori stared in wonder at the card as Kai handed it back to her. Eldora was now also curious on the matter. Neither she or Chiyori had heard anything about a Quintet Wall before in the game of Wixoss. Kai meanwhile had his thoughts set on something else.  _If additional Kagero cards from the day before were only present from my arrival into this world, then could 'he' be here as well?_

"What's up Kai?" asked Chiyori who looked up at him in confusion.

"I've just been thinking over a few things," he replied "The card reminds me of someone I know well from my own world."

"Someone?" pondered Tama.

"Soryu Leon," Kai answered "He's one of 3 fighters I know of that wield that clan. The other two are twins that have accompanied him, Jillian and Charlene Chen."

"I see," murmured Eldora "Yuzuki told me you weren't exactly from around here so I guess it would somewhat make sense you knew something we didn't."

"So cool!" called Chiyori "This is now totally way beyond the novel! Creatures from another world have now descended onto the battlefield of destiny and I'm holding one of them!" She bounced up and down a few times being unable to contain her excitement. Kai and Eldora could only sigh at this, but could understand at where she was going with her speech. That was when Kai realized something he had to ask.

"Say Chiyori," he spoke.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Have you seen a Selector by the name of Kominato Ruko?" he asked "Hitoe and Tama told me she can also be known as Ru for short." Chiyori held her hand under her chin for a moment, trying to figure out some sense of what Kai had asked her. Then something clicked in Eldora's head.

"Now that I think about it," she said "I definitely remember seeing someone run out of that building where Iona's fan event was being held. She stopped in front of us briefly, then a voice said "Hey Ru, our first opponent." After that, she panicked and ran off." Chiyori gasped in realization, now remembering exactly what had happened back then.

"That's right!" she said "Now that I think about it, I could of sworn that voice that said "Ru" was Iona's."

"Do you know where she was headed?" asked Kai.

"Please tell Tama!" Tama cried.

"I'm sorry," Chiyori answered in defeat "I tried to give chase, but I tripped up after I ran a few blocks."

"More like a few feet," murmured Eldora. Chiyori glared at Eldora in annoyance for that smug remark but deep down, she knew that her LRIG was right. Netherless, she looked back at Kai and Tama.

"Sorry if that wasn't much help," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Kai replied "Thanks for telling us everything you know." Chiyori nodded in agreement.

"Well then, I wish you luck Kai!" she called "I think it's time Eldora and I took out this Quintet Wall for a test drive. See you around!" Kai nodded and the two waved farewell to one another. As Chiyori ran off, he looked back at Tama. The LRIG felt a little downcast from the news, but still felt upbeat with the knowledge that they knew someone who had seen her at least once.

"Tama won't give up!" she called "Not until Tama finds Ruko!" Kai could only smile a little from seeing that Tama's resolve hadn't wavered and wasn't letting the disappointment of the news they heard from Chiyori and Eldora get the better of her. He reached into his pocket for his phone and selected Hitoe's number. After a few vibrations from the phone, Kai got an answer through.

"Hello Kai!" called Hitoe "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he replied "I ran into Chiyori earlier. I've found out that she bumped into Ruko shortly after she ran away from the building where Iona's fan event was held, but she couldn't keep up to see where she was going."

"I see," murmured a second voice through the phone. Kai could easily recognize that voice to be Yuzuki's. "Thanks for letting us know."

"Don't worry about it," he said "At least we have someone we know as a possible lead."

"Say Kai," replied Hitoe "If it isn't too much trouble, could you meet me by the library later?"

"Yeah," answered Kai "I'll be sure to arrive there as soon as I can."

"Thank you," she said "Goodbye!" The call ended right there. Kai placed his phone back in his pocket. Tama looked up at him in curiousity, wondering about what he intended to do next.

"So what now?" she asked.

"We head to the library," he answered "And see what Hitoe wanted me there for." Tama nodded with a big smile. Kai slipped her card back into his jacket pocket and headed on his way to find directions to the city library.

* * *

**Kai's World; Soryu Island**

Deep inside an open cavern on the remote island of the Seven Seas, a boy was standing in front of a large pool of water in the center of the ruined cave. Several ruined stone pillars were present near the entrance of the cavern, a remainder of what was formerly left over of the Soryu Tribe in the days of old, before the Void sealed away the Aqua Force clan on the Planet Cray. The boy had yellow hair jutting out in various directions, some in larger spikes whilst three smaller spikes jutted upward from the top of his head. The boy also wore a white garb with blue colored sleeves and neck collar. A purple jewel was presemt partway down the top half of his garb between 3 gold-yellow lines running across and a single red line that went from the bottom of his collar down the whole garb to the end of the piece of fabric that made up the lower half. The boy was deep in thought, pondering over recent events that had transpired that he wasn't fully aware of, as of yet.

_This is strange indeed. First Kai Toshiki has vanished from the face of this world without a trace, now I'm picking up a faint signal of PSY Qualia off Tatsunagi Takuto from someplace other than here or Cray._

He opened his purple eyes and turned around to no one in particular, the conclusion he had come to now set in stone for him.

"There is a disturbance in the wind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting in this chapter:  
>  **Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon**  
>  Color: Blue  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Tear Dragon  
> Level: 1  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Amber Dragon, Eclipse**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] If you have a card named “Amber Dragon, Dusk” stacked beneath this LRIG, all your Red SIGNI gain +1000.  
> [Action] Pay 2 Red: Until end of turn, the LRIG gets “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG’s attack hits, choose up to 2 SIGNI cards from your opponent’s SIGNI and/or Ener Zone(s) and send them to their Trash Pile”.


	8. Arc 1 - Ride 08: This Disappearance is Strange

Eventually, after recieving some directions from an information center that he came across, Kai had managed to find his way around the city a little easier than before and got a clear path to the library. Using a map that he was provided with, he eventually came across said building. It was smaller than a large majority of the buildings that he passed by on the way here, Ruko's school included, its architecture ressembling that of a small, but smart house. Two large trees along with several smaller trees surrounded the building and the entrance had a light on the overhanging roof just above the doors. Checking back on the map he had, Kai acknowledged that this was the place that Hitoe had asked him to meet her by. Speaking of whom, the Selector herself was coming towards him from the opposite direction with Yuzuki's card in hand.

"Hello Kai!" she called. Kai waved back and pulled out Tama's card from his pocket. The LRIG called out and waved over to both Hitoe and Yuzuki with a large smile on her face. The Selector and the Cardfighter then looked over to the library doors.

"So what is it you wanted me over here for?" asked Kai.

"Yuzuki said she would explain everything after I take you through to the library garden on the other side," Hitoe answered. She went over towards the doors with Kai following her a few steps behind.

* * *

**Unknown Location...**

Leon could only stare at the strange space that his presence was summoned to. It was dark with barely any light present and there seemed to be nothing around him. He couldn't help but wonder over his current scenario. Just who or what had brought him here and what did they want with him? As if his thoughts had already been read, his answer had already come.

"Soryu Leon..." The Aqua Force user turned around to find the source of the voice. To his surprise, standing before him was a familiar person, taking on the appearance of an astral spirit like version of himself.

"Tatsunagi Takuto," he spoke.

"I don't have a long time to speak to you," Takuto replied "So please listen carefully." The Child of Soryu nodded in response in the account that he was prepared to listen to what Takuto had to say.

"I have gotten myself into a most unfortunate predicament," he began "On my way back from the Planet Cray, I stumbled into a strange White Room. I freed someone who was being held prisoner there, but I got captured in the result. I learned that Mayu, the person in control there is manipulating a higher power in the world outside of that room."

"I see," murmured Leon "Then how are you contacting me this moment?"

"I'm using your PSY Qualia as a means of talking to you," Takuto replied "But I can't keep in contact for long in case Mayu finds out that she hasn't taken all of my power. Before she completely drained me, I began a summoning with the intention of bringing a strong Cardfighter to my aid, Aichi being in mind at the time. But because my power was being drained quickly, I ended up abruptly summoning Kai Toshiki to the world outside of where I'm being held." Something then clicked in Leon's head. This was how Kai had vanished from his world.

"Is he alright?" he asked "I have heard news from abroad that Sendou has been worried sick about him."

"I haven't seen how he has fared so far," Takuto answered "But from what conversations I've been hearing, he's been dragged into the conflict that my hostess has been manipulating. Whilst I was being drained, I could sense that Mayu's power is somehow blurred between the lines of imagination and reality. I could also feel a familiar dark presence which leads to believe she may some sort of connection with the Void." Leon gritted his teeth. He knew full well of what happened when the Void sealed away the Aqua Force on Cray and he wasn't happy with allowing himself to be manipulated by said being to allow his clan to return to power. He was thankful that Aichi had managed to make him see what he was doing was wrong back then and all the enemies he had made during this time eventually more or less became close friends.

"What do you need me to do though?" Leon asked. Before Takuto could answer, he quickly turned around, then back to Leon with a concerned expression on his face.

"I need you to find a way to where Kai is and let him know of my predicament," he replied "From what I've been seeing from here and the explanations I have been getting, I'd advise if Aichi were not to come."

"Why exactly?"

"Because if he were to be dragged into the battles there and learn the truth about them, then..." Takuto's answer was suddenly cut off as a brilliant flash of light engulfed the entire space, blinding Leon's vision. Before everything went all white, he could see Takuto vanishing from right in front of him.

* * *

**Kai's World: Soryu Island**

"Leon-sama!"

"Are you alright?!"

Leon slowly but steadily got his grasp of reality back together. He was seated in a chair in the library section of the island. Beside him were the twins, Jillian and Charlene who looked concerned for their friend. He cluctched his head as he tried to recall everything that Takuto had told him. The being from Cray was being held captive by someone called Mayu, from another world entirely and Kai Toshiki had been been brought into the battles that transpired there. Leon could also remember Takuto advising him about something to do with not letting Aichi join him on this situation, but his reason was cut short from the sudden interruption. He looked back at Jillain.

"Did something happen?" he asked.

"You kind of spaced out for a moment," she answered "What's going on?" Leon stood up slowly with help from Charlene, having not fully regained conscoiusness from his use of PSY Qualia to talk with Takuto.

"The wind has summoned me for an important task," he spoke "But I may require outside assistance to accomplish this." Leon than turned over to Charlene.

"Can you patch through a call to Foo Fighter?" he asked. "I may need to speak to 'him' about this."

* * *

**Wixoss World: Library Garden**

Kai and Hitoe sat at a table in the small, but lush garden at the back of the library. It was peaceful and quiet with no one else present at the time, thereby giving them enough space to discuss matters on their own. To the side of the table, Tama and Yuzuki's cards were resting up against Hitoe's bag so the two LRIGs would be able to get a better view of the discussion from their perspectives. Yuzuki cleared her throat so she could get the conversation going.

"First things first," she spoke "Did you happen to find anything about Ruko?"

"No," Kai answered "But I've found out that where I'm staying is only a floor above from where her family are living. I haven't taken the opportunity to see them yet."

"I see," said Hitoe "Maybe when we can get some better information about where our friend is, I could introduce them to you later."

"Tama's heard Ru's grandma is really nice," Tama replied "Though Tama can't talk to her."

"Anyway," Yuzuki continued "I've also been wondering if maybe you could shed some light about this Aichi and Ren you've mentioned to us before. You said the first had helped you recover from your dillema with this Link Joker and I was wondering if maybe you could tell us a bit about those two."

"Very well then," Kai said. He then closed his eyes deep in thought as he went back over those memories.

"Back in my world," he began "I was already acqainted with the game of Vanguard at a young age."

**_Kai's Memories/POV_ **

"Royal Paladin was the very first clan that I had used. During those days, I wasn't always the strong fighter I currently am. My friend, Tashi Miwa was the one that brought me into the game, but for some reason, I can't recall the name of my first opponent." *****

A younger Kai was seen cardfighting a boy around his age with Miwa watching from the sidelines. For some strange reason in this flashback, his opponent is obscured by a dark shadow making it very hard for him to remember who it was he faced then.

"Eventually, after several months came that fateful day. The day I met Sendou Aichi."

The scene jumps a few months into the future where Kai first meets a young boy with blue hair after noticing the scuff marks and plasters on his face.

"In those days, he was always picked on for his shyness and frail appearance. As a result, he didn't have any friends back then. I gave him the card that would eventually become his avatar and change his life for the better. Blaster Blade."

"Hold on," Yuzuki interrupted "You mean to say he's now as strong as you from giving him that card?"

"I wouldn't say it was just that," Kai replied "But I'll get to that later. After that, everything for me eventually changed for the worse."

"What happened?" asked Hitoe.

"I lost my parents and was forced to move," he answered "Being too young to fend for myself back then, my uncle took me in and I transferred to a new school. During this time, I picked up the Kagero clan as my new deck and discovered Dragonic Overlord."

Kai is then seen entering the classroom of his new school and taking a seat by the window in front of a boy with red hair. The scene cuts to Kai on the roof where he is met by the same red haired boy along with a taller boy with purple hair.

"That was when I met Suzugamori Ren and Shinjou Tetsu."

"What is Ren like?" Tama asked.

"Ren was always a bit of an airhead," Kai replied "But he had a good judge of character."

The flashback then cuts to Kai's first game against Tetsu when he defeats him with Dragonic Overlord.

"Eventually after we got acqainted and I had my first game with Tetsu, Ren offered me a chance to be among his team, Foo Fighter. We thought that the good times could never end and I thought I was finally at home with myself. But sadly, that was when fate had decided to play a cruel trick once again. One day, I returned to the place where we held our cardfights to see that Ren had beaten Tetsu into submission."

The younger Kai could see that Ren before him has a more sinister glint in his eyes.

"I didn't know about what exactly was going on at the time, but Ren had picked up a strange power known as PSY Qualia which allowed him to communicate with the Shadow Paladin units he commanded. But he couldn't control it and ended up being consumed. As a result, he became power hungry looking to defeat the strongest and become the best. I tried to stop him, but I wasn't strong enough."

The scene cuts to Ren using his PSY Qualia to manifest himself as Blaster Dark on the surface of Cray in front of Kai.

"But before he could strike the final blow, he passed out from overusing that power. I knew that in our current states, there was nothing more I could do. I left behind everything once again and moved back to my original home, hoping I could become even stronger on my own so I could try again to save Ren. Because of what happened then, I wasn't exactly a friendlier person when I returned back to everyone I knew well."

"What exactly do you mean?" asked Yuzuki.

"I came across to others as more of a lone wolf with more a selective mute appearance," Kai answered "Miwa would be the only one who I could tolerate. One day, I was challenged by the self-proclaimed strongest fighter, Katsumi Morikawa. I originally turned him down, but I accepted when he willingly betted Blaster Blade as a prize for the winner. After I defeated him, I eventually found out that this was the same Blaster Blade I had given to Aichi."

Aichi stumbles into Card Capital to retrieve Blaster Blade. Kai prevents him from doing by explaining why he can't give it back.

"Even though the card was stolen, Morikawa had to respect the terms for a Vanguard Fight. This therefore meant if Aichi wanted Blaster Blade, he would have to fight me to get it back. Plucking up enough courage, he challenged me under those conditions. As he was new to the game, I gave Blaster Blade back to him on the condition he would hand it back should I win. I taught him the rules as we went along and eventually, through sheer luck and a miracle, he emerged victorious."

The current trail of memories ends with Aichi using Blaster Blade to deal the final blow to Dragonic Overlord.

**_Present_ **

"Wow," murmured Hitoe "It sounds like he's very brave to go through with a challenge like that."

"Yeah," replied Yuzuki whilst looking over to her "Almost reminds me of a certain Selector who's been holding on to my card." Hitoe almost jumped in surprise to that statement.

 _There's no way I can be someone like this Aichi_ she thought  _I mean, I guess I can understand why from what Kai's explained so far, we could sort of relate. But whether it's in the game of Wixoss or Vanguard in his matter, there's no way I could be like him._ Shaking herself clear of that thought, Hitoe turned her attention back to Kai. "You can continue now if you want," she said.

Kai nodded as he went back to the story he had shared so far. He continued to explain about how Aichi at first still had a long way to go to become the strong cardfighter he was known for today as well as giving brief mentions of Katsuragi Kamui and Misaki Tokura, his teammates whilst he was still a part of Q4. He recounted the events that occured in the first and second national tournaments whilst also dropping mention of Aichi's PSY Qualia incident and his failed attempt to bring Ren back to his senses. Kai then explained how Aichi had managed to bring Ren back in the final round of the second national tournament and things began looking up from there. He also told the group of his adventures in the Asia Circuit with how his Kagero deck was replaced with Narukami and that he returned to Ren to play with his team once again like he did before the PSY Qualia incident whilst also dropping mention of Tatsunagi Takuto and Soryu Leon along with Aichi's progression in the Circuit as he eventually finished his tale.

"And then of course there is the Link Joker incident," he concluded "I think you already know the rest from what I told you earlier."

"Yeah," said Yuzuki who was still in awe over the whole explanation "That is quite the story. I didn't think Cray was any more real until you mentioned that Takuto guy."

"Tama finds Kai's story amazing!" called Tama. Hitoe couldn't find any words to describe everything she heard. From what she could gather, Kai along with Aichi and Ren had been through a lot in their lives back in their home world, all three sharing their good and bad moments in different ways.

"I kind of wish we could meet them though," she murmured "Aichi sounds like he's a really nice person." Kai could understand at where she was coming from. Deep down however, he thought that bringing Aichi into this world's current state was not such a good idea. If he ended up becoming a pseudo-Selector like him, only because of his PSY Qualia, he could become an easy target before he could understand of what he would be getting himself into. Nonetheless, he still had a task to accomplish so there would be time for him to explain everything to Aichi when they would eventually and hopefully reunite. Kai turned over to Yuzuki.

"I believe that this isn't the only thing you wanted to ask of me," he spoke. The LRIG nodded and turned over to Hitoe.

"You did remember to bring your deck like I asked, right?" The Selector nodded and reached inside her bag, pulling out a small case containing her cards.

"You want me to engage Hitoe in a practice battle?" asked Kai.

"That's right," replied Yuzuki "If the worse case scenario happens to come when we eventually find Ruko, we need to be ready for anything." She then looked up at Hitoe. "Do your best, I'll be watching."

"Yeah," she replied "Um... Kai, I know I'm feeling nervous going up against you, but please don't hold anything back."

"But of course," he replied as he lay an LRIG card face down onto the mat that the two of them had placed on the table. Hitoe got herself set up for their battle to begin. Both Cardfighter and Selector reached for their starting LRIGs on their respective ends on the playmat.

"Open!"

"Open, the LRIG!"

Both Selector and Cardfighter flipped their LRIG cards up, revealing both Lizard Soldier, Conroe and Yuzuki-Zero respectively.

"Um... Kai, you can go first," said Hitoe.

"Very well then," he spoke "Draw. I grow Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!" He motioned to Hitoe that he was passing the turn over to her.

"Right," she said "Draw. I grow Yuzuki-One!" She then placed Echidna, Phantom Dragon from her hand into the center SIGNI space that was directly in front of the LRIG card before downing it. "Attack!" Kai revealed the crushed Life Cloth to be Roaring Fire Pillar before placing it in her Ener Zone. "Next!"

"No guard." Kai then revealed Seal Dragon, Artpique, drawing 1 card from its Life Burst before placing it in his Ener Zone.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 2**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 7 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Yuzuki-One**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Echidna, Phantom Dragon - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 0**

"The first attacks have already been dealt," murmured Yuzuki "Hitoe's doing okay so far."

"But why didn't Kai summon any SIGNI or even Ener Charge on Kai's turn?" asked Tama.

"He must be conserving his cards for the defensive later," she answered "Even so, I wonder how this will turn out."

"Draw," spoke Kai "Ener Charge. I grow Blazing Core Dragon and summon!" He placed Iron Tail Dragon and Gatling Claw Dragon on the left and right SIGNI spaces of his side of the mat. "Using Conroe's Self-Exceed ability, I pay 1 and move him to my LRIG Trash to add a Level 1 Red SIGNI from my deck to my hand." Kai then revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri as the card he was searching for before he shuffled his deck. "And then, I use Blazing Core's ability." He moved Seal Dragon, Artpique from his Ener Zone to his Trash before moving Iron Tail and Gatling Claw's cards there in its place. Kai took out a single card from his LRIG deck and held it out before him.

"Three sealed gods of destruction, gain the power of explosive flames and rise! Blazing Flare Dragon, Superior Grow!" As Kai placed the card on top of Blazing Core Dragon, Yuzuki and Hitoe could only look on in surprise having not realized that he did not have another Kagero LRIG with the same manuever he used against Chiyori the other day. Tama meanwhile looked on at the card seeing the dragon depicted. It was red in a lighter shade than Dragonic Overlord having four red wings, two large and another two half the size. Its right arm had a double barrel gatling gun kind of weapon whilst the dragon had two left arms, one wielding a sword and another with a blade on the wrist.

"Again?!" gasped Yuzuki "You mean to say Aleph isn't the only one with that kind of ability?!"

"Amazing!" called Tama whilst throwing her fist into the air in excitement. Kai briefly glanced down at Yuzuki before turning his attention back to Hitoe.

"Image it," he spoke "You and Yuzuki are standing in the presence of the Lord of Explosive Flames, where a fierce battle awaits the both of you."

"Wow..." murmured Hitoe, who was breathless at this spectacle.  _Yuzuki should be glad that she's not facing this in the flesh. I'm not sure if I even stand a chance against Kai now._ Yuzuki noticed Hitoe's expression and glanced up at her.

"Hitoe, don't panic!" she called "You're still in the third turn and you have your own way to catch up to Kai's current state!" The Selector nodded and looked back at him.

"Summon! Garp attacks!" Hitoe placed the defeated Echidna, Phantom Dragon in her Ener Zone.

"Next, Kimnara and Iron Tail Dragon!" Kai called.

The first two Life Cloths that were crushed were Silvan, Natural Stone and Expelling Flames of the Dragon Phoenix. Hitoe noticed the Life Burst on the second card.

"Using the Life Burst," she spoke "I move Gatling Claw Dragon from your Ener Zone to your Trash and banish Kimnara." Kai nodded complying with the card's effects.

"Finally, Blazing Flare Dragon attacks!"

"Guard!" Hitoe revealed Servant O from her hand before placing it in her trash.

"Turn end," Kai spoke.

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Yuzuki-One**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - **Cross Shot, Garp**  - Iron Tail Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 3**

Hitoe looked over her hand and then back across to Kai's side of the field.

_If I remember from seeing it right when Kai opened through the pack that had this card, Blazing Flare can pay 5 Ener to send any one of my SIGNI to my Trash. In addition, each time one of Kai's card effects banishes or trashes one of my SIGNI, he can allow Blazing Flare Dragon to give 3000 power to one of his SIGNI until the end of that turn. I need to be careful with what I play._

"Is everything alright?" Kai asked.

"Um... I'm fine," replied Hitoe "Draw and Ener Charge."  _Ruko, wherever you are, I promise we'll find a way to help set things straight for you!_ "Grow, Yuzuki-Two!"

On the field that Kai was picturing, nothing much changed of Yuzuki's appearance even with the hovering cannons on either side from her Level 1 form, with the only difference being the addition of small crystal like red wings on her back and several red markings on her face. Back to reality, Hitoe continued on with her turn.

"Then by paying 1, I use the Spell Swift Advance!"

"Now this is where things get interesting," murmured Yuzuki.

"How so?" Tama asked.

"Watch and see," she replied.

"Superior Grow, Yuzuki-Three!" Hitoe placed the card on top of Yuzuki-Two. The third form of Yuzuki didn't really depict anything different from the second form aside from a different pose and a higher level of power. Kai looked on, having now realized of what was coming his way.

"Impressive," he spoke "If I'm not mistaken, Yuzuki also has a Level 4 form. By paying the cost for the Spell you used, you've not only caught up to Blazing Flare Dragon, but you've cut down the Grow Cost for next turn."

"Yeah," replied Hitoe "Yuzuki helped me to assemble this deck around her, so I know what she needs me to do in different scenarios."

"Still, I didn't think you were that perspective Kai," said LRIG murmured "Though I suppose your experience through Cardfighting in your own world has helped you to see that." Kai nodded and motioned for Hitoe to continue.

"Right," she replied "I summon Bronda, Tyranno and Silvan! Attack!"

Kai first moved his Cross Shot, Garp and Iron Tail Dragon to his Ener Zone before flipping up his next crushed Life Cloth. The card revealed was Silvan, Natural Stone. No Life Burst was present on it though.

"Now Yuzuki will attack," Hitoe spoke.

"No guard." Kai flipped his next Life Cloth revealing Dragon Monk Genjo.

"Got a Heal Life Burst," he said "Recovering one Life Cloth with the top card of my deck."

"Over to you Kai," replied Hitoe.

**End of Turn 4**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 4 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Yuzuki-Three**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY: Silvan, Natural Stone - Bronda, Natural Stone - Tyranno, Phantom Dragon**

**Ener - 5 : 1**

"You're doing well Hitoe!" called Yuzuki "Keep up the pressure!"

"Go Kai!" cheered Tama. Yuzuki turned to her and could only sweatdrop a bit.  _Figures._

* * *

**Kai's World: Foo Fighter Headquarters**

Ren sat back in his office chair, looking out of the window overlooking the large city that stood before the building. Despite no longer attending Fukuhara High School from graduating a few months ago, he felt like keeping the school uniform for casual wear after Kai had shown disapproval from his use of his old black trenchcoat. He was looking up at the sky with a certain preoccupation on his mind.

_Kai, I know it is your thing to travel across the world looking for strong opponents, but I didn't think you were the type that would go off everybody's radar so suddenly._

"Is something bothering you, Ren-sama?" Ren turned around to face the person that asked him. She wore a smart dark blue jacket and short skirt. The girl's eyes and hair color also followed suit with the color of her clothes, only her eyes were a much lighter shade of light blue.

"It's nothing important, Asaka," he answered in his casual tone "Just thinking so hard over something makes my head hurt so bad."

"I see," she replied "I have someone outside who wants to see you."

"Oh? Let's see who has come over then."

Asaka nodded and went over to the doors which opened, revealing Soryu Leon in their presence. The Aqua Force user stepped inside and walked over to the desk where Ren faced him.

"Hello there!" he called "What can I do for you today?"

"Suzugamori Ren," Leon replied in a more serious tone "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you."

"Oh?" pondered Ren "What would that be?" Leon turned back to Asaka.

"If you could give us a few moments," he spoke.

"Of course." Asaka nodded and left the office through the doors. Leon then turned back to Ren with the matter at hand.

"You've noticed it too?" he asked.

"But of course," replied Ren "Kai's disappearing acts have gotten old since the whole deal with the Link Joker invasion. I wonder why this one feels so different?"

"That could be the fact that he is no longer on this world," Leon answered. Ren's interest was now perked up at this point. Until now, he had no idea of why Kai's disappearance had been bugging him so much. He then got up from his desk and walked over to Leon.

"So then, what do you have in mind?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Blazing Core Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 1 Red  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Red, choose a SIGNI name “Iron Tail Dragon”, a SIGNI named “Gatling Claw Dragon” and move them to your Ener Zone: Choose a card from your LRIG deck named “Blazing Flare Dragon” and Grow it, ignoring the Grow conditions.
> 
>  **Blazing Flare Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 5 Red: Choose one of your opponent’s SIGNI and send it to their trash.  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] When one of your opponent’s SIGNI is put into their trash or banished due to an effect by one of your cards, choose 1 of your SIGNI. It gains 3000 power until the end of the current turn.
> 
> Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Swift Advance**  
>  Color: Colorless  
> Cost: 0 Colorless  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] Pay 1 SIGNI Card that is the same Colour as your LRIG (Cards with Multi-Ener cannot be used to pay the cost). Grow your current LRIG into an LRIG whose Level is exactly 1 higher and the exact same Colour.  
> [Constant] You may have only up to 2 copies of "Swift Advance" in a deck.  
> [Constant] Each player can only use the effect of "Swift Advance" twice per battle.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there we go with the second batch of chapters I've brought over! Hope you've enjoyed what I've given you so far and I'll see you soon with the third batch of chapters.


	9. Arc 1 - Ride 09: That Resolve is Bravery

**Kai's World: City Park**

Aichi walked about the park with concern written all over his expression. Ever since Kai had vanished without a trace, unbeknowst to him was actually the unintentionally doing of Tatsunagi Takuto, he couldn't help but feel worried about what had happened to him. After finding out from Miwa that not even he had known why their friend had disappeared, his worst fears had felt like they were already coming to light. Was this a repeat of what happened when he chose to seal himself away only with reversed roles or was a different element in play this time? Aichi didn't know the answer yet, but he had a feeling that when would eventually find that answer, that's when he would eventually find Kai.

 _Kai-kun, just what is going on?_ he thought to himself  _Why have you vanished from here?_

Swallowing a deep breath, he took out his deck from his pocket looking at one card in particular at the front of the deck. Aichi stared hard at Blaster Blade and then looked up to the midday sky, wondering about what could be happening with his friend and rival.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Outside of the Library**

All was peaceful outside of the library for the time being with not that many people passing through the street where the building was situated on. A girl with a dark blackish jacket walked along the pathway. A large red scarf she wore covered up some of her face aside from her brown eyes. A small black hat that this girl had recently acquired covered over most of her brown hair making it almost impossible for anyone who barely knew her to make herself instantly recognizable. Despite the scarf covering up most of her face, the eyes alone could still make out the expression that this girl had. She felt sad, lost and confused, unsure of what she should be doing. However, her trail of thoughts were interrupted from a loud voice coming from the library garden.

"Using Berserk Dragon's ability, I banish Bronda!"

The girl looked across to the trees that obscured the view of the library garden. It sounded like a casual game of Wixoss was already taking place. Having her curiosity get the better of her, she decided to head through to the library garden to see how it would play out. She walked through the doors and headed through the library to the doors leading out to the library door. The girl could then see the battle between Kai and Hitoe playing out in front of her own eyes. She looked closely at the table to notice Yuzuki's card and to her utmost surprise, Tama. Had she chosen not to bite her lip then, she would have gasped out loud, giving away her position and possibly blowing her own cover. Before she could sigh in relief, another voice had chosen to untimely speak out for her.

"So, you've found the traitor. What do you intend to do?"

Before the girl could respond, she could see Yuzuki turning her gaze to the source of her LRIG's voice. She retreated from the door and exited the library before Hitoe's LRIG had a chance to spot her. Back at the table, Tama turned over to Yuzuki noticing her expression.

"What did Yuzuki see?" Tama asked.

"I don't know," the LRIG replied "I think I was just hearing things. But, I could of sworn that sounded like... No, it couldn't be." By then, Kai and Hitoe had briefly paused on their game to see what Yuzuki was murmuring about.

"Um... Don't worry about me!" she replied "I was just hallucinating, that's all. Carry on."

"Right," spoke Kai as he turned his attention back to the battle. "With Blazing Flare's ability, I add 3000 power to Berserk Dragon. Now I move on to my Attack Phase. Are there any effects you wish to use?"

"Um... No," replied Hitoe "You can proceed with your attacks." Kai nodded having that confirmation in mind.

"Berserk Dragon attacks Tyranno!" Hitoe nodded having placed the card in her Ener Zone.

"Next, Dual Axe Archdragon attacks Silvan!"

"Wha...? Dual Axe's power is lower!" gasped Tama "It shouldn't be able to banish Silvan!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," murmured Yuzuki. Tama looked over to her, not quite getting at what she meant before looking back at the battle.

"Dual Axe's skill," replied Kai "When he attacks whilst my opponent only has 1 or no SIGNI at all, then he gains 3000 power until the end of that battle. In other words, his power becomes 11000."

"I see," said Hitoe "In that case, Silvan is banished." She moved the defeated SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Blue Ray Dracokid attacks!" Hitoe moved the crushed Life Cloth to her Ener Zone. It revealed Iron, Natural Stone, but no Life Burst icon was present on the bottom of the card.

"Next, Blazing Flare!" Kai declared as he downed the card. Hitoe looked over the cards in her hand and then back at Blazing Flare Dragon.

_If I guard now, I won't lose any more Life Cloths this turn. But..._

"No guard." She revealed her next crushed Life Cloth to be the Spell, Jetting Knowledge.

"Got a Life Burst," she spoke "I Ener Charge."

"Turn end," Kai spoke.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 2 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Yuzuki-Three**

**SIGNI: Dual Axe Archdragon - Blue Ray Dracokid - Berserk Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 6 : 7**

Hitoe nervously let out a sigh of relief. Things still felt like they were under control for her, but something deep inside was telling her that Kai wasn't going to let her off that easily. Taking a deep breath, she drew her cards and moved 3 Red cards over from her Ener Zone to her trash. She reached into her LRIG deck and took out one card. Yuzuki looked up at her and could only watch in wonder at how she was going to attempt to regain the offensive. Tama who had mostly been watching from just Kai's plays on the sidelines also turned her attention to the Selector, sharing equal interest in how this would go. Regaining her composure, Hitoe held out the card in front of her.

"I grow Yuzuki Four Armament!" As she placed the card on top of Yuzuki-Three, the image in Kai's mind showed an inferno of purple flames consume Yuzuki-Three as the cannons withered away into ash. When the flames eventually died down, Yuzuki's appearance had drastically changed. She now had a red skirt in the place of her trousers along with bright red stockings. Several purple flames were present behind the LRIG's back almost acting like the firey wingspans on Olivier Gaillard's Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare. Back to reality, Kai looked on at Yuzuki Four Armament's card.

 _So this is the power that Hitoe had managed to obtain for you_  he thought  _I wonder how she will fare now that she has an advantage over my current state._

"Summon! Using Mušḫuššu's ability, I pay 3 to banish Dual Axe Archdragon!" Kai nodded as he moved the card to his Ener Zone. Yuzuki looked up at Hitoe, holding a warm smile.

"You're doing well," she said "Keep it going!" Hitoe nodded and turned her attention back to Kai.

"Are there any ARTS you want to use?" she asked. Kai looked over the field and shook his head confirming his decision.

"Orochi attacks!" Hitoe called "Using her ability, I move Dual Axe Archdragon from your Ener Zone to your Trash!" Kai moved the card to his Trash Pile, a certain thought on his mind.

"It seems you've realized it now," said Yuzuki, interrupting his trail of thoughts. "Some of my cards focus on burning away at my opponent's Ener, preventing them from using their resources more effectively." Tama looked over to Yuzuki, having just now remembered of what happened during Hitoe's battles with Ruko when she used Yuzuki. Her second battle against Yuzuki and Hitoe was the last battle before the confrontation with Iona and Ulith, where everything eventually fell apart. Despite their victory, Tama could still remember that she was having a hard time dealing with Yuzuki's SIGNI constantly burning away at the Ener they had built up and were only lucky to have enough to use Arc Aura to win the battle. Turning her attention to Kai's scenario, she saw him flip up a Spell as his crushed Life Cloth, this one being another Gatling Claw Dragon. He drew 1 card from the Life Burst effect being present.

"Next!" Kai moved Berserk Dragon and Blue Ray Dracokid to his Ener Zone.

"Finally Yuzuki will attack!" Hitoe called.

"Guard!" Kai revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri from his hand before placing it in his Trash Pile.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 2 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Yuzuki Four Armament**

**SIGNI: **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**  : Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess - Silvan, Natural Stone - Orochi,  **Phantom Dragon Princess****

**Ener - 8 : 2**

"Up and draw." Kai looked at his hand and back at the field, noticing his current situation.  _Time for a change in plan. As long as Hitoe still has cards to keep burning away at my Ener, Blazing Flare will eventually go to waste._

"Grow the Vanguard! The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!" Yuzuki gritted her teeth. If she knew one thing about those words he spoke back in his battle against Akira, she knew what was coming out. Tama meanwhile looked on in excitement, having realized what Kai was about to bring into the battle.

"Dragonic Overlord!" In the image that Kai had in his mind, a tall column of fire erupted from Blazing Flare Dragon previously before the tall red dragon emerged from the flames with a deafening roar. It stared over Yuzuki with a fierce glint in its yellow eyes. Back to reality, Tama let out a cheer of joy for seeing Kai using Overlord again since his first battle. It may not have been a Selector Battle, but just looking at the dragon depicted on the card was enough to keep her interest in watching.

"I summon and use the ARTS Firefly Sparks to banish Orochi!" Hitoe nodded as she moved the banished SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Then I pay 3 SIGNI from my Ener Zone to activate Dragonic Overlord's ability!" Kai declared. After moving 3 cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile, he turned his attention to his SIGNI. "Attack!" Hitoe moved her defeated Silvan to her Ener Zone before flipping over her next two Life Cloths revealing Roaring Fire Pillar and Servant D, a Life Burst having been spotted on the bottom of the second card.

"Using the Life Burst," she said "I Ener Charge."

"Next, Dragonic Overlord attacks Mušḫuššu!"

"Guard!" Hitoe revealed Servant D2 before placing it in her Trash Pile. Kai wasn't too disappointed with the result however, despite the fact that he had wasted 3 Ener to allow Dragonic Overlord to simply attack something that could have been banished with another copy of Firefly Sparks. He looked over to Hitoe to see her regain her breath in relief.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 1 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Yuzuki Four Armament**

**SIGNI: **Iron Tail Dragon**  -  ** ** **Silvan, Natural Stone - ** ** **Silvan, Natural Stone************ : Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 6**

Yuzuki could only sigh in relief with the knowledge that Hitoe had not forgotten of what Dragonic Overlord was capable of from seeing it in Kai's first Selector Battle and that she was able to defend herself from the attacks coming her way. Tama meanwhile had pouted from the fact that Kai wasn't able to get Overlord to land a single hit on either a SIGNI or the LRIG for that manner. Hitoe drew her cards as she began her turn by placing Iron, Natural Stone in her Ener Zone. Before continuing with her turn, she looked over to Kai. Tama and Yuzuki looked up at Hitoe, unsure of why she chose to stop at the moment.

"You really are a great opponent," Hitoe said "You never let anything rattle you and it seems like even when the odds are against you, you never seem to panic at all."

"But of course," replied Kai "A key element in a Vanguard Fight is to keep a cool head whilst you focus on the game ahead. From what I can gather, you've slowly managed to get your composure together to keep on going. Perhaps you would like to show me the extent of your skill."

"R... Right," she nodded before deciding to continue with her turn. "Here I go." Kai nodded in reply.

"Using the ARTS Salvage," she said "I add Orochi from my Trash back into my hand. Summon!" Kai could now see that he was staring down at an imposing formation of 2 Level 4 SIGNI, with Orochi back along with another Silvan, Natural Stone there to make things more difficult for him.

"Thanks to Yuzuki's ability, since you have fewer than 4 Life Cloths in your Ener Zone, my SIGNI gain 2000 power at all times. Using Mušḫuššu's ability, I banish Silvan!" Hitoe then moved 3 cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash and pointed to the Silvan in front of her own Silvan in the center column. Kai nodded and moved the card to his Ener Zone.

"Next, I use Yuzuki's ability," she spoke "By paying all of my Red Ener, I can crush your next Life Cloth." Kai flipped over his next Life Cloth, Dual Axe Archdragon. No Life Burst icon was present on it though, which greatly worried Tama as she watched on from the sidelines. Yuzuki who had been watching Hitoe's plays smiled, having been impressed by her efforts.  _This battle is now over_ she thought  _Kai can't use any Guards to block a SIGNI attack._

"I'll use 2 copies of Charging to Ener Charge twice and One Rule, Two Birds to prevent you from using any Level 1 SIGNI to Guard this turn." Hitoe revealed the top cards of her deck, 2 copies of Wyvern, Phantom Dragon and placed them in her Ener Zone before placing one of them straight into her Trash to fufill the cost for the second ARTS she used. "Finally, by discarding the last card in my hand, I'll use the Spell, Jeweled Sword of Shining Desire and give Silvan the Double Crush power up until the end of this turn." Hitoe revealed

"But that means...!" gasped Tama.

"Hitoe will need to land the LRIG attack successfully," murmured Yuzuki before glancing over to Kai. "Kai only has one card in his hand and I'm willing to bet that is either Barri or not even a Guard SIGNI at all." Tama looked on back at Kai to see that despite the scenario he had been driven into, he wasn't worrying about any of this. She then looked back to Hitoe who was also smiling. Yuzuki noticed this too, though her expression quickly went down. _Those two are really having a good time_ she thought sadly  _Just like when Ruko was still with us. I just wish she was here, so we could stop Mayu together with Tama by her side once more and hopefully find a way to help Kai return back home._ Deciding not to ponder on it any further, she turned her attention back to Hitoe who was about to begin with her attacks.

"My first Orochi attacks Iron Tail Dragon!" she called "With her ability, I send 1 card from your Ener Zone to your Trash." Kai moved Silvan from his Ener Zone to his Trash before moving Iron Tail Dragon there in its place. He then looked back at Hitoe.

"I assume that is not all you have," he spoke, a small smile now on his lips. Hitoe nodded in response to his statement.

"That's right," she answered "Each time a card is moved from your Ener Zone to your Trash because of one of my card effects, Mušḫuššu gains 4000 power. Then when her power becomes at least 20000, she gains Double Crush and when she attacks because of this, I can banish any SIGNI of my choice. However, because I'm only able to send 1 card from your Ener to your Trash this turn, her power is only 18000."

"So if you had another effect to burn away at my Ener," Kai concluded "You would have won this battle already. Even so, you're not planning to let it end like that." Hitoe nodded before turning her attention her next attack.

"My powered up Silvan attacks!" she called "Because of the effect of Jeweled Sword, she has Double Crush and you only have 2 Life Cloths."

"Tama doesn't know if Tama can watch!" Tama cried.

"This'll bring him down to no Life Cloths!" called Yuzuki "Hitoe's won!" Kai then looked across at his current scenario. The only card in his hand was Wyvern Guard, Barri which he couldn't even use against Yuzuki this turn and the current attack was coming in for Double Crush. He held his right hand over the last two Life Cloths he had.

"Even if these odds are stacked against me," he spoke "I won't give up! Check!" He flipped the first card, Berserk Dragon, no Life Burst present on it. He reached for the second card and flipped it face up, revealing a card that everyone knew all too well.

"Genjo?!" gasped Yuzuki.

"Recovering one Life Cloth," said Kai. He then looked back at Hitoe.

"It seems you won't finish me this turn," he spoke "But your attacks aren't through yet if I'm not mistaken." Hitoe nodded before downing Mušḫuššu's card. Kai moved his other Silvan to his Ener Zone. The Selector held her hand over the Yuzuki Four Armament card she had in play.

"Yuzuki will attack!" she called. As she downed the card, on the field that Kai was picturing in his mind, Yuzuki gathered her hands together, charging up an energy ball of purple fire. When it was large enough, she hurled it right at Dragonic Overlord, knocking the dragon back several feet. Overlord was not down, but it had certainly taken a beating from the attacks it suffered from. Back to reality, Kai flipped up the new Life Cloth revealing Dragon Monk, Gojo before looking back at Hitoe. She let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 8**

**Kai vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 1 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Yuzuki Four Armament**

**SIGNI: **EMPTY** **- **EMPTY**  - EMPTY** : Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess - Silvan, Natural Stone - Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess**

**Ener - 5 : 0**

"Darn it," groaned Yuzuki "Hitoe had one chance to finish him and I think she's blown it."

"How so?" asked Tama.

"Haven't you noticed?" she replied "Hitoe's got no cards in her hand and Kai's got 5 cards in his Ener Zone. If she's going to get out of this, there's only one card that can save her." Meanwhile, Kai looked on over at Hitoe with a small smile.

"Impressive," he spoke "You came close to defeating me, even with my lack of a Level 4 LRIG and SIGNI to follow suit. Though you still hold a frail outside appearance, you still hold a strong will to keep on going and help those dearest to you. Even Aichi would be impressed by your resolve."

"Y... You really think so?" murmured Hitoe, having not expected that from him. Kai nodded to confirm her question.

"But, this battle has now drawn to its close," he spoke.

"Up and draw. I Ener Charge and pay the cost for Firefly Sparks to banish Orochi!" Hitoe could only move the SIGNI card to her Ener Zone as this had now left her LRIG wide open.

"I summon Cross Shot, Garp and pay the cost for my own One Rule, Two Birds!" Kai declared as he paid one of the only two Ener he had left. Hitoe looked on nervously at Dragonic Overlord's card. Although this was not a Selector Battle, she felt as though the presence that Yuzuki had mentioned earlier was only getting stronger as the ARTS effect was applied.

"Garp attacks!" Hitoe reached for her last Life Cloth that she had available.  _I don't have a card like Dragon Monk, Genjo to regain any Life Cloths. But there's still a chance I can make it through._ She flipped up the card revealing another copy of Mušḫuššu with a Life Burst present.

"Using this effect," she said "I reveal the top card. If it's a Dragon Beast SIGNI, I can draw it and 1 more card."

"So this all comes down to one card," he spoke "Very well then. Let's see if fate is still on your side." Hitoe nodded and flipped over the top card. Sadly to no avail, it was the Spell, Expelling Flames of the Dragon Phoenix. She sadly sighed as she added the card to her hand.

"Dragonic Overlord," Kai spoke as he downed the card "Final Attack!"

On the battlefield he was imaging in his mind, Dragonic Overlord took flight into the air and let out a huge torrent of crimson fire towards Yuzuki who could do nothing but watch as the flames consumed her in an instant. Back to reality, Hitoe looked back up at Kai and was able to muster out a kind smile. He nodded and smiled back as well. Whilst Tama continued to cheer loudly, Yuzuki however was preoccupied by something else on her mind.

 _That voice I thought I heard. Could that have been Iona? Was Ruko underneath our noses this whole time? If so, we're now back to square one and the rest of us don't even know it._ Deciding not to let that disappointment get the better of her, she turned her attention back to Hitoe.

"You did really well," she said "You've really gotten better at keeping your cool lately."

"Yeah," replied Hitoe, before her mood suddenly went down. "If only I could have done it sooner for Midoriko when she needed me most." Yuzuki grimaced as she remembered everything that happened back then from what her former LRIG, Hanayo had deduced after Hitoe's third loss from before. Nonetheless, she turned to see Kai reach for something in his pocket and hand it over to Hitoe. It looked like a batch of cards that he assembled into a pile. Hitoe was surprised when she looked through the batch of cards.

"Aren't these some of your Kagero units Kai?" she asked.

"Spares that I have obtained from the box I opened yesterday," he answered "Since some of your cards revolve around Dragon Beast SIGNI, I thought you might be able to make some use out of a few of the cards I've given you."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Hitoe replied. She brought up Yuzuki's card to the pile as the LRIG inspected them closely.

"I suppose we might be able to find a way to mix them in," she spoke "But for now, we must return to the subject at hand. Finding Ruko and getting to the bottom of this."

"Tama will find Ru!" Tama called out loud "Tama also liked Kai's battle!"

Kai nodded in agreement with the LRIG's first statement before he and Hitoe gathered their belongings and walked over to the exit of the Library Garden. The two walked through the building together before coming out through the entrance.

"We'll split up for now," said Yuzuki "But we'll promise to keep in contact if anything happens."

"I understand," spoke Kai "Just be careful."

Hitoe nodded before waving goodbye to him and going on her way into the city. Kai looked down at Tama's card to find the LRIG was feeling slightly down from the fact the two had not really made any progress in getting any closer to finding Ruko. She looked back at him however and smiled to try and not feel too down about the whole scenario.

"What does Kai want to do?" she asked.

"Our search will continue," he spoke "Until we can find Ruko and know exactly what is going on, we cannot advance any further in our own discovery for the truth behind the Selector Battles. Now then, are you with me?"

Tama nodded with a big smile in response to his question. Kai couldn't help, but smile a little from Tama's enthusiasm. He slipped the card in his pocket before walking away from the library. As he did so however, the same girl that had briefly eavesdropped on their battle stepped out from the alleyway he had passed by a few seconds ago and glanced down, watching him walk even further into the city. She couldn't help but sigh a little as she watched him continue to walk deeper and deeper into the city, curious of his intent. And the fact that he was holding Tama, something was just bugging her about it.

_So Kai is your name. Why are you involved in all this? More importantly, why are you holding 'her'? The one who ruined everything..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Differences between this and FF upload:  
> *Yuzuki-Fourth Warning has been updated to Yuzuki Four Armament to keep in line with the Wixoss Wikia's updated translation.


	10. Arc 1 - Ride 10: That Premonition Draws Near

**Kai's World: Foo Fighter Headquarters Boundaries**

Aichi couldn't keep up a straight face as he walked towards Foo Fighter Headquarters. He looked up at the tall building with a determined expression, hoping that the person he was looking for here would at least maybe know something from Kai's whereabouts. Alongside him was a boy with orangish brown hair and olive yellow eyes that was slightly taller than him. He wore a white shirt with several red lines that formed a strange pattern across the front and an orange jacket to follow suit. The boy looked on at Aichi in wonder at why he decided to come here.

"You really think that Ren would know something about where Kai is?" he asked.

"Maybe Naoki," Aichi answered "If even he doesn't know where Kai-kun could be, then our only hope of having a lead is with Leon."

"I got it," Naoki replied "Still, I kinda find it strange that he's literally vanished without a trace. Almost reminds me of a certain someone who pulled the same strings on us."

Aichi sighed a little. He knew that Naoki was referring back to the time where the "Seed" of Link Joker was embedded inside of him after his battle against Reversed Takuto and when he chose to seal himself away by recruiting the Quatre Knights and Tatsunagi Kourin to keep him sealed in a sanctuary on the moon, unaware that one of the Knights, Raul Serra had been awaiting this opportunity to take the Seed's power for himself. After being brought back up to speed the day after he returned to "his" Earth, he was thankful to Gaillard for putting a stop to Serra whilst he was mostly unaware at the time as well Kai for helping to relieve him of most of the burden that the Seed had placed on him. Aichi wished however that Naoki wouldn't bring up the whole incident again, even if he was trying to joke around a little. As the two approached the entrance, they were already surprised to find Ren walking out from the doors with Leon alongside of him. The pair stopped in surprise to find Aichi and Naoki before them.

"Oh hello there!" called Ren "We were just talking about you Aichi."

"Ren-san," said Aichi "You know that Kai's disappeared from here, right?"

"But of course," replied Leon "I've gotten vague knowledge of his whereabouts and came here to discuss the matter with Ren."

"Really? Then do you know where he is?!" asked Naoki, now curious on the matter.

"Well, that's the problem," Ren sighed as he pouted "He's gotten himself stuck in a completely different world."

"Cray maybe?" Aichi pondered, the first thought of another world having popped into his mind.

"Far from it," Leon answered "And that world is being manipulated by a higher power, from wherever Takuto has himself hostage in." Aichi's eyes widened when he heard that last part. It was one thing for Kai to disappear from his world without his knowledge, but Takuto being held hostage was something that he was not expecting.

"Are you saying that Takuto's been captured?!" he gasped.

"That's right," the Aqua Force user continued "He intended to summon you to that world to find out what was going on there. But his hostess, known as Mayu had drained most of his power, resulting in him abruptly summoning Kai there instead."

"I see," murmured Aichi, the answer he was seeking for now in his grasp. "But even if we know where Kai-kun is, how are we supposed to get there?" Everyone thought hard on this matter. Leon knew for a fact that although he could use his PSY Qualia to try and contact Takuto again, it wouldn't do anything to help any of the group get to where both he and Kai were. Naoki thought over the subject very hard. He had only known about Takuto for a brief moment after he and Leon helped to mostly stop the Reverse that Aichi was infected with from a Cardfight against Kai. Even after all that happened during that time, Naoki owed it to Kai for restoring his memories of Aichi and had hoped to return the favor since.

 _Darn it!_ he thought  _If only we could find a way to wherever Kai is! If only we had like, a teleporter of some sort!_ As he groaned over the scenario, one of the words from his last thought quickly struck a cord in his memory.  _Teleporter? Wait, that's it!_

"Aichi!" he called.

"What is it Naoki?" Aichi asked.

"You remember that moon palace that you sealed yourself inside of?" Naoki pondered.

"Mhm," Aichi replied "What are you getting at?"

"You see, Kai and I along with our friends used a teleporter that "butler jerk" had led me over to get to where you were," he answered "I was thinking, if we could get it to somehow send us to where Kai is..."

"But the moon palace vanished when I came back to Earth," Aichi murmured "I'm not sure if that teleporter is still around or if it even still works."

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Naoki called "Let's go!" He dashed off into the direction of the mall where he had followed Morres to find the teleporter. Aichi shrugged with Ren before the two of them along with Leon went after the passionate cardfighter, with one thought on his mind.

_Kai-kun, hang on!_

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

Kai continued to wander the streets, in the hopes of finding Ruko so Tama could try and make amends with her after what had happened on that fateful night. He looked across certain groups of people that he passed by, but Tama couldn't recognize any of them to be Ruko herself. Eventually around half an hour later, as Kai was about to suggest to her to take a rest from trying to track Iona, he looked across to a pair of girls. They were standing up, yet appeared to be in a sleeping daze of some sort. Before he could venture across towards them, Tama called out to him. Kai pulled out the card from his jumper pocket.

"Kai's found a battle!" called Tama. Confused, he stared across towards the supposedly sleeping girls before looking back at Tama.

"If what you're saying is true," he spoke "Then it appears to those who are not watching the battle from the field that the Selectors are sleeping. I wonder if..." Remembering back to what Akira had done to bring the two of them into the battlefield on the night of his arrival, he held Tama's card out towards the pair that he was looking at.

"Open!" he called. A set of hexagonal flashes went towards the two girls before engulfing Kai in a flash of light.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he could find himself standing on what appeared to be the top floor of a very tall tower, overlooking the battlefield. He could see the battle unfolding below from where he was standing. Before Kai could think of anything else, he felt something crawling around in his left jacket pocket. Putting an open hand in very carefully, he suddenly felt what appeared to be something walking onto his hand. Gently bringing it up, he could see that Tama had somehow managed to exit her card and had crawled into his hand. Kai was a little surprised from this, but his thoughts were brought to a halt from Tama letting out a warm smile. He gently brought the LRIG up to his shoulder to which she then jumped onto. That was when Kai remembered back to his conversation with Tama the previous night which involved getting into this field. Reaching into his pocket for his deck box, he took out Dragonic Overlord's card, which depicted a still image. But now they were here, he thought he could finally get some answers. Holding out the card before him, he prepared to attempt something that even he thought was bound to fail.

"Come, Dragonic Overlord!" he called.

As if the card had responded to his command, a beam of fire suddenly shot out from the card and onto the floor, creating a Vanguard Circle in a bright red colour. A bright flash erupted from the symbol briefly blinding both Kai and Tama for a moment, as the all too familiar features began to reveal themselves before them. As the flash died down, Dragonic Overlord was hovering aboved the floor, albeit at only a fraction of his actual size. But then again, with Tama not being the size of an actual human despite being outside of her card, there was no doubt that effect was present on Overlord. In comparison to the LRIG's perspective, the dragon seemed like it was at normal size, at least to her. It gazed up at Kai with a serious glint in its yellow eyes.

"My Vanguard," it spoke.

"Overlord," said Kai "Although I have known about your existence from Tatsunagi Takuto beforehand, I believe this is the first time we have spoken face to face."

"Indeed," replied Overlord "And yet you do not possess any gifts, like that boy who holds a strong connection with the "Swordsman of Light", my rival."

"I assume you're referring to Aichi and Blaster Blade," he said.

"That is correct." Dragonic Overlord turned its gaze towards Tama who was sitting on Kai's shoulder. "And who might this be?"

"Tama!"she called out loud with a smile on her face. Dragonic Overlord hovered closer towards the LRIG, staring intensely at her. Tama looked on in wonder at the dragon, curious as to why it had sensed some interest from her.

"Interesting," it murmured "I can sense a great power from within you."

"Great power?" pondered Tama "What does Overlord mean?"

"Unlike that other girl I faced on that other day," Overlord spoke "You hold the potential to a great power that lies dormant within you. But know this, true strength is no plaything. It is something that must be obtained through your own hands." As Tama pondered over what Dragonic Overlord had just told her, the dragon then hovered back and looked at Kai who had something to ask of the Kagero commander.

"The thing I want to know of is this," he spoke "How is it that I have been able to summon you and several units of the Kagero clan to these battles?"

"That, I do not know of," Overlord replied "Shortly after our bout when I returned to the Planet Cray, I was approached by the Swordsman of Light. He asked many questions regarding the sudden phenomenon that myself and several of the Kagero troop have experienced firsthand, but not even I or the Emperor know the answers to this strange cause."

"I see," murmured Kai "Well then, I thank you for your time in answering my question."

"Likewise." Kai then walked over towards the open space in the tower with Dragonic Overlord hovering alongside of him. The dragon hovered down to the edge of the gap where it landed on both of its feet. The three of them continued to watch the battle that unfolded beneath them, just in time to hear a sudden noise that caught everyone's attention. This accounted to the fact that the field was starting to turn all black, indicating that the battle had ended. The Cardfighter and LRIG along with the dragon all exchanged a final glance with each other before everything went all black.

* * *

When Kai found himself back in reality, he quickly walked away from the Selector pair, not wanting them to know that he had somewhat eavesdropped on their battle so he could speak with Dragonic Overlord. When he held Dragonic Overlord's card apon returning, he felt something extra behind it. Shifting the card with his finger, his eyes widened as he saw what was before him. After placing the cards back into his deck box, he turned his attention over to Tama as he continued onwards back to his apartment, having noticed the evening sky now present above him. The LRIG was in thought over what Dragonic Overlord had told her. What did the dragon mean by a great power lying dormant in her and what did it mean by gaining true strength through one's own hands. Deciding to ponder on that later, she turned her thoughts back to Ruko and what could be happening with her right now.

"Is something bothering you?" asked Kai. Tama shook her head in response to his question.

"Tama's just curious about what Dragonic Overlord said," she answered "Tama's also worried about Ru."

"I'm just as curious myself," he replied "Why did she choose to run away from not just her friends, but her family as well? I have a feeling that when we find her, we'll know that answer."

"Mhm!" replied Tama. Kai nodded and placed her card back in his jumper pocket before continuing on his way back to the apartment. Unbeknowst to him, once again, his every move in these recent moments was being observed by Ulith. She sneered after overhearing the whole conversation between Kai, Tama and Dragonic Overlord from a seperate tower on the battlefield.

"Dormant power? Don't be ridiculous," she spoke cooly to no one in particular "Mayu gave you life and therefore she can control it however she pleases. That is, once I decide to retrieve you."

"Can I go after him?" Ulith turned around towards a certain someone who had joined her. Akira was still holding a grudge against Kai from their battle a few days back and her expression alone was enough to tell from that. In her hand, she held a LRIG card, only this one was not Piruluk. This LRIG had blue in her dress, hair and eyes much like Piruluk, only her entire appearance was completely different. She had her hair wrapped up in several round patches along with 3 yellow stars. Unlike the previously aftermentioned LRIG, this one seemed to be a bit more lively and active.

"That boy is the one that caused your third loss?" she murmured "He doesn't look that tough."

"He only had me because of a misplay Milulun!" Akira growled "I'm sure I can make him suffer this time!" As she stepped forward, Ulith held out her hand motioning for the Selector to stop.

"Now then, Aki-lovely," she said "You'll get your chance. Considering he's been working so hard to get Tama back with Ruko, I'll do him a small favor first. Then when my entertainment has passed, he's all yours."

"R...Right!" Akira blushed a little inside as she nodded in agreement with Ulith before the two turned away and walked back to the model agency they worked for.

* * *

**Kai's World: Mall Basement**

"See! What did I tell you guys! It's still here!"

And indeed Naoki was correct. As Aichi panted from just barely managing to keep up with the passionate cardfighter's fast pace, he looked forward to see that the teleporter to the sanctuary was still in its place. The basement room held six black pillars and a single large square on the floor with a Vanguard circle engraved on it. When Aichi had eventually regained his breath, both Leon and Ren had managed to catch up with him and Naoki.

"The teleporter to the sanctuary is still here," Leon murmured "But trying to reconfigure it to send us to Kai's location will be a challenge."

"This is why I leave the technical details to Tetsu," sighed Ren "Reworking this isn't going to be easy, that's for sure."

Naoki felt slightly dejected when he heard the news, worried that his efforts to try and find a lead to where Kai was had already gone to waste. However, Aichi was already pondering deep into thought about this. He had the Quatre Knights themselves construct this particular gateway to the sanctuary, so he himself had a vague idea of how it worked before he sealed himself away on the moon. That was when an idea popped into his head.

"Leon?"

"What is it Sendou?" Leon asked.

"You mentioned that Takuto contacted you through your PSY Qualia, right?" Aichi replied "Do you think we could use ours to home on where he is to get the teleporter to send us there?"

"I suppose it could work," he answered "But I need to try and get in contact with him again if we are to have any chance of making this work. I've already exhausted mine from his earlier message today."

"I got it," Aichi nodded before turning around for the exit. "I'll go and let the others..."

"Wait Aichi." The boy paused in his departure from the mall basement and turned back to Ren who had spoken in interruption to his statement. Even though Aichi himself knew that Ren at times could act obliviously as to what was going on around him, this was one of those times where even he knew that the Shadow Paladin user was being serious with what he was saying.

"Are you sure bringing all of your friends along into a world we know almost nothing about is a good idea?" he asked. Naoki turned over to him and quickly cut in his response to Ren's question.

"I know that," he replied "But shouldn't we be better off with a larger strength in numbers?"

"I note your opinion," murmured Leon "But I agree with Ren in this case. Wherever Kai has gotten himself to, the Void may be there as well and we can't afford to risk losing too many of our friends in unfamiliar territory." Aichi sighed for a moment, but deep down he knew that Leon was right. As much as he wanted to ask his other friends to join them in their journey to find Kai, he didn't want to risk losing them in a world that the four of them, four including Naoki, had very little knowledge about.

"I understand," he spoke as he turned around to the others "We'll meet back here tomorrow and see what we can do."

"Yes!" called Naoki "If this works out, we can find Kai and get to the bottom of this!" Aichi nodded in agreement before the two of them left the basement of the mall after exchanging goodbyes with Leon and Ren, promising to meet them back at the same place the next day. When the two were out of sight, Ren turned over to Leon.

"Why didn't you tell Aichi about what Takuto warned you about?" he asked in curiousity.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't," Leon answered "Takuto's answer was cut short before he could even give me a full reason. Even so, Aichi would go out of his way to find his own path to that world." Ren could only smile a little with a shrug.

"Well, there's one thing that hasn't changed about Aichi," he said "He'll always look for a way to help his friends, especially Kai."

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

Hitoe looked all across the streets in her own efforts to try and find Ruko. But no matter how hard she looked or how hard Yuzuki had tried to track Iona, they weren't having any luck with finding their lost friend. Sighing in defeat, she walked over to a nearby bench to take a short rest before deciding to try again later. Though she would soon have to return home at the rate the evening was going about. Looking down at her LRIG, she could see that Yuzuki wasn't feeling any better from this turn of events. To try and brighten the mood a little, Hitoe cleared her throat to try and speak out something to Yuzuki.

"Say Yuzuki..."

"What is it Hitoe?" the LRIG replied.

"When we get back Tama with Ruko," Hitoe murmured "What do you think Kai will do?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Yuzuki answered "The only reason he's helping us now is because he's stuck in this world and he's keeping his promise to Tama. Even if that happens, I'm not sure what he will do next." Hitoe nodded having known that for a fact. Still, she couldn't help but ponder over everything that happened back in his world from what he told her earlier before their battle. But compared to what he and Aichi experienced, this was different. The Selector Battles here were nothing to have a good time over, especially with what they carried for both the victorious and the defeated. Both Hitoe and Yuzuki knew that for an iron clad fact having experienced both ends of that spectrum on different occasions of their own.

"Besides," Yuzuki spoke "Even if we do succeed in getting Tama and Ruko back together, how are we supposed to help Kai return to his own world?"

"I don't know," answered Hitoe "But that doesn't mean we should try and help him. He's already helping us out and when he's done his part, we should do what we can in return." She then took out from her pocket and looked over the deck that she had modified with the cards that Kai had given her at the end of their battle earlier in the day. Yuzuki still didn't know what to expect when Kai had handed Hitoe some of his own Kagero units to try and help the two out a bit further, but deep down, she thought that it wouldn't be right to let his aid go to waste. Looking back at the evening sky, noticing that it had gotten even more darker, she turned back to her Selector.

"Well that aside," she said "We should try and find Ruko again before it gets too dark. I just hope when we do find her, it's not already too late." Hitoe nodded in agreement with Yuzuki and got up from the bench to continue her search.

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

"See, what did I tell you Eldora! There was nothing to worry about with that Quintet Wall saving your back there!"

Eldora could only sigh in response to that statement. Earlier in the afternoon, Chiyori had dragged herself into another Selector Battle and was only able to emerge unscathed in victory via a gamble she took via the Quintet Wall she obtained earlier in the day. Though they were thankful that Icefall Dragon was able to prolong the battle to give Chiyori another turn to claim victory, Eldora had to do everything in her willpower to keep her from wasting the card's effect far too early in the likely case of the effect failing for them.

"Oh come on Eldora," said Chiyori "Why the long face?"

"You haven't realised it yet," the LRIG answered "If you're going to want to face Kai again, we need to get our act together now."

"I got it!" she replied "I just need to practice a little more, that's all!"

As Chiyori dashed off in the direction of home, Eldora could only think to herself in concern. Was she alright with letting Chiyori continuing to battle? Even if she got her wish, would it actually work out? Eldora herself had barely any knowledge of what would happen from either spectrums of the Selector Battles, even though Yuzuki and Kai had tried to already reason with Chiyori, but she had a feeling that whatever outcome awaited them would not be a most pleasant one.


	11. Arc 1 - Ride 11: That Time Comes Closer

**Unknown Location...**

In a different location from around the city, a certain LRIG was still awake from around this time of night. If only Hitoe had actually known, Midoriko was still around. She had green hair that jutted forward in two long blades and spikes upward in the back. She wore what appeared to be either green cloth or armor over her chest and on her legs. The LRIG also wore green pants and a scarf. Her expression was one that was filled with complete sadness.

 _It is bad enough that I have brought nothing but despair to Hitoe_  she thought  _But now I have to remain in this new Selector's hands whether I like it or not._

As she continued to ponder over this scenario, a sudden burst of pain shot through her. The LRIG clutched her chest, groaning in agony from whatever it was, but not loud enough to wake up her 'new' Selector. Midoriko breathed heavily, the pain having only just subsided like a sharp needle that had just been stabbed through her chest from the back. She could still remember it clearly of how she ended up in this scenario in the first place.

_**Flashback** _

Shortly after leaving her card, Midoriko journeyed upwards through the clouds, wanting to be away from it all. From Hitoe, from Ruko and Yuzuki, the Selector Battles, from everything down on the ground. She continued to cry as a suddenly flash of light brought her back into the domain of where Mayu's White Room awaited her. The dark space that had several open gaps leading to that room where her fate awaited, lay just ahead from where she was hovering. However, when she was about to move in closer to one of the windows, she stopped, clenching her fist.

_No! Enough is enough! I don't want anything more to do with this, even if it means solitude in this dark space!_

After her tears had passed over, she looked all around the other parts of the dark space, wondering about which corner she would go off to sulk in. Before she could decide however, she could see a shadow briefly move beneath from where she was hovering. Whatever had moved by beneath Midoriko was too fast and too obscured by the darkness to make out completely, but she could just about see the figure pass through the pitch black corner at the bottom of the space. Now the LRIG's curiosity was perked. Was this someone an LRIG like her or something else entirely? Regardless of that thought, she went over to the corner where she saw the figure pass through. Apon reaching it, she could see that the "corner" she saw had no solid walls and was almost completely pitch black, making it nearly impossible to see down that end of the space. As she prepared to venture forth, she gathered her thoughts and let one final tear slip from her eyes.

_Hitoe... I'm so sorry... If I could make it up to you, I would..._

Before she could finish processing that thought, her ears picked up on the sound of a sudden loud burst of energy from nearby. Turning around, she moved aside just in time to dodge a small, but devastating beam of purple energy fire right beside her. Looking to the source of where it came from, she could see a figure cloaked in shadow. Because of the dark silhouette, Midoriko couldn't see who her attacker was, but she could make out several shapes from its shadow. From what she could gather, the figure was humanoid shaped with some sort of energy based weapon being wielded. What distinguished the figure the most, was the black ring behind its back giving off an eerie red glow.

"Just who are you?!" Midoriko demanded fiercely. The attacker said nothing as from beside it, several black energy bursts shaped like boomerangs were fired right beside the figure towards her. The LRIG had quickly move side to side to dodge these attacks with the last one almost hitting her head on. More shadows appeared from beside the one she faced earlier, some of which were huge. Realizing that she was badly outmatched by whoever these figures were, Midoriko came to the conclusion that her only way out was to fight her way through. Gathering her fists together, she attempted to summon her gauntlets that she wielded at one of her higher levels, only nothing appeared to happen.

_This is bad. If only I could summon something to defend myself with, I could shake these guys!_

A chill suddenly ran up her spine as she felt something appear from behind her. Turning around, Midoriko could quickly see a sharp pointed object held to her neck in an instant. Looking up the object, she could see that it appeared to be a long black blade with 4 pointed spikes from the top of the hilt. Her apprehender was humanoid in appearance with mostly white armor with a few touches of yellow and black. Several red lines ran down the front armor with two red crosses on both sides of the chest armor. Two strange objects floated on either side of the figure's back, as if they were representing wings of some sort whilst a large black ring with an eerie red glow hovered behind them. The figure had a lot of bluish white hair and its eyes were obscured by an opaque black visor with red lines along with large yellow and red trims attached to both sides as well as a single red spike sticking out from the top front of the head like a horn of some sort. The other blade the figure was holding another sword that they had placed right behind her neck to force her to swordpoint.

"W... What are you?" Midoriko asked. The figure held a malicious smile on its lips.

"I am the one that the 'Girl of White' had asked to apprehend you," he spoke "Call me Photon." Midoriko could only stare at him in confusion, not quite getting the meaning of his words except that he had been sent to capture her. That was when something clicked in her mind. There was only one 'Girl of White' that could fit this figure's description and she was at 'that place'.

"How did she know where I was headed?!" she replied in disbelief "I want nothing more to do with the Selector Battles, even if it means giving up my only chance for freedom!"

"This girl sees all, naive LRIG," the figure replied "As do we." Turning his head towards someone in particular, he nodded to signal something. As Midoriko could only hear a strange a noise from behind her, she realized that she couldn't move thanks to Photon holding her at swordpoint. As he jumped away, she turned around too late to see a dark red beam strike her in the chest. Everything suddenly felt painful as she could no longer keep herself conscious.

Everything went black as she wearily saw Photon move towards her. When Midoriko eventally came to her senses, she awoke to find herself in the card that would belong to her new Selector. Feeling angry with herself, she punched the floor of her surroundings hard whilst screaming aloud in agony.

_**Back to the present** _

The LRIG reflecting back on that occasion could only let out a sad and frustrated sigh. Even so, she still couldn't figure out everything that she had learned from that encounter. Just who was this Photon? Why had he been sent by 'her' to ensure that she transferred to a new Selector? More importantly, just what exactly did that beam do to her? Believing she would find the answers in due time, she decided that pondering over the problem again wasn't going to solve anything and went miserably to sleep.

* * *

**Aichi's Dreamscape**

Aichi looked around his current surroundings. He was in some sort of rocky plain in the broad daylight of wherever it was he was standing in. Looking up to the sky, he could see beyond the blue backdrop and the clouds what appeared to be a small, but reasonable multitude of planets in the distance. Aichi knew for a fact that his Earth's sky did not have the capability of showing a skyline view of any planets other than the moon and that there was only one planet that he could be standing on. As his suspicions were just about confirmed, he heard several footsteps from behind. He turned around to see the person that was walking towards him. The all too familiar swordsman, clad in white armor and having a serious expression present in his green eyes.

"Blaster Blade," Aichi breathed.

"My Vanguard, Sendou Aichi," the swordsman spoke "You are already aware of the situation on your own world, are you not?"

"Are you referring to Kai-kun's disappearance?" he murmured "Leon-san managed to find out that he's in another world." Aichi then paused to see that Blaster Blade's expression had gone slightly grim. "Is something wrong? Did something happen here on Cray?"

"Nothing involving serious danger," Blaster Blade answered "But I have recieved reports that a strange anomaly has caused several members of the Kagero clan, Dragonic Overlord included, to vanish for several moments and then reappear soon afterwards. If what you say is true and your friend, Kai Toshiki has gotten himself stranded in another world, then it would stand to reason that if you're planning on heading there to find him, the same effect could happen to us Royal Paladins."

"I see..." Aichi felt downcast over the fact that his entry into that unknown world would end up dragging Blaster Blade and his Royal Paladins in and out of Cray at random points and he didn't want to cause too much of a hassle for them. The swordsman however looked back at him with a warm smile.

"Do not let this news hold you down, my Vanguard," he continued "No matter where you may be, if there is something that only we can accomplish to aid you in that world, we'll be there by your side."

"Thank you, Blaster Blade," Aichi replied back with a warm smile, before everything between the two of them went all white.

* * *

**Kai's World: Aichi's Bedroom**

As the bright morning light shone through the curtains of his room, Aichi slowly but surely awoke from his slumber. After yawning loudly, he got up from his bed and went over to his desk where he had left his deck. Looking at the top card being Blaster Blade, he looked on towards the open space in the curtains with the knowledge that today was the day he would venture with Leon, Ren and Naoki to this other world where they would hopefully find Kai along with Tatsunagi Takuto and figure out what exactly the two of them had gotten themselves into. He had no idea of how long the journey or their mission would last, but even he knew that things were not going to be easy in their quest to find their friends.

Glancing over to a bag that he had packed the night before, Aichi could only sigh in relief that he had managed to convince his sister Emi the night before that he would be gone with his friends for a while whilst trying to not exactly fill her in too much on where he was going. Netherless, he was thankful for his friends for being able to understand of what was going on at the moment. Although Kamui was disappointed in not being able to join him, Ren, Leon and Naoki on their little trip, he promised to help Misaki and Miwa make sure things stayed under control for him whilst he was gone. Reaching over for his bag and placing the deck in his pocket, Aichi began to prepare himself for the long journey ahead.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Hitoe's Bedroom**

Hitoe was up in her room, busy reconstructing as much of her deck as possible with some of the added cards given to her by Kai. After reading them closely with Yuzuki, the two of them began reassembling the deck to suit their needs for the next time they happened to be dragged into a battle. Yuzuki despite being thankful for Kai's aid the previous day was still concerned about allowing Hitoe to get herself involved with the Selector Battles any further, worried that the same thing that happened back when she had Midoriko could happen again. Netherless, some of her doubts were quelled from her performance against Kai in their previous practice battle and was hoping that the improvements they made could help them in their efforts to find Ruko. Before they could confirm with one another that the changes were good enough, Hitoe's mother came in through the door holding something in her hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said gently before noticing her daughter's concerned expression. "It's about Ruko isn't it?"

"Y...Yeah," Hitoe answered "I'm still worried about her. I just wish I can find her and see what's wrong."

"I see..." she murmured "Anyway, the magazine just came through the door if you were interested in reading it."

"Thank you," said Hitoe before her mother nodded kindly and left the room. After reading through several pages of the magazine she was given, Hitoe suddenly froze up in a blink of fear.

Yuzuki noticed this expression before looking back at the page that she was reading. It was showing Akira, indicating that she somehow got back into her career as a model, only the scar that was originally present on her right cheek appeared to no longer be there, or so they thought. What had Hitoe more worried more than this revelation was the quote that was present beside her picture. It read out:

"Wixoss - This rules! I'm perfectly hooked again!"

"Any strong players who wish to face me,

do Aki-lucky a favor and defeat the one called Kai Toshiki!"

"Tsk! Leave it to Akira to have her fans do her dirty work," Yuzuki growled, remembering back to how Akira had manipulated several of her fans into dragging Ruko out to the modelling agency to face her, even going out of their way to interrupt class at the time. Although she and her brother Kazuki did all they could to get their friend out of trouble, it was to no avail back then. They were thankful that the untimely arrival of Urazoe Iona and Akira's schedule had prevented her from wanting to battle Ruko out of submission. Hitoe however was worried that Kai had managed to land himself into a heap of trouble, whether he already realized it or not.

"But her scar isn't there anymore, is it?" she pondered.

"I don't know," said Yuzuki "As far as I know, scars don't heal that quickly. Even so, we better get to Kai before Akira's fans get to him."

Hitoe nodded in agreement with the LRIG before gathering her deck together and preparing to head outside. She bid her mother goodbye before leaving the house in a hurry, hoping that she was not too late in finding Kai. She was also worried for Ruko, but she felt that could be put on hold for now.

* * *

**City Park**

Kai knew that he had been in weirder situations before arriving in this world, whether it had been facing Kyou Yahagi dressed up as a Yeti or having to deal with Ren's air headedness during the Asia Circuit, but this one in his opinion was probably the strangest. Earlier in the day, after wandering around another part of the city to try and find Ruko with Tama, he was approached by a group of girls who had sought him out, eventually finding out they had learnt more about him after asking around Card Luck for his appearance. Because of that, he was easy to spot among the many crowds of people he walked across and from the looks of things, they weren't planning on simply talking and letting him go on his way afterwards.

"What is it you want?" he asked.

"Are you the boy that Akira-san mentioned?" one of the girls asked "The one called Kai Toshiki?"

"Yeah," he answered "What is it to you though?" The girls in the group each pulled out an LRIG card of their own and held it out towards him, presumably with the intention of starting a battle. Tama looked up at Kai, wondering what he planned to do next.

"What does Kai want to do?" she asked. Kai said nothing in response to the LRIG's question and looked back at the group.

"I decline," he spoke.

"What?!" Gasps and murmurs crossed across the group of girls quickly before they turned their gaze back to him.

"If you are Selectors," Kai continued "Then I want no part in tainting your wishes. However, this will be your only warning."

"W...We're not backing down!" the girl that spoke earlier declared "Anything for Akira-san's wish is her command!"

As Kai could only sigh in annoyance, he prepared to reach down into his jacket pocket to pull out his Kagero deck for battle. However...

"Step aside."

Upon hearing those words from the new arrival, Kai looked behind him to see that Fumio had decided to step in among the chaos. Several of the girls in the group looked over towards the novelist, curious as to why she had decided to come here. Tama could only watch on from her card in interest to see where this confrontation would be leading to, but before Fumio could approach Kai, several girls from the group intercepted to block her path.

"I have something of greater interest with that boy and you are standing in my way," she spoke before raising up Anne's card. "Unless you step aside like I said, I'll battle my way through."

"And you are?" Kai asked.

"I am Futase Fumio," the novelist answered "And you are the "boy" Selector, Kai Toshiki if I'm not mistaken from what I've seen of your prowess." Kai nodded in response to her statement.

"Then you must have been the one watching my battle with Chiyori back then," he said "What interest do I have to you?"

"H...Hey!" called one of the girls from the group standing between the novelist and Cardfighter "We're still here you know! If you want a piece of Akira's bounty, you'll need to deal with us first!"

"It seems you leave me no option then," the novelist sighed before glancing over to Kai. "You may end up having to battle some of this group yourself."

"So it seems you're suggesting that we temporarily join forces before getting down to business," he spoke "Fine by me." He brought out his Kagero deck before taking one of the LRIG cards from there and holding it out before him.

"Open!" they both declared as several hexagonal flashes emitted from both their cards at two members of the group of girls present.

* * *

**Elsewhere in the city; half an hour later...**

From atop the tall building where everything had changed for two Selectors and their LRIGs along with the first meeting between both Tama and Kai the night afterwards stood the girl had observed the Cardfighter's practice battle with Hitoe the other day for a short moment. Like before, everything about her head aside from a few strands of brown hair and her brown eyes was obscured by her winter scarf and hat. The girl was looking up at the midday sky where the noon sun was still high in the air before turning her gaze across to the various buildings of the city. She held in her hand an LRIG card of her own. The LRIG in question had a white outfit with light grey tights and black shoes along with two black gloves, the larger on her right arm with a grey bandage freely hanging from it. A single black wing was attached to the top left part of her outfirt, just above her chest along with a red earring on her right ear and what appeared to be one or two grey bandages that wrapped a little around her hair of the same colour, perhaps in a slightly more darker shade. She looked up at her Selector, with a hint of disappointment seemingly on her expression.

"Why are you still so naive?" she asked "You still continue to battle and obtain victory, yet they haven't gone the way I would have preferred it. And despite that, you still reject your calling."

"I didn't choose to go into battle to fufill any selfish desires Iona," the Selector answered "But regardless of whether I end up tainting their wishes or not, it does mean I can free them from Mayu, either by words or force. It may not have been the way I wanted to free everyone from her twisted game, but that's the way I've had to go about this." The girl sighed after her giving out her answer, a hint of bitterness still present in her expression.

"You're still on about Tama," Iona spoke "I thought you said you were planning to put that along with everything else behind you."

"I do," the Selector replied "The fact that she has gotten back to Yuzuki and Hitoe isn't making things any better since her deception back then. And then there is that boy that is holding on to her. He seems to be aware of the Selector Battles, but he shouldn't be involved in all this."

"Then what do you intend to do?"

The Selector then unfurled her scarf and removed her hat, revealing more of her previously concealed head. More brown hair was now present in appearance from most of the strands being held up by the hat along with a red hairpin that held a small curve seperate from the rest. Her full expression had now shown a new hint of determination that was previously unseen from the Selector before.

"We find him and make him turn back as well as see the truth," she answered "One way or another."

"As I thought, Ru."

* * *

**Back at the park...**

By the time Hitoe had entered the park, she could see that Kai along with 3 other girls, one of them being Fumio, appeared to be in a sleep like state. Yuzuki recognized this from before from what Kazuki told her he could see from a Selector Battle, before she became the LRIG she was now. Hitoe looked down at her LRIG, wondering what to do now that Kai was already dragged into battle.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"We may as well get in there and see how Kai's holding up," Yuzuki answered "You know what to do." Hitoe nodded and held the card towards Kai.

"Open!" she called as a brief flash caused everything around her to go all white.

* * *

When Hitoe eventually regained her eyesight, she found herself inside one of the distant buildings that were overlooking the Selector Battle that was going on. She was standing behind the gap that allowed her and Yuzuki, who was sitting on the edge, to see everything that was going beneath them. Or rather, what was going to end the battle right here and now.

"Final Turn!"

Kai's sudden declaration caught their attention as they looked over to his side of the field. On it, they could see Tama spectating from beside his LRIG deck which was only 3 cards short of being completely empty. Over on the LRIG space, they could see that Dragonic Overlord was already standing tall. It looked fiercely down at Kai's opponent whose LRIG wore a green garb and had several green bandages wrapped around her arms almost like in the form of gloves. She looked back at him, determination present in her expression with a bit of slight discomfort from his sudden declaration.

"No! Not yet!" she called before looking back at her Selector "We can still make it through this turn!" Her Selector was one of many fans of Akira who had ganged up on Kai to challenge him for the right to face said Selector had lost most of her composure though. She had meant to finish off Kai during her previous turn, but thanks to his Dominating Fury ARTS as well as the Servant D she crushed as one of his Life Cloths, she had basically blown her only chance of finishing him.

"You fought well," Kai spoke "But this is the end of the line. If your wish becomes tainted because of this, then you've brought this upon yourself. Up and draw. Ener Charge and..." A sudden spark of fire erupted from Kai's LRIG deck, startling Tama for a brief moment as the card he had in question flew over to the LRIG space.

"At the end of an endless quest, you arrive at final evolution! Sublimate your savage soul and show your true form!" he called "Grow!"

As a sudden column of fire erupted from the LRIG space, Dragonic Overlord began glowing bright orange. Some of its shape began to change, its wings and arms doubled in number and the figure of the dragon seemed to get more bulkier as well. The flames died down to reveal Kai's new ace.

"Dragonic Overlord the End!"

The flames died down to reveal the End on the LRIG space. It was still the same Dragonic Overlord, only their were a few changes among it. It now wore large red armor with large gold trimmings and a small black helmet which fitted perfectly on its head, without being even slightly cut by the horn. The number of wings the End had were double that of the original Dragonic Overlord as well as the number of arms it had. It held two blazing swords in its lower arms and two large guns in its upper arms along with the addition some gauntlet armor. Overlord roared loudly towards its opponent who was in awe over this transformation whilst Tama could only look up at the dragon in amazement.

"Amazing..." she murmured before turning her attention back to Kai who continued with his turn.

"Summon!" Burning Horn Dragon along with Goddra, Phantom Dragon and Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon appeared both alongside and in front of Dragonic Overlord the End on Kai's field. Both glowed in a bright red aura, having recieved a power bonus from Lintwurm's continious ability. An even more fiery aura surrounded the three SIGNI as if they were somehow resonating with Dragonic Overlord the End.

**Burning Horn Dragon: 6000 - 8000 - 10000**

**Goddra, Phantom Dragon 15000 - 17000 - 19000**

**Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon 7000 - 9000**

"Then with One Rule, Two Birds, I give Double Crush to the End and you can't use Level 1 SIGNI to guard." The opposing Selector could only groan as she looked down on her side of the field.

_The power of my SIGNI won't be enough to withstand all of his attacks and I don't have any Ener left to pay for my ARTS! But he's only got one attack that will damage me so his turn will be a waste!_

"Let's go!" Kai declared "My SIGNI attack!" The three dragon SIGNI nodded in agreement to his command and quickly incinerated the SIGNI in front of them, being Kiji, Phantom Beast, Owl, Phantom Beast and Eagle, Phantom Beast. Once the path was cleared, Kai turned his attention to Dragonic Overlord the End.

"The End attacks!" he spoke.

"Tsk... No guard!"

As Dragonic Overlord held out the gun in his upper left arm in front of him, a fiery red aura charged up at the end of the barrel before the gun shot out a barrage of fiery red bullets as the dragon fired it all right at the opposing LRIG. The flaming bullets struck around the LRIG space before the final one knocked her off balance causing the Selector's final two Life Cloths to be crushed. Neither of them had any Life Bursts, but that wasn't enough to shake up the Selector herself as she looked back at her hand.

_His attacks are all finished. All I have to do is summon this SIGNI and use Salvage on my next turn, then..._

"The End is not over!" Her thoughts were interrupted as those words had boomed over from Dragonic Overlord itself. It gazed back at Kai who nodded in agreement.

"When the End's attack hits a SIGNI or this case, an LRIG," he spoke "Counterblast and..." As the final two cards from Kai's Ener Zone moved to his trash, another card from LRIG deck moved straight into his hand. He revealed it to the Selector who gasped, the appearance being all too familiar.

"Persona Blast." He dropped the card revealed to be another copy of Dragonic Overlord the End as the copy on the LRIG space suddenly upped itself in a bright orange glow.

"What the?!" the opposing LRIG gasped.

"It's upped back up?!" the Selector chimed in "But this means...!"

"Awesome!" Tama called "Go Kai!"

Over from their spot above the battlefield, Yuzuki and Hitoe could only watch on. It was one thing for Kai to have finally obtained a Level 4 LRIG, in this case being a further evolution for Dragonic Overlord, but this one seemed even more stronger than the original. Back to where the Cardfighter was, he looked across towards both the opposing Selector and her LRIG.

"This is the end," Kai spoke "Dragonic Overlord the End, final attack!"

Dragonic Overlord the End roared as it took flight and brought down both guns aimed at the LRIG. Then, they fired blazing hot bullets that consumed the table in a raging inferno that consumed the LRIG in an instant and causing the Selector to shield herself from the intense heat of Dragonic Overlord's attack. Once the fire died down, the entire battlefield went black.

* * *

 

Back in the park, Kai looked down at the Selector he had defeated out of the bunch that came to beat him for Akira. She looked panicked, looking up at him before looking all around.

"W... What's happening?!" she cried "Who are you?!" Kai didn't answer as he was caught off guard a little bit. Hitoe who was now at a short distance from him could only look down in sadness. The same effect happened to her when she lost Midoriko along with all her memories of the time she spent with her friends until Yuzuki came into her possession as an LRIG. After the Selector ran Kai had faced off, she walked over to him.

"Are you alright Kai?!" she called.

"Yeah," he answered as he looked over towards Hitoe "Was her wish...?"

"I'm afraid it looks that way," Yuzuki answered "But if you were forced into battling Akira's fans, particuarly a large group, I can't really blame you."

"But Dragonic Overlord's now a Level 4!" Tama called "Kai's battle was amazing!" When she saw that what she said hadn't changed the mood of the scenario, she could only sigh in sadness.

"Tama says sorry," she sighed. Their thoughts were then closed off as they turned over to see that Fumio had also finished her battles amongst the group of girls that approached Kai.

"It seems your strength in battle is something to be reckoned with," she spoke.

"Who are you?" Yuzuki asked.

"Her name is Futase Fumio," Kai answered "We formed a temporary alliance at the time to clear through the group a little faster." He then turned over to the novelist. "But now that has been sorted, you said you had business with me."

"That is correct," Anne spoke from her card "Let me tell you, I thought I was going crazy when she mentioned some of the stuff she wanted to talk to you about." Fumio briefly glared at Anne with her only visible eye, which caused the LRIG to nod in apology and comply with her Selector. The novelist then turned her attention back to Kai and walked forward until she was at a reasonable distance in front of him.

"There has been something of late that has puzzled me," she spoke "And I believe you may be the key to that answer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this chapter:  
>  **Dragonic Overlord the End**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 3 Red  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 2 Red and choose a card from your LRIG deck named “Dragonic Overlord the End” and send it to your LRIG Trash: When this LRIG’s attack hits, you may pay the cost. If you do, up this LRIG and it can attack again.  
> [Constant]: This LRIG can attack any SIGNI your opponent controls. When this LRIG attacks a SIGNI, its power becomes equal to that of the attacked SIGNI until the end of that battle.  
> [Constant]: If you have a card named “Dragonic Overlord” underneath this LRIG, all your Red SIGNI gain 2000 power.


	12. Arc 1 - Ride 12: This Confrontation is Now I

**Wixoss World: City Park**

A small breeze whistled throughout the silent park as Kai could only look on at Fumio in curiosity as to what she had just said. Just what exactly was puzzling her and why did she think that he may have been the key to the answers she sought. He had a feeling though that he was about to find out here and now. Tama could only look up at him from her card that Kai was holding and then across to Fumio with almost equal interest. Hitoe could only watch on with Yuzuki as they could only wonder about what exactly Fumio had meant from her statement.

"So you believe I have something to do with what has been going on around here," murmured Kai "What exactly do you mean?"

"The thing is that you're the only boy I know of that appears to be somehow involved with the Selector Battles," she began "And your LRIGs don't appear to be like any others. If I'm so to speak, a large majority of them don't appear to be human or of 'her' creation."

"'Her' creation?" he pondered.

"She must be referring to Mayu," Yuzuki spoke "The LRIGs that are now alive and breathing, myself included are all here because of her doing. Kai's LRIGs are different because they're units from Cray."

"So you already know of 'that person'," Fumio said "How interesting." She then turned her attention back to Kai. "I'm sure you're not taken notice of this yourself, Kai Toshiki, but I assume you have seen a series of words enscribed on the bottom of your cards?"

"Yes," he answered "But I never was able to fully understand the meaning until Hitoe, Yuzuki and Tama told me everything that happened from their own adventures in the Selector Battles. They said it was like a prophecy, foretelling of the tale of a Selector would strive to obtain her wish. However, we all know that being a Selector is nothing to be proud of with what has really been going on."

"And that is the part where I believe you come in," she spoke "On the night before I watched your battle with that younger Selector, Chiyori if I recall correctly, I found something strange. For a few moments, the 'prophecy' on the back of the cards briefly changed for a moment. I have with me everything I wrote down before the words reverted back to normal." Fumio reached into her pocket bringing out a note that she used to jot down the words on that night and handed it over to Kai. He looked down and briefly read the words enscribed on the note before him whilst holding Tama's card at a reasonable angle to let her have a look. Hitoe joined him as she looked down at the supposed changed 'prophecy' whilst holding up Yuzuki's card so she could get a better look.

_A Boy carrying a heavy burden of sin._

_Called upon from his fight "Vanguard"_

_wielding the flames of perdition._

_Seeking a way to end this conflict..._

_Victory will be the only way for his_

_wish to revolutionize._

_Now, shall his "Wish Across" be ignited._

"Hmm... I guess I could see where some of these go," Yuzuki murmured "The flames of perdition may have something to do with Kai's Kagero units."

"And wasn't Vanguard the name of the game you played back in your world?" Hitoe asked.

"That's right," Kai answered "If that's the case, the heavy burden of sin, it must be referring to my time with Link Joker. But this doesn't make any sense." He then turned his attention back to Fumio. "How could this 'prophecy' change to somehow ressemble my qualities?"

"We don't know," replied Anne "But I suppose knowing something about that strange event was worth it, right Fumio-san?" The novelist didn't reply to Anne's statement. Instead, her gaze was trained upon Tama who could only look back, wondering why her attention was driven towards her.

"You are..."

"Tama is...?"

 _Yes, I'm almost certain. For now though..._ "If you wish to speak to me again," Fumio spoke "I suggest you first read the Wixoss novels beforehand. You may find something of interest in there. Until then." She turned around whilst giving a small wave of farewell to Kai and Hitoe before leaving the two of them alone in the park. After she had walked out of hearing distance from both Selector and Cardfighter along with the LRIGs they held, she held Anne out before her. The LRIG seemed puzzled by this turn of events as she looked up at Fumio.

"Why didn't you challenge him?" she asked.

"I'm certain that could have been unwise," Fumio answered "From what I could overhear from our battlefields earlier and the presence I felt from his cards nearby, I feel the time isn't right to battle Kai just yet."

"Strategically planning ahead," Anne mused "I find that interesting."

After Fumio had left the park area, Kai and Hitoe looked back at each other, wondering about what they had learned from Fumio just now. What impact did he have on the briefly changed 'prophecy' and why she suggested for him to look over the Wixoss novels for a possible clue? He remembered on the day that he met Chiyori that the young Selector had briefly mentioned about the novels and accidentally let her mouth open on her wish having something to do with those stories. Tama meanwhile could only ponder over why Fumio had briefly glanced over to her before leaving the group to themselves. Even so, she felt that now wasn't the time to dwell on that as she had her Selector, or rather, her friend to worry about. Kai looked down, noticing her expression before looking back at Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"We'll split up again and continue to look for Ruko," he said "I'll keep a reminder for myself to also pick up the Wixoss novels that Fumio mentioned earlier."

"Okay then," Yuzuki replied "Keep in touch if you spot anything."

"I got it."

"We'll see you later Kai," said Hitoe before waving goodbye and heading on her way. After the two parted ways again, Kai looked down again at Tama who looked back at him with brighter determination than before.

"Tama will find Ruko this time!" she called "Tama definitely will!" Before Kai could reply with a nod or by saying something else in response however...

"Wouldn't she like to know, scum."

He turned around to find the source of the voice that had spoken out all of a sudden. Right in front of him now was Ulith with a smug smile present on her lips.

"Who are you?!" he demanded.

"I assumed you would already know my identity from that pathetic excuse of a Selector and her new LRIG," she spat "But I'll cut to the chase. I am Ulith and I have something that may interest you and her."

"Are you saying you know something about Ruko?"

"That's right," Ulith answered cooly "In fact if I recall, she was looking for you and she wasn't exactly in the best of moods."

"Then does Ulith know where Tama can find Ruko?" Tama asked. Ulith looked down at her and could only increase her sneer even more, making the LRIG feel less comfortable from asking her question.

"If it were up to me trash, I'd have your card ripped to shreds here and now," she spoke "But my higher powers have better use for you." She then looked back up at Kai. "If you're seeking Ruko, she said for you to meet her on top of that building by sunset, alone."

She pointed towards the tallest building of the city for a brief moment, before leaving Kai and Tama to themselves. The LRIG wanted to be excited for knowing where Ruko was, but couldn't find anything to feel joyful about after their brief run in with Ulith. Kai meanwhile felt uneasy from all of this. He had at last found Ruko's supposed location, yet he couldn't quite make out from what Ulith had said. Why did she say that Ruko was awaiting him and why at that place by sunset alone? Kai had a feeling he would find out soon enough, but for the moment he felt like he had to let Yuzuki and Hitoe know of this as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and selected her number.

* * *

**Kai's World: City Mall Basement**

Aichi and Naoki waited anxiously by the teleporter for Ren and Leon to show up. They had recieved a call earlier in the day that the two of them had to take care of a few things first before joining them for their attempt to get the currently inactive floor panel to work in their favor. As the hours had went by, Aichi's determination to find his friend could only grow larger whilst Naoki could only get more anxious, not just from their attempt to find Kai, but from what they may end up finding along the way. Oh, how little did the Narukami user already know from what the four of them could or would end up finding, that is if they could still make it to that other world.

"Darn it!" he groaned "This waitin' is killing my patience over here!"

"Um... you do remember what Ren-san said earlier today?" Aichi murmured.

"I know that!" Naoki replied "But still, I can't help but wonder if Kai's actually alright in that other world he's gotten himself stuck in."

"Me too," he said "I just hope he's okay." Aichi's doubt was then cast aside as he heard the doors to the mall basement open and turned to Leon and Ren step into the room.

"Sorry we took so long," Ren spoke "I was sure that it would only take a few minutes to sort out what to take in case we ended up having a long stay."

"And yet, you somehow managed to extend that to a few hours to the point where Tetsu had to help you with packing," Leon replied nonchantly. Aichi and Naoki could only sweatdrop whilst Ren could only pout a little after hearing everything that was said. The Royal Paladin user then cleared his throat to try and get the group back on the topic at hand.

"Anyway," he began "Shouldn't we get started on trying to get this teleporter working again?"

"Indeed," Leon answered "I'll try to contact with Takuto again with my PSY Qualia. When I'm sure that ours become synched, Aichi and Ren, you two will need to synch yours between mine and the teleporter pad."

"And does this mean I can flip the switch if it works?" Naoki asked.

"If it works, then yes," the Aqua Force user said.

"Then what are we waitin' for?!" he replied "Let's get this thing started!"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Naoki at this point. Leon closed his eyes and walked over onto the teleporter pad, stopping right in the center of the Vanguard circle that was engraved on the large square. After taking a deep breath, he reopened his purple eyes. This time however, they had a rainbow coloured aura present inside of them. This was the power that he, along with Aichi and Ren had possessed, PSY Qualia. The others waited anxiously, hoping that Leon would be able to get in contact with Takuto soon or else they would be out of options from trying to find another way to get to the other world where Kai was stranded in. Aichi could only go deep in thought over what could be happening with his friend at the moment.

_Kai-kun, we'll be there soon. I promise that!_

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

"So you're saying you've managed to find where Ruko could be?!"

"Maybe."

A few minutes after Kai had called up Hitoe to tell her everything that he had 'learned' from Ulith, Yuzuki had requested for the two of them to meet up again in front of a nearby cafe immediatly to discuss a plan of action. Despite the sudden news that they had managed to learn of the missing Selector, they could still feel a sense of uneasiness when Kai had mentioned the supposed conditions involved in this scenario. The group could only look down as they thought hard on the subject.

"I don't understand," Hitoe murmured "Why would Ulith say that Ruko would want to meet Kai alone by sunset on that building?"

"But that means Tama will find Ruko, right?" Tama said curiously.

"I don't know," Kai replied "But I still have a feeling that Ulith was hiding something during our brief confrontation. And I feel that has something to do with Ruko herself."

"Even so," Yuzuki spoke "The only way we'll know for sure is if we take a chance with what Ulith told you and hope that we do find her and know about what exactly is going on." The group remained silent for the moment, unsure of what to think up next. Each was deep in their thoughts over the current scenario at hand and time was running out until sunset for them to make a choice in the manner. Eventually, Kai got up from his seat having made a decision that he was willing to follow.

"I'm going there," he spoke before picking up Tama's card from the table and looking down at Hitoe.

"But Kai, if I go with you," she said "Ruko may not appear there if Ulith said she was only willing to meet you alone."

"We'll stay out of sight from the meeting point unless we are sure we can let ourselves be known," Yuzuki replied. She then looked up at the sky before turning her attention back to Kai. "And by the looks of things, we better get moving to that building now."

Kai and Tama nodded in agreement before Hitoe got up from her seat to join him and the two of them walked over to the building where hopefully, the Selector they were looking for would be awaiting for one of them. As the evening sun drew ever closer towards the end of the horizon, they eventually came across the building in question from before. After waiting for some time for the construction workers present to leave the premises, they entered the derelict building and began the long trek to the top. Finally, after going up several series of stairs and elevators, they had reached the door which lead out onto the roof. The Selector and Cardfighter looked at each other before looking down at their LRIGs, Yuzuki of which gave a nod.

"Well, here goes nothing Kai," she spoke "Good luck." Kai nodded back in response and opened the door leading out onto the roof. Hitoe went behind it to remain out of sight whilst he walked out onto the derelict open space. A harsh silent breeze whistled across roof as Kai looked out into the distance to see that the sun was in fact beginning to set. He looked out across the roof, but could see no one for the moment. He looked down at Tama before turning to face forward once again.

"Are you here?!" he called "Ruko!" At first, there was no answer with only his echo and the silent breeze to accompany the seemingly empty rooftop of the tall building. But then...

"So you've come here, Kai Toshiki." At this point, Tama could recognize the voice that had spoken out in response to Kai's calling.

"It's Ru!" she cried "Ru's here!"

From behind a large piece of tarpaulin that was covering up a pile of building materials, Ruko stepped from out of the shadows and walked until she was at a distance from right in front of Kai. From behind the rooftop door, Hitoe could only watch as she saw her friend look over at Kai and had to restrain herself from gasping out loud. Yuzuki from her card could only watch on and see where this could end up heading. Kai meanwhile could only look over at Ruko and wonder at why she now chose to appear before him. Even so, he felt the answer as to why would be coming up pretty soon.

"So you are Kominato Ruko," he spoke "The original holder of the LRIG Tama, if I'm correct."

"You're right," Ruko answered "The former holder actually." She then went into her coat pocket and revealed Iona's card to Kai. Tama could only stare in surprise at this sudden turn of events. Although she was aware that Iona had become Ruko's new LRIG from Yuzuki and Hitoe bringing her up to speed, deep down she was secretly hoping that this wasn't the case.

"So then, we finally meet face to face," Iona spoke "I heard rumor going about of a boy Selector that wielded dragons and it seems too good to be true from what we've heard today. And I see you've brought along the traitor as well."

"And you must be Iona," Kai replied before looking back up at Ruko. "I came here from Ulith's word, hoping that I'd find answers and I think you might have some."

"So she told you of where I would be," Ruko murmured "Even so, what answers are you after?"

"Why did you run away from not just your friends, but your family as well?" The Selector could only sigh in disappointment from this.

"I assume that Hitoe and Yuzuki told you everything that happened before then," she spoke "I ran away because I didn't want them involved in the Selector Battles. Even if neither my brother or grandma aren't Selectors, they'd only end up being caught up in this mess, one way or another. And I have her to blame." She then pointed a finger at Tama's card to make her point clear. Kai could only look down at Tama to see her expression had saddened at this point before then looking back at Ruko.

"Are you referring back to...?"

"That's right," Ruko answered "I was on the brink of becoming an Eternal Girl, to free everyone from Mayu's twisted game, but Tama refused to complete the oath."

"But...!" Tama cried "Tama didn't want Ruko to...!"

"I've heard enough," she replied "Your betrayal that night only made things worse for everyone. Now I know that it's impossible to complete that same wish whilst I have Iona. I can still free the Selectors and LRIGs a different way either by convincing them to leave the battles or to defeat them if reasoning isn't enough as I will with you." She held Iona's card out towards Kai, almost in the same manner as a Selector with the intent of starting a battle. He could only look on at her, having been caught off guard by this sudden action.

"You're intending to start a battle?" he murmured.

"I don't know how a boy like you got into all of this," she replied "But I can't let you be involved any further." Iona could only smile at this point, partially with interest to witness Kai's potential in battle herself.

"Ope..."

"Wait!"

Both Kai and Ruko looked to the doorway to see Hitoe had decided to join them on the roof. She walked forward until she was around the same distance between both Kai and her friend. Ruko could only look at her, curious about this sudden turn of events now.

"Hitoe," she spoke "Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk with you," Hitoe answered "Yuzuki does as well."

"We both heard everything," said Yuzuki "We only wanted Kai's help in finding you so we could try and talk this over. It isn't just us that's worried, but your family as well. Tama's even asked for help from Kai in finding you as well. You don't need to battle him." Ruko however could only look down at her other free hand and clench it tightly. She then looked back at Kai and Hitoe.

"Well it seems she's made her choice," Iona spoke before looking up at Ruko. "So what will it be?" Ruko looked back at Iona for a brief moment before turning her attention back to Kai.

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore if you're still willing to trust Tama after everything," she said "But if that's the case, I'll make you see that nothing will change my mind." Kai could only grit his teeth at the current scenario. He didn't think that he would have to battle Ruko for the situation to go anywhere, but at the moment, it seemed as if that option was now the only one available to him. He took out Dragonic Overlord's card from the deck in his pocket and took a step forward towards Ruko.

"Kai!" called Yuzuki "Don't go through with this!"

"I'll be fine," he replied "It's Ruko that I'm more concerned about. I feel something strange from Iona that she's holding and it seems as if the only way we'll find out about what's been going on is to defeat her." He then looked back at the said Selector herself.

"Ruko," he spoke "If I win, will you go back to your friends and family so we can find out what's really been going on?" She nodded in response to his question.

"But if I win," she replied "Things will remain as they are."

"Are there any objections?" Iona asked.

"It is fine," Kai answered as he held out Dragonic Overlord's card to face Iona's.

"OPEN!" they both called out. A brief series of both Red and Black flashes enveloped the rooftop, bringing both Selector and Cardfighter along with Hitoe to the battefield that awaited them.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When both Kai and Ruko came to their senses, both were seated at their respective tables on both ends of the battlefields, each half colored by the same color that their decks had revolved around. On Ruko's table, Iona was standing up prepared for battle whilst Lizard Soldier, Conroe had appeared on the LRIG space of Kai's table with Tama once again watching from beside the LRIG deck. Over from a nearby tower in the background, both Hitoe and Yuzuki could only watch anxiously to see how things would turn out. Hitoe could only feel sad that things had to turn out this way and had felt that no idea of what she should be doing now. Yuzuki looked back up at her and noticed her expression.

"I didn't want things to turn out like this either," she said "But right now, we need to have faith in Kai so he can bring back our friend."

Hitoe nodded and turned her attention back to the battle that was about to start.  _Kai, Ruko, please be alright._

After the giant wheel above their heads had landed its slot on a black colour, Kai looked over towards Ruko, curious to hear her decision about who would go first. Needless to say, her answer had already come in a manner of saying.

"Draw. Iona, grow!" A series of flashes rose up from the LRIG space as Iona's outfit had changed from white to pure black along with the gray bandages surrounding both her hair and the grey areas of her tights and a dark red aura swirled around her arms. She stared intensely at Kai and Conroe whilst also taking a brief glance at Tama on the side of his table. 

_Finally, I will be able to see your strength, so that I may crush it myself._

"Turn end," spoke Ruko. Kai nodded in acknowledgement and began his turn.

"Draw and Ener Charge," he said. Before continuing with his move, he looked down at Tama, noticing that her expression hadn't changed since his 'conversation' with Ruko before looking over to the LRIG of the Selector in question.

"Just a question, Iona," Kai spoke.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Why did you want to become Ruko's LRIG?" Iona could only smile when she recieved the question in mind.

"Isn't it obvious?" she answered "The strongest Selector and the strongest LRIG, that was why I became Ruko's LRIG in the place of Tama." Her expression then changed when she looked up at Ruko herself. "However, she doesn't seem to agree with that."  _At least, not yet._

"I see," replied Kai "So you became an LRIG with the intent of battling forever. Even if that's case, my resolve won't waver! Grow, Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!"

Conroe vanished from the LRIG space in a flash of light as Bahr then appeared in its place.

"Summon!" Iron Tail Dragon then appeared in front of Bahr, poised and ready to strike.

"Attack!" Iron Tail took flight and charged towards Iona who braced herself for impact. After the slash from the dragon's left arm was dealt, the LRIG didn't seemed fazed by the blow that she had taken. When the first Life Cloth was flipped up however, Kai's eyes could only widen to see what he had crushed from his first attack. At this moment, Tama snapped out of her saddened daze from earlier and looked up at him, wondering what was going on.

"What did Kai see?" she asked.

"Freezing Revenger," he answered "A Shadow Paladin unit."

"Ah, so that's what those strange Black SIGNI Ruko and I found were called," Iona spoke "How interesting." The card landed in Ruko's Ener Zone glowing, indicating a Life Burst effect had gone off.

"With the effect," she spoke "I draw one card."

"Bahr attacks next!" Kai declared.

"Servant D2 will guard." As Bahr charged across the battlefield towards Iona, an angel like figure appeared in front of the demon and thrust her shield towards its blade. The sudden appearance caused Bahr's attack to rebound before Servant D2 vanished from the battlefield. The demon retreated back to the LRIG space due to its attack being blocked successfully.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 2**

**Hand - 5 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Iona, Crescent/Maiden**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 1**

"At least Kai's gotten off to a good start," Yuzuki spoke "I just hope he can keep it up." Hitoe nodded before turning her attention over to Ruko and Iona at their end of the battlefield.

_Kai, please bring back our friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Freezing Revenger**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Image Spirit; Angel  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there we go! Here's the last chapter of the third bunch today as the thickening plot starts to pick up! Hope you've enjoyed what I've brought over so far!


	13. Arc 1 - Ride 13: That Confrontation is Now II

**Selector Battlefield**

"Draw and Ener Charge."

Ruko stared across the battlefield over towards Kai, still curious on his intent of accepting to battle her to try and bring her back to her friends and family. She glanced over towards Tama on the table and could only frown. She had hoped that Hitoe and Yuzuki would have known better to abandon all trust to her after the LRIG refused to go through with the vow to become an Eternal Girl, believing that one method was the only true way to save everyone who was trapped in these battles, both Selectors and LRIGs alike. But now that they were still willing to trust her even after what happened, she felt the only way to put everything right was to make them turn back whilst being careful to not fall to Iona's own desires of being the strongest. Netherless, the only thing on her mind now was defeating Kai and making him see that he shouldn't have been involved in the first place.

"Iona, grow!" she called. Nothing much changed from Iona's current appearance aside from the disappearance of the red aura that was swirling around her arms and the appearance of what appeared to be feathered wings on her back.

"Summon!" A SIGNI with blonde hair and green eyes appeared to the right of Iona. She had rock formations covering over the top of her head, the lower halves of her arms and legs along with her fists, feet and toes.

"With Triumph's ability, I down her, discard a card and add any Black SIGNI of Level 2 or less to my hand." After searching through her deck, Ruko revealed Dark Revenger, Mac Lir before concealing it among the remaining cards in her hand and shuffling the deck. Kai stared on closely at her field. So far, her deck seemed to consist of a mix of both White SIGNI along with several Shadow Paladin units and she seemed to be replenishing her hand early on.

 _There must be more to her strategy than just searching for more cards_ he thought  _I can still feel a strong presence from both her and Iona so there must be some reason why she chose for a mix of both Black and White in her deck._

"Next I summon Darkness Revenger, Rugos and attack!" No sooner than the Shadow Paladin unit had entered the field to the center of Iona had he already began rushing towards Iron Tail Dragon. With a slash of the larger of the two swords he carried, the knight had already eliminated the dragon from the battle. The card then moved over to Kai's Ener Zone. A dark aura suddenly surrounded Rugos and Triumph, increasing their power.

**Code Maze Triumph: 1000 - 2000**

**Darkness Revenger, Rugos: 7000 - 8000**

"Next, Iona!" Ruko called.

"About time," the LRIG replied "Observe Kai Toshiki, Tama, this is only the beginning of the extent of my power!" Using her right hand, Iona charged up a purple energy ball before crushing it and unleashing all the power into a single attack directed at Bahr. The beam struck the demon head on knocking it backwards. Kai's first Life Cloth revealed Kannya, Phantom Dragon, but no Life Burst was present on the card.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 3**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Iona, Half/Maiden**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Darkness Revenger, Rugos - Code Maze Triumph**

**Ener - 3 : 1**

As Kai drew his cards, he looked down at Tama who seemed to be saddened by all that was going on. He had been told everything that had happened on that fateful night from the LRIG's perspective along with Hitoe and Yuzuki's view on the subject when he had first met them, however, he felt as though everything he had heard wasn't the full picture he was getting. Before he could ask Tama for any more information, Iona spoke out.

"You're battling on Tama's behalf and yet, you're not using her," she said "If you ask me, I think you're being dishonest yourself just as she was dishonest to Ruko's wish."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She refused to complete the oath for her own reasons and yet despite agreeing to help her, you've never used her in battle," Iona replied "After all, Tama's greatest desire is to battle forever, much like mine. Am I wrong?" Before Kai could even ask Tama about this, she had already decided to answer for him.

"Tama at first wanted to battle forever," she said "Tama enjoyed the thrill of battling, no matter what happened. But after seeing Ru upset, Tama decided that battling wasn't going to make Ru any happier."

Kai didn't know what to think over the scenario anymore. From one side, the person that he was seeking under Tama's request as well as Hitoe and Yuzuki, she had viewed the entire event on that night as a form of betrayal and she didn't know who to turn to in order to sort out the scenario and as such, had decided to follow a path of solitude all on her own in order to try and free Selectors and LRIGs alike a different way. But just what did Iona mean about him being dishonest to her in comparison to the event from before. Either way, he had come this far already and he had no intention of backing out of perhaps the opportunity he had to get more answers. He turned his attention back to Ruko and Iona in order to continue on with the battle.

"Ener Charge and Grow!" he declared "Dragon Knight, Nehalem!"

In a flurry of flames, Bahr vanished from the LRIG space as the knight and the dragon that he stood atop entered the battlefield, hovering just a few feet above the table.

"Using Conroe's ability, I search my deck for Wyvern Guard, Barri and add it to my hand." After revealing the card, Kai concealed it in his hand and shuffled his deck before turning his attention back to his current situation.

"Summon!" Berserk Dragon and Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara appeared both in front of and to the left of the Dragon Knight, poised and ready to strike at any given moment.

"Using Berserk Dragon's ability, I banish Rugos!" The two headed dragon launched a pair of fireballs at the dark knight, incinerating him in an instant. Ruko only frowned a little from the loss of the Shadow Paladin unit before turning her attention back to Kai.

"So you knew that Triumph's ability would force you to play the first SIGNI from your hand to be directly in front of it. That's why you summoned Kimnara in front it."

"Indeed," replied Kai "It seems your friends weren't lying when they said that you were a strong Selector. But there's something I still don't get. What exactly do you mean by the fact that I shouldn't be involved?"

"Like I said before our battle begun," she said "I don't know why a boy like you got involved in this whole mess, but I can't let you interfere with my goal of freeing everyone from the Selector Battles, no matter what. If you're willing to trust Tama, then I can't let you go any further." Kai stared on for a few more moments before turning his attention to his SIGNI.

"Berserk Dragon attacks Iona!" The two headed dragon let out a deafening roar before launching a pair of fireballs from both mouths which struck the LRIG head on. Despite the impact of the blast, Iona seemed unfazed, much like on the previous attack she took from Iron Tail Dragon during Kai's previous turn. The crushed Life Cloth revealed another copy of Rugos which landed in Ruko's Ener Zone.

"Next!" Kimnara raised its staff which summoned a bolt of lightning that struck Code Maze Triumph, also sending it to Ruko's Ener Zone.

"Nehalem!"

As the Dragon Knight raised its lance, Ruko slapped a card down in front of the center LRIG space.

"Mac Lir!" she called. The Shadow Paladin unit appeared for a brief moment in front of Iona, shielding her from Nehalem's attack before vanishing from the battlefield.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 4**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Iona, Half/Maiden**

**SIGNI : Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara - Berserk Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 4**

Over from the tower that they were watching the battle from, Hitoe and Yuzuki could only watch and wait to see how things would play from here on out. They both felt tense from everything that had happened so far and couldn't help but wonder about the two combatants that were fighting it out below. Hitoe was the first to speak out her view on the subject.

"I don't get it..." she murmured "I want Kai to bring back our friend, but..."

"I know," Yuzuki replied "I want to cheer for Ruko as well. But with the way things are, I can't bring myself to do it." She then looked down at Iona on Ruko's table and could only grimace at the predicament that their friend was now in. It wasn't just Tama's refusal to accept Ruko's wish that had put her in this spot, but Iona's own wish to become the Selector's new LRIG that made things the way they were. She then glanced back over to Kai and Tama who was still watching on his table.

 _You can do it Kai!_ she thought  _You just need to defeat Iona and we'll have our friend back home safely._

* * *

**Unknown Space**

Still shackled to the stone slab, Takuto could only stare into the dark wall of the lonely room that Mayu had imprisoned him in earlier after his 'brief' conversation with Leon. Whilst he was thankful that the mastermind of the Selector Battles had not yet discovered that he still had some access to PSY Qualia, he knew it was only a matter of time before his hostess found out about his link back to his allies on his own Earth. As his forehead mark and gold yellow eyes suddenly glowed brightly, he could suddenly see what appeared to be an astral like version of Leon standing before him.

"Tatsunagi!" Leon spoke.

"Soryu Leon," Takuto replied "Have you managed to find a way to that world yet?"

"I have, but I need your help," the Aqua Force user replied "Can you keep our PSY Qualia synchronized for a while?"

"I'll try..." he groaned "I've groan weaker since our last conversation, but I'll do what I can." The glows in Takuto's and Leon's eyes intensified as their PSY Qualia began to synchronize with one another, hopefully forging the path that Leon's group would need to travel to the other world.

* * *

**Kai's World: Mall Basement**

Back in the mall basement, a sudden breeze stirred up from where Leon was standing on the center of the teleporter pad. He looked over back towards Aichi, Ren and Naoki who were waiting for his word to see if they needed to take action or not.

"Sendou, Suzugamori, now!" he called. Aichi and Ren nodded in agreement before stepping onto the teleporter pad to join the Aqua Force user in their efforts for this one shot plan to work. Aichi looked at Ren, seemingly confused on what they should be doing.

"So how do we synchronize our PSY Qualia with Leon's?" he asked.

"Who knows," Ren replied "I'm not an expert in supernatural powers, but we should be asking him." Aichi could only sweatdrop a little from the Shadow Paladin user's response, but looked over to Leon regardless.

"Focus your PSY Qualia onto my own," he answered before groaning for a brief moment, clearly showing that he was struggling to keep his link to Takuto up for much longer. "Then use a free arm from each of you to channel it to the square we're standing on. Once I'm sure it's working, Ishida can turn the switch to hopefully send us to that world."

"I got it," Aichi replied before turning over to Naoki.

"You can count on me!" he called "Good luck!" The Royal Paladin user nodded in reply and turned back to face Ren who nodded in agreement with him. The two closed their eyes for a brief moment before opening them back up, each with a rainbow hue glow present in them. They turned their attention to Leon and focused all the energy from their power onto him in the hope they could eventually synchronize it back to the teleporter pad so their journey into the unknown, would eventually begin. Naoki watched on anxiously, hoping that the three of them could make this happen or else, Kai would be well and truely stranded in that world with possibly no way back home.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Outside of the building...**

"What do you mean there's something big going on up there Eldora?"

"I'm not sure, but I can sense something going on at the top of that building."

Chiyori looked over at her LRIG, not quite getting at what she was saying before turning her attention back to the building that stood before her where unbeknowst to them, for the moment that is, Kai and Ruko were battling it out. She stared up at the top, wondering at what Eldora meant before turning her attention back to her LRIG.

"Should we go and check it out?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," Eldora replied. Chiyori nodded in agreement with a smile and ran into the building. It took her a long while, having gone up several series of stairs and ascending up several elevators, but she eventually reached the door leading out to the roof. She panted for a short while, having needed to catch her breath from dashing up the long way there. To Chiyori's surprise, the door was already open, but the answer to her curiosity had already shown itself. She could see Kai, Hitoe and Ruko standing up in a sleep like state, which confirmed to both her and Eldora that their battle was already well and truely underway. She pulled out Eldora's card and looked down at her.

"We've found Kai in a Selector Battle, so cool!" she called before her mood then dropped in disappointment "But we can't even see what's going on in there!"

"Of course we can," Eldora replied "Just hold my card towards them and declare Open like you did when you challenged Yuzuki."

"Ah right!" said Chiyori before holding the card out towards the group standing before them. "Open!"

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Over from the tower where Hitoe and Yuzuki were observing, they could see that things were beginning to heat up in the battle going on from beneath where they were viewing. Kai was currently in the lead by at least 1 Life Cloth but Ruko's turn had already begun and she had already managed to wipe out his offence with both Iona's ability banishing Kimnara whilst Drei=Capsule had easily taken out Berserk Dragon at the cost of being downed. Things were beginning to look grim for the moment with Ruko's attacks having not even started yet, but before they could think any further over the current scenario, a sudden bright glow appeared beside them for a brief moment before fading out to reveal that Chiyori and Eldora had joined them on the sidelines. The young Selector looked over to Yuzuki and Hitoe and waved hello.

"And so, we meet again!" she called.

"Chiyori," murmured Hitoe.

"Look, as much as we appreciate your enthusiasm," Yuzuki replied "This really isn't the time for it."

"So how's Kai holding up?" asked Eldora.

"He was in the lead for a moment," Hitoe answered "But Ruko's managed to clear his field and she hasn't even attacked yet."

"Attack!"

Ruko's declaration suddenly caught the attention of the two Selectors and LRIGs who were watching from the tower. Code Maze Skyju and Code Maze Pyramid from both the left and right sides of Iona charged forward towards Nehalem and struck the dragon the knight was stood atop with two bright beams of light. The knight almost stumbled from the impact that the dragon had taken from the attacks. Kai's next Life Cloths, Iron Tail Dragon and Seal Dragon, Artpique, the second card revealing a Life Burst. Kai drew 1 card from the effect going off.

"Iona!" The LRIG now had not only more wings than her previous form, but also ones that were larger, including an additional wing from the part of her outfit covering the right part of her chest. She clutched a black spear of some sort that had materialized from growing into this form before charging towards Nehalem.

"Barri will guard!" called Kai. Iona's attack did nothing more than hit the green circle that was generated in front of the Wyvern Guard before she retreated back to the LRIG space, gritting her teeth in a little annoyance.

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 5**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Iona, Pale/Maiden**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Maze Skyju - Drei=Capsule - Code Maze Pyramid**

**Ener - 4 : 3**

"Up and draw." After Kai drew his cards before placing Dragon Monk, Genjo in his Ener Zone, he glanced across towards Ruko and Iona with a fierce glint now present in his eyes. Tama looked up at his expression, knowing what was about to come next. Normally, she felt like cheering on in excitement, but the fact that Ruko was feeling this way had downcast her spirits, especially when she felt she was to blame for all of the mess her former Selector was now in. Nonetheless, she knew she had to have faith in Kai in the hopes they would be able to sort things out once he won.

"Grow the Vanguard!" he called "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

As a raging column of fire consumed Nehalem, removing him from the battlefield, a unit that was now all too familiar to almost everyone present emerged from the scorching hot flames.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

The dragon roared loudly after the flames had died down before taking a stance on the LRIG space, awaiting the first sign of an attack to be declared. It glanced over towards Iona with a fierce glint in its yellow eyes. Iona herself looked back at Overlord with great intrigue running through her thoughts.

"So you're Overlord," she spoke "We finally meet each other on the battlefield, face to face."

Ruko looked up the dragon, having now seen it in person herself for the first time.  _So this is Dragonic Overlord. This is Kai's true LRIG. I'm not sure how he managed to get something like that into battle, but even so, I won't lose._ She then suddenly paused in her thoughts.  _Keep it together, you're only doing this to make Kai turn back, not collect a victory streak._ Iona briefly turned around, having sensed Ruko's moment of discomfort from her thoughts.

"Keep it together," she spoke. Ruko nodded and turned her attention back to Kai who continued with his turn.

"Summon!" Two Eigana, Phantom Dragons appeared to both the left and right of Overlord whilst Dual Axe Archdragon appeared in the center SIGNI zone.

"Then I pay 2 to activate Expelling Flames of the Dragon Phoenix!" After Kai revealed the spell he activated, he pointed towards Drei who was instantly incinerated by a whirlwind of flames. Before the card moved to Ruko's Ener Zone, a copy of Rugos that was there earlier flew straight into her trash pile.

"Let's go!" Kai declared "Attack!" The two Eigana made quick work of Ruko's Skyju and Pyramid whilst Dual Axe Archdragon charged in towards Iona. Ruko having noticed this quickly reached for one of the cards in her hand.

"I won't let you!" she called "Hellrage Revenger, Quesal!" As another card moved from her Ener Zone to her trash, an Elf covered in black armor appeared right in front of Iona, ready to block the attack.

"Quintet Wall!" Five cards suddenly flew out from the top of Ruko's deck and passed through the green circle generated by Quesal. The SIGNI revealed among those cards, Code Maze Tajmaha, Skull Witch Nemain, Healing Revenger and Code Maze Triumph who appeared alongside Quesal to intercept the attack. The barrier was strong enough to deflect Dual Axe's strike as the dragon retreated back to the SIGNI Zone. The SIGNI that were revealed moved to Ruko's Ener Zone whilst the only Spell, Jetting Knowledge, moved to her trash along with Quesal's card.

"What?!" gasped Yuzuki "Since when did she get something that could block SIGNI attacks?!"

"She's not the only one though," Chiyori replied before pulling out Icefall Dragon's card from her pocket to show her exactly what she meant.

"That's a Quintet Wall?" murmured Hitoe.

"That's right," Eldora answered "But it's mostly a gamble depending on what your deck is structured more around."

"I see," said Yuzuki, now brought up to speed on the whole mechanic. She glanced back at the battle to see how it would play out.

"Overlord attacks!" Kai called. The dragon roared in response to his command before taking flight towards Iona. The LRIG charged towards the oncoming dragon with everything that she had at the moment. When they eventually came close to one another, they began striking at one another with all the power they had at their disposal. Flames clashed with dark energy from their attacks at one another before Iona's spear and Overlord's sword began repelling one another with each swing they attempted at each other to overpower the opponent before a stalemate was present for the moment.

"So this is your power," Iona spoke before flashing a brief smirk "Truely a wasteful effort."

"And yet, I sense this is not the full extent of your own," Overlord replied "You should not underestimate me." After it spoke, its sword knocked back Iona before a whoosh of its signature attack, Eternal Flame consumed her in an instant. When the flames had died down, Iona emerged with several scorch marks present on her wings and outfit, but she seemed somewhat unfazed from the result of the clash. Code Anti Vimana entered Ruko's Ener Zone glowing, indicating that Kai's attack had triggered a Life Burst.

"With the effect," she spoke "I drain Eingana's power by 10000, thereby banishing it." The Eingana on Kai's right was suddenly egulfed by a dark cloud before several sparks raged through it. Once the smoke had cleared, the SIGNI was no more, the card now in his Ener Zone.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 5**

**Hand - 1 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Iona, Pale/Maiden**

**SIGNI : Eingana, Phantom Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 6**

"So you only managed to tie it up," said Iona "How disappointing." Ruko looked on over Kai and Tama who had still been watching the battle over from his side of the table.

"I want to know one thing Kai," she spoke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Aside from following Tama's 'request'," Ruko said "Why is it are you involving yourself in these battles?"

"I want answers," Kai replied "I want to know the truth and meaning behind the Selector Battles and their purpose."

"I see..." Ruko took a deep breath for a moment before looking back at him. "But even so, I can't let you be involved any further, for any Selector or LRIG's sake. Some things are beyond your doing and trying to find the meaning behind all of this is one of them. Allow me to teach you that." After placing one of the cards that she drew in her Ener Zone, she turned her attention towards Iona.

"Iona, grow!" In a brief flash of lights, Iona's appearance didn't exactly change by much apart from the bandages wrapped around her arms and head seemingly getting longer and the wings littered across her body only grew larger. Tama could only grow increasingly worried as to where this battle could end up being headed before looking up at Kai, noticing the determination in his expression.

_Kai, please bring Ru back. Tama just wants to say Tama's sorry. Tama didn't want this to happen._

"Kai Toshiki," Iona spoke "Prepare yourself for the full spectrum of my power."

Kai could only glance back across to Ruko to brace himself for what was to come over this next turn.

_Very well then Ruko. If the only way we'll know of what's really going on is to defeat you, then so be it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Dark Revenger, Mac Lir**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Black LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Darkness Revenger, Rugos**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 7000
> 
>  **Hellrage Revenger, Quesal**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Healing Revenger**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Image Spirit; Angel  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Skull Witch, Nemain**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 3000  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Black and discard 1 card: If you have a Black LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 2 cards.


	14. Arc 1 - Ride 14: That Confrontation is Now III

**'The White Room'**

Mayu gazed at one of the many windows at the seemingly endless walls of her domain. What it displayed right now, was the battle that was raging on between two people of her interest. The Selector who had once wished to free everyone of their suffering, only to go along solitude from an act of 'betrayal' and the Cardfighter from another world, looking to bring her back to her friends and family so he could get some more answers. Truth be told, this wasn't the first time that the mastermind had seen Kai or his Kagero units in action. Mayu could still recount the earlier battles of the day, looking closely at his actions with interest and smiling when one of those had opposed him had their wish tainted.

"Kai Toshiki," she said to herself "So you wish to know everything that has been happening by my hands." From beside her throne, Ulith gazed over to the same window, having shared similiar interest and somewhat pleased that Kai had indeed 'taken the bait'.

"Well, I wouldn't count on that trash defeating Ruko," she spat before turning her attention to Mayu "After all, Kai may not know it yet, but my former Selector has one final surprise waiting to unfold. Isn't that..."

"You shouldn't underestimate him." Both Mayu and Ulith turned around to see that Photon had entered the room of his own accord, also sharing interest in the battle. His swords were stashed on his back, just in front of the hovering black ring that was present there and if anyone could tell if he had eyes or not, they would have been able to see that his 'gaze' on the window's view of Kai was cautious.

"What do you mean?" Ulith asked.

"This fighter has been exceptional, exceeding my own expectations," he replied "As does his avatar." He then turned his attention to Dragonic Overlord who was currently engaged in a stare off against Iona in her current form.  _Dragonic Overlord. I'm not certain as to how your alternate timeline counterpart managed to spark the memories of Blaster Blade to free him from my control back on Cray. But the rules change on this new battlefield and here, whether you realize it or not, the girl of black has exceeded even your own strength._ Everyone's thoughts were interrupted as a ripple of energy suddenly sparked through some of the gaps in the walls and floors of the White Room catching the attention of all three figures that were present.

"What was that?!" Ulith gasped. Mayu could only frown at this, with one suspicion on her mind and a very good one. She got up from her throne and began walking off in the direction behind her, but not before looking back at Photon and Ulith.

"Observe the battle for its outcome," she spoke "Do not interfere at any point." The two nodded before Mayu summoned a bright glowing portal to transport herself away to the destination in mind. Ulith and Photon looked back at each other for a moment, exchanging a brief glance with one another before turning their attention back the window from where the battle was being displayed from.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Back on the battlefield, Kai and Ruko glanced across to one other whilst Dragonic Overlord and Iona stood poised, ready for an inevitable clash coming between them again. Over from the tower they were spectating from, Hitoe, Yuzuki, Chiyori and Eldora could only look on anxiously for what was to come from here on out. It was still Ruko's turn and it seemed like things were far from over.

"Isn't it exciting?!" Chiyori called out "The fierce clash between a missing Selector with an LRIG I've never seen in the game and the boy Selector with a whole army of dragons from another world at his command!" Before Eldora could sigh or give out a smug reply to her Selector's excitement, she glanced over towards Yuzuki and Hitoe who looked anything but excited. Chiyori looked over as well, noticing their depressed expressions, seemingly confused as to why they were feeling this way.

"Why the long faces?" she asked "I was just starting to enjoy watching this."

"You just don't get it!" Yuzuki snapped, causing the Selector to almost jump in surprise. "This isn't just another silly game! Kai's down there, fighting to help us figure out why Ruko ran away from us!"

"Yuzuki..." Hitoe murmured, almost shaken by her sudden outburst. The LRIG clenched her fist, clearly angered by the fact that Chiyori wasn't getting the full picture that was going on between them. Eldora having noticed this, walked over to Yuzuki and held an arm on her shoulder, showing that she could understand of what she was going through. She then glanced back at the battlefield, looking down at Kai and Tama with intrigue as to how they were planning on getting the LRIG's former Selector back to her group of friends. Ruko turned her attention to the cards she still had leftover in her hand before glancing over to her LRIG deck.

"I use Black Desire!" she called. As the ARTS was played, an eerie dark aura suddenly surrounded her deck.

"I send the top four cards of my deck to my trash and depending on what I send, an effect will go off."

Kai looked on as the four cards revealed themselves to be Revive Flare, Darkness Revenger, Rugos, Slash Miracle and Code Maze Pyramid which dropped into her Trash Pile.

"Since I ended up sending cards that are both Black and White," Ruko continued "I can take Mac Lir from my trash along with a copy of Code Labyrinth Quinn from my deck and put them straight into my hand." After the aforementioned cards were concealed in her hand, Ruko shuffled her deck before placing it back on the table. Kai could only grimace as he could imagine as to what was coming next. Tama looked at Ruko and then back up at him in worry, concerned about whether he was actually going to survive this battle.

"Summon!" Code Anti Vimana, Code Labyrinth Quinn and Skull Witch, Nemain appeared on the table in front of and to the side of Iona, prepared for battle. As one more card moved from Ruko's Ener Zone to her trash, she discarded a copy of Healing Revenger that was in her hand before drawing another two cards. Kai looked on closely before noticing a dark aura appearing all around his SIGNI. He could only look on in shock and surprise as he noticed them getting weaker.

**Dual Axe Archdragon: 8000 - 6000**

**Eingana, Phantom Dragon: 10000 - 8000**

"So this is Iona's power," he murmured "If she's planning to decrease the power of my SIGNI to make it harder to land my attacks, then I need to be careful."

"It's still early to be surprised," Iona spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts, before she gave a brief glance over to Ruko so she could begin commencing her attacks. Ruko didn't say or do anything in response to her statement before turning her gaze down to Nemain's card.

"Attack." The Shadow Paladin witch nodded to her command and held out the skull that she had in her right hand. Purple sparks flew from the inanimate head and struck Dragonic Overlord head on. The dragon roared in pain from the impact, but stood firm, its right claw clapsed more tightly on the sword that it held. Kai's next Life Cloth revealed Gatling Claw Dragon whose card glowed brightly, indicating the Life Burst effect that was going off.

"Got a Life Burst," Kai spoke "Draw."

"Next!" Ruko declared. As Quinn and Vimana each charged up an energy based attack to hurl at Overlord, each one representing their card colours, Kai looked down at one of the two cards he had left to use and picked out one of them.

"Dragon Knight, Gimel!" he called "Quintet Wall for Eingana!"

A knight clad in armour resembling that of a dragon's scales and head along with a large shield appeared in front of Eingana, summoning a large green circle in front of him. Five cards from Kai's deck flew through the circle, revealing Burning Horn Dragon, Cross Shot Garp, Iron Tail Dragon, Dragon Monk Genjo and Servant D before the five SIGNI appeared beside Gimel. Whilst Quinn's attack had knocked Dual Axe Archdragon out of the battle, the SIGNI summoned by Gimel were more than enough to deflect Vimana's devastating beam. Once the smoke had cleared, Gimel along with the SIGNI that were summoned to his aid vanished from the battlefield. Ruko glanced across to Overlord, seemingly not fazed by the fact that Kai still had one SIGNI left on the field.

"Iona, attack!" she called. Iona flashed a brief smile before taking flight and charging towards Dragonic Overlord. The Kagero commander roared in response and charged back towards the LRIG, heading for another clash. Just like before, both of their attacks from their weapons and powers kept on clashing with each other before the two found themselves at a stalemate once more, until Iona managed to push back Overlord's sword with her spear before slashing down the body for a brief moment and flying back to the LRIG space. The next crushed Life Cloth revealed Blue Ray Dracokid, something had just came through at the right moment.

"With the effect," Kai spoke "I give 5000 power and Lancer to Eingana." The Phantom Dragon glowed in a bright red aura as she received both effects of the Life Burst. Ruko didn't seem disappointed by the turn of events by the time Iona had landed back on her table.

"Turn end," she said.

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 7**

**Hand - 1 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Iona, Full/Maiden**

**SIGNI: Eingana, Phantom Dragon - EMPTY - EMPTY : Skull Witch, Nemain - Code Labyrinth Quinn - Code Anti Vimana**

**Ener - 7 : 3**

"Somehow, he managed to keep the attacks down to hitting Overlord twice," Yuzuki murmured.

"Things aren't looking good," Eldora said "He's only got 1 card in his hand and one powered up SIGNI in play. Even if he fills up his formation again, Ruko could have an ARTS to counter his next attack and leave him with little defence." Whilst Chiyori struggled to keep her excitement in check so she would not end up angering Yuzuki again by accident, Hitoe could only look down from the tower they were standing from and notice Kai's expression. Over on his table, Tama also looked up at him, curious as to why he was like this. Her answer soon came as he looked back at Ruko.

"I didn't think you would have given up that easily."

"Huh?" Whilst Ruko looked back at him with a confused expression present, Iona glared across the table towards him.

"What are you getting at?!" the LRIG shouted in response.

"It seems to me that you've just been running away from the problem that's facing all of us," Kai spoke "The same problem that your friends have been going through as well." Before Iona could try and speak out in response to his statement, Ruko clenched her fist down on the table, struggling to keep her composure together.

"You don't know anything!" she cried "You can't understand what I... No, what we had to go through to try and save everyone before Tama refused the only chance I had!"

"You're wrong," he replied.

"What?"

Over from the tower, Yuzuki and Hitoe looked on confusion as to why Kai had called out Ruko on running away from the problem that they had all faced ever since they got involved with the Selector Battles. Chiyori and Eldora looked over to the pair, wondering about their views on this most puzzling of scenarios to the both of them. Before Hitoe could try and speak out an assumption, Yuzuki held out a hand motioning for her to stop.

"As much as I hate to admit it," she said "Both Kai and Ruko are right in some aspects. Tama had refused to complete the oath which was probably the only way Ruko was going to free everyone and Kai does somewhat have a point. From what we've heard, she's willing to give up on us because we still trust Tama." Everyone else present in the tower were silent for a moment, not sure about how to take this whole scenario in.

"She's really taking it hard," Chiyori murmured.

"And from everything we've been hearing," said Eldora "I can see why." Everyone then turned their attention back to the battlefield to see how the Selector and Cardfighter would continue to play the battle out.

"You're right about one thing," Kai spoke "I haven't been involved in the Selector Battles for as long as you and I still don't know the full picture that happened between you and Tama. But that doesn't mean I'm not aware of what's really going on."

"Kai..." Tama murmured.

"Both of us are looking for answers from the same person," he continued "The one who's really behind all of this."

"So you know about Mayu," Ruko replied "I'm not surprised since you were with Yuzuki. But as long as Iona refuses to initiate the oath, getting to Mayu is impossible."

"I may not be able to change your view on the subject," Kai spoke "But even so, I will advance!" After he drew his cards and placed Blue Ray Dracokid into his Ener Zone, a card from his LRIG deck glowed brightly before moving onto the LRIG space.

"At the end of an endless quest, you arrive at final evolution! Sublimate your savage soul and show your true form! Cross Grow!"

Just like the last time this happened, a fiery vortex emerged from the LRIG space, consuming Dragonic Overlord as it began to change shape in a blinding orange glow. Several features changed as the dragon gained the extra arms, weapons and armour before emerging from the flames in the form it had become.

"Dragonic Overlord the End!"

The sudden presence of the End had stirred up a strong whirlwind from Kai's table which soon spread across the entire battlefield. Everyone up in the tower could feel Overlord's power, pulsating throughout everywhere. Even from Ruko's table, Iona could feel the sudden shockwaves that were now coming off Dragonic Overlord.

"So you've finally gotten serious," the LRIG spoke before glancing back towards Kai, noticing the serious glint that was now present in his eyes.

"Observe," he said "This is my full power!"

* * *

**Kai's World: Mall Basement**

After several tense minutes had passed, a bright aura was now glowing around both Aichi and Ren respectively, indicating that their PSY Qualia was now fully synchronized to Leon's who in turn was synchronized with Takuto's from the darkest pits of Mayu's White Room, which would hopefully give them the location that the being from Cray had in mind to send them to. Naoki watched on in both wonder and anxiety, awaiting for the word from any of the three users to turn the switch that would have normally switched on the teleporter, having remembered how Morres had managed to work the floor panel.

"Don't give up now guys!" he called.

Aichi tried to muster up a response to the Narukami user's statement, but the strain of his PSY Qualia was beginning to take its toll on him. After looking back at Leon and Ren who didn't seem as worn out as he was becoming by the second, the Aqua Force user nodded in agreement to move onto the next part of their one shot plan. He then turned to Ren who gleefully nodded in agreement in moving on to the next part as he held his arm out above the Vanguard circle that was engraved in the floor panel. Aichi held out one arm over the engraving as well and eventually, after a few moments, the engraving began to glow a very bright white, indicating that their efforts were not going to waste. The panel slowly, but steadily continued to glow brighter and brighter as Naoki looked on in awe.

_Amazing! I had no idea that these guys were able to pull somethin' off like this! Now we'll be over to where Kai is in no time flat!_

That is, if they could make it to Kai in no time flat at all.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Selector Battlefield**

The air remained still for the moment after the various amounts of shockwaves that had rolled through the battlefield during the previous few moments. Dragonic Overlord the End looked down on Iona, awaiting for the moment that they would go head to head with each other once again. Kai and Ruko glanced down across the field at one another, each deep in thought about what the other was thinking. Tama could only across towards Ruko in worry, trying to stomach in the fact that if she wanted to try and sort things out, Kai had to defeat her first. Reluctantly, she stomached down the hard fact and glanced back up at the Cardfighter who in turn looked back at her.

"Kai, please help Ruko!" she cried "Tama wants to make things right!"

Kai glanced down at Tama, remembering clearly about the events of that fateful night after hearing both sides of the story from both the LRIG and her 'former' Selector. He didn't quite understand everything that had happened, having not been present there or even entered this world at that time, but right now, it seemed as if the only path available to get him the answers he wanted was to try and follow through with the request handed to him, not just by Tama, but Hitoe and Yuzuki, Ruko's friends.

"I got it," he replied "I won't let that promise go to waste." Tama managed to cheer up a little bit, having been reassured by his words. She then raised her fist into the air and jumped up for joy briefly.

"Then battle!" she called out loud. Kai nodded in agreement before turning his attention to the rest of the cards in his hand.

"Summon!" he called. Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon and Goddra, Phantom Dragon appeared in the remaining spaces that were to the right and in front of Dragonic Overlord the End. All three of Kai's SIGNI glowed in a fiery red aura, gaining even more power from the Overlord itself and Lintwurm.

**Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon: 7000 - 5000 (because of Iona's Constant Effect) - 7000**

**Goddra, Phantom Dragon: 15000 - 13000 - 15000 - 17000**

**Eingana, Phantom Dragon: 13000 - 15000 - 17000 + LANCER**

"And now," Kai continued "I'll use the ARTS One Rule, Two Birds and give the End Double Crush as well preventing you from guarding with Level 1 SIGNI this turn." Ruko could only grimace as the copy of Mac Lir that she added back to her hand the previous turn began leaking sparks, indicating that she couldn't use it against Dragonic Overlord the End. Iona didn't seem fazed by this sudden turn of events, for the moment that is. Ruko then suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention to her LRIG deck.  _I could use it now, but..._

"I won't use any ARTS this turn," she said. Kai nodded, confirming her decision.

"Let's go!" he called "Goddra attacks Quinn!" Goddra took flight and with a mighty downwards slash of her sword, a vertical beam of energy flew down and struck the opposing SIGNI head on in a mighty explosion. When the smoke cleared, Quinn's card had entered Ruko's Ener Zone and the eyes on all of Kai's SIGNI flashed for a brief moment. Everyone watching up from the tower looked on to see how the battle was going before Chiyori had finally decided to speak out under her own excitement.

"Yes!" she called "Taking out that SIGNI first is sure to help him out!"

"Oh, that's right," Hitoe murmured, now realizing what was going on "Since Kai just eliminated Ruko's only White SIGNI, Iona's ability no longer has any effect on his own SIGNI."

"So their power returns to normal!" Yuzuki concluded "That's why he attacked with Goddra first."

Back on the battlefield, Iona could only grit her teeth as Kai's SIGNI regained the power that she had taken from them previously. Ruko then could only watch on as his next two SIGNI easily overpowered her last line defence and crushed her next Life Cloth, Code Maze Tajmaha. Kai looked down onto Dragonic Overlord the End before glancing across towards Ruko and Iona.

"Dragonic Overlord the End attacks Iona!" he declared as the card was downed.

Dragonic Overlord let out a fierce roar as it took flight and brought down both the guns it held in its upper two arms aimed at Iona. She grimaced having remembered that Kai's ARTS had restricted Ruko from using Mac Lir as an option to protect her with. She held up her spear and shielded her eyes with her right arm, bracing herself from the inevitable attack. Fiery bullets were being fired down from the guns of Overlord as they quickly consumed the table in a raging inferno for a few seconds before expiring as two of Ruko's Life Cloths, Drei=Capsule and Healing Revenger entered her Ener Zone, the second card allowing her to regain a Life Cloth using the top card of her deck.

"You've managed to clear away my SIGNI and still land a powerful attack," she murmured "But, the Attack Phase has now ende..."

"The End is not over!" This time it was Ruko's turn to be surprised, not because of what was said, but where those words had come from. Dragonic Overlord had made its point clearing after glancing back to Kai for brief moment, who nodded in agreement.

"Persona Blast!" he declared as two cards from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash before a copy of the End entered his LRIG Trash. "Overlord, stand up once again!"

A whirlwind of fire surrounded the LRIG space, upping the card as Overlord took aim at Iona once again, this time with the swords in its lower arms. Iona clutched her spear, bracing herself for another attack coming her way. After looking behind her at Ruko's Life Cloths, something then clicked in her head.

"Wait..." she murmured "If the End's attack hits us again, that will eliminate our remaining two Life Cloths. Kai still has two cards in his Ener Zone and..." She the paused, having realized the scenario that Kai had forced them into before looking back at said Cardfigher. "Don't tell me...! You have a third copy of the End?!"

Ruko was about to say something out loud in disbelief before looking over to Kai who nodded in response, confirming her suspicions.

"But this means..." she murmured.

"That's right," Kai spoke "Unless one of those next two Life Cloths is something to prolong the end, then this battle will be brought to an end. That's right, this is Eternal Apocalypse!"

"Eternal Apocalypse..." Tama murmured, having been amazed by this spectacle.

"This means Kai's won this!" called Yuzuki "There's nothing Ruko can do to stop this attack!"

"Yeah," Hitoe murmured "He took advantage of the lack of ARTS and used it as a means to get more attacks through."

"This is awesome!" called Chiyori "I can't wait to see if this will be enough for Kai to clench victory!" Eldora sighed from her Selector's excitement, but she knew they had all made a point. There was nothing Ruko could do to stop the End's next attack, but hope that one of her Life Cloths had something she could use to stop the third. Back onto the battlefield, Dragonic Overlord roared as it charged towards Iona who in turn charged back at the dragon. Both spear and swords clashed with one another before a burst of fire from Overlord's mouth consumed Iona and hit Ruko's table dead on, engulfing it in a giant explosion. Whilst Ruko could see the Life Cloths that had been crushed from the attack, Iona however could not see through all of the thick smoke that had been brought up from the impact of the attack.

"One more Persona Blast!" Kai called as Overlord's card was upped one more time. The dragon roared once more as it took aim with both of the guns it held at Iona once more. Iona could only "TSK!" as she realized couldn't do anything as the smoke had not yet cleared from the impact of the previous attack.

"This will bring everything to an end," Kai spoke "Let's go! Dragonic Overlord the End!"

Dragonic Overlord charged up the energy in both of the guns it held as Iona could only watch on in shock. As the guns fired off, a glow suddenly appeared in front of her as a figure emerged to shield her from the attack. Kai saw this and could only groan as the attack was singlehandly blocked. The appearance of the SIGNI caused the smoke to blow over as Ruko became visible again with a card that she had revealed in her right hand, Servant D2. After the Guard SIGNI had vanished, Kai looked over to her Ener Zone seeing that the Life Cloths he had crushed previously were Hellrage Revenger, Quesal and Code Labyrinth Louvre, the second card having a Life Burst icon on it.

"Don't tell me," he murmured "That Life Burst allowed you to draw into Servant D2?!"

"That's right," Ruko replied before placing the card in her Trash Pile "I told you earlier, for the sake of the Selectors and LRIGs trapped in Mayu's game, I can't let you go any further."

Kai just stared on for a few more moments before closing his eyes in disappointment.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 8**

**Hand - 0 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord the End : Iona, Full/Maiden**

**SIGNI: Eingana, Phantom Dragon - Goddra, Phantom Dragon - Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 11**

"Darn it!" groaned Yuzuki "He was so close!"

"But with the way things are," murmured Hitoe "Doesn't this mean he just needs to land one attack on Iona?"

"Yeah," Eldora replied "But with how much Ener that all those attacks from the End has given her, it's likely that things aren't going to get any easier for Kai."

"So cool!" called Chiyori "This battle just keeps on going back and forth! I wonder how long it will be until one of them runs out of options!" The group chose to ignore the younger Selector's excitement and turned their attention back to the battlefield. Iona hovered back onto the LRIG space, covered in burns from the impact of Overlord's attacks that she had to bear through. She glanced back at the dragon itself before looking back to Kai.

"I was almost impressed," she spoke "Had it not been for good fortune for me and Ruko, you could have won. But..." She then flashed a smile on her lips, enough to have Tama worried even more. "Tell me Kai Toshiki, even if you do beat Ruko, how will you know that Tama and her will be able to reconcile?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Haven't you realized it yet?" Iona replied "You may have earned an advantage in the battlefield, but Ruko has decided to close herself off from everything else. Like she said before, I won't accept her wish to confront Mayu, but in return, she's given me the chance to battle endlessly, even if its not for the reason I originally intended when I became her LRIG."

"Even so," Kai murmured before turning his attention to Ruko "How do you know if tainting other Selector's wishes will truely free them from Mayu?"

"I don't," she replied "But even so, that's the only way I know how I can free them and I can't let you or anyone else stop me." She then turned her gaze down to Iona for a brief moment before looking back at Kai and beginning her turn.

"Iona, grow!"

Kai's eyes widened in surprise as did Tama's and everyone else's from the tower in the background. This was certainly an unexpected turn as the maximum level for an LRIG was normally Level 4. Unless she was planning on just switching Iona's forms at the same Level, there didn't seem like much of a point to doing that manuever. However, Iona's growing smile only increased even further as a large column of darkness suddenly erupted from Ruko's LRIG space, engulfing the LRIG herself.

"The ultimate form of darkness, brought to its highest growth from my pain, my sorrow and despair, descend now and show Kai that he shouldn't have been part of this calamity! Appear, Level 5!"

"Level 5?!"

As Kai looked on in shock and surprise, the darkness faded from Ruko's table revealing Iona in her newly changed form. Whilst her outfit had gotten skimpier, she now had a larger extra row of wings present beneath the ones she already on her back. A black ring with several spikes pointing inwards was now present behind her back whilst the tip of her spear was now adorned in a crimson red colour. Ruko glanced across towards Kai, with more determination now present in her expression.

"Iona, Ultima/Maiden!"

"Ultima/Maiden?!" Kai gasped. Tama could only look up at Iona, now even more worried about what had appeared before her. Before she could murmur something, she looked down at her right hand and suddenly froze up. It appeared to be trembling, whether she realized it or not.

_What is Tama feeling?!_ she thought in panic  _Tama hasn't felt like this before since... Since..._ She couldn't find anymore words to describe how she was feeling in the presence of both Ruko and Iona before them. The newly changed LRIG smiled as a dark aura suddenly surrounded her before she thrust her spear into the ground, sending a shockwave across the battlefield hitting all 3 of Kai's SIGNI head on.

"What is this?!" he demanded.

"With her ability," Ruko explained "Both of us for the rest of the battle, starting from now can only have 1 SIGNI on the field at a time and we can now each only draw 1 card at the start of each of our turns." Kai could only groan as he placed all the SIGNI cards he had in play but Goddra into his Trash Pile as the SIGNI themselves left the field as a result of the shockwave that Iona's spear had sent out. Suddenly something sparked inside of him as he clutched his chest in pain, almost falling face forwards onto the table. Tama who had snapped out of her fear frozen daze looked up and saw this.

"Is Kai alright?!" she called. Kai didn't respond as he glared back at Iona, trying to figure out about why this suddenly happened.

_How is this possible?!_ he thought  _Iona's abilities are somehow resonating with the seed fragment stuck inside of me. That can't be possible, unless..._

"Look at you, kneeling to me already," the LRIG smirked, interrupting his thoughts. Kai snapped out of his demanor and looked back at both her and Ruko with a far more serious glint in his eyes.

"How is it..." he groaned "That you have Link Joker's power coursing through you?!"

This statement was more than enough to get not just Tama, but Yuzuki and Hitoe to gasp out loud, now greatly concerned about the current scenario given from what they were told of before. Chiyori and Eldora looked over to the two, wondering about why they were like this.

"What's the deal with all that?" Chiyori asked.

"If what Kai says is true," Yuzuki answered "Then Ruko is in serious trouble!"

"Kai told us that he once nearly destroyed his own world with Link Joker," said Hitoe "But if our friend has that same power..." She couldn't find anymore words to describe the scenario she was trying to draw up in her head. For the moment though, she knew that she could only watch and pray that Kai could do something to get her friend out of this. Back onto the battlefield, Ruko continued on with her turn.

"I now use the ARTS Death Beam to banish your last SIGNI!" she declared. A beam suddenly shot of the revealed card striking Goddra head on, removing her from the battle and moving the card itself to Kai's Ener Zone before Ruko summoned another Code Maze Skyju to the field in front of Iona.

"Attack." The SIGNI charged up a beam of pure white energy before firing it directly at Dragonic Overlord the End, engulfing the dragon in a massive explosion. Kai's second to last Life Cloth revealed Seal Dragon, Artpique allowing him to draw another card. Ruko then turned her attention to Iona before motioning her to attack without saying anything more. Iona nodded and held out the point of her spear, charging up an energy based attack of some sort before thrusting the weapon forward. A spear made of pure energy flew towards Overlord, but Kai quickly slapped down a card in front of it.

"Servant O2!" he called. The SIGNI appeared in front of Dragonic Overlord to take the hit as Iona's attacked pierced right through her before it faded just short of the dragon. Servant O2 fell downwards in a deathly like state before vanishing from the battlefield altogether.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 9**

**Hand - 0 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord the End : Iona, Ultima/Maiden**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Code Maze, Skyju - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 7**

Kai slowly gathered his composure together as he began his turn. With Iona's ability restricting both the amount of cards he could draw each turn and the number of SIGNI he could have in play, things were looking grim.  _That power definitely felt like it was from Link Joker_ he thought  _But, Ruko doesn't seem like she affected in any way. She can't be reversed or else I would have sensed that._ That was when everything that was going through his thoughts clicked into place.  _Unless, Ruko is somehow restraining that power in Iona's LRIG card._ He then glanced across towards Ruko who in turn glanced back towards him.

"Ruko!" he called "I'll make you see that you don't have to follow that path of solitude with that power!"


	15. Arc 1 - Ride 15: That Terrifying Power is...

**Selector Battlefield**

Kai breathed heavily as he looked across towards Ruko and Iona, still deciding on a course of action to take. With the LRIG now forcing him to play to only 1 SIGNI and only allowing him to draw once at the start of each of his turns, things were looking bad for him, considering Ruko had managed to instantly wipe out his previous formation of SIGNI from the previous turn with little effort. He knew that with every passing second he hesitated for, the closer he thought that Link Joker's power would slowly consume Ruko and who knew what would happen next if he allowed that. As he looked over the card he drew, Calamity Tower Wyvern, he could only sigh that things were not looking up for him. But then he looked across the field and realized something.

_I see!_ he thought  _Iona may force me to only play one SIGNI at a time, but where I play them doesn't make a difference! With no Life Cloths left, I just need to strike her once._

"Summon!" Calamity Tower Wyvern appeared to the left of Dragonic Overlord the End before two cards slipped out from underneath the LRIG card allowing Kai to draw another card. He then turned his attention Iona.

"Let's go!" he called. As Calamity Tower Wyvern flapped its wings to take flight, Iona glanced back to Ruko who responded by glancing over to her LRIG deck.

"ARTS, Dark Matter!" she called. Iona thrust her spear into the table, forming a dark wave of energy that pierced through both Code Maze Skyju and Calamity Tower before the two SIGNI vanished from the field. Kai groaned as he noticed the top card of Ruko's deck enter her Life Cloth zone.

"Dragonic Overlord the End attacks!" he declared. As Dragonic Overlord took flight and charged towards Iona, Mac Lir appeared in front of it to intercept the attack before vanishing. Overlord let out a low, but fierce growl towards Iona, a signal showing its impatience towards ending the battle.

"What's wrong?" the LRIG smirked "Have you finally accepted the inevital?"

"No," Kai replied "Your new form is certainly proving to be a challenge. If it weren't for the current circumstances, I'd praise Ruko's skill in keeping pace." He then turned his attention over towards Ruko. "However, what I don't get is why Link Joker's power has not shown itself until now and why you're battling with it."

"I didn't exactly have a choice," she explained "I only use Iona in this form as a last resort in my battles. I know the power from her Ultima/Maiden form feels dangerous, but she's the only thing I have to free everyone from Mayu." Ruko then glanced back at Kai with determination present in her own eyes. "That's why, even if I end up regretting it, I have to do this on my own!"

Moments after she spoke those words, a sudden pulse of pain shot through her as she suddenly fell down to the table, clutching herself in agony. A dark red aura surrounded her entire body as Kai and Tama could only watch on in horror whilst Iona just glanced over to Ruko, seemingly uninterested by this sudden turn of events. However, a hidden smile unbeknowst to everyone present on the battlefield, including those on the sidelines from the nearby tower, was present on her lips. Ruko slowly got back up as the dark red aura vanished from around her as she breathed heavily before beginning her turn and summoning Code Maze Babel.

"A... Attack!" she called, still struggling to restrain Link Joker's power. Babel held out her hands and charged up a beam of energy which she hurled at Overlord, the attack hitting the dragon dead on. After the table was engulfed in a brief explosion, Kai's final Life Cloth revealed itself to be Dragon Monk, Genjo. The card glowed moving the top card of his deck to his Life Cloth zone.

"Next!" Ruko declared. Iona charged towards Dragonic Overlord the End with her spear clutched in both hands. She flew up into the air before slashing down the dragon's front with her weapon. The score inflicted by her spear quickly erupted into a large explosion as Overlord screeched out loud in pain as Kai's recovered Life Cloth was revealed to be Servant O which moved the top card of his deck, Wyvern Guard, Barri to his Ener Zone. Kai clutched his chest as he felt another throb of immense pain before he gritted his teeth when looking back at Ruko and Iona.

"Turn end."

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 11**

**Hand - 1 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord the End : Iona, Ultima/Maiden**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Code Maze Babel - EMPTY**

**Ener - 5 : 4**

"He just hung on," Hitoe murmured.

"I don't know if I can keep watching," said Yuzuki, with concern plastered all over her expression. "Kai's going to have a tough time trying to get past Code Maze Babel as long as it forces a SIGNI to be played in front of it."

"Can you feel the tension in the air?!" called Chiyori "It's got me on the edge of my feet!"

Eldora sighed a little from the pun, but could understand at where she was coming from. The air around them felt tense with the battle going on from beneath the tower and Kai was barely hanging on after Iona had managed to cripple both his offence and defence. Just what would become of both him and Ruko after all of this? The LRIG knew there was only one way to find out and that was to see this through with those watching beside her to the end. Down on the battlefield, Kai clutched his chest. Iona's attacks just now had resonated with the seed fragment stuck inside of him again and he wasn't sure about what exactly was happening to him.

"Give up."

Kai looked on at Ruko who had just spoken out at him. Tama glanced over towards the Selector, curious as to what she was saying to him.

"I already told you," she continued "This is far beyond anything you can understand and there's nothing you can do about my situation."

A long silence followed on after those words had been spoken out loud. Over from the tower, Hitoe and Yuzuki could not believe at what their friend was saying. She had insisted that Kai should give up and this had them worried.

"Ruko, this isn't like you," Yuzuki murmured "I don't understand why you don't want our help to sort of this mess." Hitoe had nothing more to say on the subject, but deep down, she knew her friend had made a point.

"No!" Everyone's thoughts were brought to a halt when they heard Kai's response to Ruko's statement.

"I won't let that power consume you or run rampant across this world!" he called out.  _Not after everything I had done back then._

"Defiant until the end," Iona replied "But you have nothing before you. Dragonic Overlord all on its own and you have only a single card in your hand. Just what do you plan on doing?"

Kai was about to open his mouth in response to her statement before a sudden throb of pain surged through him again. He cried out in pain for a few seconds as a familiar, but terrifying feeling had crept inside of him before he suddenly passed out on the table. Tama looked over to his fallen state and began calling out, hoping that he was alright and begging for him to get back up. Everyone watching from the tower could only gasp out in shock, wondering about what had just happened to Kai and like Tama were just as worried about his current state.

"Kai!" cried Hitoe.

"Is he hurt?!" gasped Chiyori.

Yuzuki could look on in worry as to what might be happening to him. She remembered back from the first time Hitoe had challenged Ruko after gaining her as an LRIG and she passed out from the sudden surge of her memories returning. If a similar case was happening to Kai, then the battle would be called off with no result, but she was hoping that he would get back up so he could bring back Ruko. Those involved in the Selector Battles in any way possible should have been aware of a simple saying, "Be careful of what you wish for." In this scenario, it was about to become the case. A dark red aura suddenly appeared around Kai's unconscious body before he slowly rose from his current state, his eyes still closed. After a brief moment of silence, he opened them back up with a new glint among them. A glint that made Tama feel uncoformtable as she began to notice two red markings appear beneath them. Iona stared over in slight confusion, wondering about how this sudden change in Kai had come to be.

_How is this possible?!_ she thought  _There's only a few who can hold that power and I'm one of them!_ Ruko could only stare on in both bewilderment and confusion as to this sudden turn of events before a sudden declaration snapped her and Iona out of their thoughts as they looked over to Kai.

"Final Turn!"

Tama looked up at Kai in shock, not from his sudden declaration, but from the tone that he now spoke in. It still sounded like himself, but with a more sinister hint to it. After he draw his single card, he glanced over to Dragonic Overlord the End before a whirlwind of fire englufed it. Unlike the previous times Kai had grown into a form of Dragonic Overlord, the fire was not the same as before. It was pure black, like the sudden burst of energy that allowed Iona to grow into her Ultima/Maiden form, but a dark red aura was still present among the dark flames that now raged through the LRIG space.

"Amid the flames of purgatory that reduce everything to ashes, rise from the dead again! Resurrection! Strongest flame dragon! Cross Grow!"

As Kai spoke out the ride chant, the arms of what was Dragonic Overlord the End emerged from the black fire, the guns in the upper two arms now different from before and a black ring with a dark red aura appeared with several strange indecipherable runes emblazed into it. The rest of the body, covered by the black fire emerged in front of this black ring, the eyes flashing green for a brief moment.

"Dragonic Overlord... THE ЯE-BIRTH!"

The flames suddenly died down in an instant to reveal Overlord in its newly changed state. Figure wise, it had around the same shape as its previous form, the End, only it had the black ring behind its back along with a different variation of gold and black armour, the most striking difference of them all being the gold helmet which now had what appeared to be large golden wings spreading out to the left and right. The same red aura that was now surrounding Kai had also surrounded Dragonic Overlord, as if the same power that Ruko tried to resist was now coursing through both the Cardfighter and the Kagero commander. The exact same aura surrounded Iona again as both the dragon and the LRIG prepared for another clash to come between them.

"This will bring everything between us, to an end," Kai spoke.

"Overlord the Яe-birth?" pondered Hitoe.

"No way..." murmured Yuzuki "That power I'm feeling... It's exactly the same as Iona's Ultima/Maiden form!"

"So does this mean they're evenly matched?" asked Eldora.

"It's not that," the LRIG answered "If that power is also from Link Joker, then both Kai and Ruko are..." Unable to find the words to describe the scenario, she glanced down back at the battlefield, concerned for the states of both combatants that were fighting it out at the bottom of the tower. Kai's expression at first seemed uninterested as he stared across towards Ruko and Iona before reaching for one of the two cards he held in his hand.

"Summon!" Burning Horn Dragon appeared in front of Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth" before Kai reached out his hand towards the LRIG space, a sinister smile now present on his lips.

"Dragon of explosive flame that has come again, burn down all order with your scarlet roar! Overlord "The Яe-birth"... LIMIT BREAK!" A black vanguard circle with a dark red aura briefly flashed in front of Dragonic Overlord before Kai glanced down to his only summoned SIGNI and the remaining cards in his Ener Zone.

"Lock!"

Two black rings suddenly encircled Burning Horn Dragon before closing in and sealing it in a black sphere. The rings began circling the locked dragon after the SIGNI card was suddenly flipped face down along with 4 of the other cards in Kai's Ener Zone as sparks began flying off them, indicating they were now sealed off from being used. Dragonic Burnout suddenly appeared to the right of Dragonic Overlord. Iona could only smirk when she suddenly saw what had now come into play this instant.

"Fool," she spoke "Haven't you forgotten about my continious ability? You can only have one SIGNI on the field at a time!" She then thrust her spear into Ruko's table again as the shockwave of energy suddenly hit both Dragonic Burnout and the Lock that was cast on Calamity Tower Wyvern. However...

"Is that so?" Kai replied with a sinister hint to his voice. Iona looked on for a brief moment before the sparks from her shockwave were suddenly dispelled by the Lock on Kai's field.

"But how...?"

"Locked units or this case SIGNI have everything stolen from them," he explained "So until my turn is over, that is if it even comes to an end, your ability has no effect."

Tama looked on up in worry at Kai, disturbed by his sudden change in behavior. Looking over to the Lock that was placed on his side of the field, she walked out onto the table to touch Burning Horn's card which was still flipped. When she reached out to touch the card however, a sudden surge of black sparks shocked her before knocking her backwards towards the LRIG deck. When she clutched her head in pain, her eyes suddenly widened as if she was experiencing something she had not seen in a long time.

_**Flashback; Tama's POV** _

Tama was standing in a dark open space where she stood alongside 3 SIGNI that she was familiar with because of the time she spent with Ruko during the Selector Battles. She recognized them to be Ronmail, Helmet Armor, Energe, Original Spear and Valkyrie, Unforgettable Fantasy. She wielded a long lance with a large sharp point at the end and her dress along with the ribbons in her hair had grown longer. She had a large white ring present behind her back, not like the black rings that Iona in her current state as of now, Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth" or any of the Link Joker units possessed. Tama in her state at this was staring into a dark shadow that was a short distance from where she was standing before a dark red aura suddenly appeared in front of the dark abyss.

A pair of red eyes briefly flashed before a pair of black rings shot out from the aura and encircled Ronmail, locking her in the result. As Tama gasped in horror, another pair of black rings quickly shot out and locked Valkyrie. She glanced back at the red aura before a figure carrying two black swords, unbeknowst to her was actually Photon. Photon made a slashing motion towards Energe which shot out even more black rings, locking the SIGNI in the result. The Cyberoid looked over to the shadow hiding in the red aura before nodding towards it. For a brief moment, the air was eerily still until the aura dispersed, not revealing anything more about the figure aside from its shadow and the weapon it wielded, ressembling that of a giant scythe.

_**End Flashback** _

Tama slowly came back to her senses, wondering about what she had just seen and why was it so familiar to her. Before she could process exactly what she thought she saw, she glanced up at Kai who seemed far from finished with his turn.

"Burnout's skill," he spoke "I return a copy of the End to my LRIG deck and Exceed 1. Begone, Code Maze Babel!"

Dragonic Burnout unleashed a torrent of fire right at Code Maze Babel who was incinerated in an instant. Ruko could only frown as she saw the card move to her Trash.

_No! I needed that for my last ARTS!_

"This ends now," Kai spoke as the red aura intensified around him and his smile increased. "Burnout attacks!" Burnout unleashed a torrent of flames towards Iona who shielded her face from the impact of the attack. Ruko's final Life Cloth revealed Freezing Revenger allowing her to draw another card.

"Next! Overlord "The Яe-birth"!" he declared. Dragonic Overlord roared loudly as it took aim at Iona who braced herself for the oncoming assault. It fired off dark red fiery bullets from both guns at the LRIG before Ruko quickly pulled out one of the cards in her hand.

"Servant D2!" she called. The Guard SIGNI appeared in front of Iona before being blasted into oblivion by the Яe-birth's oncoming attack. As the smoke brought up from the result of the impact cleared away, Iona herself glanced back at Kai whose creepy smile had not left his face, the ominous red aura around him along with the markings down his face did not help to brighten the mood, especially around Tama or those watching from the tower. A fiery red aura surrounded his deck before the top two cards, Gatling Claw Dragon and Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon entered his Trash Pile.

"Flames feed off flames, hellfire keeps on burning. Stand up once more, Overlord "The Яe-birth"!" he declared. Dragonic Overlord let out a fierce roar as the card upped itself and it took aim at Iona once again.

"It stood back up?!" gasped Hitoe.

"That means Kai has another attack," mumured Yuzuki "But even so, I can't help but not like the way he's been playing this turn."

"What do you mean?" asked Chiyori.

"She means what he did to achieve this position," Eldora answered "Kai gave into this Link Joker's power and Locked down his SIGNI and Ener to give Overlord the chance it needed to make a second attempt."

Everyone in the group exhanged looks of concern and worry as to the scenario that now lay before them. Kai told them once before of what he did with Link Joker's power and if the same result would happen after this battle, then they would not have an Aichi around to help them. That is, if Aichi himself could first make it to that world. Back to the battlefield, Ruko could only stare at Kai with the expression he now wore. It somewhat reminded her of Ulith on both of the occasions that she battled Iona, that glint in his eyes and the reverse markings down his cheek gave her an uncomfortable feeling.

_So that's the same power that Iona and I have been stuck with_ she thought  _If either of us let it go out of control, who knows what could happen. However..._ She briefly glanced down at her hand before looking back at Kai.

"Are you prepared?" he spoke before glancing towards Dragonic Overlord. "Then take this! The flames that reduce everything in this world to ...!"

"Please stop!"

Everyone except for Kai had a surprised expression on their faces when they heard Tama call out to him. He looked down towards the LRIG in question with a hostile glint in his eyes.

"What is it?" he spoke, a hint of venom present in his voice.

"Tama doesn't want Kai to hurt Ru!" she cried "Tama doesn't like seeing Kai like this!"

"So what?"

"Kai said that Iona had Link Joker's power coursing through her!" Tama replied "If the same power is inside Kai like Kai said before, then isn't Kai doing the same thing from before?!" Tears then began falling from her eyes to the table as she continued to sob over everything that was happening. "Isn't Kai going to destroy this world... like Kai almost did with Kai's world?!" Kai remained still, his hostile gaze still trained upon the crying Tama as the words she just spoke rang through his head. As he was about to raise his arm, several other voices began echoing inside his head as he suddenly closed his eyes, cringing in pain all of a sudden as the red aura around him intensified. First, he began hearing the voice of Aichi ringing inside of his head.

" _Why did you choose to have Link Joker reverse you Kai-kun?!_ "

Kai suddenly began breathing heavily as the reverse markings on his cheeks began disappearing and reappearing at an erratic rate. Tama broke from her tears and suddenly looked up, seeing that her pleas had some effect on him. As he cried out in pain, trying to break free from the state he was now in, Aichi's voice continuing to echo in his head before a familiar phrase from the Reversed Tatsunagi Takuto sounded out loud from what he recalled.

" _You're... You are... making a huge mistake!_ "

" _The only things of value are your own power and strength. You had faith in that, huh? And just now, you murdered that faith with your own hands._ "

"I... I won't fall to Reverse again!" he declared to no one in particular as he cringed a bit more from trying to resist the power that had gotten its grip on him again. That was when he suddenly remembered the words of a particular fighter that he had fought after 'that incident'.

" _Kai Toshiki... you're making the same mistake! Do you want to destroy this world again?!_ "

"Gaillard..." he muttered "I won't make that same mistake again...!" That was when it finally hit him.  _The Seed fragment! If I can use it right..._ Going deep into thought, he focused all of his thoughts and what little willpower he had left into one part of his body. That was where that fragment lay. Slowly, but surely, the red aura began to vanish from around him as did the reverse markings on his cheeks whilst he cried out loud in pain, struggling to not be controlled after this much effort until the aura had completely disappeared. Kai opened his eyes again, the sinister red glint no longer present before anyone that saw him now. He breathed heavily, having been almost exhausted from the sudden experience. He looked down at Tama, who was still surprised from the sudden spectacle that happened before her.

"Is Kai... back to normal?" she asked, still nervous from his previous change in behavior.

"Yeah..." he panted in reply "I don't know how, but Iona's attacks somehow resonated with both Overlord and myself." He then glanced back over to Tama. "Thank you... for bringing me back to my senses."

Whilst Iona seemed uninterested of the result, she briefly glanced behind her to see that Ruko seemingly seemed upset from just glancing over towards Tama who had been reassured that Kai was alright. The dark LRIG wasn't pleased with her Selector's sudden change in attitude and glared at her.

"Why the long face?" she asked "I thought you said you would put that behind for good!"

"... You're right," Ruko replied, coming back to her senses "I just got a little distracted. That won't happen again."

After Kai regained his composure, that was when he suddenly looked back across the table towards Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth" as the energy from its supposed next attack was being charged in the barrels of the guns it held. Looking across towards Ruko, he suddenly realized what would happen if this attack were to go through.

"Wait, Overlord!" he called. But it was already too late. Pointing the guns forwards towards Iona who didn't seemed fazed by this scenario, the energy held within burst out from the weapons in two spirals of dark red fire.

_If this attack hits Iona, then Ruko will be...!_ Groaning to himself, he knew there was only one thing he could do to save her.

"Turn end!" he declared. As if on cue, the attack suddenly stopped and disappeared by just an inch from hitting Iona who didn't seem interested by whatever would have happened. The lock that trapped Burning Horn Dragon suddenly broke apart before the SIGNI suddenly vanished, due to Kai's own choice of sending it to his Trash Pile via Iona's effect.

**Kai vs Ruko**

**End of Turn 12**

**Hand - 0 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth" : Iona, Ultima/Maiden**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - EMPTY - Dragonic Burnout : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 5**

"Kai's back to normal," said Hitoe "So there's nothing to worry about, right?"

"No," Yuzuki answered, having already realized the grim outcome.

"What do you mean?" asked Chiyori "Why did he call off "The Яe-birth's" second attack?! He would have won then!"

"That's not it!" the LRIG replied "Overlord as of now still has Link Joker's power, even if Kai's back to normal! In order to save Ruko from being reversed by his own hands..."

"He threw the battle," Eldora concluded.

Back on the battlefield, Kai grimaced not over the fact that he had given into Reverse again from Iona's attacks resonating with the seed fragment, but that he already knew of the one thing that had just crossed his mind. He had failed. He had failed to bring back Ruko to help Tama reconcile with the Selector and he knew for an iron clad fact, that it was all his fault. Ruko glanced across towards him, the outcome now clear to her.

"Final Turn!" she called.

Whilst Tama gasped out in horror from the sudden declaration, Kai said nothing in response, having already known the result was set in stone from what he had done. As Ruko drew her single card, she glanced across towards him, but not before wincing a little in pain from resisting Link Joker's power being emitted from Iona.

"You were right about one thing," she said "I can't let that power consume me or run rampant. However, my reasons for going on my own remain the same. I can't let you or anyone stop me from freeing everyone from Mayu. Summon!" Kai's eyes widened as to the SIGNI that had appeared on the table. Tama looked across in surprise as well, the appearance being all too familiar. Everyone from the tower gasped as well, the scenario that was now all but clear to everyone.

 

"Don't tell me... you still had that in your hand?!" gasped Kai.

"That's right," Iona answered "Even if you decided not to end your turn or even continue battling with the End by somehow resisting that power, you had already lost. The very last line of defence Ruko had in her hand all along, was another Servant D2." Kai could only close his eyes and hold his head down, prepared to accept the inevital. He had nothing left, no Life Cloths, no ARTS and no Guard SIGNI to allow him to survive Iona's next attack.

_I'm sorry everyone. Hitoe, Yuzuki, Tama... I've failed you all._

* * *

**Unknown Location**

Meanwhile in the darkest corner of the White Room, Takuto and Leon struggled to maintain their PSY Qualia link with each to hopefully give the teleporter back in Leon's world the power it would need to send him along with Aichi, Ren and Naoki to the other world. Both groaned under the strain that it had taken upon themselves to keep their link going until they were certain that Aichi could give Naoki the word to turn on the switch.

"We're... almost there!" Takuto groaned "Just a little longer!"

"For our sakes..." panted Leon "This has to work...!"

"So it would seem that I was correct in assuming I had not completely drained you."

Both cardfighter and being from Cray turned their heads around in surprise to find the person to all of their current problems now standing before them. Mayu was now but a short distance away from the two of them. Leon could only gasp having not seen the mastermind himself, even with the vague details that Takuto had given him.

"You are...!"

"Mayu!"

Mayu walked towards the pair with Takuto still being bound to the rock slab that the mastermind had shackled him to. Her earlier expression of displeasment turned into a sinister smile as she looked across towards the Cray being.

"It would seem as if someone, is breaking the rules."

"What are you talking about?!" Leon asked. Mayu then turned around to face the Aqua Force user.

"Oh, you were planning on inviting extra guests," she replied "Normally, I would not permit them to roam freely around my domain. However, with the performance I have seen from Kai Toshiki, I wouldn't mind the occasion to make my game a little more... interesting." She then held her right hand over Takuto's forehead marking before the two of them were suddenly enveloped in a blinding white glow. Takuto screamed out loud in pain whilst Leon could only watch in horror, knowing he was powerless to do anything physically as his manifestation as an astral spirit here was only possible through his PSY Qualia, that he was struggling to keep maintained for much longer.

"W... What are you doing?!" Takuto groaned.

"I'm merely amplifying your power," Mayu explained "Of course, who knows if you'll end up surviving the sudden surge that I'm temporarily giving you before you're sucked completely dry." As Takuto cried out loud in pain, Leon rushed forward towards him with as much power from his PSY Qualia that he had left. The resulting charge had now left the three of them locked in a power struggle as the waves energy got stronger and grew brighter and brighter and brighter until everything between the three of them went all blank white.

* * *

**Kai's Worl** **d: Mall Basement**

Back in the mall basement, Aichi and Ren along with their companion were beginning to tire out from the strain of their PSY Qualia affecting them. The teleporter had glowed even brighter than before, thanks to the sudden energy surge given off by Mayu who unbeknowst to the three along with Naoki had now intentionally thought about placing them in the Selector Battles for her own amusement. As the surge grew even stronger and the teleporter pad grew even brighter and having not heard anything from the three and coming this far already, Naoki had enough of waiting around and dashed towards the teleporter pad.

"Let's go everyone!" he called out as he reached for the one spot where he knew the switch was. Aichi who had broken out of his concentrated effort from the strain of his body quickly glanced over to the Narukami user.

"Naoki-kun, wait!" he called. But his words of warning fell on deaf ears. Within a moment, Naoki reached out onto the circular tile on the teleporter and turned it clockwise completing the full mural. A strange noise along with a blinding white glow suddenly filled the entire room, blinding everyone that was standing on the tile before everything went completely white. A few gasps and screams filled the air before both the noise and the light suddenly died down. Everything was now silent once again, the four cardfighters no longer present in the room and little did they already know, their journey into the unknown had now just begun. The silence however was now stopped as a cracking sound was now present as the tile that Naoki had turned shattered into several fragments.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Selector Battlefield**

"This is the end, Kai Toshiki," Ruko spoke "Iona, final attack!"

Iona clutched her spear tightly and took flight, charging towards Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth". Overlord growled fiercly before charging back towards her. As Kai held his head down, Tama could only look back at the two combatants and see what would be the inenvital result. As Overlord raised the sword in its lower left arm and Iona thrust her spear towards him, just before the two sharp weapons collided with each other, a sudden white flash engulfed the battlefield, blinding both Selector and Cardfighter as well as Tama whilst Dragonic Overlord and Iona were paralyzed, unable to continue their clash.

"What's happening?!" she demanded "Why can't I finish my attack?!"

"This is not my doing!" Overlord replied "Something from the outside is interfering!"

Whilst Hitoe, Yuzuki, Chiyori and Eldora looked down at the field, unable to make out from what was happening at the moment, a sudden noise caught their attention to the background as the colours began to fade away.

"The battlefield's collapsing!" gasped Yuzuki "But it's not from a non-Selector!"

"What do you mean?" asked Hitoe.

"I can feel a surge of energy that's causing this collapse," Eldora answered before looking back to the field "In other words, both Kai and Ruko got out of this battle with no official winner." Chiyori however could only feel like pouting that the battle was interrupted before it could officially end as the entire battlefield around everyone went completely white from the energy interference.

* * *

**The top of the building...**

After the flash had died down, everyone was thrown backwards to differents part of the rooftop from the force of the energy that caused the battlefield to collapse. Both Kai and Ruko panted from having been caught right in the middle of it, along with Tama and Iona who were almost completely drained from the sudden unexpected turn of events. The Selector got up onto her feet and began walking away from the roof, but not before stopping beside Kai who wasn't completely on his feet yet.

"You are aware of what would have happened if it wasn't for the battlefield collapsing," she said.

"Yeah..." he said before glancing over to Iona's card, the LRIG seemingly disappointed by this. "You had already won. But you knew that."

"I won't accept this for a suitable result!" she growled before glancing up at Ruko. "Restart the battle immediatly!"

"There is no need," Ruko replied "Kai already lost, even with the interference, but one of his three losses was still spared because of that." She then turned over to Tama who was held in one of Kai's hands. "As for you Tama, I still can't forgive you for what had happened then. Our bond that we shared before was broken because of you." Tama couldn't find any words to reply back to her former Selector as she knew for a fact, what she said was true. She could only look down at the floor in her dimension of her card before sobbing miserably to herself. As Ruko continued to walk off, Kai turned his head to her.

"We're not giving up on you yet Ruko," he spoke "We will settle this later and I swear, I will free you from Link Joker's grip!"

Ruko nodded before turning her attention over to the door that lead out to the stairs that would take her to the ground floor of the building. Hitoe tried to run after her but the Selector held out her hand behind her, motioning for her to stop. She wanted to speak out, but with the way things were, she couldn't think of anything to say to make her friend change her mind. After Ruko had left the rooftop of the building, everything was mostly silent with only a harsh breeze to accompany the group. Even Chiyori who was normally overexcited by Selector Battles couldn't help but stay silent after hearing everything that was going on between Kai and Ruko. Eldora glanced up and silently could only agree with her for once. Kai however was hunched over, still processing his thoughts on what happened towards the end of the battle.

_I can't believe it!_ he thought  _Not only did I give into that power again_ _, my own strength wasn't even enough! Even so, if I lost to Iona in that form, there's a chance I would have been reversed again and endangered not just Ruko or her friends, but this world as well!_ Kai punched the ground with his only free hand as he yelled out loud in agony, his voice echoing across the night sky from the top of the building. Tama could only look up at him in worry as did Hitoe and Yuzuki who just stared at him. They knew he was reeling through a tough time from his brief return to Reverse and could understand about why he was feeling this way.

"What should we do?" asked Hitoe.

"I don't know," replied Yuzuki "I just don't know."

* * *

**City Streets**

"Yuzuki, did I just...?"

"No, you were not seeing things."

The girl, called 'Yuzuki' along with her twin brother Kazuki had stopped in both shock and surprise. Just a few moments ago, unbeknowst to them was where Kai and Ruko's battle had finished, a blinding white flash appeared in front of them before a boy with blue hair, unbeknowst to them was Aichi, fell out onto the pavement unconscious. The two just stared at him, curious as to how he appeared and where exactly he came from. Either way, Kazuki knew that they couldn't just leave him like this and quickly heaved up the cardfighter onto his back. He then turned back to 'Yuzuki'.

"Are you going to let him stay with us for a while until he recovers?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered "I'm not sure where he came from, but it wouldn't be right to leave him like this." 'Yuzuki' smiled warmly.

"I understand," she said "I'll help to make sure he feels better when he comes around."

"Thank you, Yuzuki." She nodded before the two made their way back to their home. Whilst the brother walked on ahead with the unconscious Aichi rested on his back, the 'sister' could only feel a little bit of guilt and regret crawl up her expression as she went deep into thought.

_Yuzuki, I didn't mean for this to happen between me and your brother. But I swear, I will do everything I can to make things right before he sees through me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards Debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Dragonic Overlord “The Яe-birth”**  
>  Level 5  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 12  
> LRIG Type: Kagero, Яeverse  
> Effect:  
>  If you have a Level 3 LRIG with “Overlord” in its card name and you have 3 or less Life Cloths, you may Grow this card by paying 3 Red. If you do, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 10.  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active when you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) Pay 1 Red and choose 2 or more SIGNI from your Ener Zone and/or SIGNI Zones (including at least 1 SIGNI from your SIGNI Zone and 1 SIGNI card from your Ener Zone) and Lock them: If the number of Locked cards you control after this effect resolves is 5 or more, this LRIG gains the following effect until end of turn:  
> “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Choose two cards from your hand and discard them OR Send the top two cards of your deck to your Trash: Once per turn, after this LRIG has attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this LRIG and it can attack again.”  
> [Constant]: If you have a card named “Dragonic Overlord” underneath this LRIG, all your Red SIGNI gain +2000 power.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack)
> 
> **Dragonic Burnout**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Choose an LRIG with “Overlord” in its card name from your LRIG Trash and place it back into your LRIG deck: If you choose to pay the cost whilst your have a Red LRIG, you may [Exceed] 1. If you do, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI and send it to their Trash Pile.


	16. Arc 2 - Ride 16: This Encounter is Strange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone confused over Yuzuki's name being like this ('Yuzuki'), keep in mind that neither Aichi or Kazuki know that this is really Hanayo unlike Kai and the others for the first 15 chapters.

**Aichi's Dreamscape**

Aichi felt lost and confused as he stared around the black area that he found himself standing in. Did he make it to the other world? Or was he sent someplace else entirely? Actually the first thought was true, though he didn't know of that yet. He looked about, wondering about how he ended up like this in the first place or how he could even see, considering the dark colour all around him. His answer came in the form of a small, but bright glow from behind him. From within that glow, Aichi could make out a figure that was standing right before him. Some of that brightness faded out to reveal that the figure was indeed female, dressed up mostly in dark colours. A black scarf was wrapped around her neck along with black boots, what appeared to be a black skirt along with a rather small black top, only covering up half of her chest. The girl had blue eyes in an almost brighter shade than Aichi's along with a strange shade of blonde hair with what appeared to be two black ribbons wrapped across each other forming a cross over the top of her head and just above her ears, a pair of small horns were present.

"Um... Who are you?" Aichi asked nervously.

The girl said nothing, her expression remaining blank but curious. She didn't know of what to say to him or what else he was going to say to her. Seeming just as confused himself, Aichi raised his hand in front of him and waved it slowly, giving off a gentle gesture of saying hello to whoever it was standing in front of him. The girl mimicked his action, almost mirroring where his left arm was currently positioned with her own right arm. Aichi was surprised. He never expected to come across someone as strange as whoever was standing in front of him. As he moved his arm down, so did the girl in front of him.

"My name is Aichi," he said "Do you have a name?"

"Ai... chi..." the girl slowly spoke out. The atmosphere between the two of them became silent once more as they gazed at one another, wondering what to do or say next. As Aichi took a step forward towards the girl, a sudden gust of wind appeared in the space as he felt himself being dragged backwards at an incredible force. He looked backwards to see a sudden dark hole appear in the space as he struggled to stay on his feet, desperate to stand his ground and ride out this storm, to find out exactly who this girl was. But the force of the vortex was too much for him to handle as could only feel himself being dragged back even further. Eventually, in an effort to take a step forward, Aichi tripped up and found himself pulled off the ground and headed towards what appeared to be certain doom.

"Wait!" he cried as he looked forward towards the girl, reaching out his hand towards her. She however, seemingly unaffected by the sudden gales, only stood still and mimicked his action with her right arm as she watched him disappear into the vortex in front of her.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Kurebayashi Apartment**

Aichi's eyes became wide awake in an instant as he shot up from the bed he was lying in. He breathed heavily as he tried to recall everything from the experience that he just went through. The last thing he could remember was the sound of the teleporter activating with everything going all white and then briefly meeting this strange girl before waking up in the bed that he had been resting in. As he looked around the room, he knew that it was definitely unfamiliar to him but that wasn't his main concern at the moment.

"W... Where am I?" he murmured. In a few moments, the answer to his question would be answered. He turned over to the bedroom door just in time to see Kazuki enter.

"Oh, you're finally awake. We were pretty worried about how you were holding up."

"I see..." replied Aichi "Um... I'm sorry if I've caused any inconvenience."

"It's nothing to worry about," said Kazuki "You were unconscious when my sister and I found you on our way back home and we didn't think it would be right to leave you like that. By the way, my name's Kazuki."

"I'm Sendou Aichi," he spoke kindly whilst giving a warm smile "It's nice to meet you." As he slowly rose from the bed, he briefly clutched his head in pain, having not fully recovered yet. Kazuki noticed this and went over to him.

"Take it easy," he spoke "You've only just woken up."

"Sorry..." replied Aichi as he eventually managed to stand up on his feet. He looked down on himself to suddenly find that he was in his nightwear, much to his surprise. "E...Eh?! When did I...?"

"I changed you into the nightwear we found in your bag," Kazuki explained before sighing for a moment "My sister insisted on having a peek inside because she could apparently sense something."

"My deck..." Aichi murmured before looking up at Kazuki "Does your sister have my deck?!"

"Yes," he answered "My sister was only having a look through before I heard you waking up. I'm sure she hasn't changed anything, though your deck does seem a little strange for Wixoss." Aichi although relieved at this news could only blink at Kazuki, wondering exactly what he could have meant. Then, it hit him.  _If I did make it to that other world, maybe Vanguard is non-existent there! That's why my deck is strange to them..._

**Meanwhile...**

'Yuzuki' could only stare in wonder at the top card of Aichi's deck, now changed into the form of Wixoss it would be most ideal to. It was an LRIG card of Level 2 with the borders coloured in white, much like Tama's LRIG cards that Ruko originally used. Yet despite depicting a still image of the warrior that represented Aichi's avatar, she could still feel something strange from it and this wasn't from the LRIG type, Royal Paladin that was imprinted on the bottom right of the card image. This felt like any LRIG that belonged to a Selector meaning that this wasn't just any other regular card that any player of Wixoss would have. The same could be said for the other LRIG cards that she happened to come across, but this one in particular seemed to be special to the Cardfighter, otherwise he wouldn't have placed it on the top facing up.

"Blaster Blade..." she murmured "You and these LRIGs seem different from the 'others'. And yet..."

"Yuzuki, our guest is awake!" The voice of Kazuki called out from behind his bedroom door. She snapped out of her thoughts and placed Aichi's deck back on the table. 'Yuzuki' then watched as her brother and Aichi emerged from behind the door and entered the living space of their apartment. The two of them sat down on the sofa opposite her, but not before 'Yuzuki' moved the deck over towards Aichi.

"So you've woken up," she said "Sorry if I made you mad from peeking through your deck. My name's Yuzuki, what's yours?"

"I'm Sendou Aichi," Aichi replied before bowing briefly "Nice to meet you." He then glanced over to his deck, noticing Blaster Blade on top exactly as 'Yuzuki' had left it before he recovered. When he noticed the changed borders and markings however, a look of discomfort was present on his face. He held up his deck and quickly fanned through the cards, realizing that Blaster Blade was not the only one to have changed to adapt to Wixoss' rulings. As 'Yuzuki' and Kazuki stared at him in confusion, he turned over the cards to reveal their backings had also changed. Several of them were white whilst the rest were black. After looking back at the siblings and noticing their expressions, Aichi quickly calmed down before placing the cards back on the table.

 _So Vanguard is non-existent here_ he thought  _That's why my cards have changed._

"Is something wrong?" asked 'Yuzuki' "I didn't change anything."

"No, it's fine..." replied Aichi "Um... I've had this deck for a while, though I never really got the chance to understand what Wixoss is. I was... just making sure it was where I left it."

"I see," mumured Kazuki "Then how about we teach you?"

"R... Really?" he asked.

"I don't mind," spoke 'Yuzuki' "But there's one question that we've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?"

"We saw you come through a weird flash unconscious when we found you," Kazuki explained "So, where exactly did you come from?"

"Um... I come from someplace really far away," Aichi answered "... Though I don't know where exactly I've ended up." He then went deep into thought.  _I don't like being dishonest, but what were the chances of them believing I could have come from another world?_

"I see," murmured 'Yuzuki' "Well then Kazuki, can you get Aichi acquainted with the rules before we get started?"

"Yeah," he replied "Please try to go easy on him, considering it will be his first time playing. Hold on a second..." As Kazuki went off to find the rulebook and playmat to help Aichi get acquainted with the sudden changes to his deck, 'Yuzuki' went deep into thought over the matter. A part of her though had wanted to battle Aichi, just so she could see those LRIGs of his in action for herself.

 _This should prove to be interesting_ she thought  _That aura from Blaster Blade though... Does Aichi know of it?_

* * *

**Kai's Rented Apartment**

Kai looked out over the table from where his deck was laid out, still thinking over everything that had happened the previous day. He had finally found Ruko due to finding himself trusting Ulith's word, but the missing Selector was anything but happy to see him, Tama and Hitoe. He had managed to find out about why she had chosen to isolate herself from both her friends and family, it was to do with Tama's 'betrayal' on the night before he arrived where Iona had become her LRIG in the result and later on he discovered that the same LRIG had Link Joker's power coursing through her. That was when things had taken a turn for the worse for Kai. During the battle, Iona's attacks had resonated with the seed fragment stuck inside of him causing him enough pain to pass out, allowing all of the Reverse built up by the seed fragment to consume him, essentially reversing him again.

Though he was thankful that Tama had managed to bring him back to his senses, he knew he had to throw the battle to prevent Ruko from being reversed by his own hands. Even so, Iona had revealed that Kai had already lost by then and before Ruko could allow the LRIG to strike the final blow, a strange white energy intefered by causing the battlefield to collapse, everyone present unaware that it was caused by a power struggle between Takuto, Leon and Mayu as well as Naoki's rash efforts to send himself, the aftermentioned cardfighter, Aichi and Ren to the world where Kai was stranded in. Kai then promised Ruko that he wouldn't give up on trying to bring her back, but the question that still remained in his head was how? He stared at Dragonic Overlord's card in particular, still agitated by the fact that "The Яe-birth" had not vanished completely as he had first thought after Aichi had brought him back from Reverse once before. To make things more disturbing, Kai had never put the card in his deck in the first place nor was it even present among the cards since the battle had abruptly ended.

Over from where her card was placed, Tama could only feel down about everything that had happened as of recently. She could only think about what Ruko has said to her, that this was all her fault for not invoking the oath. To an extent, she was correct. Now she was struggling to hold back Link Joker's power emitting from Iona's Level 5 form and Tama felt she was to blame for putting her former Selector into this mess. Looking back at Kai and remembering what he said before when he once controlled Link Joker's power, she could understand what he was going through, but she knew that with the fact that he passed out causing that same power to consume him, that wasn't his fault. She looked up at Kai and waved towards him to try and get his attention.

"What is it?" he replied.

"Is Kai going to try again?" Tama asked "To find Ru?" Kai said nothing in response. He knew that he would have to try again eventually, but with the way things were with his brief but recent return to Reverse, he just didn't know how without putting himself and Ruko at the risk of that power again. Even so, there was also the issue that Ruko wouldn't even listen to reason from Hitoe and Yuzuki because they also still trusted Tama. As he relayed the situation again through his mind, he suddenly remembered back to the battle when Iona had interrupted him before he could ask Tama any further on the subject. There had to have been something then that Iona didn't want him to pry out of Tama back then that he could try and find out now. Kai then turned over to the LRIG in question and gazed down at her.

"Tama," he spoke "It's time for some answers."

* * *

**Kurebayashi Apartment**

It took some time, but eventually with the help of Kazuki, Aichi had managed to get a basic understanding of how his Royal Paladins would work in Wixoss Battles. Much to the cardfighter's secret relief, he was glad that the flow of the battles worked similiarly with the cardfights he had back home so he could pick up on how the game worked rather quickly. However deep down, he knew that taking 'Yuzuki' lightly because it was his first Wixoss battle was something that he couldn't allow to get to his head and even under these circumstances, he should play as he always had. Once Aichi was sure that he was fully acquainted, he turned over to 'Yuzuki' who nodded in agreement. Both then set their starting LRIGs face down on their respective mats and prepared their Life Cloths and starting hands.

"Now then, are you ready?" asked 'Yuzuki'.

"Mhm," replied Aichi as he nodded in confirmation to her question. Kazuki looked over the two of them before nodding to allow them to begin.

"Open!" they both called.

"Hanayo-Zero!"

"Advance Party Seeker, File!"

"I'm going first," spoke 'Yuzuki' as she drew her card. "Grow, Hanayo-One!" In the battlefield pictured in both her's and Aichi's minds, Hanayo didn't change a lot from the Growth aside from a small red mark that appeared on her left cheek.

"I summon and end my turn there." Aichi nodded as he drew his cards, beginning his turn. Glancing over his hand, he kept in mind of what Kazuki had taught him for Ener Charging to build up his Ener for both Growing and costs for certain effects. Seeing as it was the first turn though and 'Yuzuki' would have the higher Level advantage when she would begin attacking, Ener Charging at this point didn't seem worth it though. He picked through his LRIG deck for one card and placed it on top of File's card.

"I grow Little Sage, Marron!" he called "I summon Epona and Cynric!"

On the battlefield, File vanished as a human like male figure, appeared in his place. He had blond hair and red glasses in front of his light blue eyes whilst wearing a hat of some sort and carrying a red book under his right arm. To Marron's left and in front of him appeared two more figures. The first one called Epona, was shorter than Marron, but clad in more armor and wielding a sword in the grip his right hand as he rode on top of a golden armored beetle. The second figure known as Cynric was taller than Epona himself, sporting some silver armor along with a dark cape and a crossbow like weapon of his own. Back to reality, Aichi quickly looked across 'Yuzuki's' field before turning his attention to Cynric.

"Cynric attacks Amethyst!" he declared. 'Yuzuki' nodded as she moved her defeated SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Epona!" Aichi called. On the imagined battlefield, Epona raised his sword as the beetle he rode on charged towards Hanayo. He brought down the sword, slashing down her front before the beetle hovered back towards Marron who raised one of his hands whilst holding the book he carried in the other. The raised hand sent a flash of blue sparks right at Hanayo which her dead on. 'Yuzuki' flipped up her second crushed Life Cloth revealing End of Eternity.

"With the Life Burst, I can now grow next turn at no cost," she spoke, a brief smile flashing on her lips as she placed the card beside another copy of Amethyst, Natural Stone which was crushed from Epona's previous attack and the other Amethyst that was defeated earlier.

"Turn end," said Aichi.

**End of Turn 2**

**Aichi vs 'Yuzuki'**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Little Sage, Marron : Hanayo-One**

**SIGNI : Bringer of Good Luck, Epona - Honest Seeker, Cynric - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 3**

_7 to 5_ Kazuki thought to himself  _Aichi's gotten off to an offensive start. But with that Life Burst just now, Yuzuki will still have some Ener preserved for later. On top of that, from looking through Aichi's deck earlier, he doesn't have a single Level 4 LRIG despite having SIGNI of that Level. Just what can he do though?_

"Not bad," spoke 'Yuzuki "But now this is where things will get serious." Aichi said nothing but nodded, making sure that his concentration on the current situation at hand was not broken.

"Draw. Grow, Hanayo-Two!"

On the battlefield, a flurry of flames whirled around Hanayo, only adding another small red marking to her left cheek beside the one that was there from her previous form. 'Yuzuki' however didn't seem to be looking to stop there.

"And a Spell, Swift Advance!" she called as she revealed the card in her hand. "When I use this Spell normally, I can pay 1 to Superior Grow any Hanayo LRIG that's at least one Level higher. In this case..." After moving one of the two Amethyst cards she had from her Ener Zone to her Trash, she searched her LRIG deck for the card she wanted and dropped it on top of Hanayo-Two. This time, it was Hanayo-Three, Blazing Flame Dance that was the LRIG in play. Aichi could only look on in shock from this spectacle unfurling before him.

"Amazing..." he murmured "In just her second turn, she's already managed to advance to Level 3. And yet I..."

"Flame Dance's ability," 'Yuzuki' cut in, snapping Aichi out of his thoughts "I banish Cynric!" The cardfighter said nothing as he moved Cynric's card over to his Ener Zone.

"Not yet!" she called as she revealed another card from her hand, shocking both Aichi and Kazuki at once. "One more Swift Advance and Superior Grow!"

After moving the other Amethyst from her Ener Zone to her Trash, she placed another card from LRIG deck on top of Hanayo-Three, Blazing Flame Dance. On the imagined battlefield, a torrent of fire consumed Hanayo as Marron and Epona could only watch on in awe at this spectacle. As the flames died down, Hanayo emerged onto the battlefield in her newly changed form. She now wore a red dress in the style of a rose with a prickly thorn curling upwards and hangly freely just behind her. She also wore a crown on top of her head along with a headress tied to the back of her hair.

"No way... A Level 4?" murmured Aichi. 'Yuzuki' nodded, confirming his suspicions.

"That is correct," she answered "Hanayo-Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion. With her ability, I drop a Red SIGNI to banish Epona!" On the battlefield, Hanayo held out her hand, causing the thorn wrapped around her dress to thrust forward, knocking the beetle off balance and piercing through Epona's armor. After the two fell to the ground, they vanished in an instant. Back to reality, Aichi could only grit his teeth as he looked at the current scenario. Kazuki could only look grimly at him, knowing that this battle had just turned into an uphill struggle for the cardfighter and 'Yuzuki' wasn't even close to finished.

"Summon!" she called as she dropped 3 SIGNI into the spaces in front of Hanayo's card. "Let's go! Admasphere attacks Marron!" Aichi could only flip up his first Life Cloth revealing Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes. No Life Burst was present on the card though.

"Bronda!" 'Yuzuki' declared. As Aichi moved for one of the cards in his hand, she looked at him.

"It's useless!" she called "You can't use any Guard SIGNI to block any SIGNI attacks!" When Aichi revealed the card he was intending to use however, 'Yuzuki's' expression suddenly changed to utter surprise as she saw the symbol in its text box.

"Plume Wall Angel!" Aichi called "Quintet Wall!" As he moved Epona's card to his trash, he picked up the top 5 cards of his deck and flipped them face up, revealing Defending Seeker, Shiron, Seeker, Loving Healer, another Plume Wall Angel, Axe, Large Breaker and Servant D.

"With these 5 SIGNI," he explained "I block your attack and move these to my Ener Zone. As for Plume Wall Angel, that was sent to my Trash as a cost for the Quintet Wall." 'Yuzuki' could only blink in surprise. She had briefly skimmed through the cards in Aichi's deck whilst he was still unconscious and a part of her was now annoyed for not looking closely enough at all of the cards for details like this. Nonetheless, she knew that she still had the advantage for the time being and planned on keeping it as it was.

"One more Bronda!" Aichi did nothing more than check his next Life Cloth, revealing Seeker, Loving Healer.

"Got a Life Burst! I regain a Life Cloth with the top card of my deck!"

"Hanayo attacks!" 'Yuzuki' declared.

"Shiron guards!" replied Aichi.

Kazuki could only let out a sigh of relief that the cardfighter was still managing to keep it together. After Aichi moved Shiron's card to his Trash he could only look back at 'Yuzuki', feeling daunted by the offensive lineup that she had created from the double Superior Grow. He could just imagine sweating from the intense heat that would have been stirred up from Hanayo's current form, that is if it was a Selector Battle in which he had no knowledge about that subject. However, he could still see that there was one fatal flaw with that strategem.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 3**

**Aichi vs 'Yuzuki'**

**Hand - 3 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Little Sage, Marron : Hanayo-Four, Hundred Fire Profusion**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Bronda, Natural Stone - Bronda, Natural Stone - Admasphere, Natural Stone**

**Ener - 8 : 1**

As Aichi drew his cards, he searched through his LRIG deck for the one card that could help him turn around the situation of the battle. He looked at the card closely, feeling guilty for not telling either Kazuki or 'Yuzuki' about where he came from or that his cards had existed from another game but he felt that telling them a bit more about himself and why he was here couldn't hurt a little. Right now, Aichi had a battle to focus on and now was the time to bring 'him' into action. After moving Palamedes from his Ener Zone to his Trash, he held the card in question high above him.

"Stand up, my Avatar!" he called out, briefly catching the attention of Kazuki and 'Yuzuki' before placing the card on top of Marron. "Grow! Blaster Blade!"

On the battlefield, a flash of light enveloped Marron before erupting into a large white column. Hanayo stood mesmirised by this before the flash of light died down to reveal Aichi's avatar in all of his glory. Blaster Blade opened his green eyes as he stood his sword down in front of him, the hands still clasped ahold of the handle.

"Using Blaster Blade's ability," Aichi explained "I send Admasphere to your Trash!"

Blaster Blade raised his sword up before striking it into the ground creating a white shockwave that raged across the battlefield until it hit Admasphere dead on, eliminating her from the battle. Back to reality, 'Yuzuki' could only clench her teeth from the fact that Aichi's avatar had single handedly taken out one portion of her strongest offence with little effort and the Quintet Wall he used last turn had contributed to that.

 _Blaster Blade, this is your power_ she thought  _But this battle is far from over._

"I summon another Epona," Aichi continued "And use the ARTS Avon to add two copies of the Knight of Silence, Gallatin to my hand which I'll then summon."

After shuffling his deck, he placed the two Gallatin cards on the SIGNI zones opposite those of 'Yuzuki's' two Brondas. Over on the battlefield, two knights with orange scarves wrapped around their neck armor along with a red blindfold covering their eyes joined Epona on the front line, both in front of and alongside Blaster Blade. Aichi first turned his attention to the two copies of the Knight of Silence.

"My Gallatins attack your Brondas!" he called. 'Yuzuki' said nothing as she moved the defeated SIGNI to her Ener Zone. Kazuki could only watch on in awe at how Aichi was steadily progressing in the battle.

 _He's actually on a completely different level_ he thought  _It's his first time playing Wixoss and yet, the whole flow of the game seems natural to him. Just how skilled is Aichi?_

"Epona attacks!" Aichi declared. 'Yuzuki' revealed her next Life Cloth, revealing Garnet who had a Life Burst present.

"With the effect," she spoke "I draw."

"Let's go, Blaster Blade!" he called.

"Servant O!" 'Yuzuki' responded as she revealed the card before placing it in her trash. Aichi looked slightly disappointed, but decided to not let it get the better of him.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 4**

**Aichi vs 'Yuzuki'**

**Hand - 3 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Hanayo-Four, Hundred Fire Profusion**

**SIGNI : Bringer of Good Luck, Epona - Knight of Silence, Gallatin - Knight of Silence, Gallatin : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 4**

Aichi continued to look closely at 'Yuzuki', wondering what she had in store for him on her next turn before hearing her mutter something under her breath. It was too quiet for him to make out what she was saying, but it did attract his curiousity.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I... it's nothing," she said "Your Blaster Blade certainly packed quite a punch. I was just curious, how did you come across these cards anyway?"

"W... well, a friend of mine gave me Blaster Blade," Aichi answered "But he's missing and I was hoping to find him soon. Say, you wouldn't happen to come across a person named, Kai Toshiki?" At this point, Kazuki's eyes widened when he heard the name cross his mind.

"K... Kai Toshiki?" he murmured.

"You've seen him?" asked Aichi.

"No," answered 'Yuzuki' as she shook her head "But I've heard whispers going around about a Wixoss player with that name that wields a dragon as his LRIG."

"That's Kai-kun for you," he replied before holding his head down. "I was hoping to find him to see where he had disappeared off to, but now it looks like I'm back to square one."

"I'll tell you what," said Kazuki "Once you and Yuzuki finish your game, we'll do what we can to help you find him."

"Thank you very much!" Aichi called with reassurance. 'Yuzuki' could only smile a little for the cardfighter, but still remained curious on a certain level. Just what kind of aura did she feel from Blaster Blade, how had Aichi known about a guy whose name was only recently murmured around her school? She felt like she'd find the answers in due time, but for now, she and Aichi had a game to finish.

"Now that we've done exchanging plans," she said "Perhaps we can continue?"

"Yeah," replied Aichi "It's your turn now." 'Yuzuki' nodded as she drew her cards in advance before dropping off 3 of the cards in her Ener Zone to her trash. She picked out one card from her LRIG deck that she placed on top of Hanayo's current form.

"Grow, Hanayo-Five!" she called. On the imagined battlefield, a blazing torrent of flames consumed Hanayo's current form causing Epona, the two Gallatins and Blaster Blade to shield their eyes from the intense heat. When the fire had died down, the top half of her dress had mostly vanished as she now carried a variety of long thorns in her right hand whilst an ember burned brightly in her left. Aichi could only look down at the card, knowing that the battle wasn't going to get any easier from here on in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Advance Party Seeker, File**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 0 White  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin  
> [On-Play] Move this card under your current LRIG to your LRIG Trash: When your LRIG performs [Legion], you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to 1 SIGNI named “Blaster Blade Seeker” and summon it.
> 
>  **Little Sage, Marron**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 0 White  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin
> 
>  **Blaster Blade**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 1 White  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin  
> [On-Play] Pay 2 White: When this LRIG is placed on the LRIG Zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI and send it to their Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Honest Seeker, Cynric**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Royal Paladin Only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Seeker” in its name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Bringer of Good Luck, Epona**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Sylph  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your White SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER
> 
>  **Seeker, Loving Healer**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Defending Seeker, Shiron**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Giant  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your White LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Seeker, Plume Wall Angel**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Angel  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Knight of Silence, Gallatin**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: White  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 7000
> 
>  **Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: White  
> Class: Salamander  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if the number of other Level 3 or higher White LRIGs and/or SIGNI you control is two or greater, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you have it! The fourth batch of transferred chapters ends off with the closure of the first arc and Aichi's entrance into the story. Hope you're enjoying things so far!


	17. Arc 2 - Ride 17: That Light of Hope; Alfred Exiv

**Wixoss World: Kai's Rented Apartment**

"Kai wants... answers?"

Tama could only look up at the cardfighter, curious as to why he was now asking her over this current matter. But with everything that happened between her and Ruko, she couldn't blame him for wanting to ask her about what really happened. Kai himself kept his gaze directed at her, knowing that he wasn't going to take a blank for an answer.

"That's right," he replied "We all know of what happened on that night. You refused to go through with the oath that Ruko intended to initiate. As from what Yuzuki has told us, the Selector who initiates that oath correctly becomes an LRIG after a brief meeting with Mayu whilst their LRIG takes over their body. But the question I want to ask is why. Why did you refuse to follow the oath?"

"... Tama... Tama didn't want Ru to become an LRIG," she answered "Tama didn't want to see her trapped. Not after..." Tama suddenly bit her lip, unable to continue her answer.

"Not after what?" asked Kai. The LRIG gulped as she came around to the part that she was keeping from everyone this whole time.

"... It was during Ru's last battle," she explained "Before Ru tried to do the oath... Tama... Tama saw Mayu."

"You met Mayu?!" Tama nodded before looking back up at him to continue her explanation.

"Mayu said Tama didn't want to grant Ru's wish," she continued "Tama didn't want to go through with the oath because... Tama would be alone and... Tama wanted to save Ru, from Mayu!"

Kai couldn't find the words to describe what he was hearing, but everything was finally making sense to him. Tama had 'betrayed' Ruko on that night with the intention of saving her from becoming an LRIG and most likely playing along with Mayu's game. To some extent, the LRIG had succeeded with good intention, but the result was anything but good. Ruko was now cursed by Link Joker's influence emitting from Iona whenever she used her Level 5 form and Tama was blaming herself for bringing her friend into the mess she was in.

"I understand now," Kai spoke.

"Kai?"

"If I recall everything Yuzuki had told me from first coming here," he said "Then when a Selector becomes an Eternal Girl, the LRIG who takes over their body is burdened to complete their original wish. The reason you betrayed Ruko on that night was because you couldn't bear the thought of losing her as an LRIG to another Selector as well as feeling that you couldn't carry the burden of her wish."

"It's true," Tama answered sadly "But Tama can't... Tama can't make things... right..."

"You can make things right!" Kai replied "When I next go into battle with Ruko, you need to tell her everything so she can see that your intentions and action was not to bring her into her current state!"

"But Kai lost to Ru before! And, Kai was taken over by Link Joker then!"

Kai was about to open his mouth in response, but paused for a moment. Even though the battle was called off from a mysterious energy interference causing the field to collapse, he knew he had technically lost to Ruko at that time. The fact that he had been in the thrall of Link Joker once again, only this time for a brief few moments, only made him more uncomfortable about the current situation at hand. In addition, he remembered Ruko saying something about him that he shouldn't have become involved. Was it because he was technically not an ordinary Selector or the fact that she expected that he would never understand about what was actually going on. Either way, he knew that as long as Iona's attacks would keep resonating with the Seed fragment stuck inside of him, he knew there was a chance of either him or Ruko or even both becoming permanently reversed. But that was the least of the problems flowing through his head right now. He got up from his seat and walked towards the bathroom.

"Kai?" murmured Tama.

He didn't respond as he closed the door behind him, leaving the LRIG to wonder about what was going on with him.

* * *

**Kurebayashi Apartment**

Aichi could only stare at the LRIG card he was currently opposing, Hanayo-Five. He had already been pushed into a tough spot from a double Superior Grow on 'Yuzuki's' previous turn and despite managing to get control of the field for now thanks to Blaster Blade, the twin sister of Kazuki looked like she was in a very strong position to win.

"Hanayo-Five's Exceed Skill!" she declared.

As the five other forms of Hanayo were moved from underneath Hanayo-Five to 'Yuzuki's' LRIG Trash, Aichi could only look on from imagining of what was about to happen next.

"With this ability," she explained "I banish all of your SIGNI!"

On the imagined battlefield, the ember held in Hanayo's left hand suddenly erupted into a raging inferno that consumed the two Gallatins and Epona, burning them to nothing but ash. Blaster Blade shielded his eyes, trying his best not to end up blinded by the sudden intense heat. When the flames died down, there was now nothing between him and Hanayo whose serious gaze remained trained upon him. Back to reality, Aichi could only sweat a little as he moved his banished SIGNI to his Ener Zone before looking back at 'Yuzuki', feeling as if she wasn't stopping there.

"Summon!" she called "With Hanayo's ability, all of my SIGNI gain Double Crush at all times!"

"All of them?!" gasped Aichi.

"That's not all," 'Yuzuki' continued "By using up the only card left in my Ener, I use the ARTS One Rule, Two Birds to give Hanayo that same power up and you can't use any Level 1 SIGNI to guard her next attack!"

"Then this means..." murmured Kazuki "She's planning to finish off Aichi right here and now."

 _What amazing power_ Aichi thought  _I had no idea Yuzuki could clear away my field so easily and power up her SIGNI continously like that. The closest person I can think of doing something similar is Kai-kun._

"Let's go!" called 'Yuzuki' "Attack!"

As Aichi could only clench his teeth, on the imagined battlefield, Blaster Blade could only watch as the attacks from Iron, Obsidian and Mithril consumed in a whirlwind of flames. The warrior groaned loudly in pain as the flames charred away at his armor, sapping all of his strength away from him. When the smoke and fire had eventually cleared up, he was on his feet, just barely managing to stand up with the aid of his sword. Aichi meanwhile could only look down on his side of the field at his current scenario.

"Since they all had Double Crush," he murmured "All my Life Cloths have been crushed." He then looked back at 'Yuzuki'. "But I won't give up! Check!"

One by one, Aichi revealed the Life Cloths that 'Yuzuki's' SIGNI had ended up crushing from their attacks. The first one revealed Honest Seeker, Cynric, nothing of help for his current scenario though. The second and third cards revealed God Eater, Ultimate Sword and Knight of Silence, Gallatin. When he flipped up the fourth Life Cloth, Aichi could only let out a small sigh of relief.

"With Large Breaker's Life Burst," he explained "I search my deck and add God Eater, Ultimate Sword to my hand." After shuffling the deck though, the tension had quickly returned as he turned his attention to his last two Life Cloths. Flipping the next one up, he revealed another copy of Cynric, no Life Burst present this time. After placing the card in his Ener Zone, Aichi nervously turned his attention to the last one. He knew if it wasn't something that could help him now, Hanayo's next attack could finish the game right now. He gripped onto the card tightly before flipping it over, shocking everyone else present in the room. The last card was Seeker, Loving Healer. Aichi could only smile and sigh in relief from the sudden turn of events.

"With her effect," Aichi spoke "I regain one Life Cloth with the top card of my deck."

"Tsk! So I can't finish you this turn," murmured 'Yuzuki' "But I still have one more attack! Go Hanayo!"

"Servant D guards!"

On the imagined battlefield, Hanayo unleashed a torrent of raging fire right towards Blaster Blade as the Guard SIGNI appeared in front of them both. Although Servant D was incinerated in a moment, that had given Blaster Blade just enough time to raise his sword upwards to split the attack to ensure it went around him and not through him. Back to reality, 'Yuzuki' could say nothing more as she looked over towards Aichi.

"Turn end."

**Aichi vs 'Yuzuki'**

**End of Turn 5**

**Hand - 2 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Hanayo-Five**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Obsidian, Natural Stone - Iron, Natural Stone - Mithril, Natural Stone**

**Ener - 8 : 0**

_He just hung on_ thought Kazuki  _But with the way things are looking, Aichi may be able to turn the tables now._

"Up and draw," said Aichi. Looking over his hand, he decided that Ener Charging at this point was not worth it and moved two of the cards in his Ener Zone to his Trash. He then looked through his LRIG deck over the cards he had left over and stopped for a moment, a sad expression present on his face for a brief moment as he gazed at one card in particular. 'Yuzuki' noticed this and looked towards him in concern.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"I... it's nothing," Aichi replied, having been snapped out of his daze all of a sudden. Turning his attention to a different card from the one he looked at, he made up his mind and held it up high.

"Enter the fray, king of all knights!" he called as he placed the card on top of Blaster Blade. "Grow! Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv!"

Back on the battlefield imagined in both Aichi and 'Yuzuki's' minds, a bright light caused Blaster Blade to vanish before a new figure emerged in his place. Standing tall and firmly on the ground, Alfred held out his large sword pointed towards Hanayo. The King of Knights had white silverish armor with several blue lines running across and some gold trims present. 'Yuzuki' could only look down at Alfred's card, curious as to how Aichi intended to use him to turn around the current situation, but that wasn't the only thought on her mind.

 _That same aura..._ she thought  _These Royal Paladin LRIGs aren't like the ones used by Selectors, but they still have that exact same feeling emitting from them. More of less though..._

Aichi could only look down at Alfred, hoping that he could use him to his full potential whilst he still had an opportunity to do so.

"I summon!" he called as he placed down Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius and Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes in front of Alfred. Kazuki watched on from the sidelines, curious as to what else the cardfighter had up his sleeve.

"With Octavius' abilty," he continued "I Exceed 2 and draw 1 card." After moving Blaster Blade and Marron from beneath Alfred to his LRIG Trash, Aichi drew his single card. He then looked back towards 'Yuzuki'.

"The King of Knights does not stand alone," he said before holding his hand above the card. "Seek mate!"

"Seek mate?!"

Aichi looked through his Trash and picked out of the cards present there Palamedes, Ultimate Sword and Large Breaker before shuffling them back into his main deck. Whilst 'Yuzuki' could only watch on in wonder of what was about to happen next, Kazuki stared closely at Alfred Exiv's card, suddenly noticing a strange marking that he had not noticed earlier on the left hand side of the card border. Aichi then picked up Blaster Blade's card from the LRIG Trash and held it high into the air.

"Stand up once more my Avatar! Blaster Blade!" he called before placing the card right alongside Alfred's to the left hand side.

"Legion!"

Over on the imagined battlefield, Alfred raised his sword into the air as a bright yellow light shot upwards into the skyline before a figure emerged from the glow. His appearance all too familiar, Blaster Blade descended from the bright light and landed on his feet alongside the King of Knights. As the two Royal Paladins held the tips of their swords out forming a cross of some sort, a brief flash revealed a bright yellow symbol for a few seconds. The symbol ressembled two swords crossing over each other, symbolizing the forged bond between Blaster Blade and Alfred.

"Two LRIGs in the same spot?!" gasped 'Yuzuki' "Is this Legion?!"

"Blaster Blade's skill!" Aichi cut in "Obsidian is sent to your trash!" 'Yuzuki' could do nothing more than move her strongest SIGNI from her current formation to her Trash after seeing that the cardfighter had paid the cost for Blaster Blade's ability. Kazuki blinked for a brief moment, having only noticed Alfred briefly when he taught Aichi the basic rules of Wixoss. He did not notice Alfred's Legion Symbol from before and now, it looked like the cardfighter was now in a stronger position to win.

"Now that Alfred is in Legion," Aichi continued "His Level goes up by 1 and his Limit increases by 3!"

"So then," murmured 'Yuzuki' "You can now summon Level 4 SIGNI from that manuever." Aichi nodded before summoning God Eater, Ultimate Sword to the field and turning his attention to Alfred and Blaster Blade.

"Legion Skill!" he called "Since I have a full formation, including a Seeker SIGNI and the fact I have at least 5 cards on my field with Seeker in their names, Alfred gains Double Crush at all times!" 'Yuzuki' could only sweat a little when she realized she had nothing in her hand to Guard Aichi's next attack. But after looking back at the Life Cloths she had left, she regained some of her composure quite quickly.

"Palamedes attacks Iron!" Aichi declared "Since I have at least 2 Level 3 or greater SIGNI and LRIGs, he gains 3000 power until the end of the battle."

**Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes: 8000 - 11000**

'Yuzuki' could only groan as Palamedes easily took out Obsidian whilst God Eater, Ultimate Sword made quick work of Mithril.

"Octavius attacks!" Aichi called.

'Yuzuki' revealed her next Life Cloth, Sword of Shining Desire. She could only groan in annoyance that she didn't get anything helpful to help her defend against the oncoming attack from Alfred and Blaster Blade. Sighing, she moved the card over to her Ener Zone. With reassurance on his side, Aichi held his hand over Alfred and Blaster Blade's cards before downing them together.

"King of Knights and my Avatar," he spoke "Join your might and bring hope to the battlefield! Legion Attack!"

On the imagined battlefield, an aura surrounded both Blaster Blade and Alfred as they took a mighty leap into the air before diving down towards Hanayo at large speed. The LRIG threw the thorned vine like a whip towards the two Royal Paladins, but their combined efforts with their swords made quick work of slicing through the natural weapon and landing a clean strike on Hanayo. 'Yuzuki' flipped up her next two Life Cloths revealing Bronda, Natural Stone and Admasphere, Natural Pyroxene, the second card revealing a Life Burst.

"With this effect," she spoke "I banish Palamedes!" Aichi didn't say anything in response, but moved Palamedes' card to his Ener Zone in disappointment.

"Turn end."

**Aichi vs 'Yuzuki'**

**End of Turn 6**

**Hand - 2 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Hanayo-Five**

**SIGNI : Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius - EMPTY - God Eater, Ultimate Sword : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 4**

"Amazing," mumured Kazuki "His Legion allowed him to overcome his earlier problem of not having a Level 4 LRIG and by being able to use Blaster Blade's ability again, he's managed to tie it up."

"Legion..." muttered 'Yuzuki' "I wasn't even aware something like that existed." She then glanced back at Aichi, noticing the determined expression still present on his face.

"But things end now!" she called "You have an empty space and I have plenty of Ener to use thanks to your attacks."

"Yeah," replied Aichi "It won't be easy for me to last out any longer, I know that. But I won't give up until the end."

 _Until the end. That's what I taught Yuzuki after her defeat at Akira's hands_ she thought  _This boy, he reminds me of_   _'her'_ _somehow. That confidence he has and that determination in his eyes, it's almost identical._ Clearing her thoughts after a brief moment, 'Yuzuki' turned her attention back to the game.

"Up and draw," she spoke before smiling. "You were lucky Aichi. Had I drawn this on my previous turn, you would have already lost."

"Eh? What do you mean Yuzuki-san?" he asked.

"I'll show you after her I summon her," she explained before placing the card down on the field, revealed to be Diabride, Natural Pyroxene before she then placed Orichalc, Natural Stone beside it. Kazuki's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what she was talking about.

"I see now!" he gasped.

"What do you mean Kazuki?" asked Aichi.

"Whenever Diabride is in the Down state whilst she crushes 2 or more Life Cloths in the same turn," he explained "She immediatly stands back up again. Because Hanayo-Five's ability gives her Double Crush at all times, unless you had a Quintet Wall to fend her off as you showed us earlier, Yuzuki could keep standing up Diabride for an infinite number of attacks until the final strike from either her last attack or any of her other SIGNI would have finished Blaster Blade then."

"That's correct," said 'Yuzuki "Because you only have one Life Cloth left thanks to that Loving Healer of yours and the fact I didn't draw into Diabride last turn, I can't use that infinite attack combo to my advantage. But this battle is still over anyway as I now power up Hanayo with another One Rule, Two Birds and take out Ultimate Sword with Firefly Sparks!" Aichi could only feel a little nerved when he moved Ultimate Sword's card to his Ener Zone, having just remembered the precarious situation he was still in. Then he suddenly remembered a certain card that could help his as he moved Ultimate Sword's card immediatly into his Trash before searching through his LRIG deck for that one card.

"With Pinch Defense," he explained as he revealed the card "I prevent Hanayo and Diabride from attacking this turn!" 'Yuzuki' rather than feeling disappointed was actually smiling.

"How foolish," she replied "Diabride's ability allows me to damage you without attacking every time one of my Gem or Ore SIGNI are affected by one of your ARTS!"

As Aichi could only gasp out in shock, on the imagined battlefield, Diabride forced her hand through the barrier holding her back before summoning a small ember. Crushing that ember with her same hand, she sent out a shower of fiery sparks that singed both Alfred and Blaster Blade who quickly swatted off the small embers from their armor. Realizing what this had meant, Aichi flipped over his final Life Cloth revealing Servant D which allowed him to Ener Charge.

"This battle has now come to an end," spoke 'Yuzuki' as she was about to down Orichalc's card. "Let's go Aichi! Attack!" Aichi quickly reached for one of the cards in his hand as 'Yuzuki's' expression suddenly changed to that of shock. The card that was revealed was Seeker, Plume Wall Angel.

"Quintet Wall!" he called as he flipped over the top five cards revealing Gallatin, Servant D, Shiron, Axe and Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius.

"Impossible..." she muttered "You had another Quintet Wall all this time?!" Aichi said nothing as he moved the five revealed SIGNI to his Ener Zone whilst she could only groan in annoyance.

"Turn... end."

"That was really good Yuzuki," said Aichi "You almost had me from being caught off guard by Diabride's second ability. I definitely wasn't expecting that."

"I suppose," she said before looking back at her last Life Cloth, eyeing it closely. "But I don't intend on going down without a good fight."

"Mhm," he replied "Here I go!" Aichi downed Octavius' card to signal his attack on Hanayo. 'Yuzuki' flipped her final Life Cloth revealing Servant O allowing her to Ener Charge, but she knew that it didn't make any difference to the situation. She huffed for a moment before smiling.

"Oh well," she sighed "You win Aichi." He smiled back and nodded before turning his attention Alfred and Blaster Blade, downing their cards. On the imagined battlefield, the Swordsman of Light and the King of Knights charged towards Hanayo who lashed out both a large ball of fire and her thorn towards the pair. The fireball was enough to slow down Alfred to a stop, but Blaster Blade easily slashed through the thorn before delivering the final blow to the LRIG.

"Congratulations, Sendou Aichi," said 'Yuzuki "Despite being new to Wixoss, you seem to be a natural to adjust with your cards that quickly."

"Eh... I guess learning a different game beforehand does have its benefits," he replied whilst scratching his head. Kazuki smiled for the both of them, happy that they were able to have a good time during their game. 'Yuzuki' felt the same way for Aichi as well, but still remained curious about the 'aura' she felt around his Royal Paladin LRIGs, Blaster Blade in particular. She then glanced to his LRIG deck, noticing only a few cards left inside of it. 'Yuzuki' suddenly remembered back to the battle where before Aichi grew Alfred and turned the tables with Legion, he seemed have a sad expression for a brief moment.

"Do you not mind if I look again?" she asked.

"I don't mind," said Aichi. 'Yuzuki' took the cards and looked closely at them once again. Having looked through Aichi's deck for a brief glance, she remembered the name of one of the cards all too well. Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei. As she looked closely at it, she looked back at Aichi, noticing his expression had gone down a little bit.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"T... This card is a copy of one that belonged to a close friend of mine ***** ," he answered "I keep it as a memorial of sort."

"I see," murmured 'Yuzuki as she returned the card to Aichi. "Sorry if I went on a touchy subject."

"It's alright," he said as he cheered up quickly "You didn't mean any harm." He then glanced over towards the clock in the living space, realizing that the morning had gone by quite quickly from their game.

"I should go and get dressed before I go out looking for Kai," he said.

"It's alright," said Kazuki "Take as much time as you need."

"Thank you very much!" replied Aichi as he picked up his bag before going into Kazuki's bedroom and closing the door behind him.

* * *

**Kai's Rented Apartment**

Kai gazed into the mirror that hung over the bathroom sink, deep into thought over what had happened back then near the end of his battle with Ruko.

 _I don't understand..._ he thought  _I know I must face Ruko to save her from Link Joker's influence and to help Tama reconcile with her. And yet, I can't shake this uneasy feeling in my chest._

"That's your destiny calling to you."

Kai's eyes widened in horror upon hearing that voice before he looked back at the mirror to see an image he was hoping to never see again. It was his own reflection, but it seemed very different and yet, all too familiar. The reverse markings were present underneath the reflection's eyes as well as that same sinister glint was present in his eyes as he smiled right before the real Kai.

"You may refuse to admit it," the mirror image spoke "But that same power has not completely left you."

"Shut it!" Kai roared in response "I'm no longer that same person from back then!"

"You may believe you had let go of it," the mirror Kai spoke "But Reverse will always remain a part of you."

Kai had about enough with what he was hearing. Seething with anger, he raised back his arm and thrust his fist towards the mirror. At the very last second however, he stopped in mid punch, heavily breathing after seeing his own normal reflection once again and hearing the phone in his pocket go off. Picking it out of his pocket, he could see that it was Hitoe who was calling him up. After looking back at the mirror once again for a brief moment and regaining his composure, he answered the call coming over to him.

"Hello," he said.

"Kai, is that you?" Hitoe asked from the other end.

"Yeah," he replied "Is everything alright?"

"Mhm," she answered "Yuzuki and I just wanted to make sure you were alright after what happened." Kai however could only sigh at this point, wondering if he was even alright with himself.

"Besides," Hitoe continued "I've managed to get a copy of the Wixoss novels that Fumio mentioned the other day and Yuzuki was thinking we should see if we could find any clues in them."

"I understand," said Kai "I'll meet you at the library later."

"Okay then. Goodbye!" After the call was finished, Kai put his phone back into his trouser pocket and exited the bathroom, but not before taking a glance back at the mirror. Just to make sure, he was still himself.

* * *

**Outside of the Kurebayashi Apartment**

"We'll split up so we can cover more ground," said Kazuki "Hopefully this way, it will be easier for us to find this Kai so Aichi can be on his way."

"I can't thank you two enough for everything," replied Aichi as he got his bag held on his back. "Though I hope I'm not asking for too much."

"It will be alright," spoke 'Yuzuki' "If things don't work out as well as we hoped, you're always welcome to stay with us until you need to be on your way." Aichi happily nodded as 'Yuzuki' began to walk off in one direction. Before Aichi could follow her however, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kazuki's hand to be more precise as he turned around to see the older sibling with a concerned look on his face.

"Is everything alright Kazuki?" he asked.

"Aichi," said Kazuki "I have a small favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"Whilst you and 'Yuzuki' look for Kai," he explained "Can you keep an eye on her? I've been worried that she may be acting unusual."

"I understand," replied Aichi "I'll tell you if anything's wrong." Kazuki smiled in relief, knowing he could trust the cardfighter with just a small request.

"Aichi!" called 'Yuzuki' as she waved her hand to get his attention. The cardfighter briefly turned back to Kazuki and bowed before waving goodbye and running to join her. Kazuki waved back goodbye and headed off in the opposite direction, concern having returned to him all of a sudden.

* * *

**'The White Room'**

Mayu sat silently on her throne, moving between the various windows of her domain. She continued to watch how the Selector Battles would play out, curious as to the victors and the losers were faring for her personal amusement as well as any Eternal Girls she could be meeting soon. When one battle she was watching eventually drew to a close, Photon appeared in her presence. She got up from her chair, turned around and walked towards him.

"How does 'she' fare?" she asked.

"Stable," he answered "My forces had a slight hiccup due to the energy interference from last night, but their work on 'Project: Locked Soul' continues as normal. Her status as of now remains 50% complete."

"Excellent," said Mayu "Send my regards to 'The Clown' that the battles continue to play out smoothly in my favor."

"However," Photon continued "There is one concern I wish to address. Are sure it is wise to allow the cardfighter who possessed the unit that destroyed "Omega" Glendios to roam freely in the battles you created?"

"Rest assured Photon, Aichi will be of no threat," she replied "Ulith already knows that his greatest strength can also become his worst weakness. Even so, we have the 'perfect bait'."

Photon said nothing in response. He knew that despite his cautious approach on the matter of the cardfighter appearing in this world, Mayu had made a very good point. Running the scenario that could be drawn up in his head thanks to first hand knowledge given to Ulith, he could only smile as he turned around and left back for the area where his forces and superiors, including this 'Project: Locked Soul', awaited. When Photon was no longer present in the room, Mayu gazed out into the dark void that surrounded the White Room through one of the windows, a smile becoming present on her lips as she patiently awaited the aftermath of what would come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 2 White  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin  
>  Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): When your Royal Paladin LRIG grows from this LRIG, it gains Double Crush until end of turn. If the LRIG that grows from this card is not Level 4 when this effect activates, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack).
> 
>  **Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 2 White  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin  
> [Legion] “Blaster Blade” or “Blaster Blade Seeker” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four LRIG and/or SIGNI cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 11.)  
> [Constant] Whilst this LRIG is in [Legion], if you have at least one SIGNI on your field with “Seeker” in its card name and you have at least 5 cards in your SIGNI Zones and Ener Zone with “Seeker” in their card names, this LRIG gains Double Crush.  
> [Action] Pay 2 White with “Seeker” in their card names: Search your deck for one card with “Seeker” in its card name and summon it. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Sacred Wielding Seeker, Octavius**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: TBA  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> [On-Play] Exceed 2 whilst the number of “Seeker” cards in your SIGNI Zones and/or Ener Zone is 3 or more: Draw 1 card.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
>  **Legion Rulings**  
>  Legion can only be activated in the Main Phase and is treated as an [Action] condition.


	18. Arc 2 - Ride 18: That First Brawl

**Wixoss World: City Park**

Things hadn't started out smoothly for Naoki. Upon waking up in the other world he had made it to, not only did he find out that had he gotten himself separated from Aichi, Ren and Leon, but he also had no idea of where exactly he was. In addition, because of how late it was by the time he had regained consciousness, he had to resort to sleeping out on a park bench for the entire night which was anything but comfortable. Upon waking up the morning afterwards, he had decided his first priority was to worry about finding out where he was exactly and reuniting with Aichi and the others so they could hopefully find Kai as soon as possible. Naoki was thankful however that he remembered to pack in a few snacks in his bag in order to avoid going hungry early, though he knew it would only be a matter of time before he would run low.

Upon leaving the bench, he began to wander around the park, curious as to see if he would find anything of interest. So far though, everything seemed the same to the Narukami user, nothing particularly different about this world from his own. That was, until he was about to pass by a group of girls chatting amongst one another. As he was passing by though, his ear suddenly twitched as he heard an additional voice in the conversation. Naoki briefly glanced over to the group, there were three girls present, yet he could of sworn that he heard a fourth voice present. Suddenly afterwards, he heard a fifth as he scratched his head in confusion. He looked around him, but he couldn't find the sources of the additional voices.

 _What the heck?_ he thought  _Did I hit my head hard after landing in who knows where?_

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as one of the girls looked over towards him.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"N... no, it's nothin'!" he replied "I... was just hearing things, that's all!" After bowing in apology, Naoki quickly went on his way, hoping not to cause any more trouble with the group. Unbeknowst to him however, his actions had not gone unnoticed as a pair of familiar dark brown eyes from a nearby set of bushes was glancing right at him. Eventually after finding a different spot in the park to stop for a bit, when Naoki was sure that he had regained his composure and possibly his sanity, he found what he hoped was a lonely spot to reflect on what had just happened. First, he was in some kind of city away from Aichi and the others and now, he felt as if he was just hearing weird voices in his head. Sighing out of curiosity, he took out his deck box and picked out the cards from inside. When he glanced closely at them however...

"W... W... WHAT THE HELL?!" he cried before screaming out loud, his voice echoing across the entire city and catching the attention of someone nearby.

* * *

**City Streets**

As Aichi and 'Yuzuki' continued to wander the streets in search of Kai, the cardfighter couldn't help but wonder how his friend was faring. All he knew was that the sooner he could find him, the sooner he could find out what he had gotten himself into. As he walked with 'Yuzuki' down a street, like Naoki from before, he could also hear additional voices coming over from other girls nearby, unbeknowst to him were coming from their LRIGs. The twin 'sibling' of Kazuki looked down at him, suddenly noticing one of his eyes glowing a bright rainbow colour.

"Is something wrong Aichi?" she asked. Aichi suddenly looked back at her, the previous glow in his eye suddenly disappearing, unbeknownst to him.

"I thought I could hear some strange voices," he answered "You can hear them, right?" Before 'Yuzuki' could answer his question, the two could suddenly hear Naoki's scream echoing across the street, catching their attention.

"What was that?" she murmured.

"That sounded like Naoki!" gasped Aichi.

"Naoki?"

"He's a friend of mine," he replied "But it sounds like he's in trouble."

"It sounded like his scream came from the park," said 'Yuzuki' "If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with him." Aichi nodded in agreement before the two ran off in the direction of the park, 'Yuzuki' staying in front so that the cardfighter would not end up getting lost in the streets.

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

By the time Naoki had finished his loud scream of disbelief, he breathed heavily as he looked back at his cards. He still couldn't believe what he had just seen before his eyes. The Narukami Brawlers he used were still there, but their card borders and stats had completely changed. There were now several things that didn't make sense to him that he was now seeing on his cards, LRIG, SIGNI, Spell and ARTS. Just what did this all mean to him? How had his cards changed whilst he had been unconscious? None this was making any sense to him, panic being the only expression littered all over his face. Taking a deep breath, he looked around him to make sure he had regained his composure before his eyes suddenly picked up on Chiyori who was standing only a few feet from him, startled from his sudden outburst.

"S... sorry about that!" he called before bowing in apology "I didn't see you there!"

"Just try not to be so loud!" she replied "Your scream almost deafened my ears."

"Heheh. No need to worry Chiyori, he didn't mean any harm."

Before the Selector could walk away, Naoki having realized that there was another person present quickly scanned across his surroundings to find the source of the voice. Chiyori looked back at him, wondering what was up with the Narukami user all of a sudden before he then looked back at her.

"Hey, did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" asked Chiyori.

"I thought I heard another voice," answered Naoki "Oh, is Chiyori your name?"

"Mhm," she answered before suddenly becoming confused. "Wait, how did you know?!"

"I… I heard a voice saying "No need to worry Chiyori, he didn't mean harm"," he said whilst trying his best to do a rough impersonation of the voice that spoke out. "Did you hear it too?" Chiyori was surprised. She never expected him to actually hear the voice of the LRIG she had in her possession, the only 'other' boy she knew being Kai. She pulled out the LRIG card from her jacket pocket and walked over to Naoki. She then showed him the front of Eldora's card she held as the cardfighter looked on closely in wonder.

"You can see her, right?" she asked. Eldora herself then looked up at Naoki and offered him a warm smile in greeting.

"Why hello there," she said kindly.

Naoki gasped, then he stumbled and fell backwards in disbelief to what he was seeing and hearing right in front of him. Whilst Chiyori could only stare at him in confusion, the cardfighter was struggling to process everything he had just witnessed.  _Did… did that card just speak to me?! What the heck is going on?!_

"Oh, sorry if I frightened you," the LRIG replied "Though this wouldn't be the first time someone would be freaking out over the appearance of someone talking inside a card."

"So… I'm not imagining things," said Naoki as he got up, still trying to process what he had just witnessed. "That card… can actually talk. What's your name?"

"My name is Eldora," the LRIG replied warmly "You really are an interesting person, yelling out to the sky like that."

"Oh… You heard all that..." he answered "I've just had some rough things happen lately, that's all."

"Say!" called Chiyori "You must have an LRIG of your own that can talk as well, right?"

"LRIG?" Naoki pondered before remembering back to when he looked at his deck to find it had changed to adapt to the rulings of Wixoss. "Well I have a few, but none of them talk like yours," he answered. He then got out his deck and held out the LRIG cards to Chiyori to show what he meant. She wasn't exactly surprised from what she saw, having already been familiar with some of Kai's cards in their previous battle. Rather than just one card with a single LRIG to act as Naoki's avatar in Selector Battles, they seemed to be multiple cards that depicted different sorts of dragons. In addition, his cards appeared to have their borders colored in yellow, a color that wasn't even present in Wixoss until his arrival. Just as Naoki said however, none of them could move or talk.

"Aw…" Chiyori pouted "That's no fun." Eldora however seemed to disagree with her viewpoint.

"You're right that your LRIGs don't seem to talk," she replied "But I can feel something from them that is similar to a Selector's LRIG, much like 'his'. You have played Wixoss before, right?"

"Uh, nope," answered Naoki "But, what do you mean by 'his'?"

"You haven't heard?" said Chiyori "The 'infamous boy Selector' and expert of Kagero, Kai Toshiki!" Naoki suddenly gasped out loud. He was in luck and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"You've seen Kai?!" he asked.

"But of course," answered Eldora "We've run into him a few times before meeting you."

"Then do you think you know where I can find him?!"

"That would be easy if we could find out where he goes on a regular basis," replied Chiyori "By the way, you haven't introduced yourself."

"Ah, that's right," he said whilst scratching his head in embarassment "My name's Ishida Naoki."

"So I was right in following you!"

Everyone suddenly had their thoughts interrupted as another voice had entered the vicinity of the seemingly empty area of the park. Naoki quickly scanned around the area, wondering if it was another LRIG like Eldora. His answer came in the form of Akira who had entered the park into the group's sight only a few moments after Naoki had given out his name. Like before in the magazine that Hitoe had previously read on the day before, her scar from her an earlier confrontation had seemingly vanished from her right cheek altogether. Naoki felt a little uncomfortable from noticing her smile on her lips.

"So you're another 'boy' Selector," she spoke "And someone who knows Kai quite well."

"Wait," he murmured "What do you mean 'boy' Selector? And how do you know Kai?"

"Let's just say he and I have some unfinished business," Akira smirked "It seems Ulith was correct in there being people like him around here."

"Hey, isn't that..." murmured Chiyori "Um... What was her name again?"

"I don't know," said Eldora.

"Never heard of her," replied Naoki. Akira could only frown a little from the remarks, but quickly shook it off as she turned her attention back to Naoki, pulling out Milulun's LRIG card and displaying it before him and Chiyori.

"Hi! I'm Milulun! Pleased to meet you, lun-lun!" the LRIG called out before staring at Naoki in confusion as to the fact he was looking right at her. Things suddenly began to make sense for the Narukami user.

"Wait a sec..." he murmured, suddenly remembering back to earlier. "Those voices from earlier... They were from cards like yours!"

"Oh, so you've figured it out, Ishida?" Akira playfully mused. "Not 'everyone' can hear the voice of an LRIG. Though if I wasn't a Selector, I'm sure I would have branded you off for acting crazy."

"You...!" he growled.

"But enough of that," she continued "If you somehow know Kai well, then defeating you will mean I'm a step closer to claiming vegeance." As she turned Milulun's card around to open the battlefield, Naoki quickly glanced back at Chiyori before looking back at Akira.

"Hey, wait!" he called "I don't even know how these battles work!"

"Too bad for you then," she replied "Your loss will contribute to my gain. OPEN!" A wave of blue energy suddenly erupted from Milulun's card and engulfed both Naoki and Akira, bringing them to the field that awaited them. Chiyori having stood just behind Naoki at the time of the declaration was also brought along to watch from the sidelines with Eldora.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When Naoki eventually came to his senses, he found himself on the battlefield. On his table, he could already see his Life Cloths and starting hand set up for him, though he had no idea of that yet. On the LRIG space, he could see Brawler, Fighting Dracokid stanced and ready to battle on his behalf. Naoki's half of the battlefield was mostly coloured yellow, much to the confusion of Milulun who was all set up and ready to start the battle with Akira. The Selector looked over towards Fighting Dracokid, sneering with interest.

"So you also have dragons for LRIGs," she spoke "How scary! Goosey-goosey-goosebumps!"

Fighting Dracokid growled in response to Akira's attitude, clearly showing he wasn't exactly a big fan of the way she acted. This caught the attention of Naoki as he noticed the sudden response from the Narukami unit, surprised by this turn of events.

"Y... you're the real thing?!" he gasped.

"But of course, my Vanguard!" the Dracokid answered "Did you not think that we from Cray also existed?"

"W... Well, I knew that," replied Naoki "Leon did mention it once or twice. But still..."

"Either way," Fighting Dracokid spoke "Let's get this over with. That girl's really starting to get under my hide." Naoki nodded in agreement, having also wanted to get the battle over with. But that was the problem stirring up in his head. He had no idea of how to accustom himself with the changes among his cards and also having no idea of even to play Wixoss himself. Naoki shook his head clear of that thought, trying not to worry about it too much. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he heard a strange noise before looking above him, seeing the roulette with the yellow and blue colours that represented his deck types. Seconds later, the giant wheel stopped on a yellow slot. He stared at the slot, wondering what this could all mean.

"Well, what are you waiting for, Ishida-lun?!" Milulun called out, bringing Naoki's attention to her. "You can choose who can make the first move!"

"R... Right," he replied. Naoki thought carefully over what he should do. He knew he could take the first move right off the bat, but he knew that as he had no idea to how things worked in the Selector Battles, there was a very high chance of messing things up from the get go. However, there was always the option of letting Akira go first instead, so he could study her move to see how things should play out properly. He gathered his thoughts together as he analyzed the situation before making a final decision.

 _Even if I don't know how these battles work at first_ he thought  _I'll go at it like I always have with Vanguard._

"I'll go second!"

"Oh, so you're going to attack first," replied Akira "Fine by me, Aki-lucky." She drew her card and then turned her attention to Milulun.

"Grow, Milulun Nano!"

A series of flashes rose up around the LRIG, her appearance not changing at all with the exception of a small hairprin that seemed to resemble that of a chibi cat. She flashed a cute smile towards both Naoki and Fighting Dracokid, only succeeding in receiving dumbfounded looks from both of them. That didn't seem to matter though as Akira continued with her turn.

"Summon!" A SIGNI known simply as Chlorine, Natural Source, appeared in front of Milulun with beautiful blue hair and a dress to match with the tone. Akira then made a sign over to Naoki that she was passing the turn over to him.

"All right!" he called "Let's go! Draw!" As he reached out over the top of the main deck with the intention of drawing a single card, the top two cards suddenly jumped into the palm of his hand. Naoki gasped at this, wondering if he did something wrong.

"What's the worry?" Fighting Dracokid asked "I'm not sure how, but I can sense what you did was right."

"Y... you think?" The Narukami unit nodded as Naoki let out a sigh of relief. After looking among the cards in his hand, he thought about what he saw on Akira's turn just then. Looking down at Fighting Dracokid's card and noticing the Level icon like he did with the other cards that were transformed into LRIGs, he made a decision.

"Rid... I mean, Grow!" he called out "Baton Brawler, Sogo!"

In a flash of light, Fighting Dracokid vanished from the LRIG space as a male warrior descended onto the battlefield in his place. Sogo had wild hair in an assortment of red and yellow and carried a blade that seemed to ressemble that of a dragon's tail. Naoki looked back at his hand, noticing a variety of options that he could utilize. The SIGNI that were in his hand had an assortment of different levels, but something in his gut was telling him that he couldn't use the higher level SIGNI right off the mark. Glancing over carefully, he made a decision.

"Right. I got this," he said to himself, trying to keep his end under control as he picked up a card and tossed it in front of Sogo. "Call! Wildclock Dragon!" In a flash of lightning, a red dragon with what appeared to be a cloak that was sticking out from the lower body beneath the wings appeared in front of the LRIG space. The brief lightning flash had not only been just for show, it also briefly illuminated the outlines of the SIGNI spaces, allowing Naoki to realized he could only put out up to three SIGNI at a time. Looking over towards Chlorine, without any further hesitation, he went along with what was essentially a gut instinct.

"Wildclock Dragon attacks!" he declared. The dragon dashed on all four of its legs across the entire length of the distance between Naoki and Akira's tables before leaping into the air and bringing down its right claw on Chlorine, elminating her from the battle. The card moved over to Akira's Ener Zone, though the Selector herself didn't seem concerned with the result as she looked back at Naoki.

"Next, Sogo!"

"Guard." Servant O2 suddenly appeared in front of Milulun, deflecting the strike that was landed by Sogo. The Brawler gritted his teeth in annoyance before leaping back to Naoki's table. The Narukami could only clench his teeth from his opening move being blocked easily, but quickly looked down at his hand to see that he had Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld at the ready whenever he needed it.

"Turn end," he groaned.

**End of Turn 2**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Baton Brawler, Sogo : Milulun Nano**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - Brawler, Wildclock Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 1**

"Is that all?" Akira spoke.

"Huh?!"

"It seems as if compared to Kai," she continued "You're not much of a threat. I suppose Ulith was overconcerned about how you and those 'others' she told me to watch out for."

"What are you saying?!" Naoki demanded.

"Oh, you know. Others like you and Kai if I recall their names. Suzugamori Ren, Soryu Leon and..." Her lips pursed a sinister smile in particular when she recalled the last name she was given. "Sendou Aichi." Naoki could only stare in disbelief towards Akira. How had she known about him, Aichi and the others despite not meeting them before? Truth be told, Akira herself was the only one with the answer to that question as she began reminiscing about what happened earlier in the day.

_**Flashback** _

Akira was busy in her bedroom, applying some makeup that Ulith had given her to cover up the scar she had on her right cheek. Sometime after the Selector had gained Milulun as her new LRIG after losing Piruluk as a direct result of her loss to Kai, Ulith had visited Akira to get back her job and seemingly express some 'longing feelings' that the former LRIG of Iona did not seem to show previously. Needless to say, Akira was all too happy to accept both Ulith's offer and express some return of those same feelings herself. As a result, she found herself more dedicated to pleasing Ulith by any means in order to maintain their new 'relationship', even if it meant hurting others. Earlier in the morning, Ulith had approached Akira with a piece of paper held in her hand.

"Akira, I have a small request to ask of you," she spoke.

"What does Ulith request Aki-lovely to do?" Akira asked. Ulith handed over the piece of paper to the Selector who stared at it in confusion.

"This is a list of names that my, 'higher-ups' have drawn up," she explained.

"But, they're all boy's names..." murmured Akira. Then it suddenly hit her. "Don't tell me, they're just like Kai, right?!" Ulith gave a single nod, confirming the Selector's suspicions.

"Then I'll do anything you'll ask!" she replied "I'll swiftly eliminate them for you, Ulith! Even Ruko and the real Iona!"

"Patience, Akira," Ulith softly spoke whilst kneeling down and gently clasping Akira's left cheek, causing the Selector to blush deeply. "We'll deal with them when the perfect opportunity arises. For now though, I just want you to find and observe them. Nothing more, nothing less. We'll 'take care' of Ruko soon afterwards." Akira nodded in reply to Ulith's request before she smiled and left the Selector to her own accord.

_**End Flashback** _

Akira glanced over towards Naoki, her smile never leaving her lips making his expression seem less comfortable than before. Over from a nearby tower on the battlefield, Chiyori and Eldora could only look on at the cardfighter, curious as to how he planned to win with no experience in any Wixoss battles before. So far, things did seem promising from Naoki managing to pick up on part of the concepts of Grow, but the fact that he had no knowledge of other important rulings at this point seemed to make the situation seem grim.

"Well then, I wonder if Ishida will be able to keep up with his lack of knowledge," murmured Eldora.

"He better do so!" called Chiyori "I want to see him hang on long enough to get out that cool LRIG I saw in his deck! Big Bang... Um..."

"I believe you meant Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster," the LRIG replied.

"That's the one!" said Chiyori "The card with that strange symbol on it!" Eldora shrugged a little from her Selector's ethusiasm, but went deep into thought about what she mentioned just now. She did remember seeing a strange yellow symbol on Big Bang Knuckle Buster's card when Naoki showed the two the LRIG cards he had, which was actually half of the Legion symbol. Either way, she was intrigued to see just what the cardfighter could pull off if he could first survive what was coming to him. Back on the battlefield, Akira began her turn by drawing more cards before dropping one from her hand into her Ener Zone and glancing towards her LRIG deck.

"Grow, Milulun Pico!" In a series of flashes, Milulun's dress had mostly changed, incorporating wave like patterns in the same style as her hair. Speaking of her hair, the largest star that was present in there had only grown even larger. In addition, Milulun was now also wielding what appeared to be a crossbow of some kind. The crosshairs had the same style as her actual hair and the end of the weapon had an upside down heart pointing outwards.

"Summon!" Two SIGNI known as Fluorine, Natural Source appeared to the left and right of Milulun. Akira sneered as she turned her attention to the SIGNI that was on her left hand side.

"My first Fluorine attacks!" she declared. The Flurorine on the left picked up the ring that was surrounding her waist before holding it above her and tossing it in the direction of Sogo. Naoki glanced over his hand and noticed Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle among the cards. As he picked it up, he gasped as he suddenly noticed Guld's text box again before looking back at the SIGNI's own text box. Unlike Guld, Green Gem Carbuncle didn't have a Guard icon, causing him to groan loudly. The ring that Fluorine had hurled towards Sogo exploded on contact with his sword, knocking him backwards. Naoki just had enough time to notice his first Life Cloth enter his Ener Zone, revealing Brawler, Heavy Trailer Dragon which glowed indicating an effect.

"Um... Draw Trigger!" he called, closely inspecting the text that was imprinted on the card's effect box to see if he was correct on his instinctive. To his relief, he was 'mostly' correct, only one clause being missing from when it was still a Vanguard card. "I draw!"

"Next!" called Akira. The other Fluorine hurled her ring at Sogo, achieving the same result as before. Naoki's second Life Cloth revealed Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon, no Life Burst present on the card this time. Naoki himself however could only clench his teeth, partially blaming himself for not asking Chiyori and Eldora in advance of the rules before Akira had approached them.

"Milulun!" The cardfighter quickly snapped out of his stupor as he saw Milulun take aim at Sogo with the crossbow she wielded. Quickly looking back at his hand and recalling that Milulun was the LRIG that Akira was using, he made a decision, just as she fired the arrow from her weapon.

"P... perfect Guard!" he called as he threw down Guld's card in front of Wildclock Dragon's card. A purple wyvern suddenly appeared in a flash of lightning as a green circle appeared in front, deflecting Milulun's attack with ease. After the Wyvern Guard had vanished, Milulun could only pout that her first attack in the battle had not gone as successfully as she hoped. Akira however didn't seem concerned, having taken into account that she still had an advantage, mainly due to Naoki's lack of experience.

"So you've finally figured out how to Guard properly," she spoke "No matter. Once I'm done with you, Ulith will have one less 'boy' Selector to worry about. With this, I end my turn."

**End of Turn 3**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Baton Brawler, Sogo : Milulun Pico**

**SIGNI: EMPTY - Brawler, Wildclock Dragon - EMPTY : Chlorine, Natural Source - EMPTY - Chlorine, Natural Source**

**Ener - 2 : 0**

"This is just great!" Naoki muttered to himself "I help liberate Miyaji Academy from Reverse and knock the icy pants off of Serra!" He then glared back in the direction of Milulun and Akira, whose smile had not left her lips and it was starting to get under his skin.  _I refuse to become the laughing stock of this girl's little act._

"Let's go!" he called "Draw!" Looking over towards Milulun and thinking back as to how she grew last turn, remembering seeing how Akira had grown her to this Level from using a card from her Ener Zone, he assumed the same thing were to happen with him. Looking over to his own Ener Zone, he made a decision and moved Heavy Trailer Dragon to his Trash.

"Let's Grow!" he called "Jailock Brawler, Konteka!" In a clap of thunder, Sogo exited the battlefield as a male warrior with scaled red and yellow armour along with grey hair and a electrified orange chain wielded in his right hand. Looking back over his hand, Naoki smiled in relief upon looking more closely at his cards. Things weren't completely different or alien to him as he first thought and he was starting to understand more about what was going on in the battle.

"Call!" he declared as two SIGNI cards went in the spaces. These cards were Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon and Green Gem Carbuncle who appeared to the left and right of Konteka. The units appeared in flashes of sparks and stood poised for battle.

"Skyhowl Dragon's skill! I ret... banish the Chlorine in front of Green Gem Carbuncle!" After moving Big Bang Slash's card to his Trash, Skyhowl roared loudly as a volley of electrical sparks shocked Chlorine before she suddenly vanished from the battlefield. As the card moved to Akira's Ener Zone, Milulun suddenly felt a wave of nervousness cross over her whilst her Selector did not seem concerned in the slightest. She merely huffed a small laugh, catching Naoki's attention.

"What's so funny?!" he snapped.

"Oh nothing," she replied "Your tactics are pretty much the same as Kai's so I'm not surprised. At least I can consider you warm up for him."

"Tsk! Let's go!" called Naoki "Attack!"

All of his SIGNI charged forwards towards Milulun at lightning fast speed. Skyhowl make quick work out of the other Chlorine SIGNI whilst Green Gem Carbuncle and Wildclock Dragon took turns in landing a single hit from each on Milulun. The LRIG tried to parry them off with her crossbow, but it had little effect as she was knocked back by the slash of a claw from Wildclock Dragon. Akira's next two Life Cloths revealed SHORT and Neon, Natural Princess, the second card having a Life Burst present. The Selector smirked as she drew her single card.

"Kontenka, attack!" Naoki declared.

"Guard." This time, it was the turn of Servant O to Guard Naoki's attack against Milulun. Kontenka hurled the chain at Milulun, but the Guard SIGNI's defensive stance was enough to block it before she vanished. The Narukami unit groaned as he pulled the chain he wielded back to the LRIG space. Naoki could only feel a little annoyed from this result.

"Tsk! Again?!" he growled.

"It looks like Aki-lucky's got a nice defensive streak built up," the Selector sneered "Too bad for you!"

"Ggg... Turn end."

**End of Turn 4**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Jailock Brawler, Kontenka : Milulun Pico**

**SIGNI: Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon - Brawler, Wildclock Dragon - Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 3**

"Alright! He's managed to tie it up!" called Chiyori "I'm looking forward to seeing what's next!" Eldora however seemed to not be as enthiusiastic as her Selector about how Naoki was faring.

"I wouldn't count Ishida in clear just yet," she replied "From the way things are looking, that girl's just toying with him." Chiyori pouted a little from her response, but looked back onto the battlefield, eager to see how things would turn out.

* * *

**Just outside the City Park...**

"Naoki-kun!"

Aichi desperately called out the name of his friend, hoping he could find him quickly before he could have left the park, unaware of the battle that he was now participating in. After a few more feet of running, both he and 'Yuzuki' stopped just outside of the park, panting from running the long distance to there. She looked back at the cardfighter who in return looked back at her.

"Do you think... we should take a small break..." she panted.

"Y...yeah," replied Aichi who nodded in agreement. The two managed to find a nearby bench to sit down in the hopes of quickly catching their breath. As they were doing so, 'Yuzuki' turned back towards the cardfighter with something on her mind.

"What is it, 'Yuzuki'?" he asked.

"You mentioned before that you said you could hear strange voices," she said, recounting of when she saw his eye glowing.

"Well..." Aichi murmured, unsure as how to answer.

"Then perhaps it would be interesting for you to know, that I can hear these voices as well," 'Yuzuki' answered.

"R... really?!" he gasped.

"That's correct," she replied "Normally, a special kind of Wixoss player known as a Selector can hear the voices of living, breathing LRIGs in their possession. I'm not sure as to how you fall under that category, but I can sense from the cards you hold that same feeling." As Aichi could only think on in wonder, as to what she actually meant, their thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"So Kai isn't the only one."

Aichi and 'Yuzuki' suddenly turned their attention to the source of where the sudden interruption came from. There, standing before the two of them at a distance was Ruko, holding out Iona's LRIG card out before her. Her expression didn't seem very happy, but at the same time, she didn't seem angry at the pair. She at first gazed towards 'Yuzuki', having already known who she really was from before turning her attention to Aichi who could only look on in wonder and confusion. What did she mean that Kai wasn't the only one? He had a feeling though that he would find out right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Brawler, Fighting Dracokid**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 0 Yellow  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Action] Move this card from beneath your LRIG to your Trash: Until the end of turn, when your LRIG is in [Legion] it gains “[Use Timing - Main Phase][Attack Phase] Pay 1 Yellow: When your opponent’s SIGNI is banished or put into their trash, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 card from your opponent’s Ener Zone whose Level is the same or one lower than the banished or trashed SIGNI (other than that same SIGNI if it was banished) and send it to their Trash Pile.”
> 
>  **Baton Brawler, Sogo**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 0 Yellow  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Narukami
> 
>  **Jailock Brawler, Konteka**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 1 Yellow  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Narukami
> 
>  **Brawler, Wildclock Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: Narukami Only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Brawler” in its name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Brawler, Heavy Trailer Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Eradicator Wyvern Guard, Guld**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Winged Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Yellow LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: High Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: Narukami Only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Yellow: When this SIGNI is summoned, if your LRIG has “Brawler” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent’s SIGNI whose Level is equal to or one higher than the Level of a SIGNI card in their Ener Zone and banish it.
> 
>  **Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: Narukami Only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] During your turn, when you LRIG’s attack hits a SIGNI and/or LRIG whilst that same LRIG has “Brawler” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power for each successful hit until end of turn.


	19. Arc 2 - Ride 19: This Reunion is Unexpected

**Just outside the City Park...**

"Ruko?"

'Yuzuki' could not believe her eyes. She and 'Kazuki' had known from both Ruko's grandmother and brother that the Selector standing before them had gone missing previously. And here she was, standing before both her and Aichi, having noticed about the cardfighter's sudden awareness of both the alive LRIGs and the Selector Battles. Ruko herself kept her gaze on Aichi who didn't know really about what to say to her. He then looked at 'Yuzuki' before looking over at Ruko and then Iona, whose serious gaze had almost made him flinch.

"Do you two know each other?" he asked. The Selector gave a single nod in response to his answer.

"If I heard right, then you must be Aichi," she said "Another one who is almost exactly the same as Kai Toshiki."

"You've seen Kai-kun?!" he gasped "Then do you know where I can find him?!"

"That won't be necessary," replied Iona, earning a confused look from the cardfighter. "We've already faced Kai once before and defeated him." The LRIG after saying that fumed in her head, remembering that the battle had actually been interrupted, unbeknowst to her was actually from Aichi's arrival. However, she did keep in mind that Kai had actually admitted that he had still been defeated. Aichi himself however was shocked to hear that Kai had 'apparently' been beaten by the Selector now standing before him, wondering what had now become of his friend. Meanwhile, Ruko had turned her attention back to 'Yuzuki' with several thoughts on her mind.

"I haven't seen you in a while," she said, pausing for a moment before mentioning an all too familiar name. "Hanayo."

"Huh?" Now Aichi was confused, having only been familiar with the name on the LRIG cards during his earlier battle. Why had Ruko suddenly called 'Yuzuki' that name out of the blue? Little did he know, the answer to that thought was about to become clear.

"Ruko... has a very good reason for calling me out on that," she explained "The truth is, I'm actually Yuzuki's former LRIG, Hanayo. The reason Kazuki sees me as 'Yuzuki' is because I'm inhabiting her body."

"B... but, if you're inside Yuzuki's body," murmured Aichi "Then where's the real Yuzuki?!" At this point, as Hanayo could only look down and gather her thoughts together, Ruko had decided to answer out for her.

"Yuzuki is inside an LRIG card belonging to... an old friend," she answered "As for Hanayo, she took over her body in order to fufill a certain wish she had." She then suddenly paused, wondering if it would be right to tell Aichi about what Yuzuki had originally wished for. Having then paused on the subject for long enough, Ruko then turned her attention back to him before Iona decided to speak out for her.

"Well then," the LRIG spoke "Are you willing to battle him?" Before Aichi or Hanayo could do or say anything in response, the Selector noticed the look of suprise and confusion present on his expression. It felt familiar somewhat, like when she was first trying to understand everything about the Selector Battles whilst she still had Tama. Maybe there was something about him compared to Kai that she could understand more about. Making a decision, Ruko looked down at Iona for a brief moment before walking over to Aichi.

"I won't battle you Aichi, in the hope that you'll understand everything," she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Ruko said nothing more before glancing back at Hanayo. "If he is like Kai, you need to tell him everything so that he shouldn't be involved in all of this."

She then walked away from the pair, disappearing once again into the city streets. Ruko suddenly clasped herself in pain for a brief moment before shaking her head to ignore whatever had bothered her just now, thankful that Aichi had not noticed. The cardfighter could only look on as he watched her walk off, wondering about what she was talking about. At this point, Hanayo joined him, wondering about almost exactly the same thing. Her concern however was more directed towards Yuzuki herself and how she was holding up, feeling guilty about what had happened between them back then. Deciding to worry about it later, she turned her attention back to Aichi who didn't know what exactly to say to her.

"Hanayo," he murmured "What exactly did Ruko want me to understand?"

"She wanted me to tell you everything about the Selector Battles," she answered "By my guess from what she was saying, this Kai must have somehow shaken her up."

"But I thought that girl in the card she was holding said they beat him," replied Aichi.

"What you saw Ruko hold was an alive LRIG, in this case Iona," Hanayo explained "That is proof alone that she herself is a Selector. But I can't help but wonder what has happened to that other LRIG she had."

"Ruko had a different LRIG before?" he asked.

"Yes, her name is Tama from what I recall," she replied before realizing something. "Say Aichi, didn't you say we were going to the park after we heard your friend scream from?"

"Ah, I forgot!" Aichi gasped, having realized that they were supposed to be looking for Naoki whose scream he remembered hearing earlier.

"I'll tell you about the Selector Battles later," said Hanayo "For now, we should find this Naoki you mentioned."

Nodding in agreement with the former LRIG, Aichi and Hanayo of them quickly set off into the park to find the Narukami user, unaware of the predicament he was already in. Either way, he was hoping that his friend was alright.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

"Grow, Milulun Femto!"

Back on the battlefield, Akira had already begun her turn by Ener Charging the Spell RAINY from her hand, something that Naoki quickly took note of before a series of flashes changed Milulun's appearance once again. Nothing really changed in appearance except for the weapon that she wielded. The crossbow had changed into that of an actual bow that Milulun was now holding vertically in her left arm. Akira smiled that things were going according to plan, so far. She briefly gazed at Naoki before turning her attention to her LRIG deck.

"ARTS, Draw Two!" she called. After the last two cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash, she drew an additional two cards from the top of her deck. Her smile increased even further which made Naoki seem less calm than before, not that he wasn't exactly that calm to begin with since the start of the battle.

"Summon and attack!" Three SIGNI by names of Argon, Throrium and Chlorine entered the battlefield before holding out their hands, raining down sparks from above on Naoki's SIGNI. He gasped as he saw all three of them move to his Ener Zone with little effort from the attacks just now. Akira noticed the displeased look on his face and sneered.

"What's wrong Ishida?" she playfully taunted "I thought you were going to put up a fight."

"You...!" he growled.

"But enough about that," she continued "Milulun, go ahead and strike Kotenka!"

Milulun giddly spun around in excitement before taking aim at Kontenka with her bow before pulling back on the arrow. Naoki quickly looked back at his hand and to his dismay, he didn't have another Guard SIGNI at the ready to block the attack. The LRIG let go of the arrow which flew towards and struck Kontenka head on directly. Naoki's next Life Cloth revealed Hardship Brawler, Toshu, nothing to help him out this time.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 5**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Jailock Brawler, Kontenka : Milulun Femto**

**SIGNI:** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Chlorine, Natural Source - Argon, Natural Source - Throrium, Natural Source**

**Ener - 4 : 0**

"Aw, don't be upset Ishida-lun!" called Milulun in her usual cheery tone "You might not have learned the rules firsthand, but everyone loses sometime-lun!" After a small giggle in a cutesy voice, her response was an angry and annoyed growl from Naoki which made her jump.

"I may not know everything about this game," he replied "But there's no way I'll lose to you and...! Whoever that girl is." Akira just simply smiled under a small huff, not concerned with whatever Naoki had to say. Over in the tower above the battlefield, Eldora could only look down with concern plastered on her face.

"That guy is getting too worked up," she murmured "At this rate, that girl's going to force him into making a reckless mistake."

"Who cares about that!" called Chiyori "I just hope Ishida manages to put on a good battle!" The Selector's LRIG could only shrug her shoulders before she turned her attention back to the battle to see Naoki begin his turn. After drawing his cards, he closed his eyes, thinking about the situation.

 _Let's see..._ he thought  _I have 4 Ener and 8 cards in my hand. I could throw one of them in my Ener for later, but I don't want to screw myself into a bad scenario if my formation gets wrecked again. Now then, who to R... Grow! Darn it, these new terms are getting some used to! Right! I'll just hit Milulun with everything I've got! All at once!_

"Let's grow!" he called "Because of the justice I believe in, I talk with my fists! Manly Grow! Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon!"

After two cards had moved from his Ener Zone to his trash, a glow enveloped Kontenka, removing him from Naoki's table. In the previous unit's place, a red and white dragon entered the field. It had no wings, only having very large black spikes on its back. A yellow thunderbolt like shape crossed over its chest whilst several yellow spikes were adorned on both the upper leg and lower arm muscles. The dragon also had white hair present on its head along with a mostly red coloured face and two large yellow horns pointing outwards. It roared loudly at Akira, who didn't seem fazed by the sudden appearance, most likely from remembering her previous encounter with Dragonic Overlord.

"Oh..." she mused.

"Um, Aki-lun?" murmured Milulun.

"It's just another dragon," she replied "Even if it's different from Overlord, then it's of no concern to me." This only resulted in earning an annoyed look Naoki for a brief moment, but he quickly calmed down as he looked down at the card beneath the real Big Bang Knuckle Dragon. He suddenly noticed something familiar and looked back at Akira and Milulun with a smile of his own.

"Let me show you, I'm not the same guy who started this battle in a panic anymore," he spoke confidently before he held out his hand over the LRIG space.

"Seek mate!"

As the LRIG space suddenly glowed, both the Selector and LRIG opposing him had their eyes widened in shock and surprise, having not been familiar with it before. Green Gem Carbuncle, Wildclock Dragon, Heavy Trailer Dragon and Guld exited his Trash and returned to the top of his deck. A file of light scanned through the deck until it reached a certain card which was pulled straight out into Naoki's hand.

"Big Bang Slash!" he called "Legion!"

As he placed the card beside Big Bang Knuckle's card on the LRIG space, a blue dragon that also had no wings appeared alongside the unit in question. It had spikes littered all over its body, mostly in a silverish colour along with several smaller yellow spikes. Unlike Big Bang Knuckle, Slash had black hair flowing from its head and silverish spikes on the back. The two dragons roared in unison as the Legion symbol appeared to all for a brief moment.

"What the hell?!" gasped Akira "Since when did this Legion ever exist?!"

"Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything," Milulun muttered under her breath.

"Legion Skill!" called Naoki "Big Bang Knuckle's Especial Counterblast!" After he looked closely at the card's condition, he quickly glanced back at Akira. "Oh yeah, and Exceeding 1 too!" After moving the only two cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash along with Sogo's card moving to the LRIG Trash from beneath the Legion on the table, both Big Bang Knuckle Dragon and Big Bang Slash Dragon were enveloped in a yellow aura as they smashed their fists together before glancing over towards Akira's SIGNI.

"With this, I'm not aiming for Milulun this turn," Naoki explained "But I'm taking out all of your SIGNI at once with one attack!"

"All of them?!" gasped Milulun.

"That's right!" he replied "Because of this, if you want to fully block my attack, you'll have to Guard for each individual target."

"Keh," spat Akira "So your LRIG can attack my full formation this turn. No matter."

"Summon!" Naoki quickly refilled his empty formation with Wildfist Dragon, another Big Bang Slash Dragon and Armed Brawler, Kohiko who all appeared alongside and in front of the Legion pair. He then turned his attention to said Legion pair.

"Let's do this!" he called.

"Right!" the two dragons replied.

"Big Bang Knuckle, Big Bang Slash, Mach Attack!" Naoki declared. The two Brawler Dragons roared loudly before charging across the battlefield towards all three of the SIGNI on Akira's table. They split off from one another, going after different targets. Big Bang Knuckle leaped up into the air and thrust his left fist, covered in sparks right into Throrium who vanished from the battlefield. Big Bang Slash had chosen to run across towards Chlorine before pouncing right on top of said SIGNI with both of its front claws. After Chlorine has vanished from the table, both dragons bumped their closest fists into one another before combining their attack to deal a devastating combined punch into Argon. All three SIGNI cards entered Akira's Ener Zone whilst the Selector still seemed smug about the result.

"Too bad," she sneered "All that hard work and Milulun doesn't even get a hit."

"Wildfist attacks!" Naoki declared.

"What are you talking about? You've already attacked with your LRIG so..." Her confident smug reply suddenly faded when she heard Wildfist Dragon dashing across the battlefield towards Milulun before leaping into the air and landing a large punch on the LRIG's bow that was held out in front, enough to send her flying backwards into the air for a moment before landing on her back. Before Akira could even question what had just happened, the other Big Bang Slash and Kohiko charged towards Milulun. Kohiko thrust his fist forward in mid air, shower several sparks over the LRIG before Big Bang Slash pounced right on top of her. After their attacks were finished, they retreated back to Naoki's table. The 3 Life Cloths that were crushed had been SHORT, Helium, Natural Source and Neon, Natural Source Princess which allowed Akira to draw another card.

"How the hell was that possible?!" she yelled "Your LRIG already attacked so your turn should have already ended!"

"Huh?" Naoki's eyes widened in confusion before it suddenly hit him. The rules that he didn't know firsthand should have prevented his other SIGNI from attacking after his LRIG attack. Staring around the table in confusion, he looked back at Big Bang Knuckle's card, suddenly realizing that everything was just fine.

"Well, how did you cheat your way out of this?!" Akira barked.

"Um... I guess I didn't notice," murmured Naoki "But using Big Bang Knuckle's effect swapped the order of my attack steps. Eheh."

"Seriously?!" gasped Milulun.

"Hey, it's not my fault for not knowing how the attack order worked properly!" he replied before huffing for a moment. "Turn end!"

**End of Turn 6**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon (Legioned with Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon) : Milulun Femto**

**SIGNI: Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon** **\- Armed Brawler, Kohiko - Brawler, Wildfist Dragon** **: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 6**

"Not bad," Eldora murmured "I wasn't expecting him to have something that could attack all of that girl's SIGNI at once whilst allowing his SIGNI to go for direct attacks afterwards."

"So cool!" called Chiyori "I though Kai's Vortex Dragon was something for that kind of move, but that was amazing! Go Ishida!"

Back on the field, Akira was still in disbelief from Naoki's unexpected counterattack somehow allowing him to temporarily 'break' one of the rulings of a Wixoss Battle and now, she wasn't just annoyed from that, she was fuming. Milulun who had recovered from the beating of Naoki's Brawler Dragons on the previous turn could only glance behind her and sigh a little.

"Yep, she's lost it," she murmured to herself, quiet enough so her Selector wouldn't hear.

"That was a lucky shot, Ishida!" she growled "But even so, Aki-lucky will bring your lucking out to an end! Draw!" After eyeing the cards closely, her expression changed once again. This time, her trademarked sneer had returned along with Naoki's uncomfortable reaction upon noticing. She dropped Actinium, Natural Source in her Ener Zone before turning her glance towards Milulun.

"Observe, this is Milulun's true power!" she called "Grow, Yocto!"

Aside from the largest star that was present in her hair growing even larger, Milulun's appearance did not change completely aside from her bow's style of swirls changing ever so slightly. Some of it was to do with increased swirls and a different aspect was the point of the arrow she intended to fire right at Big Bang Knuckle Dragon. Two silverish SIGNI known simply as Nickel, Natural Source appeared to the left and right of the LRIG whilst in front of Milulun, Helium, Natural Source entered the battlefield.

"And ARTS!" Akira continued "Mind Mines!" After moving one of the remaining 4 cards in her Ener Zone to her trash, she glanced over towards Naoki's deck before pointing right at it.

"Now then," she sneered "Let's see what Aki-lucky will pick out of that strange deck of yours today." A blinding blue glow suddenly engulfed Naoki's main deck as he gasped from seeing cards fly out of it, until the flash had stopped at a certain card. As he was about to reach for it, it suddenly brought the card straight into Akira's hand in an instant. The remaining cards suddenly rearranged themselves within random parts of his deck.

"O... Oi!" he called "What did you do?!"

"It's simple," she replied "I searched through the top cards of your deck until I could snatch away one of your Spells."

"Spells? But I don't have any..." Naoki suddenly looked at his hand and then gasped. He remembered seeing a few cards with Spell imprinted in their borders, but he never bothered to look at them beforehand. Now he was reeling for not thinking about it earlier.

"Too bad for you!" Akira continued "Don't mind if I use that Spell of yours for an extra card? Oh wait, I just did." Upon playing Naoki's stolen Jetting Knowledge, she drew a single card before the Spell reset itself in the cardfighter's Trash Pile.

"Also, Aki-lucky's totally not close to finished yet," she spoke "I'll use Rainy to draw another 3 cards and discard 1." After performing the action mentioned, she turned her attention her SIGNI.

"Attack!"

Naoki could only groan as his SIGNI were quickly overwhelmed by Akira's two Nickels along with Helium as their cards moved over to his Ener Zone. Milulun then took aim with her bow and pointed it at both Big Bang Knuckle Dragon and Big Bang Slash Dragon before letting go of the charged arrow and allowing it to soar towards both. The dragons braced for the impact as the arrow struck in between them, the explosion and shockwave enough to knock them both off balance as Naoki's next Life Cloth revealed another copy of Jetting Knowledge, glowing to indicate the Life Burst.

"Yes!" he called "I um... how do I Ener Charge?" His answer was soon given as the top card of his deck, Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster was moved to his Ener Zone to which he then realized how it worked. Regardless though, Akira's smugness hadn't dropped one bit.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon (Legioned with Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon) : Milulun Yocto**

**SIGNI:** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Nickel, Natural Source - Helium, Natural Source - Nickel, Natural Source**

**Ener - 5 : 2**

"Okay, keep it together," Naoki muttered to himself.  _I'm still ahead by one of those face-down cards, but that part where she stole my Spell was unexpected. I need to be careful or this might not end well._

* * *

**City Park**

Aichi and Hanayo continued wandering around the park, searching for Naoki in the hopes of finding him. So far today, they hadn't had any luck by only having a brief run in with both Ruko and Iona, the LRIG of which claimed to have defeated Kai before. Aichi was still curious as to how that was and what they meant by Selector. He remembered Hanayo mentioning he would tell him later, but decided to ignore pondering on that for the moment. Eventually, after a few more moments, he stopped and gasped. Hanayo stopped alongside him and saw the sight for herself, also being surprised but in a more different light. There, standing before them was Naoki, Chiyori and Akira in a frozen, sleep like state.

"Naoki-kun!" called Aichi "Are you alright?!" No response was given from the seemingly sleeping Narukami user. Hanayo came forward to explain the details.

"I'm not sure how this is possible," she explained "But your friend has somehow managed to enter the battlefield where the Selector Battles take place."

"So that's where they're held?" he murmured. She gave a single nod before glancing over towards Akira, a glance of discomfort present, having not forgotten about Yuzuki's battle against her. But before either of them could think of anything, a loud call of surprise and shock had caught their attention.

"Aichi?!"

Aichi's ears twitched and his eyes widened. This was a voice he was hoping to hear again after his abrupt disappearence from his home world. He turned around to find the source of the voice from the person he had been looking for ever since he arrived in this world. There at last, was Kai Toshiki, seemingly unhurt and in surprise from the sudden turn of events leading to their reuniting.

"Kai-kun!" cried Aichi "You're okay!" Kai nodded to afirm the Royal Paladin user's relief before glancing over towards Hanayo, he himself already aware of the body switch that occured from Yuzuki's wish being granted.

"So you're Hanayo," he spoke.

"And you're Kai Toshiki," she replied "I've heard quite a lot of things about you and I'm guessing, you already heard from Yuzuki by the sound of things, somehow."

"That is correct," he replied before looking back in Aichi's direction.

"Kai-kun," said Aichi "What happened when you got here?! Please tell us!"

"There will be time for that," he spoke before glancing towards the issue at hand. "More importantly, how is Ishida inside the battlefield?!"

"Um..." Aichi murmured, unaware of everything that happened from Naoki's end "It's a long story for my end as well. But shouldn't we find a way inside?"

"That won't be an issue," replied Kai before he reached into his pocket and held out Tama's card towards Naoki.

"Get close!" he called. Aichi and Hanayo nodded in agreement before walking to join Kai on either side at a close distance as he kept his gaze trained upon Naoki, Chiyori and Akira.

"Open!" he called as a flash brought them to the battlefield that awaited them.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Chiyori and Eldora stood inside the top floor of the tower that stood above the battlefield. They were anxious to see if Naoki could keep up the pressure that he had previous managed to dish out on Akira when Big Bang Knuckle's ability to swap the attack steps caught the Selector off guard. Before either of them could think of anything else, a bright glow from behind them caught their attention as they saw Aichi, Kai and Hanayo emerge from the bright light. Aichi clutched his head in dizziness, having not been used to travelling to the battlefield before, though he quickly shook it off as he found his sense of balance again.

"Oi, Kai!" called Chiyori "Have you come to watch as well?! And who's this boy you've brought along?!" Before Aichi could introduce himself to the younger Selector, everyone could hear Tama yawning all the way over, from Kai's pocket. He reached in gently and brought out Ruko's former LRIG before everyone present on the tower floor. Even Aichi was surprised, having not met the LRIG before.

"Her name is Tama," Kai explained "She is the former LRIG of someone I've been trying to get her back to."

Once Tama had woken up, she looked all around her surroundings from sitting in the palms of Kai's hands. She looked up at Aichi at first and then glanced back up at Kai, seemingly confused.

"Who is that person Tama is seeing?" she asked.

"I'm Sendou Aichi," the Royal Paladin user replied kindly before bowing in respect to her. "Pleased to meet you, Tama!" Tama gave a big smile towards Aichi, she seemed to take a liking to him already.

"Tama likes Aichi!" she called happily before making some incoprehensible noises, sounding like that of a cat, much to the confusion of everyone present, except for Kai and Hanayo. Eldora cleared her throat with an "Ahem!" to get everyone's attention over to the situation at hand.

"S... Sorry for forgetting about you!" called Aichi "Um... What is your name?"

"No need to worry," the LRIG replied "I'm Eldora and I believe you came to see what was going on down here."

"That's correct," said Hanayo "It's about this Naoki I've heard of."

"Legion Skill!" Naoki's loud declaration had caught everyone's attention, bringing them back over to the windowsill of the tower. Kai gently lowered Tama down onto the ledge so she could walk over and watch alongside Eldora. Whilst Kai and Hanayo could only glance down at Naoki to wonder how he was getting on, Chiyori quickly introduced herself to Aichi, calling him the third 'boy Selector' she met in a row, much to a sweatdrop from the cardfighter's confusion. Nonetheless, they too turned their attention to the battlefield, curious as to how things would turn out.

"Let's go!" called Naoki. But before Big Bang Knuckle and Slash could strike, Akira turned a glance to her LRIG deck.

"ARTS, Don't Move!" she called as a sudden blizzard blew over two of Naoki's new SIGNI, both of which Armed Brawler, Kohiko. Their cards suddenly downed themselves, preventing the Narukami user from attacking with them this turn. The only one that was unaffected was Wildfist Dragon who was in front of a Nickel and was too weak to take out the SIGNI on its own. Naoki gritted his teeth as he prepared himself to continue his attacks.

"Legion Attack!" he declared. As the two dragons moved towards Akira's SIGNI, she sneered and shrugged as their attacks took out both Nickels and Helium effortlessly.

"Wildfist!" The only upped SIGNI charged towards Milulun and pounced onto her bow. The LRIG struggled for a moment as the next Life Cloth, Servant O appeared, allowing Akira to Ener Charge before Milulun herself shook off Wildfist as the dragon then charged back towards Naoki's table.

"Turn end," he muttered.

**End of Turn 8**

**Naoki vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon (Legioned with Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon) : Milulun Yocto**

**SIGNI: Brawler, Wildfist Dragon** **\- Armed Brawler, Kohiko - Armed Brawler, Kohiko :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 4 : 5**

"Just one hit on my Life Cloths, is that all?" she sneered "Even for someone who's almost like Kai, just as I said earlier, you're no threat to me or Ulith."

"No threat? What do you mean?!" he replied.

"That's the point," spoke Akira "Once I've dealt with you and those others, Ren, Leon and Aichi, Kai will be nothing more than easy pickings. How about we put him out of his misery, Milulun?"

"Sure, Aki-lun-lun!" the LRIG replied giddly. The Selector then sneered as two words no one had expected her to use suddenly came out of her mouth.

"Final Turn!"

"Huh?!" cried Naoki. Everyone up in the tower, except for Kai gasped out loud at this sudden declaration. Aichi in particular was most shocked about this turn of events, but there was something else she mentioned that had him confused, how had she known about him? Of course, only Akira herself had the answer to that question. Kai meanwhile could only gaze down at Akira, having not seen her since his battle with her, wondering if she really intended to end the battle here and now as she just declared. Back on the field after drawing her cards, the Selector could only smirk which didn't make Naoki feel any more calmer.

"Tell me Ishida," Akira spoke "Did you think you were the only one to have had strange looking SIGNI?"

"Um... no," he murmured.

"Well then," she replied "Allow me to show you the recent addition to my deck that will give me an edge against Kai. Summon, Tidal Assault!"

Naoki could only gasp as he suddenly recognized the name of that unit as it appeared onto the battlefield to the right of Milulun, now opposing Wildfist Dragon. He knew there was only one cardfighter that unit belonged to and that was Leon, but Akira according to what she had said earlier didn't run into him.

"H... how did you get an Aqua Force unit?!" he gasped.

"It's not that common if I'm perfectly blunt," Akira spoke "Ever since Kai arrived here, some packs of Wixoss cards hold these strange SIGNI, though I don't recall seeing any yellow cards among them. Not that it matters though." Her smile suddenly became far more malicious as she suddenly revealed Chlorine, Flourine, Helium and Neon before discarding them into her trash pile. She then placed down a Spell card known as SHORT which as it suggested, rained down several bolts of lightning onto both copies of Kohiko, eleminating them both from the battle.

"And now," she continued "ARTS, Fortune Five!" After revealing the ARTS, the top five cards of her deck moved over to the very front of the table and revealed themselves as Nickel, Helium, Fluorine, Neon and Uranium. Upon seeing what she had achieved just now, Akira burst into a fit of hysterical laughter before pointing a finger towards Wildfist Dragon as it vanished from the battle, its card moving over to Naoki's Ener Zone. The Narukami user could only clench his teeth as he saw Akira draw another card.

"Finally, I'll use Salvage to add back Neon who I'll now summon with another Tidal Assault!" Both the previous SIGNI along with a second Tidal Assault both in front of and to the left of Milulun.

"Tsk!" groaned Naoki "Am I really about to lose it here?!" He then looked back at his hand and shook his head in disbelief.  _No! I can't start thinking about that now! There's gotta be something I can do! Like that ARTS she used when I attacked!_ Upon thinking of that, he suddenly gasped as he remembered when he briefly skimmed over his cards when he discovered they had readapted to Wixoss. There was one card he noticed by name and its cost, but he didn't bother to pay attention to its effect. Now he felt was a good time to rely on a gamble and hope it would help.

"A... ARTS!" he called "Spark Crash!" Upon reading the card more closely now, he glanced back at Akira.

"By paying 3 Yellow," he explained "You have to force one of your own SIGNI off the battlefield."

"Fine by me," Akira replied smugly "That doesn't matter to me at all." She simply placed Neon's card in her trash, causing the SIGNI to vanish in a flurry of sparks. Naoki wasn't exactly happy with the result, having hoped for her to get rid of one of her two Tidal Assaults instead, having been weary about them.

"My first Tidal Assault attacks!" she declared. The Tidal Assault on Akira's left charged towards Big Bang Slash Dragon before slashing away at it with both of its energy swords. Naoki grimaced as he noticed a fourth copy of Kohiko enter his Ener Zone from that first attack.

"Tidal's ability," Akira spoke "I pay 1 Blue, decrease his power by 4000 until the end of your next turn and Up him for another attack!"

**Tidal Assault: 5000 - 1000**

Tidal Assault quickly leaped back into the air and this time took aim at Big Bang Knuckle Dragon, slashing away at the dragon like before with Big Bang Slash. The dragon stumbled a little from the brawl, but remained upright. Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster's card entered Naoki's Ener Zone as a result of the successful attack.

"My other Tidal Assault attacks!"

Just like before, the second Tidal Assault took aim at Big Bang Slash dealing out a massive number of slashes upon the blue dragon of the Legion Pair. Naoki could only groan as he watched on in horror.

"Darn it!" he groaned "I can't give up now! There's got to still be something I can do!" He watched on as he noticed his final Life Cloth, Brawler, Heavy Trailer Dragon enter his Ener Zone. Upon noticing the card glowing, he drew his card. When he looked at it however, his eyes widened. His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed Tidal Assault standing again for another attack.

"Oh well," Akira smirked "It's been enjoyable watching you struggle, but it's the end of the line. Tidal Assault, final attack!" As the Aqua Force unit leaped up into the air, Naoki quickly reached out for one of the cards in his hand and slapped it onto the table.

"Hardship Brawler, Toshu!" he called out loud "Quintet Wall!"

"What the?!" Before Akira could finish her reply, a male figure suddenly appeared in front of Big Bang Knuckle Dragon and produced a green circle in front of him. Five cards from Naoki's deck revealed themselves to be two copies of Big Bang Knuckle Buster, two copies of Green Gem Carbuncle and a single copy of Jetting Knowledge, more than enough to block Tidal Assault's attack. Akira could only groan upon realizing what this meant.

 _This guy still had one of those Quintet Wall things?!_ she thought  _But..._

"Milulun, finish him!"

Milulun flashed a smile before taking aim at the Legion Pair once again, pulling back on the arrow inside of her bow. This time, Naoki was fully prepared with a response to this attack.

"Guld!" he called.

As the Wyvern Guard appeared in front of Big Bang Knuckle and Slash with a large green circle, Milulun could only lower her bow in both disappointment and annoyance. After Guld had vanished from the battlefield, Akira could only growl at what had happened.

"Impossible...!" she groaned "I cleared away his field and yet, I only hit him, three times?!"

"Naoki held on!" gasped Aichi.

"As expected," murmured Kai "Akira hasn't changed much from our last battle, even if coining Final Turn made any difference."

"Wait..." said Hanayo "You battled Akira?"

"That is correct," he replied "Akira was the first opponent I faced in this world. Although, she seems more dangerous when she is outside of the battles themselves." Kai grimaced on that thought, remembering her berserk attempt to wound him with her knife after their battle. He then glanced down the tower with the others present towards Naoki, with the knowledge that he had everything he now needed to end this battle.

"Phew," sighed the Narukami user as he sweated a little from the sudden wave of relentless attacks. He then glanced back towards Akira before beginning his turn, his confidence having finally returned to him. After glancing over to his Ener Zone in which three cards moved to his Trash, he looked towards the LRIG space.

"Scorching soul! Smash everything with your steel fists!" he called out loud "Grow! Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster!"

In a blinding yellow glow, Big Bang Slash vanished from the LRIG space whilst Big Bang Knuckle's appearance slightly changed. The dragon now had much more larger golden armour along with a strange blue gem embedded in the middle of its chest. It roared loudly at Milulun who now had the feeling that things on her end were now not looking so good. Naoki held his hand towards the LRIG space, just as he did before.

"Seek Mate!"

All four copies of Armed Brawler, Kohiko exited Naoki's Trash Pile and went straight back into his deck before a file of light scanned through the cards, giving the Narukami user the SIGNI he needed.

"King of striking who cuts through the air at a high speed! Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster! Legion!"

As the symbol lit up to all once again, Big Bang Slash had also returned to the LRIG space, this time with even more gold armour and like Big Bang Knuckle Buster, had also recieved a strange blue gem embedded on the middle of its chest. Akira could only growl at the predicament she was now in.

"You...!" she growled.

"Legion Skill!" called Naoki "Paying 1 and sending another copy of Big Bang Knuckle Buster beneath my Legion." A golden aura surrounded the two dragons as they powered up from the effect. "Just like before, not only are the SIGNI and LRIG attack steps switched this turn, but now I can attack all of your SIGNI and Milulun at the same time! Summon!" Two Wildclock Dragons and a single Heavy Trailer Dragon appeared all around the Legion pair as Akira could only grit her teeth from looking over at them.

_This... this can't be! First Kai, now this guy?!_

"Blow them away, Legion!" Naoki declared "Great Gatling Punch!" Just as the name implied, the two dragons locked their closest fists together in combination for one devastating attack. Their combined power struck the ground, creating a shockwave strong enough to knock Milulun off balance and knock out both of Akira's Tidal Assaults. The Life Cloth revealed was a Servant O allowing Akira to Ener Charge, but with the next 3 attacks coming her way and with no Quintet Walls of her own to defend with, the result was clear. Naoki having noticed this pressed onwards.

"Let's go everyone!" he called. The SIGNI nodded in reply to his commands and dashed across the battlefield towards Milulun. Each of their attacks was more than enough to bring the battle to a close as Akira's final Life Cloth wasn't of any help and only two of the attacks were necessary for Naoki to claim victory. The field went dark much to the cardfighter's surprise, telling him that the battle was now over.

* * *

**City Park**

Naoki's eyes widened in surprise when he came to his senses back in park as he saw Akira groveling on her knees, still in disbelief from being defeated by somebody who didn't even know the rules from beforehand. As he heard her quietly rant in a mutter, he glanced all around to find Chiyori standing behind him, this time not alone. He gasped as he saw Aichi and Kai along with Hanayo who had joined them to watch the battle. Naoki was relieved to find his two friends weren't hurt and that things were okay.

"Aichi!" he called "Did you see all that?!"

"Mhm," he replied "You were great out there Naoki."

"So cool!" called Chiyori "Your dragons were all like, punch punch punch and boom! Lightning sparks everywhere!"

"So you're Aichi..." Everyone looked back at Akira once they heard her say it out loud, her angry gaze trailing upon him. Aichi almost flinched, not knowing why exactly she seemed this way, despite the obvious answer. The Selector having noticed Kai among the group then turned her attention to him.

"Kai, don't think I haven't forgotten about what happened between us!" she growled "This won't happen again!" She quickly turned around and ran off out of the park.

"Hey, wait!" called Naoki.

"Leave her be," said Hanayo "Akira is someone you don't really want to be involved in, especially in Selector Battles."

"Oh, I see," he murmured "By the way, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Hanayo," she replied "You certainly were interesting, Ishida Naoki was it?"

"That's right," he answered "By the way, what did you mean by Selector Battles? Chiyori said something about me being a 'boy Selector'."

Hanayo then cleared her throat and proceeded to explain everything that she already knew about the Selector Battles to Aichi and Naoki, the two cardfighters having not been fully familiar around the subject and what was brought among them along with a little note as to who Mayu was. When she had gotten to the part about how the wishes would work in the system, Naoki could only gasp in horror, realizing his victory could have brought harm upon Akira whilst Aichi could only feel sorry for everyone who had their wishes tainted along with those that were now trapped as LRIGs. Kai who had listened in on their conversation couldn't help but look at Hanayo, wondering about something. The former LRIG looked over to him, thinking along the same lines.

"Hanayo," he spoke "If you already knew this much, why didn't you warn Yuzuki?"

"Even if I wanted to," she explained "I had a feeling she wouldn't listen to reason, given how far she was already wanting to go to have her wish granted. If you see her, please tell her I didn't mean for all of this to happen, that she needed to see everything for herself."

"I understand," said Aichi "I'm sure you didn't want to go through with that."

"Well then," Chiyori interrupted "I should probably get going and practice more if I want to face Kai in a Selector Battle. See you around!" She and Eldora waved goodbye to the group as they hurried off into the streets. With the area quiet again, Kai glanced over to Aichi.

"Is Ishida the only one to have come with you?" he asked. Aichi shook his head.

"Leon and Ren came with us," he answered "But we all got seperated."

"It's definitely going to take us some time before we find 'em again," replied Naoki.

"I see," murmured Kai before glancing down at Tama whose card he had been holding onto the entire time. She was more curious about Aichi and Naoki, particuarly the world they came from. Kai didn't explain much about Naoki when he gave a recap of his previous adventures to her, Hitoe and Yuzuki a few days ago and now she had some vague idea of who he was like. Speaking of which, the Narukami user noticed the LRIG and looked down at her.

"Kai, you didn't say you had one of these... uh, LRIGs," he said.

"Her name is Tama," Kai answered.

"Tama says hello!" the LRIG called out. Now Naoki was slightly confused himself.

"Come to think of it," he murmured "Why do you speak in third-person?" Tama blinked a confused look, unsure of what the Narukami user meant by what he had just asked her.

"I already asked her that myself whilst walking around," Kai spoke "Tama appears to have no memory of what she was like before coming into possession of her former Selector, Kominato Ruko."

"You've met Ruko?!" gasped Aichi "I ran into her when I was looking for you and Naoki! She said something about me not being involved in all this. Did she mean the Selector Battles?"

"That is correct," he replied before looking down at Tama for a brief moment. "I'll explain everything whilst we go to the library. I agreed to meet Hitoe and Yuzuki there."

"Then in that case, I'll take my leave," said Hanayo. She then turned around and started walking back to Kazuki and Yuzuki's apartment, but not before taking a quick glance back at Aichi and the others. "I hope our paths will cross again soon." She waved goodbye before walking off into the city streets. Kai then turned back to Aichi and Naoki.

"Now then," he spoke "Shall we get moving?"

"Yeah!" replied Naoki.

"Mhm!" said Aichi as he nodded. The three cardfighters then set off into the streets, heading towards the library where they would hopefully meet up with both Hitoe and Yuzuki who would be waiting for them by now. Little did they know of someone they knew well being closer to where they were heading for than they would be thinking of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Tidal Assault**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Blue and have this SIGNI get -4000 power until the end of your opponent’s next turn: At the end of the battle that this SIGNI attacked, if you have a Blue LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this SIGNI. You can only use this effect once per turn.
> 
>  **Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 2 Yellow  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Legion] “Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card, and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 11.)  
> [Action] Pay 2 Yellow cards with “Brawler” in their card names and [Exceed] 1: Activate only if this LRIG is in [Legion]. Until end of turn, the order of the SIGNI and LRIG attack steps are swapped and this LRIG gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] If this LRIG would attack an LRIG this turn, it battles all of your opponent’s SIGNI in one attack instead” until end of turn.
> 
>  **Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 3 Yellow  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Legion] “Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card, and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 5 and its Limit becomes 12.)  
> [Action] Pay 1 Yellow with “Brawler” in its card name and choose a card from your LRIG deck with “Big Bang Knuckle” in its card name and stack it beneath this LRIG: Activate only if this LRIG is in [Legion]. Until end of turn, the order of the SIGNI and LRIG attack steps are swapped and this LRIG gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] If this LRIG would attack an LRIG this turn, it battles all of your opponent’s SIGNI and their LRIG in one attack instead” until end of turn.  
> [Constant] If you have a card named “Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon” beneath this LRIG, all your Yellow SIGNI gain 2000 power.
> 
>  **Hardship Brawler, Toshu**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: Narukami Only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Big Bang Knuckle” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 2000 power until end of turn.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] During your turn, when you LRIG’s attack hits a SIGNI and/or LRIG whilst that same LRIG has “Big Bang Knuckle” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power for each successful hit until end of turn.
> 
>  **Brawler, Wildfist Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: Narukami Only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Brawler” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Armed Brawler, Kohiko**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Yellow: When this SIGNI attacks, you may pay the cost to have this SIGNI gains 3000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Rulings for Big Bang Knuckle series and LRIGs with similar abilities**  
>  *The effect that allows them to attack multiple targets at once in one attack does not prevent your opponent from guarding for multiple individual targets of their choice. Each card they use can only guard/defend for one target.  
> *If a Guard Restriction effect from a card effect like the Red ARTS 'One Rule, Two Birds' is used on Big Bang Knuckle Dragon/Buster when it attacks multiple targets, the cards the opponent cannot guard with cannot be used to defend any SIGNI.


	20. Arc 2 - Ride 20: That Playful Shadow

**City Library**

Ren laid back on one of the chairs that was seated beside a small table in the library garden, curious about his current scenario, but mostly dozing off. It appeared to him after the incident with the teleporter back in his own world, he had landed in several bushes and ended up falling asleep for the entire night. When he woke up late into the morning, before deciding to find out where he was exactly, he took out his Shadow Paladin deck, surprised to find it had changed to adapt to the Wixoss card game. After a short while, he entered the library building itself and asked as to where he was. Much to his relief, he did get the answer he wanted whilst keeping quiet about the fact that he had slept in the garden without realizing at first to avoid any trouble with the staff there.

Eventually, he went back outside to look through the rest of his deck, seeing what other changes were present there whilst also gazing at some of the ARTS and Spells that he had now obtained from arriving in this world. Ren's interest was glanced at one unit in particular, having changed into an LRIG card, evidenced by the white backing it now possessed. As he thought about the possibility of the fact that this was the other world that he had made it to, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice from nearby, coming closer towards the garden. When he looked to the side, he could see Hitoe enter the library garden, taking a seat at an unoccupied table just a few feet away from him. He also could hear her conversing with the voice that he heard just now, unbeknowst to him was Yuzuki.

"Yeah, I'm just as surprised myself," the former Selector murmured "Who'd thought the novels that Fumio wanted us to look in would be the same ones she wrote."

"You're right about that," said Hitoe "But I can't help but wonder why did she want us along with Kai to look into her own books?"

"Well, I'm sure she's trying to get across some meaning to us before we see her again," replied Yuzuki "Even so, I just hope he's alright after what happened then."

"So you've met Kai if I'm not mistaken."

Both Hitoe and Yuzuki turned their heads to find Ren sitting on the table beside their own, with a playful but otherwise harmless kind smile towards them. As Hitoe nervously waved hello back to him, Yuzuki couldn't help but ponder on what he had just said.

"Is he even referring to the same Kai?" she murmured to herself, unaware that she had just caught the cardfighter's attention towards her.

"Oh, so you were the voice I heard just now," he spoke with interest before looking over to the card that Hitoe was holding. The Selector turned it around to reveal Yuzuki to Ren.

"So you can see me? What's your name?" she asked.

"But of course," Ren replied cheerfully "I'm Suzugamori Ren."

"Wait a sec..." murmured Yuzuki, having realized that something had clicked in her head. "You don't mean the same Suzugamori Ren from Kai's world?!"

"If you mean Kai Toshiki, then I suppose so," he answered.

"It's nice to meet you, Ren," said Hitoe "My name's Hitoe, this is Yuzuki."

"Well then," he spoke "I suppose Aichi has nothing to worry about, if only I could find where he ended up." Both Hitoe and Yuzuki could only gasp out from realizing what this had meant.

"We need to let Kai know about this!" called Yuzuki "If Aichi's deck has changed like his, there's no telling what could happen to him!" Hitoe didn't need to be told twice, for she had already dug into her bag and pulled out her mobile, wanting to tell Kai herself of the news of both Aichi and Ren now being in this world. Speaking of whom, Ren could only look in confusion, unaware of the circumstances involving the two cardfighters and Naoki having prior knowledge about the Selector Battles and what they held.

* * *

**City Streets**

As they walked through the streets towards the library, Aichi and Naoki followed Kai's lead, each of the three cardfighters having different thoughts on their mind. Earlier on their trek, Kai had mostly brought them up to speed on what had been happening in this world, from his arrival to meeting Tama, Yuzuki, Hitoe and other familiar faces among the Selector Battles leading up to his eventual confrontation with Ruko. He had felt tight lipped whilst getting around to what had happened, not feeling ready to explain everything just yet. Aichi had noticed this and could only worry for his friend, wondering if something from the Selector Battles had caused him to be like this, but that wasn't the only concern on his mind. He couldn't help but think about Ruko who he had met earlier, wondering over her choice to go into isolation away from both her friends and family on her own accord.

In addition, he could only wonder about what Hanayo had told him and Naoki about the Selector Battles as well as a brief mention of who Mayu was, curious as to why the mastermind would go as far sealing what could be seen as innocent Wixoss players inside cards so the person who previously inhabited those cards would carry out their wish as their own, or so it would seem. Either way, he couldn't help but ponder on why Kai along with himself and Naoki was now involved in all this, considering he didn't exactly have a wish of his own, nor would he even consider going out of the way to taint another Selector's wish just to win a simple battle. If only it was all that simple. He looked over to Tama in her card, having felt sorry for the LRIG and her own problem to try and mend her friendship with Ruko after breaking their trust back then. She looked up at Aichi, not exactly as upbeat as she usually was.

"Don't worry," he said kindly "I'm sure we can help you to reconcile with Ruko."

"T... Tama says thank you," she replied.

Naoki meanwhile was thinking back to the battle with Akira, he himself curious as to how he was now a whole part of the 'mess' that now stood before him and the others. He never would have thought to have desired Shingo's criticisms over hearing Milulun's annoying tone at times during his previous battle. In addition, there was just something about Akira that was bugging him for the moment and it wasn't her seemingly 'split' personality. She kept mentioning a name, Ulith to be precise, about how she intended to eliminate him, Aichi, Ren and Leon before eventually dealing with Kai herself so they would be of no threat to the Selector in servitude to Mayu, unbeknowst to everyone. Either way, he knew it wasn't like him to not back out of a fight but from the sound of things, the Selector Battles might end up being one of those times. Like Aichi, he certainly didn't want to hurt anyone involved and was hoping to do something about it. Everyone stopped as Kai picked out the phone from his pocket, noticing that Hitoe was now calling him.

"Hello," he spoke.

"Kai!" called Hitoe "I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'm sitting with Ren, one of the cardfighters from your world."

"Ren is with you?" he asked.

"That's right," she replied "And he says Aichi should be somewhere in our world."

"He is correct," Kai answered "I'm not too far from the library now. Aichi and Ishida are with me."

"Phew," murmured Yuzuki "I was worried for a moment that he would have been caught unaware in a Selector Battle. Anyway, we'll be waiting for you down at the library and I think you'll be interested to know who wrote those Wixoss novels we were going to look at."

"I understand," he spoke "I'll meet you there." After ending the call, he turned over to Aichi and Naoki.

"Well, at least that leaves him accounted for," murmured Naoki.

"But what should we do about Leon?" asked Aichi.

"I don't know," answered Kai "But we should focus on meeting up with Ren and Hitoe as soon as possible. We'll then start looking for Leon afterwards."

The two cardfighters nodded in agreement with him before venturing forth once more into the streets, heading towards their destination in mind. Over from across the road from where they were standing just a moment ago, a girl had been watching out of interest from the LRIG that she held. Her brown hair was styled in a right side-ponytail. Her clothes preference seemed to be more loose and casual as she wore what appeared to be an oversized sweater along with a t-shirt, hoodie and shorts, all of which were also oversized. She glanced back down at the LRIG, now revealed to be Piruluk who had gone deep into thought after briefly watching and overhearing Kai's conversation with Aichi and Naoki.

"So you're saying, that boy is in the Selector Battles?" the Selector asked.

"That is correct, Amika," the LRIG replied "Kai Toshiki from what I recall, from our last encounter."

Last encounter was an accurate description to sum up the events leading to his battle against her and Akira, also leading to the Selector's third loss from before due to a costly misplay. Even so, ever since that 'incident', Piruluk had usually remained cold to anyone who would even dare attempt to speak to her. Amika though, something seemed different about her compared to Akira or any other Selectors that had previously possessed her. And then there was Kai's Dragonic Overlord, one of the only few things that somewhat surprised her. She didn't exactly lose her cool or anything along those lines the first time she saw it, though she was still intrigued of how Kai was even able to particpate in the Selector Battles and call upon his Kagero units as LRIGs.

"So, do you want to follow him?" asked Amika.

"If you have intent on challenging him," Piruluk answered "Then you're not ready to face him."

"Okay then, I got it!" the Selector cheerily replied "All the more reason for me to improve my skills since that loss to Chiyori, right Piruluk?"

Piruluk could only smile warmly in response, something that was very rare around the LRIG. Amika seemed harmless enough and yet for some reason, felt so familiar. Her thoughts returned to their once neutral state when she remembered back over that comparison to someone she once knew well. Far too well to be precise. And yet, she felt on edge because of the mere mention of that person's name from Mayu, the strange person with the black rings she encountered once or twice in her domain and finally, 'her'. Someone she should have known better to not trust, the mere thought of mentioning her name filled the LRIG with rage. Amika noticed this and looked towards Piruluk in concern.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It's nothing," the LRIG replied, though she felt covering it up was not a wise thing to do. "We should take our leave."

"Alright!" cheered Amika before she too went off into the streets, albeit in the opposite direction from where Kai, Aichi and Naoki were heading.

* * *

**Library Garden**

Ren blinked at Hitoe and Yuzuki, still confused about the earlier commotion and slight panic from him mentioning about the fact that Aichi was now in this world. Thankfully from what he heard over the call, he had already managed to find both Kai and Naoki which just left Leon unaccounted for. Nonetheless though, he felt as if he was being left in the dark of what had been going on, keen for Hitoe to hopefully shed some light on the story so far. Yuzuki noticed this and motioned for the Selector to turn around and face him.

"So you can talk to your cards too?" he murmured "You wouldn't happen to have PSY Qualia yourself."

"Eh... no," Hitoe replied whilst scratching her head "I can only hear and talk to Yuzuki or LRIGs like her." Even she didn't know how her status as a Selector allowed her to hear the voices of LRIGs, though she had definitely been sure that it wasn't PSY Qualia as Kai once mentioned before.

"Oh," Ren sighed "Well that's disappointing." He pouted for a moment, earning a confused look from both the Selector and Yuzuki. Soon afterwards, he decided to search through his pocket and bring out the Shadow Paladin deck he had, remembering seeing the term LRIG imprinted on a select few of his cards. He then turned his attention back over towards the pair. Ren pulled out an LRIG card and laid it out on the table towards Hitoe and Yuzuki who looked at it with interest. The unit, Blaster Dark Revenger, had an almost indentical look to Aichi's avatar, Blaster Blade. However, the armour that Blaster Dark wore was black, his sword also in the same colour had a different design and he wore a dark red cape flowing behind his back.

"Now that you do mention LRIG though," he said "I was wondering if you could explain what this whole Wixoss thing is all about?"

"It's a very long story," answered Yuzuki "But we're more than happy to let you in on what's already happened."

"Sure," he replied "I'm all ears."

Hitoe and Yuzuki then went on to explain everything that had happened in the Selector Battles so far to Ren as well as giving a brief introduction to Ruko, like they did when they first ran into Kai. Afterwards, they brought him up to speed with everything that had happened since the Kagero user's arrival into this world including all the battles he particpated in, up to his confrontation with Ruko and Iona. Ren suddenly felt a little on edge when Yuzuki mentioned that Kai had briefly been consumed by Link Joker, unbeknowst to them was because of Iona's attacks resonating with both Dragonic Overlord and the seed fragment embedded in him. He had a feeling that Aichi would not take this news well after everything that had happened back then.

"So you're saying Kai was briefly reversed in his last battle?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not sure how to put it," murmured Yuzuki "He said that when he once used Link Joker before, it was under his own will. Whilst we were watching, before he brought out Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-Birth", it seemed like he was in pain somehow."

"And by the end of it all, even though Tama managed to snap him out of it," said Hitoe "He didn't seem to take what had happened well."

"I see now," Ren spoke before taking Blaster Dark Revenger and putting it back among the other cards in the deck. "Say, maybe I can learn all about how the battles work from you two, right?"

"Well, if it would help you get used to the changes in your cards," replied Yuzuki "I suppose we could teach you rules."

"Good, then let us begin," he said before bringing up the back of Blaster Dark Revenger's card towards Hitoe who was surprised by the sudden action.

"W... Wait a minute!" she called.

"Huh?" Ren blinked in confusion, wondering what the hold up was.

"Do you really want to taint Hitoe's wish already?!" snapped Yuzuki.

"Eh, but didn't you say you two would teach me the rules of the battle?" he asked, seemingly confused by his action, an action he picked up from Yuzuki's explanation of how to open the Selector Battlefield.

"What I meant to say was we would battle without the field so Hitoe's wish wouldn't be put at risk!" the LRIG replied.

"Oh, I see," said Ren "Then why didn't you say it earlier?"

"Um..." mumured Hitoe "I don't mean to be rude Yuzuki, but Ren does have a point." Upon realizing this, Yuzuki could only mentally facepalm for forgetting to tell Ren of an important detail during their long explanation.

"Anyway, that little setback aside," she spoke "Let's continue. Ren, if you would seperate your LRIGs and ARTS from your main deck."

"I understand," he said "And I'm guessing I shuffle the main deck afterwards?"

"Y... yes," answered Hitoe "Then you draw 5 cards and place the top 7 cards face down without looking at them."

"After that," Yuzuki continued "Choose a Level 0 LRIG to begin the battle with."

Ren nodded as he set down his starting LRIG, one that he was already familiar with as a Grade 0 unit back in his home world and the game of Vanguard. Hitoe who had already prepared herself to begin the battle glanced over to Yuzuki, awaiting the LRIG's approval to begin. She nodded and glanced over to Ren.

"Now that you're both ready," she spoke "Declare "Open!" and turn up your Level 0 LRIGs." Both Hitoe and Ren reached out for the starting LRIGs that had on both ends of their fields.

"Open!" called Hitoe.

"Stand Up, the Vanguard!" Ren declared.

Yuzuki could only blink in confusion for a moment, though she quickly assumed that it was a phrase more common in Vanguard that Ren was more acquainted with. Then again, Kai had mentioned before that the flow to both games were similar so it shouldn't have really come across as much of a surprise.

"Yuzuki-Zero!"

"Judgebau Revenger!"

Ren's starting LRIG depicted a black dog that had a chain dangling down from its collar and was covered in black armour with several blue markings. Judgebau also had blue claws present on its paws and some sort of blue lens covering over its left eye. Yuzuki glanced over at the card, a shudder of uncertainty briefly washing over her when she remembered what Kai had told her after his battle with Ruko. Ren noticed this and looked over towards her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"It's nothing," she replied "It's just, when Kai last faced Ruko, she had a few Shadow Paladin SIGNI in her deck."

"Oh, I see," said Ren whilst shrugging his shoulders. "I guess the dark charm of the Shadow Paladins can bring some unease. Now then, I believe I'll let you start Hitoe."

* * *

**Akira's Apartment**

"Please Ulith! I didn't mean for this to happen!"

Akira was now on the recieving end of the scenario that had come up before her. After her loss to Naoki, she told Ulith all about the details involved in the events from her view. Milulun hummed to herself, ignoring most of the 'conversation' that was already unfolding between the two and partially to ignore the angry tone in Ulith's voice. Needless to say, the former LRIG wasn't pleased with this sudden news, particuarly in the fact that Akira had already went ahead and made her presence now known to Aichi and the other cardfighters that had now entered this world.

"I asked of you to only observe from a distance!" she snarled "Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in those cardfighters being more aware of our presence and the delay of my plans!"

"My intentions were pure, Ulith," Akira whimpered nervously "I only wanted to ensure that one of them would be out of the picture so you wouldn't have to worry about it." As she saw Ulith turn around, she quickly hurried along with the rest of her explanation. "This Ishida character, I've found out he somehow had cards with the yellow colour on their borders!" Ulith stopped in her advance briefly, taking this newfound knowledge into account. The news of there being a colour that hadn't existed in Wixoss before until Naoki's arrival into this world was indeed puzzling, but intriguing. Thinking it over, she assumed that Akira's disobedience hadn't indeed yielded any terrible results aside from Aichi now being more aware of her presence, though the mere thought of the Selector's path to self-destruction had already gotten underway was for some reason most amusing to her, not that she was showing it.

"I... if it makes you feel any better," Akira continued "I already know how to grab Tama off Kai's hands to set your plans back on course!" Ulith leaned down towards the Selector and held out one fingernail, the sharp tip touching her scar. Akira winced in pain a little and nervously looked into Ulith's gaze, hoping this was enough to convince the former LRIG to give her another chance.

"Explain Akira," she spoke with a hint of venom in her voice "Quickly."

* * *

**Outside the City Library**

Eventually after much walking throughout the conundrum of streets in the city, Aichi and Naoki having followed Kai along his lead had now ended up with him outside of the library. Naoki glanced all around the outside of the library, surprised to see something like this stand out from the surrounding tall buildings that seemed more modern. Aichi meanwhile glanced up at Kai, noticing that he seemed a little more tense than usual, wondering about what was causing him to be like this. Kai turned over to him, a serious glint now present in his eyes.

"Kai-kun? Are you alright?" asked Aichi.

"Aichi," he spoke "If I'm to explain about what happened in my last battle with Ruko, we need to disclose the details of what happened to you after the Link Joker invasion to Hitoe and Yuzuki."

"Is it about the Seed fragment?"

Kai nodded his head, confirming Aichi's suspicions. The Royal Paladin user could feel a wave of uneasiness wash over him. He had asked Kai, Miwa, Misaki, Kamui and Naoki along with Leon and Ren who had remained neutral throughout the whole affair to refrain from recapping the events of the incident to anyone who wasn't directly involved. But if Kai's loss to Ruko had something to do with the fragment that was stuck inside of him, he knew it would be better if his accomplices understood everything about it firsthand. This way, he could also understand about why his friend was feeling tense by the minute. Naoki noticed the silence that had now fallen between the three of them and waved to get both Aichi and Kai's attention.

"I don't mean to butt in and all," he said "But shouldn't we be going inside?"

"Yeah," replied Aichi as he headed up to the doors, opening them up. Kai and Naoki followed him inside the library, closing the doors as they entered. The Kagero user led the way to the garden around the back, where he assumed that Hitoe, Yuzuki and Ren would be waiting for him and the others to arrive. Needless to say, his assumption was indeed correct. The three cardfighters entered the garden to find Hitoe and Ren still in the opening stages of their game.

"Yuzuki-Two attacks Charon!"

"No guard."

Ren revealed his crushed Life Cloth to be Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter, no Life Burst being present. He placed the card alongside Freezing Revenger, Nullity Revenger, Masquerade and Transient Revenger, Masquerade that were sitting in his Ener Zone. Meanwhile on Hitoe's field, she had advanced Yuzuki to her second Level and already amassed a decent formation against him, comprised of Flame Edge Dragon, Gatling Claw Dragon and Tokage, Phantom Dragon. Like Ren, she too had already gathered a few cards in her Ener, but one short of his current total.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 3**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 5 : 7**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Two : Black Sage, Charon**

**SIGNI : Flame Edge Dragon - Gatling Claw Dragon - Tokage, Phantom Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 3 : 4**

As Ren was about to begin his turn, he suddenly paused noticing the arrival of Aichi, Kai and Naoki in their presence. He waved over towards them to grab their attention. Hitoe and Yuzuki also turned their attention to the three cardfighters that were now on their way over to the table.

"Ren-san!" called Aichi "Are you alright?"

"It's nothing troublesome, Aichi-kun," he replied as the three cardfighters each took a seat at the table. "We were just getting to the good part of our battle."

"S... so you're Aichi," Hitoe spoke "I'm Hitoe."

"It's nice to meet you," he said before looking over to Yuzuki inside of her card. "And I'm guessing you're Yuzuki? I mean... the real one." Before Yuzuki could greet and properly introduce herself to Aichi, the mention of "the real one" suddenly made something click in her head.

"Have you seen Hanayo?!" she asked.

"Y... Yeah," he answered "She found me last night with Kazuki after I landed unconscious in the city."

"Do you know what's been going on between her and my brother?!"

"Eh?" Aichi blinked in confusion, not quite getting at her next question just now. Everyone glanced over towards Yuzuki, unsure of what to make from her sudden outburst.

"... On second thoughts, forget about what I just said. Just a slip of the tongue, that's all. Eheh," she said whilst scratching her head before letting out a sigh of relief.  _That was way too close._ "Anyway, as you all know now, my name is Yuzuki. Sorry about my outburst just now Aichi."

"Don't worry about it," he replied with a kind smile.

"So you two are involved in this whole mess as well?" asked Naoki.

"Yes," answered Hitoe "Um... Who are you?"

"Ishida Naoki," he answered before looking over the state of the battle that was now paused. His interest was mainly on the SIGNI that Hitoe currently had in play. "Come to think of it, how did you get some Kagero units anyway?"

"I gave her some spare units at the end of our previous battle," spoke Kai.

"Oh, so you two have battled before," said Ren, now intrigued by the scenario. "If I heard correctly from YuzuQ, Hitoe almost defeated you back then?" Yuzuki growled in response to his remark.

"For your information Ren, it's Yuzuki!" she huffed, sighing whilst holding her hand over her head.  _I get he's a really strong cardfighter, but he sounds nearly as obnoxious as Chiyori._

"She is correct," Kai cut in, answering Ren's question.

"Seriously?!" gasped Naoki.

"Amazing..." Aichi was almost at a loss for words when he turned over to face Hitoe. She blushed inwardly a little as she nervously scratched her head.

"W... well, I just think it's a little too much credit..." she said. Everyone then suddenly turned their attention towards Kai when they could hear some yawning coming from his direction. Realizing that it was probably Tama recovering from some rest, Kai took out her card from his pocket and placed it beside Yuzuki's LRIG card. After finishing her yawning, Tama looked all around to see everyone she now recognized before noticing Ren who had now taken interest in her.

"Kai, how exactly did you get this one?" he asked.

"Her name is Tama," Kai answered "I found her shortly after arriving in this world." He then down at Tama. "Tama, this is Ren that I had mentioned to you earlier."

"Tama says hello Ren!" she called. Ren smiled happily. This LRIG seemed harmless enough if even Kai had managed to put up with having her around him during his entire stay so far in this world.

"Well, now that introductions are out of the way," he spoke "I believe we can continue the battle?"

"R... Right!" answered Hitoe "It's your turn Ren." He nodded to comply with her answer before drawing into another two cards from his main deck. After moving Freezing Revenger from his Ener Zone to his trash, he took out an all too familiar LRIG card from the LRIG Deck and held it out before him.

"Enshroud everything in darkness... The eternal darkness that even the light of hope cannot reach! My Avatar!"

As he spoke the ride chant, a glowing red aura suddenly appeared around him making the atmosphere around everyone, including Yuzuki and Tama, feel slightly on edge. It wasn't the same aura as shown by those either in or under the possession of Link Joker, but even the cardfighters present along with Yuzuki could tell that this was a sign that Ren was starting to become serious from here on out for the battle. After placing the LRIG card over Charon's card, on the imagined battlefield, the Black Sage vanished as a column of dark energy erupted into the air before revealing Ren's avatar in the presence of Yuzuki.

"Blaster Dark Revenger!"

As the column dispersed, Blaster Dark opened his green eyes, staring fiercely and pointing his sword at her.

"Counterblast! I send Flame Edge Dragon to your Trash Pile!"

Blaster Dark vanished into the shadows in a dark purplish aura, catching Yuzuki by surprise. Before she could react, the Shadow Paladin had already reappeared behind Flame Edge Dragon and with a slash of his sword, the dragon fell to the ground before vanishing from the battlefield. Blaster Dark then disappeared once more before reappearing on Ren's side of the field. Back to reality, after placing Flame Edge's card in her Trash Pile, Hitoe glanced back over the cards her hand before looking back at Ren who didn't seem to be stopping there.

"Summon!" he called as he placed down several more cards into his SIGNI zones. Those units were Transient Revenger, Masquerade, Nullity Revenger, Masquerade and Healing Revenger.

"Now then, are you sure there's no ARTS you wish to use?" he asked.

"N... no," answered Hitoe.

"Good," Ren replied whilst shifting his voice back to his more laid back tone. "Both Masquerades will attack your SIGNI. Due to their effects, they both gain 3000 power."

**Transient Revenger, Masquerade: 2000 - 5000**

**Nullity Revenger, Masquerade: 6000 - 9000**

Hitoe could do nothing more than move the defeated SIGNI over to her Ener Zone.

"Healing Revenger attacks!"

Hitoe's next Life Cloth revealed Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon. The black section of the card's text box indicated that a Life Burst had gone off.

"W... With the effect," she spoke "I search for Berserk Dragon and add it to my hand." Ren's lips pursed a devious smile as he turned his attention to Blaster Dark Revenger's card.

"Then my avatar will attack!" he called as he downed the card "Blaster Dark Revenger!"

"Guard!" Hitoe called as she revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri in her hand.

On the imagined battlefield, Blaster Dark charged towards Yuzuki when the Wyvern Guard suddenly appeared in front of him. He quickly slashed his way past the mechnical Wyvern and the knight that acted as its rider before bringing his sword down upon the LRIG. Yuzuki quickly held out one of her cannons to block Blaster Dark's sword whilst keeping the Shadow Paladin at bay through a stalemate. Despite stumbling from the impact of Blaster Dark's sword, having sensed an opportunity, she quickly aimed her other cannon before firing it right at him. The Shadow Paladin saw this and quickly jumped back to his spot on Ren's field before the counterattack could do any damage. Back to reality, Ren merely shrugged as Hitoe placed Barri's card in her Trash Pile.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 4**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 5 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Two : Blaster Dark Revenger**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Nullity Revenger, Masquerade - Transient Revenger, Masquerade - Healing Revenger**

**Ener - 6 : 3**

_4 to 5..._  Aichi thought  _Ren-san's gradually breaking through Hitoe's line-ups. But both seem to be conserving the cards in their hands for the moment. I don't think either of them have Ener Charged within the first four turns._ Naoki and Yuzuki watched on anxiously, curious as to how Hitoe was plannng to handle the current situation whilst Kai looked on at Ren, taking note that the Shadow Paladin user had not seemingly changed a bit from their last encounter.

"Blaster Dark..." murmured Yuzuki "So this is pure Shadow Paladin."

As Hitoe began her turn, she shuddered a little from glancing over towards Blaster Dark Revenger, as if the eyes depicted in the card's artwork were glaring at her. The fact that she too could feel the aura eminating from the card much like Yuzuki and Tama's LRIG cards didn't exactly help brighten the mood. Aichi noticed this and looked over towards her in concern.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I... I'm fine," she answered "No need to worry." Yuzuki wasn't so sure, but said nothing to comply with her answer. Tama meanwhile was more interested in Blaster Dark, curious as to who the unit was actually like in person. Maybe if Ren had found an already in progress Selector Battle, she could have found out but felt that could be saved for another time, given the pressing issues at hand. She then turned her attention back to the battle to see how it would continue to play out.

"Grow, Yuzuki-Three!" Hitoe called "And... I'll use Roaring Fire Pillar to banish Transient Revenger!"

Ren just shrugged as he moved Transient Revenger, Masquerade's card over to his Ener Zone.

"Then... I summon Berserk Dragon and Gatling Claw Dragon," she continued "I pay their costs to remove your remaining SIGNI."

"Oh," he mused "Now this is getting interesting." He moved Masquerade to his Ener Zone and then placed Healing Revenger's card in his Trash Pile. Hitoe then summoned another copy of Tokage, Phantom Dragon and Kannya, Phantom Dragon in Gatling Claw Dragon's place.

"A... Are there any ARTS you want to use... Ren?" asked Hitoe.

"Hmm..." Ren kept on pondering for a few moments, leading the others to wonder if he was planning on making a decision any time soon for this battle. Needless to say, before Yuzuki lost her patience with him, he finally had a response.

"Moment Punish!" he called after revealing the card from his LRIG deck "I drain Berserk Dragon by 7000 power. Since it will have minus 2000 power, it is banished."

On the imagined battlefield, a dark cloud engulfed Berserk Dragon before several purple sparks began surging through it. When the surge was finished, the cloud disappated, revealing that Berserk Dragon was indeed banished from the battlefield. Annoyed, Tokage and Kannya charged in towards Blaster Dark, leaping into the air and each landing a clean hard kick on the Shadow Paladin, knocking him backwards before leaping back to join Yuzuki on her side of the field. Back to reality, Ren flipped over his first Life Cloth revealing Labyrinth Revenger, Arawn and Healing Revenger.

"Not bad," he spoke "I regain one Life Cloth."

"Then Yuzuki will attack Blaster Dark!" Hitoe called.

"Guard!" Ren responded as he revealed Dark Revenger, Mac Lir from his hand before placing it straight into his Trash Pile.

"T... Turn end."

**End of Turn 5**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 2 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Three : Blaster Dark Revenger**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - Tokage, Phantom Dragon - Kannya, Phantom Dragon** **:** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 4**

"She only managed to tie it up," murmured Naoki "Ren isn't making this easy for her."

"Even so," Kai murmured "Hitoe has barely had any experience with the Kagero units I lent her, so some practice will still be needed."

"Battle!" Tama called out loud, much to everyone's apparent confusion, considering what the cardfighter and Selector had already been doing for the past few minutes. Ren glanced back towards Hitoe before beginning his turn.

"That was good, Hitoe," he spoke "I can sense that you have a strong conviction, given the circumstances you told me of. But..." As he drew his cards, the red aura that was already present around him intensified. "I'm still sensing a great deal of doubt from you."

"Huh?"

"What are you saying?!" asked Yuzuki.

"After all," Ren continued "Isn't your own doubts about the scenario at hand already undermining your performance? Or is it something else, like a hidden fear? Perhaps this next attack will answer that."

After placing another copy of Healing Revenger in his Ener Zone before moving it and the previous Healing Revenger's card to his Trash, he picked out one card from his LRIG deck and held it out before him.

"Swoop down from beyond illusion, cruel blade! Transient dreams! Grow!"

On the imagined battlefield, Blaster Dark Revenger vanished as a cloud of black fog suddenly covered Ren's side of the field, enshrouding even his own SIGNI in the darkness. A pair of eyes shone through the shadows before the fog started to disappear.

"Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom!"

When the fog had vanished, an elf clad in black armour, littered with a few blue gems, bearing a large tattered red cape and wielding a large sword had ridden onto the battlefield on top of a dark bluish pegasus. Mordred also wore a black helmet with small wings present, resembling that of what he once was and what he would soon become. Labyrinth Revenger, Arawn and Freezing Revenger then appeared to the front and the right of him. Back to reality, Ren smiled as he held out a single card from his hand.

"And..."

He then turned the card over, revealing it to everyone present at the table.

"A... A SIGNI Blaster Dark?!" gasped Hitoe.

"But we just saw him as the previous LRIG!" exclaimed Yuzuki "How is this even possible?!"

"Without Blaster Dark," replied Ren "Regardless of whether he's normal, Spirit, Revenger or even "Abyss" as we now see, I have no image worth following for my Shadow Paladins. Summon." The card had depicted Blaster Dark Revenger in his usual attire, nothing too different from the previous Blaster Dark. The only noticable difference would be the fact that his red cloak was now tattered and the card border had half of the Legion Symbol present.

"With his skill," Ren continued "Tokage moves to your Trash!" Hitoe said nothing as she moved the card there. Ren then turned his attention to Arawn's card.

"Arawn attacks Kannya!" Hitoe could do nothing more than move Kannya's card to her Ener Zone.

"Next! Freezing Revenger, Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss"!"

"Quintet Wall for Freezing Revenger!" Hitoe moved Tokage's card from her Ener Zone and revealed Dragon Knight, Gimel from her hand and placed it down in front of Yuzuki-Three before revealing the top five cards of her deck. Those cards were Flame Edge Dragon, Explosive Flames of the Dragon Phoenix, Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess, Dual Axe Archdragon and Encompassing Knowledge. She moved the SIGNI to her Ener Zone whilst placing Gimel's card along with the two Spells in her Trash Pile.

 _Not bad..._ thought Ren  _But..._

Briefly on the imagined battlefield, Blaster Dark slashed past Yuzuki, causing her to fall to the ground, clutching herself in agony as the Shadow Paladin vanished and reappeared back onto Ren's field. Hitoe then flipped over one her Life Cloths as a result of Blaster Dark's successful attack. It revealed her third Gatling Claw Dragon. She drew one card from the effect of the Life Burst.

"Mordred Phantom!"

"Guard!" Hitoe revealed Servant D2 before placing it in her Trash Pile. Ren just shrugged, signalling the end of his turn.

**End of Turn 6**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 1 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Three : Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Labyrinth Revenger, Arawn** **\- Freezing Revenger - Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss"**

**Ener - 5 : 1**

"They've been keeping it close," murmured Aichi "But Hitoe-san's starting to run low on her hand."

"I just hope she can hold up for longer," replied Yuzuki, she too also be concerned about the situation. Naoki, Tama and Kai remained silent, wondering how the Selector intended to come back from the scenario she now found herself in.

"Well then," Ren spoke "Show me how you came close to overcoming Kai so I can see that potential myself!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Judgebau Revenger**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 0 Black  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Shadow Paladin  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Black and move this card from beneath your LRIG to your LRIG Trash: When your LRIG’s attack hits, if that LRIG has “Phantom” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to 2 Level 1 Black SIGNI and summon them as [Down].
> 
>  **Black Sage, Charon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 0 Black  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Shadow Paladin
> 
>  **Blaster Dark Revenger**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 1 Black  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Shadow Paladin  
> [On-Play] Pay 2 Black: When this LRIG is placed on the LRIG Zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI and send it to their Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 2  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Shadow Paladin  
> Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): Pay 1 Black: When your Shadow Paladin LRIG grows from this LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Black SIGNI that is Level 2 or lower, summon it and that SIGNI gains 5000 power until end of turn. If the LRIG that grows from this card is not Level 4 when this effect activates, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack).
> 
>  **Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Shadow Paladin LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Black: Search your deck for up to 1 Level 1 Black SIGNI with “Revenger” in its card name that has a Life Burst and Summon it as [Down]. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Transient Revenger, Masquerade**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Shadow Paladin LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Revenger” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Nullity Revenger, Masquerade**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Shadow Paladin LRIGS only  
> Power: 6000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Revenger” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Blaster Dark Revenger “Abyss”**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Shadow Paladin LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Black: If your LRIG has “Revenger” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Level 1 SIGNI card from one of your opponent’s SIGNI Zones or their Ener Zone and send it to their trash.
> 
>  **Labyrinth Revenger, Arawn**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 10000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Black: When this SIGNI attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there we go! Here's to hope that the second arc has gotten off to a good start and hopefully, the quality dip you've seen since the first four chapters will come to an end midway through the next batch of chapters very soon! Until then, continue to leave your thoughts and criticisms and I'll see you next time!


	21. Arc 2 - Ride 21: The Shadow of Doubt

**Library Garden**

"U... Up and draw."

Hitoe glanced over the two cards that she drew before looking back at her Ener. Ren had already forced her into a corner with the lack of resources from early on and with 3 Life Cloths left, she knew if she didn't do something this turn, his Shadow Paladins would have her beaten. She briefly looked over at Yuzuki, then Aichi before going deep into thought. When several moments had passed over, she had made a decision.

"I'll use the Spell Swift Advance," Hitoe spoke "And Superior Grow Yuzuki Four Armament!"

On the imagined battlefield, Yuzuki's form completely changed to that of her Armament appearance. Her fiery purple wings were now present behind her back as she hovered a few meters from the ground.

"Then..." Hitoe continued "I summon 2 Calamity Tower Wyverns and use their effects to draw another two cards." After exceeding all the cards that were beneath Yuzuki Four Armament, she drew the cards and looked over them, a waver of relief came over her expression. Yuzuki, Kai and Aichi glanced carefully towards her, wondering how things would turn out.

"I summon Lintwurm." After placing the card in her only empty SIGNI space, Ren glanced over Hitoe's field, now catching on to what she was planning.

"Oh, I see," he murmured "With both Lintwurm and Yuzuki's abilities, you've powered up your SIGNI enough to wipe out my formation. Not bad at all."

**Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon: 7000 - 9000**

**Calamity Tower Wyvern x2: 2000 - 4000 - 6000**

"Next, I'll pay the cost for One Rule, Two Birds to give Yuzuki Double Crush," she continued "And... I'll use her ability to crush one of your Life Cloths!"

"I see..." murmured Ren as flipped up his Life Cloth revealing another copy of Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss". No Life Burst was present though.  _Of course, I have my own tricks too._

"I... I'll start by attacking your SIGNI!" Hitoe called. Ren just shrugged as he moved the SIGNI on his side of the field to his Ener Zone. She then turned her attention to Yuzuki's LRIG card before downing it.

"Y... Yuzuki attacks Mordred!"

On the imagined battlefield, Yuzuki dashed across the plain towards Mordred Phantom with a purple fireball clutched in her right hand. Mordred shook the reins of his pegasus and charged towards the oncoming LRIG. As the two charged closer towards each other, the Elf raised his sword before bringing it down upon the LRIG. The timing was perfect for her. With a carefully timed jump and a boost from her fiery wings, she leaped into the air, albeit backwards, before hurling the fireball she had held right at the Shadow Paladin. Back to reality, Ren's next Life Cloths revealed Servant D and Inhaling Hole.

"I got double Life Burst," he spoke "I Ener Charge and decrease Lintwurm's power by 10000." Hitoe almost panicked for a moment, realizing that Lintwurm had been banished due to having less than 11000 power to survive the effect. She moved the banished SIGNI to her Ener Zone.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 1 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki Four Armament: Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom**

**SIGNI : Calamity Tower Wyvern - Calamity Tower Wyvern - EMPTY** **: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 8**

"Those Calamity Tower Wyverns did help her a little," murmured Yuzuki "But she lost out Lintwurm thanks to that Life Burst of his."

"In addition," Kai spoke "He still has 4 cards in his hand and at this point, Mordred's true abilities are about to come into play." Aichi and Naoki said nothing, they too already aware of what was to come in Ren's favor on the upcoming turn. Speaking of whom, the Shadow Paladin user drew his cards and glanced back towards Hitoe who was still feeling anxious of how things were going to turn out.

"Not bad at all," he spoke as he placed Freezing Revenger's card from his hand to his Ener Zone. "But I think I understand about your anxiety that I've noticed throughout this entire battle up to now. It's about Ruko, am I right?"

Before Yuzuki could protest to his response, Hitoe nodded her head.

"I... It's true," she answered "I... I wanted to try and talk to her after Kai found out where she was... But... she didn't seem happy with the fact that we had Tama with us."

"I see," he replied "So that was the source of your anxiety. In that case then, I'll return the favor... with this attack!" The red aura from before appeared once again, this time with a much more fierce glow to it.

"Mythical beast that appears from beyond! Confuse her heart and crush her soul! Crossbreak Grow!"

On the imagined battlefield, a dark aura enveloped Mordred Phantom as the pegasus he rode upon vanished into the black clouds that suddenly appeared over the battlefield. From beyond the thick smog, a pair of red eyes gleamed within the darkness as a low growl sounded across the plain.

"Revenger, Dragruler Phantom!"

The black fog suddenly disappeared revealing Mordred in his newly changed form. No longer an elf, now under the name of Dragruler, his features had become that of an Abyss Dragon. Most of the armour he had as Mordred was still there, albeit with some cosmetic modifications, he now had a large tail, a large pair of wings with blue gems embedded along the top end and his head minus the batlike wings, blue gem and white hair present was somewhat reminiscent of that of a certain Abyss Dragon that he was once part of. *****  His sword, mostly unchanged, now had a chain wrapped around and hanging off, carried by his other free hand.

"Mordred Phantom's Break Grow ability!" Ren called "Since I grew a Shadow Paladin from him whilst I have 3 or fewer Life Cloths, I pay 1 to choose a Level 2 or lower Black SIGNI from my deck and summon it." He fanned out the cards in his main deck until he picked out a certain SIGNI and placed it onto the left SIGNI space.

"B... Blaster Dark again?!" gasped Tama.

"How many does he even have?!" Yuzuki chimed in.

"Blaster Dark gains 5000 from Mordred," Ren continued "And I'll pay the cost to remove the Calamity Tower Wyvern on your right!" Hitoe said nothing as she moved the SIGNI to her Trash Pile.

"Summon! Wily Revenger, Mana!" he called "With her skill, I Superior Call Quesal from my deck!"

"He already refilled his SIGNI spaces with little effort," murmured Yuzuki.

"That's not all," Kai replied. The LRIG along with Tama looked over to Kai, confused for a moment before turning their attention back to the battle at hand. Ren's smile had not left his expression at all, hinting that he was far from done.

"Tell me Yuzuki," he spoke "Did you think your Armament form made you the only LRIG capable of dealing direct damage?" The LRIG said nothing, having already realized what he had just meant. "Dragruler Phantom's Limit Break! I pay 1 and send two of my Revenger SIGNI to my Trash Pile. One of my opponent's Life Cloths are crushed!"

As Hitoe gasped, on the imagined battlefield, Dragruler vanished into thin air as it charged towards Yuzuki, leaving the LRIG mesmerized for a brief moment. He then suddenly reappeared behind her and brought down his blade on top of her from behind, knocking her to her knees. Back to reality, Aichi glanced towards Hitoe who moved her hand towards one of her Life Cloths.

"This is Dragruler Phantom's power," he spoke "Mirage Strike."

"Mirage Strike..." Tama murmured. Hitoe then flipped over her next Life Cloth revealing Berserk Dragon. No Life Burst was present. Yuzuki herself could only groan that things were not looking in the Selector's favor.

"I summon another Mana and use her ability again!" Ren continued as he summoned another Quesal right from the deck. "Then, one more, Mirage Strike!"

Hitoe nervously picked up her next Life Cloth, her eyes closed as she felt anxious to reveal what Ren had knocked out of the running from her dwindling lifeline. When she opened her eyes, a waver of relief became present. The card that Ren had crushed with Dragruler was Dragon Dancer, Barbara, with perfect timing.

"With the Life Burst," she said "I... I recover one Life Cloth!" Ren could only pout for a brief moment that his second attempt hadn't gone down as well as the first. He glanced back over his hand and the cards that he still had in his Ener Zone.  _I could of course use Mirage Strike for a third time and see what else she may be hiding. But... what fun would that be?_ He then placed down two copies of Lilith, Recurring Nightmare onto the two remaining SIGNI spaces that were empty on his side of the field, to the right of Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss".

"Let's go, Hitoe," he spoke "My SIGNI attack!"

Hitoe didn't reply back as she moved her other Calamity Tower Wyvern to her Ener Zone before flipping up her last two Life Cloths revealing another copy of Lintwurm and Flame Edge Dragon.

"W... With Lintwurm's effect," she said "I search my deck and put Orochi, Phantom Dragon into my hand!"

"Dragruler Phantom!" called Ren.

"B... Barri guards!" Hitoe responded before placing the card in her Trash Pile. Yuzuki could only sigh in relief that Barri was there to save the Selector's neck at the moment she needed the Wyvern Guard. Ren just shrugged, not fazed by the result.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 8**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 1 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki Four Armament: Revenger, Dragruler Phantom**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" - Lilith, Recurring Nightmare - Lilith, Recurring Nightmare**

**Ener - 5 : 4**

"That was a close call," Aichi murmured  _But Ren-san has only one Life Cloth left and one card in his hand. If Hitoe-san can get two more attacks through though..._

Hitoe begun her turn by drawing her two cards, relieved to see what she had managed to pull. Looking among them along with the copy of Orochi she added to her hand earlier, she took a deep breath and made a decision.

"Summon!" Her SIGNI aside from Orochi were also revealed to be Dragon Knight, Gimel and Dragon Dancer, Barbara. Yuzuki looked closely, wondering what her Selector was planning to do, considering the weaker stats of some of the SIGNI that were summoned.  _Don't tell me... You're planning to..._

"B... By paying 5 Ener," Hitoe spoke "I use the ARTS, See Through the Fire Ambition! With this, since Barbara and Gimel are in front of your Liliths, they gain Assassin for this turn!" Ren suddenly blinked, seemingly caught off guard by this sudden manuver.

"Assassin?" he murmured.

"With this," Yuzuki explained "Normally, the SIGNI that Hitoe was planning to attack with were weaker than your Liliths. However, this power makes it so they attack your LRIG directly instead."

"Seriously?!" gasped Naoki "This means that she doesn't have to worry about the one card in his hand."

"Not unless it's a Quintet Wall," Kai murmured "But as we've seen now, Ren was foolish to waste both of them for Dragruler Phantom's Limit Break." Ren pouted for a moment, seemingly not amused by the Kagero user's comment just now. Aichi said nothing, surprised an ARTS that powerful was in Hitoe's possession.

"Let's go Hitoe!" called Yuzuki "You've got this!" As Hitoe nodded and was about to turn her attention to beginning her attacks, she suddenly saw Ren move 3 of the cards in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile as he revealed a card from his LRIG deck.

"ARTS, Ancient Surprise!" he called. As he revealed the card, Yuzuki could only groan, realizing what this had meant. Aichi meanwhile could only gasp in shock, upon looking at the figure depicted within the card's artwork.

"That's...!"

"With the effect," Ren spoke "Seeing as I have exactly 20 cards in my Trash Pile, all your SIGNI lose 8000 power!"

Hitoe having realized what this meant could only hold her head down in disappointment and move both Gimel and Barbara's cards to her Ener Zone as a result of them from being banished. Whilst everyone could only look on at the battle, the conclusion now seemingly set in stone for Hitoe, Naoki looked to his left and saw that Aichi's expression had not changed a bit since his gasp at the Ancient Surprise ARTS that Ren had just played.

"Eh? What is it Aichi?" he asked. Aichi said nothing for a moment before snapping himself out of his daze and looking over towards Ren.

"Ren-san, can you show me the ARTS again?!" he asked.

"Sure, why not," the Shadow Paladin user shrugged as he handed over the Ancient Surprise card to him.

Aichi glanced closely at the figure depicted within the card's artwork, having now recoginized her completely. The same black clothing and scarf, the blonde hair, the horns above her ears and those same blue eyes. Everyone glanced over towards the Royal Paladin user, unsure as to why he decided to take a look over Ren's ARTS out of the blue. Even Tama was confused as to the sudden pause of the battle for this reason alone. Whilst Naoki and Yuzuki couldn't make any sense from what was going on now, Kai however felt that there was more to Aichi's request than just a temporary time out.

"Is there something about that figure that intrigues you, Aichi?" he spoke.

"Y... Yeah," Aichi answered "Though I'm not exactly sure how to put it."

"Could you at least though cut to the chase?" asked Naoki. Aichi nodded before clearing his throat for a moment.

"You see... whilst I was unconscious from arriving in this world," he explained "I had this strange dream that I met the girl shown in the card's artwork. She seemed just as lost and confused as I was. I gave her my name and asked for hers, but she only seemed to mimic my actions. After that, the dream abruptly ended when I woke up in Kazuki's room." Upon looking closely at the figure depicted within the ARTS, Yuzuki was suddenly able to fit the picture together for the Royal Paladin user.

"You mean to say that you met Umr in your dream?!" she gasped.

"Umr?" Aichi blinked. Naoki scratched his head, not quite getting the full understanding of the scenario before them.

"Oh that's right," Ren cut in "I noticed that name on the card's text flavor."

"Yuzuki, didn't we and Ruko hear that name when I still had Midoriko around?" asked Hitoe.

"That's right," Yuzuki answered "In the actual card game, she's rare enough to almost be considered as one of a kind by some people. And yet, we haven't come across an LRIG that's actually called or looks like Umr."

"I see..." Aichi hung his head in slight disappointment, feeling that his reason for looking into the subject was just a waste of time. Kai however seemed to view things differently.

"I do not disagree with your story," he spoke "However, I wouldn't think that your dream would just be a coincidence if you saw Umr before only knowing her just now because of Ren's ARTS."

"I suppose..." the Royal Paladin user replied. He sighed heavily, having hoped to have gotten a clear answer to the girl, now highly possible to have been someone named Umr.

"Well, now that issue has been resolved," Ren interjected "Shall we continue?" Hitoe said nothing, the outcome of the battle having come closer to being set in stone.

"Yuzuki attacks!" Ren shrugged as he revealed another copy of Inhaling Hole as the final Life Cloth. The Selector then moved Orochi from her field to her Ener Zone, it too having been banished by the card's effect.

"Turn... end..." she murmured.

**End of Turn 9**

**Hitoe vs Ren**

**Hand - 0** **: 1**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki Four Armament: Revenger, Dragruler Phantom**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss" - Lilith, Recurring Nightmare - Lilith, Recurring Nightmare**

**Ener - 3 : 2**

After Ren drew his cards, he glanced over towards Hitoe, he too having already been aware of the result being set in stone. Now there was only one thing left for him to do.

"Final Turn!" he called.

He then turned his attention down to Blaster Dark's card. Hitoe glanced over towards her LRIG deck, realizing that even if she were to use an ARTS now, there was nothing to stop one of Ren's Liliths from finishing the battle.

"Blaster Dark attacks!" he declared as he downed the card.

On the imagined battlefield, Blaster Dark leaped into the air as he charged towards Yuzuki. The LRIG desperately hurled several purple fireballs right at the Shadow Paladins, but he dodged each of them before using his sword to cut through the last one that was aimed dead center at him. He brought down his sword upon Yuzuki, causing the LRIG to clutch in pain before she fell to her knees, the tip of Blaster Dark's sword held over her head. Back to reality, Hitoe looked up towards Ren who seemed more or less pleased with the result. She then looked over to Yuzuki.

"Sorry I couldn't win for you," she said.

"Don't worry about it," the LRIG replied "You tried your best and that's all anyone can ask of you. At least this way, you aren't put in danger of your wish being tainted again."

"I guess," Hitoe murmured "But..." Unable to find the words to say to everyone present, she got up from her seat. "Can you all excuse me for a moment?" Yuzuki though confused nodded to comply with her answer as did everyone else present at the table, except for Tama who had little understanding of the meaning.

"Was it something I said?" Ren pondered, seemingly confused. Everyone else present at the table shrugged and began exchanging conversations with each other of how the events leading up to today had now played out, mainly with Ren giving the news to Yuzuki that Leon had also entered this world along with Naoki giving a recap of his encounter with both Chiyori and Akira. As the talkative atmosphere went on for several more minutes, Yuzuki realized that Hitoe had not returned to the library garden and was starting to worry about her. She turned her attention to Aichi.

"Say, Aichi?"

"What is, Yuzuki-san?" he asked.

"I'm a little worried about Hitoe," she answered "If she is over where I think she is, can you bring me to her? I'm starting to feel concerned."

"I understand," he replied as he got up from his seat and picked up the LRIG card. After talking briefly to Kai about where the two of them were headed, he nodded in reply and allowed them to be on their way. As Aichi entered the library, he held out Yuzuki's card in front of him.

"If I know Hitoe as well as I think," she murmured "She should still be on the ground floor, at the northeast wing of the library."

"Got it," Aichi replied. He continued to his left from where he entered from and eventually after passing several tall bookcases, he found the Selector sitting at a table looking at one of the Wixoss novels she had recieved earlier in the day. Her expression however was not uplifting at all. Aichi walked towards the table and stood beside her.

"H... Hitoe-san, are you alright?" he asked. Hitoe shook her head.

"Then what's bothering you?" Yuzuki asked.

"I... I'm not sure how to put it," Hitoe answered "But... given the way that my battles with Ren and Kai ended..." She then cleared her throat to try and get out her words out more clearly. "I'm starting to wonder..."

"Wonder about what?" Yuzuki pondered.

"Yuzuki... am I really useless?"

"Huh?!"

"What are you saying?" Aichi asked in concern.

"It's just that... I wasn't able to do anything for Midoriko back then," she replied "And now, Ruko is..." Unable to bring herself to finish her sentence, Hitoe could only hold her head down as she began crying, removing her glasses and burying her head within her arms. Aichi could only feel sorry for her, having been told about what happened with Midoriko before from Kai on his way to the library earlier in the day. Yuzuki however could only feel anger seething through her head, remembering full well of what Hanayo had told her and Ruko of the circumstances, when it was already too late. Taking a seat beside the Selector and putting down Yuzuki's card on the table, Aichi gently held one hand over Hitoe's right shoulder.

"Hitoe-san, whatever happened back then wasn't your fault," he said "There's no way you could have already known about what would have happened from your third loss."

"B...But if I'd asked Midoriko sooner..." she sobbed.

"Blaming yourself isn't going to solve anything," Aichi replied "And... I'm sorry to hear about what happened." Hitoe said nothing, eventually bringing her head up and wiping the tears from eyes before putting her glasses back on.

"Right now, let's worry about how we're going to find Ruko and help her out," he continued.

"Y... You're right," Hitoe replied "S... Sorry about now." Yuzuki could only sigh in relief that Aichi was able to calm her Selector down quickly. She was really taken aback by the cardfighter's kindness, having only heard about it from before when Kai gave a recap of his adventures the last time they were at the library. That had also brought up a question that she wanted to ask him.

"Aichi, given what Kai told us about you," she said "I was just curious. How did you manage to move all the way up from being nervous to being a well renowned cardfighter in your own world?"

"To be honest..." Aichi answered "I'm not really sure myself. I guess learning new things about Vanguard and how it brought me closer to my friends allowed me to come out of my shell. To tell you the truth, even I can still be nervous sometimes."

"R... Really?" asked Hitoe.

"Y... yeah," he replied "It's not as awkward as it used to be back when I was still being bullied, though the last time it really got in my way was during Misaki-san's graduation ceremony back when I had to do a speech to the whole of Miyaji Academy." Aichi nervously laughed a little as he scratched his head upon remembering back to that time. Shingo nitpicking at what didn't go down so well during the speech certainly didn't help the mood, but he was quick to shake it off.

"Well, I guess we all have our own flaws," Yuzuki murmured whilst also stifiling a nervous laugh under her breath before clearing her throat. "I was wondering Aichi, if you could maybe at some point help Hitoe become better acquainted with the people around her?"

"I... I'll see what I can do," he answered "And don't worry. We'll do what we can to sort out this problem with Ruko."

"T... Thank you, Aichi," said Hitoe. Aichi smiled warmly, thankful that the Selector was feeling alright after what had happened earlier. He then looked over to the book that he saw her reading earlier.

"Is that a novel?" he asked.

"Yes," Yuzuki answered "A Selector, or rather the author, Futase Fumio who Kai had met earlier, insisted we read through these to find anything of interest before we go and look for her." Before Hitoe could explain more, a familiar voice sounded out from within their vincinity.

"So you already know of her." Aichi and Hitoe turned around to find that standing beside them was Leon.

"L... Leon-san!" gasped Aichi before he quickly hushed down his voice, remembering that he was still within the library. "You're okay!"

"So it seems," he replied "It appears you've already made yourself acqauinted." He then turned his attention to Hitoe and Yuzuki. "And I suppose you're one of these Selectors?"

"Y... Yes," Hitoe answered "My name is Hitoe... My LRIG is Yuzuki."

"So you're Soryu Leon," Yuzuki murmured.

"Leon, how did you find us?" asked Aichi "What happened?"

"The wind led me to your presence," the Aqua Force user replied "As for your second question, I will tell you now of how I got to this point." He then took a seat at the table and began his tale of how he had managed to arrive before Aichi at this point in time now, starting from where he had ended up.

* * *

**Mayu's Domain: Unknown Location**

Deep inside the dark confines of the space that Midoriko had previously attempted to enter, lay the small light at the end of the long tunnel. Beyond it was anything but a glimmer of hope. The large room was far more technologically advanced than the 'White Room' that Mayu resided within, littered with monitors and screens around many different portions of the walls. Several Cyberoids that were in the service of Link Joker worked around the clock, their attendance was towards several consoles in front of a giant cylinder within the center of the room. Photon who stood on the podium above the largest console nearest to the cylinder, consisting of two Neons and a single Selenium, gazed over towards the object, his interest being on what lay inside. His rank above all the other Cyberoids was that of commander, a rank usually reserved for the Cyber Dragons like that of 'The Clown' and certain Cyber Golems, his however being an exception given his former master's ***** untimely demise.

"Selenium, status report," he spoke.

"Currently stable at 60%," the Cyberoid replied "But optimum efficiency has been slow due to a power flux within the subject's brain patterns."

"I assume that is the same 'flux' from before?" Photon asked.

"Correct," one of the Neons answered "Our instruments record a residue of energy interfering with her brain waves, allowing her to gain some form of self-consciousness. We assume from the wavelength that this may have been some leftover PSY Qualia residue."

Photon went deep into thought, thinking over the many possibilities of how progress on their 'little' project had now moved much slower than anticpated was because of this one flux. Then it was the news that is was PSY Qualia residue possibly causing the subject to become a little more self-aware that had shown his displeasure, considering the effort he and his soldiers had to go through to expel the problem the first time it occured and that was when Mayu's struggle with Takuto and Leon had brought the Aqua Force user along with three other cardfighters, including 'him', to this world. Realizing what this could have meant, Photon gazed down towards the other Neon at the console.

"Run an analysis on her thoughts," he spoke.

As the other Cyberoid gave a silent nod, Photon then turned his attention to the door behind him opening, revealing Mayu who stepped inside the lab and joined him.

"How fares 'Project: Locked Soul', Photon?" she asked.

"Slow, but optimum," he replied "My soldiers are running an analysis to the cause behind the disturbance in her brain patterns."

"And this would be?"

"We believe this to be residue from the power called PSY Qualia," Photon explained "We believe given your little 'scuffle' from last night that some of it may be interfering with the subject's brainwaves."

"Commander Photon," spoke Selenium "We've sampled a recording of the subject's thoughts and converted it to audio files."

"Play it on screen," replied Photon. One of the two Neons present at the console pressed a button which caused the monitor to their left to light up. The screen showed what appeared to be an audio wave moving around as the voice that Selenium had converted from their 'subject's' thoughts played out before them. The voice to say the least was female.

"Name... What meaning does it bear on me? Why...? Why do I feel so... empty? Aichi... Just what is Aichi?"

"Sendou..." Mayu muttered under her breath as Selenium ended the recording.  _Do you think I will allow you to become a wrench in my works as easily as Tatsunagi?_ She then turned her attention to Photon.

"I wasn't hoping to delay the project," she murmured "But if her self-awareness goes to the point of Shiro's sense of right and wrong, then she'll end up being a hindrance." The Cyberoid nodded in agreement, he too knowing of what could become of their project if it continued like this. He then turned his attention to all the Cyberoids present in the lab.

"Halt all progress on 'Project: Locked Soul'!" he called "Do not resume until the subject's memories have been rebooted!"

"Yes, Commander Photon!" As the Cyberoids got to work on carrying out Photon's orders, one thing was certain on his mind. He would not allow Aichi to interfere with 'their' mission, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Wily Revenger, Mana**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 4000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Search your deck for up to 1 Level 1 Black SIGNI with “Revenger” in its card name and summon it. It is returned to the bottom of your deck at the end of this turn.


	22. Arc 2 - Ride 22: This Calm Wind Before the Storm

_**Approximately 18 hours ago (Some time after Kai and Ruko's battle) ...** _

**Fumio's Apartment**

Fumio glanced out towards the evening sky through the open curtain in her bedroom. The day that had already played out so far had indeed brought her some intriguing results. She finally decided that today was the time for her and her LRIG, Anne, to approach Kai for answers in regards to recent events concerning his arrival into this world. Needless to say, the Kagero user had indeed provided her with some answers of intrigue whilst also leading to more questions. More notes that she jotted down earlier after returning back to her apartment were stuck on her computer monitor, one of them reading out "Cray" and "Unit" with lines drawing out from the two terms towards the one that had her puzzled the most prior to her earlier confrontation "Vanguard".

Anne over from her card, glanced down at the note at where Fumio had managed to jot down the changed 'prophecy' that occured on the back of her cards. Several of the terms that the Selector had jotted down on the note she now stuck on her computer monitor were also jotted beside several of the lines, including a few more notes on several other lines of the text. Kai's name was on the left side of the first line whilst on the right side, beside the part where it mentioned "a heavy burden of sin", she couldn't help but shudder a little from what was jotted there and from the fact that Kai himself briefly mentioned it, who could blame her. Jotted beside that section, was "Link Joker".

Getting herself together from that brief note, she glanced down at Fumio's left hand, noticing a card that was mostly concealed, except for one tiny part of the border. The colour and part of the icon that represented it. The card seemed to have a Grey colour with a slight red hint from what was shown of the border and the symbol was mostly hidden from the shadow of Fumio's hand, the only visible part showing what appeared to be the edge of a circular object. *****  Anne seemed puzzled by this, she didn't recall Fumio obtaining any new cards recently, especially the one that she now had concealed from her. Before the LRIG could press on her Selector about this, a blinding flash suddenly enveloped the room, almost blinding the pair and allowing Fumio to quickly slip the card she held into her desk drawer.

"This is…!"

Both Selector and LRIG struggled to make out from what the bright light was emitting. Fumio had to shield her only visible eye to avoid being blinded by the intense flash. The light continued emitting brightly for several more moments before a figure suddenly fell out onto the bedroom floor. The light dimmed out to nothingness as both Fumio and Anne regained their vision, now seeing who had landed in their vicinity. It was Leon and from how things appeared, his landing had proven to not have been very comfortable.

"Well… this is… unusual…" Anne murmured. Fumio said nothing, glancing down at the Aqua Force user. Leon looked all around, noticing the various novels that were stacked among the shelves in her bedroom. He then looked up at the Selector, noting her gaze was directed upon him. He slowly stood up, slightly wincing in pain, having not fully recovered from the rough trip or landing.

"I apologize for my inconvenient appearance," he replied "I did not intend to appear in your room as a result of my journey."

"Who are you?" asked Fumio.

"Soryu Leon," he answered as he finally stood up. "And you are?"

"Futase Fumio," she replied.

"Strange…" Anne muttered "But it could have been worse."

Leon's right ear suddenly twitched as he heard the LRIG ramble to herself, catching both his attention and possible interest. He glanced over towards her card, catching both Anne herself and Fumio by surprise.

"You can see me?" the LRIG spoke. Leon nodded, confirming both her's and Fumio's suspicions. "I am Anne," she continued "I'm Fumio's LRIG."

"So we have another 'one'," the Selector spoke "Almost like the other "boy" Selector, Kai Toshiki." Leon looked back over at Fumio, having now realized that he had gotten closer to his current goal of locating Kai in this other world. The only problem he now had was that he was separated from Aichi, Naoki and Ren and they could have ended up anywhere in this unknown world. Regardless though, he had managed to find someone who had known about Kai, but that had only lead to more questions. Why did she refer to him as a boy Selector? Why could he see an alive girl inside of a card that was now present on her desk? More or less, why did she call herself Fumio's LRIG? He had a feeling however that the answers to those questions were about to become clear.

"So you know of Kai," he spoke "I assume that you have encountered him."

"That is correct," Fumio answered "I approached him earlier today with the intent of recieving answers for his appearance here. And yet, it sounds as if you come from the same place he arrived from."

"Indeed," Leon replied "Kai and I, along with a few accomplices who I've gotten seperated from, come from a world different from yours. I came here with the intention of finding him and a 'White Room' where another comrade, Tatsunagi Takuto, is being held hostage." Anne couldn't help but glance at the Aqua Force user, wondering how he already came to know about the White Room, despite not being a part of the Selector Battles. At least, not yet. This has also raised Fumio's interest in Leon, now wanting to confirm her now arising suspicions about him.

"Then if you come from the same world as Kai Toshiki," she spoke "I assume you are already familiar with the game he told he that he played there. Vanguard, if I recall." Leon nodded in response to her statement.

"In that case then," she continued "I suggest you take a look at your deck, before we get down to business."

The cardfighter then brought out his deck from his pocket and took it out of the case. His eyes suddenly widened as he saw the changed backings of his cards. The white and black backings with the Wixoss logo present along with the original "prophecy" text had replaced the original backings of his units in their Vanguard states, confirming both Fumio and Anne's suspicions. Leon turned his deck over and fanned out the cards, shocked to see that a select few of his units had become his LRIG cards whilst the rest had now transformed into the SIGNI in his main deck. The change had also allocated Leon's deck with several ARTS and additional SIGNI from the Wixoss card game along with a mere few Spells being present among the deck.

"This is..." he spoke.

"It seems you've noticed now," Anne replied, catching his attention. "Much like Kai's own cards as he mentioned before, yours have also changed to suit you for Wixoss battles."

"Wixoss...?" he pondered.

"That is correct," replied Fumio "But yours seem to give off a similar feeling to the ones that Kai used. In that case, it is time you knew of the Selector Battles, that your friend has now become involved with."

Sthen brought down Anne's card from her desk towards Leon as both the Selector and LRIG began giving a long explanation as to the basics of the Selector Battles. The two of them gave him a brief rundown on how the battles normally worked with the mention of the Eternal Girl prospect and the alive LRIGs so the Selectors could be told apart from any other Wixoss players whilst also giving him a brief run through on the rules of how the Wixoss card game worked so he would be quickly acquainted to the changes in his deck. Leon although now understanding of what Kai had basically gotten himself into, still felt that he was being left in the dark in some areas and thought that the only way he would find out was to enter several of these battles himself and see what they really held in store. Needless to say, that opportunity came sooner than he thought as he saw Fumio hold the back of Anne's card towards him.

"So you intended to battle me from the start," he spoke.

"That is correct," Fumio answered "If you are from the same world as Kai, then I would like to see that potential for myself."

"Very well then," Leon replied as he took out one of the LRIG cards from his deck and held it out towards Fumio. The air remained still for several moments as both glanced at each other, awaiting for the opportunity to the start the battle. Then...

"Open!" both called out loud. As if on cue, streams of green and blue colours erupted from their LRIG cards, enveloping them both and bringing them to the field where destiny awaited for them.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When Leon had finally regained consciousness, he opened his eyes to find himself seated at the table representing his side of the field. Half of the background around the area was coloured blue, representing that of the Aqua Force clan that he was using. He suddenly noticed Officer Cadet, Erikk standing on the LRIG space along with the seven cards that were face down on his table, representing his Life Cloths. The Aqua Force user then glanced across towards the other end of the battlefield seeing Fumio was all set up to begin with Anne standing ready on the LRIG space of her Selector's table. A creaking noise briefly broke the silence as Leon suddenly glanced up above him to notice that the roulette had already begun spinning. Eventually after several moments had passed, the roulette had stopped on a green slot.

"It seems that fate has fallen in our favour," said Anne "With the roulette pointed on my colour, Fumio can decide which of us goes first."

"Very well then," Leon replied.

"I will go first," Fumio spoke before drawing her single card. "Grow, Anne=First, Creation of the Imagination!" As a series of flashes rose up around the LRIG, not a lot had changed from her appearance. She now wielded a fan for a more defensive weapon and part of her dress around the upper front up to the top of her chest looked like it had been covered in armour with a pinkish line going around near the very bottom. Anne glanced over towards Erikk, curious to see how Leon was planning to play out the battle.

"You certainly appear interesting," she spoke "I assume that you're from this Cray that I've heard of?"

"Indeed," the Officer Cadet replied "I've heard many things that the United Sanctuary reported to us about the recent anomalies within the Dragon Empire. I wasn't aware of this kind of battle existing in this world." Leon looked down upon Erikk, not expecting the actual unit to have now appeared before him.

"How is it that I've summoned you from Cray for battle?" he asked.

"That I do not know," answered Erikk "But from what I gather, only the units such as myself that you possess as LRIG cards seem to be summoned directly from Cray to this dimension. As for the other units in your deck, I'm not so sure. From what has been gathered, the entire planet has been on high alert for occasions such as this happening."

"I see," murmured Leon.

"However," he continued "What troubles us most is the seeming lack of presence from remanents of the Link Joker forces that their commanders had left stranded on Cray." The Aqua Force user nodded in agreement, also troubled by this turn of events. Fumio meanwhile glanced over towards both the Aqua Force unit and cardfighter, intrigued by their discussion of now. The mere possibility of the Planet Cray now brought into the mix of things, making the scenario for the Selector Battles as of now begin to take a turn for the unpredictable. A subject that raised her interest and in a sense, bringing her a bit of relief, unbeknowst to Leon and Anne.

"It's your turn now, Soryu," she spoke.

"Indeed," he replied as he drew his cards before looking towards the LRIG deck. "Grow! Tear Knight, Theo!"

In a flash of light, Erikk vanished from the LRIG space as a taller Aquaroid entered the battlefield in his place. He held a long rifle in his right hand, pointing downwards for the time being.

"I summon Tear Knight, Cyprus and Jet-ski Rider!"

To the left of Theo, a smaller Aquaroid appeared onto the battlefield. He had purple hair, watery seethrough wings and a weapon bearing high resemblance to that of a crossbow. To Cyprus' right on the SIGNI space directly next to him, another Aquaroid emerged on a jet ski with several cannons armed onto its sides. Leon then turned his attention towards Anne.

"I'll start by attacking with Cyprus and Jet-ski Rider!" he declared.

As Cyprus took flight into the air, Jet-ski Rider revved the engine on his vehicle and accelerated forward as a veil of water suddenly appeared, allowing both rider and jet-ski to traverse the battlefield without any difficulty. Anne braced herself as Theo aimed his crossbow at her whilst Jet-ski Rider aimed the cannons at her. Both fired their weapons at the LRIG as Jet-ski Rider swerved to make a return trip back to Leon's side of the field as the attacks connected, resulting in a explosion that covered a relative portion of Fumio's table. Her first two crushed Life Cloths revealed both Maki-e, Approximation of Tradition and Servant D, the second card glowing as it entered her Ener Zone.

"Got a Life Burst," she spoke "I Ener Charge."

"Theo attacks!" Leon called. The Tear Knight took aim with his rifle at Anne before firing a shot right at her. Fumio however was already prepared.

"Guard!" she called. Servant O2 appeared in front of Anne to take the brunt of the attack. Once it had subsided, the Guard SIGNI vanished as Fumio placed the card in her Trash Pile.

"Turn end," Leon spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Tear Knight, Theo : Anne=First, Creation of the Imagination**

**SIGNI : Tear Knight, Cyprus - Jet-ski Rider - EMPTY** **: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 3**

"Aqua Force..." Anne muttered "So this is what the inhabitants of Cray are capable of." She then looked back at Fumio, who didn't seem concerned with the fact that Leon had already managed to gain an early lead over them. The Aqua Force user glanced over towards the Selector, with something that was already brewing in his mind. A slight breeze blew across the battlefield, much to the confusion of Anne.

 _Something is off_ Leon thought  _Everything appears normal so far, but the wind tells me otherwise. Just what could it be though?_

"Draw," Fumio spoke before she moved Maki-e's card from her Ener Zone to her Trash. "Grow. Anne=Second, Value of Excess Knowledge!"

As another series of flashes rose up around the LRIG, not much about Anne changed aside from gaining an additional pink stripe around and near the bottom of her dress. In addition, the fan that she wielded gained an extra orb opposite to the one that was present earlier.

"Summon!" Three SIGNI known as Ameco, Generous Light and Dark, Puri, Innocuous Match and Surrelis, Unresolved Deviation appeared all around Anne, prepared for battle. Surrelis suddenly glowed intensely as a bright green aura surrounded both Puri and Ameco, increasing their strength.

**Surrelis, Unresolved Deviation: 5000 - 7000**

**Puri, Innocuous Match: 2000 - 4000**

**Ameco, Generous Light and Dark: 7000 - 9000**

"With this," Fumio explained "Since I have 3 Beautiful Technique SIGNI on my field, Surrelis' ability increases the power of all my SIGNI by 2000."

Leon said nothing as he looked on at Fumio's field. Her SIGNI were already powered up to high amounts already and he was still at Level 1 for the time being, putting him at a bit of disadvantage. With that said, the Selector then turned her attention the SIGNI.

"Attack!" she declared. With a whip and flurry of her paintbrush, Puri was able to conjour up a spear from some black paint before hurling it right at Jet-ski Rider, engulfing the unit in an explosion that also sent several blobs of paint around Leon's table, some of which landed on Cyprus. Before the Tear Knight could react, several spikes rained upon him from Surrelis' attacks as the defeated unit then vanished from the field, his card reappearing in Leon's Ener Zone. Ameco charged towards Theo, her single gun blazing as the Tear Knight deflected each and every bullet with his rifle. However, this moment of distraction allowed the SIGNI to get in close and strike him directly. As Ameco leaped back to Fumio's table, Leon's first Life Cloth revealed Storm Rider, Diamantes.

"Anne!" Fumio called. The LRIG nodded to her command and began leaping across the battlefield towards Tear Knight, Theo. Leon looked at the cards in his hand, but chose not to act for the moment, believing that the extra damage would help out later. Theo shot out several energy bursts from his rifle towards Anne, but the LRIG kept leaping side to side and occasionally blocked some rounds with her fan before leaping into the air and bringing down a large kick onto the Tear Knight, knocking him backwards. Leon's second Life Cloth revealed Emerald Shield, Paschal, a Life Burst finally coming into his favor.

"With the effect," he spoke "I Ener Charge." The top card of his deck, Battle Siren, Malika moved to his Ener Zone bringing his total to 5. Anne said nothing as she leaped back to the LRIG space on Fumio's table as she glanced towards Leon.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 3**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Tear Knight, Theo : Anne=Second, Value of Excess Knowledge**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY :** **Ameco, Generous Light and Dark** **\- Puri, Innocuous Match - Surrelis, Unresolved Deviation**

**Ener - 5 : 2**

"Up and draw." As Leon began his turn, he moved Malika's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash before turning his attention to the LRIG deck.

"Grow! Tear Knight, Lazarus!" As Theo vanished from the battlefield, another Tear Knight entered the LRIG space to take his place. Lazarus wielded a strange curved sword and unusually had what appeared to be the wings of water dragons, considering his birthright in the Aqua Force clan. Into the three empty SIGNI spaces entered another copy of Cyprus, Tidal Assault and Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault. The three units were armed and ready to strike on Leon's command. Before he did so, he glanced towards the LRIG space.

"Using Erikk's ability," he spoke "I pay 1 Blue and move him to my LRIG Trash. After that, I check the top 5 cards of my deck and add a Blue Level 3 SIGNI among them to my hand."

As Erikk's card glowed and moved to the LRIG Trash along with Jet-ski Rider's card being transferred to the Trash Pile, the top 5 cards of Leon's deck revealed themselves to be Tidal Assault, RAINY, Ouika, Water Phantom, Ice Floe Angel and the card he wanted. He picked out Storm Rider, Diamantes and revealed it to Fumio and Anne as the rest of the cards rearranged themselves within his main deck. The Aqua Force user then turned his attention to his SIGNI.

"Tempest Assault attacks Surrelis!" he declared. The unit nodded and charged towards the SIGNI, easily overpowering her with two strikes from his blades.

"Tidal Assault!" Tidal Assault jetted into the air with water gushing out from the back of his armour, giving him the propulsion needed to jet across the battlefield and take out Puri. After the SIGNI vanished, Tidal Assault leaped into the air again much to the surprise of Anne.

"With Tidal's ability," Leon explained as he moved Paschal's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash "I decrease his power by 4000 until the end of your next turn and have him attack again!" Anne braced herself as Tidal Assault dived at her and knocked her to the ground with a slash of his blades. He then leaped back towards Leon's field as Fumio's next Life Cloth revealed March, Mysterious Fairytale. The card glowed, indicating another Life Burst.

"With this Life Burst," Fumio spoke "I Ener Charge twice." The top two cards of the Selector's deck which were Servant O2 and Encompassing Knowledge moved to her Ener Zone. Cyprus could only groan that his strength was not enough to bring down Ameco, but glanced towards Lazarus who nodded in agreement with what he was thinking.

"Lazarus attacks!" Leon called. As Lazarus charged towards Anne, Fumio reached out for another card in her hand.

"Servant D!" she responded as the Guard SIGNI appeared to take the hit for Anne. The Tear Knight growled in annoyance before leaping back to the LRIG space where Leon kept a close gaze upon the Selector.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 4**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 5 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Tear Knight, Lazarus : Anne=Second, Value of Excess Knowledge**

**SIGNI : Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault - Tidal Assault -** **Tear Knight, Cyprus** **:** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 7**

After Fumio had drawn her cards, she glanced across the battlefield towards Leon.

"I see," she spoke "I can sense you've carried a heavy burden with this clan that you wield, much like Kai with Kagero."

"As do you with Anne," replied Leon "But there is still something I feel that you're hiding. What more is there to these Selector Battles?"

"If you really are that desperate to know," Fumio sighed "Very well then." She then cleared her throat as Anne glanced up to her for a moment before allowing her Selector to begin her explanation.

"As I have already told you," she began "Selectors, the girls who hold the LRIGs that are alive within the cards they possess, battle it out with one another in order to become an Eternal Girl, the form that is most ideal to achieving their wish. As it has been gathered, things appear simple, win enough times, then an oath must be recited in order to recieve that ideal form. Lose three times and your Selector rights will vanish. However, as you already gathered, all is not as it seems firsthand to you. Am I right?"

Leon nodded, understanding Fumio's explanation so far.

"Good," she replied "In hindsight, everything appears simple and dandy to those who are naive and never expect the unexpected. However, as I have known beforehand, not everything is welcoming. Losing 3 times will not only make you lose your Selector rights, but in turn will also end up corrupting that very same wish, turning it into an almost unbearable curse." This was when Anne decided to speak out for the Selector.

"Tell us Leon," she spoke "Do you have any desire of your own?"

"Only that I may rebuild the foundation of the Soryu clan," he replied "The wind has been considered a blessing amongst our people, but other forces had caused them to scatter into exile around my home world."

"I see," the LRIG murmured "Think what would happen if you had laid that desire on the line in these battles and had that same wish tainted." Running that process through his head, Leon could only widen his eyes in shock, realizing what this could have meant.

"It seems you realized it now," Fumio spoke "If you were willing to put that desire on the line and come out in failure, then you would never be able to reunite your people and restore them to their former glory. You would be powerless to do anything, but watch as your hope fades away."

"Aqua Force equals absolute justice!" Leon replied "Neither I or they will give into something so ludicrous!"

"Is that so?" she replied "Then allow me to teach you, that even the smallest bit of hope cannot change reality." She moved both Servant D and Puri's card from her Ener Zone to her Trash before glancing at her LRIG deck.

"Grow. Anne=Third, Public Repentance!"

A spiral of green energy rose up around Anne, changing some of the designs present on her dress. The two pink stripes at the bottom of her dress were replaced with two green lines cascading down to the left in a diagonal pattern with a green circle present above them at the top left for each fold. The LRIG's fan was replaced with a staff that had a large white flower along with several smaller flowers and a vine present at the tip. Her shoes had also been replaced with light pink high heels, each with three leaves present on them. The top two cards of Fumio's deck suddenly glowed as they flipped face up. The Selector picked out Colla, Opposing Methodology from among the two and revealed it to Leon before concealing it among the other cards in her hand as the other card from earlier moved to the bottom of her deck. Fumio then summoned that same SIGNI in front of Anne before another copy of Surrelis and Origami, Uniform Requirements appeared to the left and right of the LRIG. Leon then quickly glanced to his LRIG deck.

"ARTS, Don't Escape!" he called "With this, I down Colla!" Fumio said nothing as Colla's card suddenly downed itself, preventing the SIGNI from attacking this turn and leaving Tidal Assault unscathed, for now at least.

"Attack!" she called.

The two remaining SIGNI, Surrelis and Origami nodded to her command and charged across the battlefield to Leon's table quickly overpowering all of the Aqua Force user's SIGNI that were adjacent to them.

"Next!"

Anne nodded and held out her left arm, charging up a sphere of green energy that grew larger and larger and larger. Eventually, she pushed out her arm forward as the sphere then erupted into a beam of energy that hit Lazarus dead on. Leon's next Life Cloth revealed Jet-ski Rider, another Life Burst having gone off in his favour. A blue aura surrounded Tidal Assault, increasing his power and giving him the Lancer effect. Fumio said nothing, indicating the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 5**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 5 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Tear Knight, Lazarus : Anne=Third, Public Repentance**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Tidal Assault -** **EMPTY** **: Origami, Uniform Requirements** **\- Colla, Opposing Mythology - Surrelis, Unresolved Deviation**

**Ener - 3 : 5**

"Up and draw." As Leon drew his cards and placed Ice Floe Angel into his Ener Zone, he glanced over towards both Fumio and Anne.

"It appears that everything now seems clear about these Selector Battles," he spoke "But, I have no interest in putting my own desire on the line."

"How interesting," murmured Fumio "So you accepted my challenge, with no intention of putting any wish at risk. That was almost once like..." She then suddenly paused, wondering if she had already said too much.

"Like who?" asked Leon.

"... Someone I once knew," the Selector answered "She aspired to become a novelist, much like I am. She never battled, aiming to keep a mutual friendship between herself and her LRIG. However, fate had different plans for her." Anne could only glance up, wondering about what her Selector was telling to the Aqua Force user and curious if it was wise to mention this particular story to him.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"I'm afraid... I don't have the answer to that," Fumio replied "Some say that she had her wish tainted. Others speak of as if she mysteriously vanished."

"I see," Leon spoke "But even so, my resolve won't waver." He moved two cards from his Ener Zone to his trash before a sudden gale of wind raged across the battlefield.

"Wielder of the demiurge, arise from the blue sea! Grow!"

As Lazarus vanished from the battlefield, a torrent of water suddenly erupted into the air as the shadow of a figure emerged onto the LRIG space amongst the water that was jetting up from the LRIG space.

"Blue Flight Dragon, Trans-core Dragon!"

The column of water then fell apart as a large golden anchor slashed through the torrent, revealing the Tear Dragon known as Trans-core. The anchor that he wielded was attached to a large chain which allowed him to hurl the heavy weapon at longer distances. Trans-core's hide was a sea bluish colour with several shades of green present around the scales and wings. As the gale from earlier continued to howl throughout the battlefield, Fumio kept her eye that was concealed from her strand of hair covered by her free hand, glaring directly at Leon. Upon noticing this, Leon's calm demeanour had returned, causing the storm from earlier to die down, allowing the Selector to quickly cover her eye with that same strand of hair.

"So you've finally gotten serious," she muttered "Very well then. Show me what exactly your clan, a part of the Planet Cray, is capable of!"

Leon nodded, having no intention on holding back from this point onwards for the remainder of the battle as both Anne and Trans-core Dragon began staring off at one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Officer Cadet, Erikk**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 0 Blue  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force  
> [Action] Pay 1 Blue and move this card from beneath your LRIG to your LRIG Trash: Look at up to the top five cards of your deck, search for 1 Level 3 or greater Blue SIGNI, add it to your hand and shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Tear Knight, Theo**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 0 Blue  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force
> 
>  **Tear Knight, Lazarus**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 1 Blue  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force
> 
>  **Jet-ski Rider**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> [Life Burst]: Choose 1 of your Blue SIGNI. Until the end of your next turn, it gains 5000 power and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER
> 
>  **Tear Knight, Cyprus**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000
> 
>  **Battle Siren, Mallika**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Water Beast: Mermaid  
> Limiting Condition: Aqua Force LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> [Action] Move this SIGNI to your Ener Zone: Choose one of your Blue SIGNI, that SIGNI gains 3000 power until end of turn.  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Emerald Shield, Paschal**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Blue LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Tidal Assault**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Blue and have this SIGNI get -4000 power until the end of your opponent’s next turn: At the end of the battle that this SIGNI attacked, if you have a Blue LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this SIGNI. You can only use this effect once per turn.
> 
>  **Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 7000


	23. Arc 2 - Ride 23: That Unsettling Presence

**Selector Battlefield**

Trans-core Dragon glanced closely at Anne, emitting a low growl from under his breath. The LRIG looked up at the Aqua Force unit, slightly surprised from what she was seeing right before her. She was already aware of the presence of Kai's Dragonic Overlord, having overheard the Kagero user from the battlefield seperate from her own earlier in the day when Fumio had met him. However, she wasn't expecting to see how large Trans-core Dragon really was from nearly up close, at least, from her own perspective as an LRIG on the table. Meanwhile, Fumio had glanced over towards Leon, partially angered from the fact that the storm he had stirred up earlier had almost revealed what had laid hidden from the strand of hair that covered her left eye. However, she was more interested in Trans-core Dragon, having been curious as to what else the cardfighter had planned for this battle. The Aqua Force user continued with his turn by reaching for two more of the cards in his hand.

"Summon!" he called.

The SIGNI that he summoned were Storm Rider, Diamantes and Titan of the Beam Rifle. Diamantes being another Aquaroid looked human in appearance wore what appeared to be a white naval outfit, much like the Aquaroids that Leon had previously used so far. He carried two large blades with a neon green hint to them, much like Tidal Assault's blades. Titan of the Beam Rifle however looked completely different from the other units that the Aqua Force user had put into play. As the name would suggest, the titan easily towered over Diamantes and Tidal Assault from its large size, but fell short in height comparison to Trans-core Dragon. It had several green crystals littered over its rock-based body, most of which were clustered together at the titan's back. Leon then turned his attention towards Surrelis.

"Diamantes attacks!" he called "On the first attack of the turn, his ability gives him an extra 2000 power until the end of the battle!"

**Storm Rider, Diamantes: 8000 - 10000**

Diamantes charged towards Surrelis and wasted no time in banishing the SIGNI with the strike of his blades. Before Anne could react, the unit vanished as Tempest Assault suddenly appeared in his place. She gasped as she looked closely at Leon's table to see that the cards representing the summoned and previously banished SIGNI had switched places between Diamantes' SIGNI space and the Aqua Force user's Ener Zone.

"With Diamantes' ability," he spoke "After he conducts the first attack, regardless of whether it is successful, unsuccessful or even disabled, I can move him to my Ener Zone at the end of that battle and summon a different Blue SIGNI from my Ener Zone to take his place."

"I see," muttered Fumio "With this, you can get through more attacks with your SIGNI before charging in with your LRIG or rather, your dragon for that matter."

"That is correct," replied Leon "Aqua Force's speciliaty lies within making multiple attacks to gain benefits off of their abilities." He then turned his attention to Tempest Assault and Titan of the Beam Rifle.

"Attack!" he called.

Titan of the Beam Rifle lifted one of its massive rocky hands up from the ground and opened its palm in an opened claw kind of fashion, pointing right at Origami. A large green glow eminated within the palm before the golem crushed it and opened its fist once again to unleash a green laser that overwhelmed the SIGNI, banishing her from the field. Tempest Assault charged straight towards Anne who held out her staff to try and block any blows the unit would deal to her. She easily blocked the strike of the first blade, but was immediatly knocked back from not antcipating the second one coming down upon her afterwards. Fumio's crushed Life Cloth revealed another copy of Maki-e, no Life Burst came in her favour this time.

"Tidal Assault!"

The unit then leaped into the air and slashed down Colla, the score erupting into an explosion that banished the SIGNI and engulfed Anne as a result of the temporary Lancer effect from his previous Life Burst off of the crushed Jet-ski Rider in the previous turn. Fumio's next Life Cloth revealed Suiboku, Single Stroke Worthy of Nobility, the card glowing indicating a Life Burst. A blue aura surrounded Tidal Assault as its power decreased for its effect.

**Tidal Assault: 10000 - 6000**

As the unit charged towards Anne, it raised one of its blades up into the air. Before it could make contact with the LRIG, an afterimage of Suiboku appeared in front of Anne to take the brunt of the attack. Annoyed, Tidal Assault slashed through the image, but that had given Anne a chance to land a hard kick into the chest, knocking the unit backwards across the battlefield. The unit then picked himself up and retreated back to Leon's table. Speaking of whom, the Aqua Force user was shocked from the sudden turn of events.

"But how...?" he muttered.

"With Suiboku's Life Burst," Fumio explained "The next attack that you declared instantly became disabled. Hence why Tidal Assault's second attack failed." Leon could only clench his teeth as he turned his attention to the LRIG space.

"Trans-core Dragon!" he declared as the card downed itself. The dragon let out a mighty roar that echoed across all ends of the battlefield. He held the anchor he wielded on the chain above him and began spinning it around like a giant flail.

"No guard," the Selector replied. Anne held out her staff in front of her slightly higher to brace herself for impact. Trans-core Dragon swang the anchor around above him before finally hurling it across the battlefield towards the LRIG. The anchor hit Anne a lot more harder than she had anticipated, being knocked high into the air because of it, resulting in Fumio using her free hand to catch her in mid-fall and gently lower her back to the LRIG space. The next Life Cloth revealed another copy of Origami, Uniform Requirements. Trans-core Dragon pulled the chain back towards Leon's table as Tidal Assault lost all of the power bonuses from Jet-ski Rider, indicating it was the end of the Aqua Force user's turn.

**Tidal Assault: 6000 - 1000**

**End of Turn 6**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Blue Flight Dragon, Trans-core Dragon : Anne=Third, Public Repentance**

**SIGNI : Titan of the Beam Rifle - Tidal Assault - Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault** **:** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 9**

"Up and draw." After Fumio drew her cards, she glanced over towards Leon.

"So this is but a mere fraction of the Aqua Force clan's true potential if I'm correct," she spoke "I only regret though that I should have seen Kai's Kagero units in action earlier today for my own interests."

"Your own interests?" he pondered "What do you mean?"

"So that I would have seen the presence of Cray for myself earlier," the Selector mused "But in this scenario, that no longer matters. Now then, allow me to show you the full spectrum of Anne's potential." Fumio then held out her hand towards the LRIG space. Three cards from her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile before a blinding bright green aura surrounded Anne, obscuring her from Leon and Trans-core Dragon's vision.

"Stained soul of blessing, reveal yourself," the Selector spoke "Grow the LRIG!"

As the bright light shimmered onwards for several more moments, it eventually faded away completely, revealing Anne's transformation to her Level 4 form to everyone present.

"Anne=Fourth, Blessing of Revelation!"

Compared to her previous form, Public Repentance, Anne's fourth form had brought about almost a complete change in the LRIG's outward appearance. The pinkish lines from her first few forms had returned to the bottom of her skirt folds, the shape of the lower sleeves of her dress had spikes sticking outwards and her staff had also completely changed. It now appeared to be mostly white along with a giant blue frame at the top with several turqoise folds going across in almost an axe or warhammer like fashion. In addition, Anne also had a pink ring with several purple markings present behind her back, hovering in place. It seemed to be more like an accessory like Tama's white ring in one of her higher level forms and a complete opposite to the black rings that Iona and the Link Joker units possesed. At least, in outward appearance. Fumio glanced over towards her LRIG deck as she continued her turn.

"Using 2 copies of Salvage," she spoke "By paying 2 Ener, I add Suiboku and Maki-e back to my hand and summon them!"

As another card moved right from the Selector's Ener Zone to her Trash Pile, the aforementioned SIGNI cards slid out from said pile before being placed into the center and left SIGNI zones on her table. This resulted in Suiboku appearing right in front of Anne, taking a stance to prepare from a brawl with Tidal Assault whilst Maki-e appeared into the left space. To the right of the LRIG appeared Marche, Mysterious Fairytale. Anne glanced over the formation before looking over to Fumio.

"It is time," she spoke. Her Selector nodded in agreement with her.

"Marche's ability!" she called "I pay both a White and Green card from my Ener to return one of your SIGNI back to your hand. Seeing as I have 4 Ener available, I will use that ability twice!"

"But you only have a single Multi-Ener SIGNI in your Ener Zone," Leon replied "How do you expect to cover that cost?"

"I'll let Marche's continous ability answer that for you," the Selector spoke before holding out her hand over her Ener Zone "Observe!"

In an instant, the remaining cards from her Ener Zone moved right into her Trash Pile, much to the Aqua Force user's surprise as both Tempest Assault and Titan of the Beam Rifle suddenly vanished from his field in a blinding green light before their respective cards suddenly reappeared in his hand. Looking over towards Marche, he could finally understand why this was able to come to pass.

"I see," he murmured "Your SIGNI allowed you to substitute the SIGNI I already banished as fodder for your White costs. That's why I haven't seen you run a single White card in this entire battle."

"That is correct," Fumio replied "If I had simply loaded half of my deck with White cards or just Multi-Ener SIGNI, I wouldn't be able to use Anne to her full potential. In addition to her Grow cost having the same effect as Marche, all of my Green Beautiful Technique SIGNI gain 1000 power at all times."

**Maki-e, Approximation of Tradition: 10000 - 11000**

**Suiboku, Single Stroke Worthy of Nobility: 12000 - 13000**

**Marche, Mysterious Fairytale: 12000 - 13000**

"With this, everything we need is assembled for victory," Anne spoke before glancing back at Fumio. "Shall we?" The Selector didn't say anything as she turned her gaze to Suiboku.

"Suiboku attacks Tidal Assault!" she declared. Suiboku lifted up her staff and twirled it around, summoning what appeared to be the afterimage of an oriental dragon as it roared and consumed the Aquaroid in an instant with its breath of fire. When the attack was finished, the SIGNI stopped twirling her staff and the dragon disappeared once more.

"Next!" the Selector called. The other two SIGNI wasted no time in charging across the battlefield towards Leon's table before leaping into the air and each landing a hard kick onto Trans-core Dragon. Leon's next two Life Cloths revealed Ice Floe Angel and Titan of the Beam Rifle, the first card showing a Life Burst.

"I've got one..." he mumured "But since Ice Floe Angel was crushed before the other attack and I had more Life Cloths..."

"Then you can't use it," Anne cut in, finishing his conclusion for him before taking a stance and charging towards Trans-core Dragon. As she raised her staff into the air, Leon quickly moved Ice Floe Angel's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.

"Icefall Dragon!" he called as he revealed the card from his hand "Quintet Wall!"

The Tear Dragon suddenly appeared in front of Trans-core Dragon before a green circle suddenly appeared as the top five cards of Leon's deck revealed themselves to be Jetting Knowledge, Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault, Tidal Assault and Jet-ski Rider. As the only Spell moved to his Trash Pile, the four SIGNI appeared alongside Icefall Dragon as a green circle suddenly appeared, blocking Anne's attack. The LRIG seemed annoyed but immediatly moved back to the LRIG space as the SIGNI vanished from the field. Fumio glanced over to Leon, having not expected his sudden manoeuvre just now.

 _Quintet Wall..._ she thought  _How interesting..._

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Leon vs Fumio**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Blue Flight Dragon, Trans-core Dragon : Anne=Fourth, Blessing of Revelation**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **:** **Maki-e, Approximation of Tradition** **-** **Suiboku, Single Stroke Worthy of Nobility** **-** **Marche, Mysterious Fairytale**

**Ener - 7 : 0**

As Leon began his turn, he looked over his current scenario. Fumio had already managed to gather some of her strongest SIGNI onto the field and he was very much limited in resources, having only 4 Level 4 SIGNI of his own within his deck. In addition, with Anne constantly powering them up, he knew that unless he could end things quickly, they would run over the rest of his SIGNI and finish him off. Closing his eyes and taking a calm breath for a moment, a sudden calm breeze blew across the battlefield.

"First, with Diamantes' ability from my Ener Zone," he spoke "Instead of conducting my Ener Charge Phase, I reveal Ouika from my hand and summon him back to the field!"

Showing the Level 4 Blue SIGNI from his hand to both Fumio and Anne, Storm Rider Diamantes reappeared onto the battlefield, this time in the right SIGNI space. After that, three more cards from Leon's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile as he took a certain card from his LRIG deck and held it up high. The calm breeze from earlier suddenly changed into a strong gust of wind as it howled throughout the area.

"Snowy white, swift wind! Becoming a shooting star in the night sky! Break Grow!"

Once again, a large column of water shot up from the LRIG space, enveloping Trans-core Dragon as he glowed brightly before vanishing from the battlefield.

"Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon!"

A sudden gale raged through the torrent of water that was present on Leon's table before the column burst apart, revealing the Rear Admiral of the Aqua Force clan in all of his glory. The Tear Dragon was primarly coloured in both blue and white colours with several yellowish patterns on his armour and several dabs of red, some of which were present on Tetra-drive's forehead and a small spot was present on the chest. On top of Tetra-drive's shoulders were two large cannons, known as the "Dual-H Cannon" which made the Rear-Admiral appear more foreboding to its opponents who could only stare up at the dragon with intrigue.

"Trans-core Dragon's Break Grow skill!" Leon called "With this, Tetra-drive Dragon permanently gains an additional Level and plus 3 Limit! In addition, unless you discard when he attacks this turn, you cannot use any cards from your hand to Guard or activate their effects and Tetra-drive gains Double Crush until the end of his attack."

"So then, even if I discard a Guard SIGNI already, its effects will not activate due to it being a cost to bypass Trans-core's ability," Fumio murmured "Fine by me. Right now, I have only two Life Cloths and the Double Crush will allow you to crush two Life Cloths at once. If you think you can beat me this turn, I would like to see that."

Leon said nothing as he continued his turn by summoning Ouika, Water Phantom and Tidal Assault to the middle and left of Tetra-drive Dragon respectively. The Rear Admiral glanced down at Anne, intrigued by the LRIG and awaiting for the Aqua Force user's command to wage battle. The dragon then briefly turned his attention back to Leon.

"Forgive me for asking, my Vanguard," he spoke "But why have you called upon me in my previous form?"

"I understand how you may feel," Leon replied "However, I require your original form if we are to stand any possible chance of victory here."

"Very well then." Tetra-drive Dragon then turned his gaze back onto Anne, preparing for the first sign of battle.

"Using Tetra-drive's ability," Leon spoke "I pay 1 Blue card to give 2000 power to Diamantes and I'll have that same SIGNI wage the first attack!"

**Storm Rider, Diamantes: 8000 - 10000 - 12000**

Diamantes charged across the battlefield towards Fumio's table, taking a giant leap into the air before diving down towards Maki-e. He raised his swords high before slashing right past the SIGNI, banishing her in an instant. Diamantes then vanished as Tempest Blader appeared in the center SIGNI space on Leon's table. The cardfighter then diverted his attention to his LRIG space.

"Tetra-drive Dragon!" he called. As Tetra-drive Dragon armed its cannons, Fumio could only stare on in confusion.

 _He's attacking with Tetra-drive immediatly?!_ she thought in confusion. Anne glanced behind her for a brief moment, noticing her Selector's expression before Fumio finally made up her mind.

"I discard Marche so Tetra-drive won't recieve Double Crush for this attack!" she called.

"Very well then," replied Leon.

Tetra-drive Dragon let out a mighty roar as his cannons were primed and ready to fire. Bringing the barrels downwards onto his shoulders, the dragon took aim at Anne as she braced herself with her staff held out in front. With a deafening roar, the cannons surged into life by unleashing two large bursts of water which combined to form one colossal stream that instantly surged towards and consumed Anne in an instant. As she fought through the torrent, she struggled to stay on her feet before she could suddenly hear a cracking noise. Glancing behind her towards the ring, she suddenly saw the immense force from Tetra-drive's attack was causing a small part at the bottom, obscured by her head from both the dragon and Leon, to fall apart.

When the crack had subsided, Anne could only silently gasp in panic. A small, otherwise tiny fragment of her pink ring had broken off at a small portion at the very bottom, revealing a black colour with a red hint underneath.

_This is bad! It's far too soon for this to come to light! If that boy discovers what lies beneath this barrier, then...!_

Anne didn't have time to process that thought as she was suddenly swept backwards by the torrent until she was knocked onto her back on the LRIG space of Fumio's table. She shook herself of all the water whilst being careful to hide the shattered part of her ring from Leon and Tetra-drive Dragon's vision. The Selector's next Life Cloth revealed another copy of Maki-e, no Life Burst present this time. Fumio glanced back at Leon, under the impression that it seemed like things weren't even close to finished on his turn.

"Tetra-drive Dragon's Limit Break!" he called as a blue Vanguard circle briefly flashed in front of Tetra-drive Dragon. "Since Tetra-drive Dragon's attack was the second of the turn, I can reconduct the SIGNI attack step for a second time this turn!"

"So you can attack with your other two SIGNI..." the Selector muttered under her breath, having fully known that two of them were weaker than her remaining two SIGNI. "What are you planning?"

"Tidal Assault and Ouika attacks!" Leon declared. Tidal Assault and Ouika charged towards their respective opposing SIGNI and began engaging them. Whilst the Water Phantom had managed to easily overpower Suiboku, Tidal Assault had more difficulty against Marche and was forced back to Leon's table after a few unsuccessful swipes at her with his blades.

"What is the point of reconducting his attack steps?" muttered Anne "The result would be the same... unless!"

"That's correct," replied Leon "After four battles have been conducted, I pay the cost to Up Tetra-drive Dragon for another attack!" After paying the last two cards from his Ener Zone and moving the top two cards from his deck to his Trash Pile, being Titan of the Beam Rifle and Emerald Shield, Paschal, Tetra-drive Dragon let out a triumphant roar as it stood up once more. A gale swept across the battlefield as a result from the Limit Break being activated this moment. Fumio could only look down at her hand and growl in annoyance. She had no Guard SIGNI on hand and Tetra-drive Dragon was prepared for another attack.

"Tempest Assault!" called Leon. The Blue Storm Soldier nodded as he charged towards Anne and engaging her with his twin blades. The LRIG fought back as hard as she could with her staff, but was quickly overpowered as the Aquaroid knocked her backwards. The final Life Cloth revealed Marche, allowing Fumio to Ener Charge Servant D and Origami, none of which ended up helping either her or Anne.

 _It's over..._ she thought, glancing over to Tetra-drive Dragon.  _Well played, Soryu... For now._

"Go, Tetra-drive Dragon!" Leon declared as he held out his right arm "Sacred Storm!"

Tetra-drive Dragon roared as it took aim at Anne once again with its cannons, firing another torrent of water right at the LRIG. She struggled through as much of the water as she could before her strength finally gave out. As the water washed away from the table, Anne was lying on her back, heavily breathing from the experience she had just gone through. Glancing back at the blackened portion of the ring, she also felt a waver of relief that neither Leon, nor the dragon had spotted the patch at all. Fumio however had noticed herself and that had only increased her curiousity herself.

 _So then, you have also been burdened by 'them'..._ she pondered  _It seems our fates have indeed been somewhat intertwined, Anne. And as for Soryu Leon and Kai Toshiki, who knows what lies ahead for the both._

The air remained still across the battlefield before everything went black once more.

* * *

**Fumio's Apartment**

When Leon and Fumio eventually regained consciousness, they found themselves back within the Selector's bedroom. The Aqua Force had to blink for a few moments, having felt slightly disoriented from returning back to the real world... well, Fumio's world, immediatly after the battlefield had gone completely black. Fumio then offered a hand to help him back onto his feet, to which he kindly accepted.

"It seems that fate was on your side for that battle, Soryu," she spoke "I suppose a congratulations is in order."

"That won't be necessary," he replied "However, I still have the feeling that what you showed before me tonight was not Anne's full potential. Am I wrong?"

"Who knows?" the LRIG shrugged, catching his attention "But the fact remains is that your journey into the matter of this world has only just begun. You should be more vigilant of the voices of LRIGs from outside of here. Most Selectors will do anything to obtain their wish, at any cost." Leon said nothing, but his expression allowed the LRIG to tell that he silently agreed with her. Looking outside of her window, Fumio could see that the night sky had gone pitch black, save for a few street lights outside and the clock on her computer had indicated that it was now very late. Sighing for a moment, she shut the blinds before turning her attention back to the cardfighter's current dillema.

"I will allow you to stay the night here," she spoke "But by tomorrow, you'll be on your own to find Kai yourself."

"Understood," replied Leon.

"Good," said Fumio "Feel free to take the bottom bunk of my bed. I only wish that tonight's victory will at least bring you a night of pleasant dreams for the future."

After sorting out their arrangements, Leon had already tucked himself into the bottom bunk a few minutes later after Fumio had turned out the lights in her apartment. After saying good night to Anne, the LRIG wished her Selector the same before drifting off to sleep herself. All was silent in the room once again, now darkened by the night outside. Fumio however felt that there was something she still had to do, whilst her LRIG and guest were completely unaware. She opened her drawer and pulled out the card that she had hidden from Anne, at the moment Leon arrive in her room before the LRIG could press on her about the subject. Fumio glanced at the card as a dark red aura appeared around it.

"You are aware of your burden and your mission," a deep voice spoke out loud, that only the Selector could hear. "Do not let Soryu or anyone else become suspicious of this or you will suffer a much harsher penalty than that from before."

Fumio could only give a quiet growl in response to the voice that had spoken out, her gaze tightened onto the card showing both a pained and irriated expression at the same time.

"Why is Anne involved in this dillema as well?!" she quietly snapped "She has no right to suffer this same burden!"

"Her fate is tied to yours," the mysterious voice replied "Failure to follow along our instructions will result in a similar penalty for her as well. Until then."

The Selector said nothing as she hid the card back inside her drawer before climbing up to the top bunk of her bed, being careful to not wake Leon up before tucking herself in and going unhappily to sleep. Eventually, morning broke out as the Selector yawned from waking up. As she climbed down the ladder of her bunk, she could see that Leon was now awakening, most likely from hearing her just now. He rose out of the bottom bunk and climbed out of the two person bed.

"I trust you slept well?" the Selector asked. Leon drowsily nodded, having only just woken up from this instant. Fumio's question had also drawn the attention of Anne over to the two, she too also waking up from her slumber. A few minutes later, after getting themselves sorted out and having breakfast together, Leon eventually gathered his belongings together before heading out for the front door of Fumio's apartment.

"This is farewell, for now Leon," she spoke.

"I imagine once you reunite with Kai, we will meet again soon," said Anne.

"Indeed," he replied "And I wish you two well in your own endeavours. Until then."

Both Selector and Cardfighter exchanged a final goodbye with each other before Leon bid both Fumio and Anne farewell as he walked out of the building where the Selector's apartment laid and made his way onto the city streets, in search of his missing comrades. He felt as if there were some more answers to the Selector Battles and LRIGs that he wanted to find out more about, but he knew that the first order of business in this world was to now find his companions and reunite with them as quickly as possible.

* * *

**Present Day: City Library**

"And after I came to this library in hopes of finding more answers to my whereabouts, that is where I find you now," Leon concluded.

"Amazing..." murmured Aichi, still at a loss for words over his friend's tale. The whole wing of the library had fallen silent, now that everyone present had listened to Leon's story as to how he ended up as he was now, reunited with everyone present.

"To think you even ended up battling Futase Fumio herself," muttered Yuzuki "At least from what you told us, she may not mess around the next time she decides to battle anyone."

"I agree," he spoke before looking down at the LRIG "You wouldn't happen to be aware of Kai's whereabouts?"

"H... He's in the library garden around the back," Hitoe answered "We'll take you right to him."

Leon nodded in agreement, as did Aichi as he and Hitoe got up from their seats and lead the way to the garden. After a short walk, they eventually entered the lush green area to be greeted by Naoki and Ren as Leon eventually glanced towards Kai, as did he to him. Tama also gave out a loud, but hearty "Hello!" to Leon as the Kagero user gave a quick introduction to Ruko's former LRIG as well as most of the events that had gone about the two of them. When everyone sat down at the table, Aichi noticed that Kai was still seeming troubled like he was earlier in the day, before the Royal Paladin user had met Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"Kai-kun..." he murmured.

"Aichi..." he spoke "It's time..." Whilst everyone else glanced over to Kai in confusion as to what he actually meant, Aichi coughed slightly to get everyone's attention over to him.

"Um... Hitoe-san, Yuzuki-san..." he murmured "How far did Kai give on an insight to our past?"

"He went as far as the conclusion of the Link Joker invasion in your world," answered Yuzuki "But I couldn't help but feel there was more to the story."

"That's because... I asked him and everyone else to refrain from recapping it," Aichi replied "But given the circumstances I was told of from his battle with Ruko, I feel I need to disclose these events."

"W... What events would those be?" Hitoe asked.

"You see... It all began just before I battled Kai-kun to free him from Reverse," he began. He then went on to how Reverse Takuto's unit, Star-vader "Omega" Glendios had imbedded him with the "seed" of the Void just before it was destroyed. After fighting Kai, he knew it was only a matter of time before the power of the seed would corrupt him, reviving the terror he had fought so hard to banish from his world. Worried that he would endanger his friends from getting involved in the matter, he turned his attention to the four strongest fighters around the world that he knew to seal himself away on his world's moon, Olivier Gaillard, Phillipe Neve, Ratie Curti and the one that would break everything apart, unbeknowst to him at the time, Raul Serra. He briefly mentioned Kourin and gave a quick introduction to her and a catch up to her situation.

After recapping over all of the events that occurred, he concluded on the fact that Blaster Blade had now lightened the burden by splitting the seed into much smaller fragments, some of which were now embedded in the cardfighters now around Hitoe, Yuzuki and Tama, also bringing hope that Link Joker would one day be safe to use within the cardfighter's own world. The subject of the seed had now brought Kai's attention to the discussion.

"Hitoe, Yuzuki," he spoke "When I faced Ruko the other day... Iona's attacks resonated with the seed fragment embedded within me and..."

"That must have been why Link Joker took you over again..." the LRIG murmured, finishing his sentence for him.

"That is correct," he replied, clenching his fists in frustration "What angers me the most was that I wasn't able to do anything to stop it, nor was I able to remove that influence from Ruko without endangering her any further."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi murmured in worry.

"Tama stopped it though!" Tama called out "Tama saved Kai!"

"Well, that's a relief," muttered Naoki "So all we have to do is beat this Ruko and that Reverse stuff will leave her, just like the last time in our world. Right?"

"I'm afraid it may not be that simple," Leon replied.

"Eh?" Ren pondered.

"All of us have a fragment of the seed embedded within us," Kai explained "If what happened to me was because of Iona's power, there's a chance the same thing will happen to all of you." The Kagero user could only look down and clench his fists even more, frustration was already building up even higher inside of him. Hitoe could only feel nervous from noticing his expression, unsure of what to say to him.

"Kai-kun, whatever happened wasn't your fault this time!" called Aichi "You were brought back into Reverse's grip against your own will! We will find a way to save Ruko!" This however did not help the mood at all. Kai, feeling the frustration get the better of him, got up from his seat and picked up Tama's card, much to the LRIG's confusion.

"Kai-kun?" asked Aichi. He turned around to the Royal Paladin user and handed over what appeared to be a key to him.

"This is the key to the apartment I've rented," he spoke, trying to supress the stress that he was feeling "I will meet you back there later." He then began walking away from the group, leaving them to themselves.

"Kai?" mumured Hitoe.

"Let him be," Ren spoke, this time in a slightly more serious tone. "Though it may be true that he was dragged into that scenario again, it appears he feels somewhat responsible."

"But... What Aichi said was true," replied Yuzuki "None of this is his own fault."

"Look, I hate to ruin everyone's hopes," said Naoki "But I think Ren has a point. We should probably give him some space to sort this out. He said he would meet us back at that apartment he mentioned, right Aichi?"

"Yeah," the Royal Paladin user answered, looking closely at the address marked on the tag of the keyring. "Let's go, everyone!"

The rest of the group nodded in agreement and followed Aichi out of the garden and the library, heading out into the streets once more.

* * *

**City Park**

Eventually, after several minutes of walking around the city and trying to supress his frustration, Kai had eventually come to a stop, within the wide open area of the park. He sighed heavily as he breathed in and out as he recounted everything that happened from his previous battle with Ruko and Iona. Part of him was frustrated of not being able to save the Selector from Link Joker's grip and the other part was angry, but at himself for being under the control of that same power once again, regardless of it being his own will or not. He knew he had to face her again soon enough, but the question was, how? How was he going to plan to save her without falling under that influence for a third and possibly, permanent time.

"Kai?"

Tama's concerned voice snapped him out of his daze as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the card containing the LRIG. She seemed concerned for the Kagero user's state, worried about what was going on.

"I understand your concern, Tama," he spoke "But even now, I'm having doubts about not just myself."

"Doubts?" she pondered.

"That is correct," he replied "I'm also having doubts about... Dragonic Overlord."

"Huh?"

"During the battle, before I was taken over," Kai explained "I could sense some of the Reverse had not left it as I first thought. I'm beginning to wonder if that element had played a part in my brief return into Reverse." Tama pondered over the subject, she too having also been incredibly concerned for Ruko's state. If from what she saw Reverse do to Kai could do the same to Ruko, she knew that the only one the LRIG could blame was herself. Kai had promised her to get her back with Ruko and now she felt a great uneasiness swelling up inside of her. Gathering her thoughts, she looked up at Kai.

"Tama will help!" she called out.

"Tama..." murmured Kai.

"Tama wants to help Kai save Ruko!" Tama replied "Tama will keep Kai from Reverse!" Kai although somewhat grateful for her words of encouragement, felt as if even they wouldn't make much of a difference in changing their scenario. Then, it suddenly hit him.

"I see now!" he gasped "The key to saving Ruko is...! ACK!"

His answer was suddenly cut off as he felt something sharp enter right into the back of his abomen as he suddenly felt himself in a great deal of pain and his breathing declining by a very large margin. Everything began going black as he fell forwards to the ground, unable to hear Tama's cries of horror and pleas for him to answer her to see if he was alright. Eventually, a few seconds after hitting the ground, Kai lost complete consciousness as Tama could only hold her hands over her mouth as she looked over his fallen body, her card dropped onto the floor a few meters forward. Looking up, she couldn't suddenly see a hand reaching out for her card and gasped.

"Don't cry about it!" a familiar voice sounded "Aki-lovely's going to take you to your new, proper Selector, just after she finishes fishing someout out of Kai-unlucky here."

"Kai!" Tama cried in panic as Akira's hand obscured her vision completely "Kai, please help Tama! Kai!"

But the fallen cardfighter remained motionless as Akira took something out from his left jacket pocket, before leaving his unconscious body lying forward on the ground. He was unaware of Tama's screams for help as he couldn't even hear her and was unable to do anything as a small puddle of blood soaked out from his wound, from which a pen was present, sticking right in the back part of his abomen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Blue Flight Dragon, Trans-core Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 2 Blue  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force  
> Effect:  
> Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): When your Aqua Force LRIG grows from this LRIG, if that LRIG is not Level 4, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field. An LRIG that grows from this LRIG also gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG attacks, your opponent may discard 1 card. If they do not, this LRIG gains Double Crush until the end of that battle and they cannot use any cards from their hand in response to this attack.” until end of turn.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack)
> 
>  **Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 2 Blue  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): At the end of the battle that this LRIG attacked, if it is the the second battle of that turn, move the current state of the Attack Phase back to the SIGNI attack step and this LRIG gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 2 Blue and choose 2 cards from your hand and discard them OR Pay 2 Blue and send 2 cards from the top of your deck to your Trash: At the end of the battle that a Blue SIGNI attacked, if it was the fourth battle of that turn, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this LRIG.” until end of turn.  
> [Action] Pay 1 Blue: Choose 1 of your Blue SIGNI, it gains 2000 power until end of turn. After you use this ability once, you can only use it again on that same SIGNI for the rest of the turn.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack)
> 
>  **Ice Floe Angel**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Water Beast: High Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Titan of the Beam Rifle**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Golem  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your Blue LRIG has “Limit Break” as a condition in its effect text, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Storm Rider, Diamantes**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: Aqua Force LRIGs only  
> Power: 8000  
> [Use Timing - Ener Phase] During your Ener Phase, if this card is in your Ener Zone and you would Ener Charge a Blue SIGNI, you may reveal 1 Blue SIGNI in your hand instead. If you do, summon this card from your Ener Zone to an open SIGNI space.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if it is the first attack of the turn, this SIGNI gains 2000 power until the end of the turn and “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Move this SIGNI to your Ener Zone: At the end of a battle that this SIGNI attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Blue SIGNI from your Ener Zone other than “Storm Rider, Diamantes” and summon it.”


	24. Arc 2 - Ride 24: That Twisted Development

**Apartment Blocks**

"According to the key tag, Kai's rented apartment should be one floor above from where we are now heading."

Aichi led the way up the long stairs throughout the building that he, Hitoe and the other cardfighters were walking through. Needless to say, Naoki was already panting from the long climb up the many long stairs that the complex had to offer whilst Ren and Leon had effortlessly managed to join both the Royal Paladin user and the Selector at the current floor they were standing on. To their left was a single door leading to apartment 801, in which Hitoe had already known was Ruko's home. She couldn't help but worry for a moment about her friend, concerned that with every passing second that went on around them, Link Joker's grip on the Selector would continue to grow even stronger and holding on to Iona made it appear that the situation was growing ever worse, considering that Tama didn't go through with the oath to allow Ruko to become an Eternal Girl with the intent of saving everyone. Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as she heard Naoki stop and pant for a moment as he joined her and Aichi.

"Not... much... further to go," he panted, clearly showing that he was not a big fan from taking the long walk up, especially with all of the belongings he packed was stuffed into a single bag that he carried on his back, much like the other cardfighters that came to this world with him. Aichi sweatdropped for a moment before he noticed Hitoe looking over at the door to Ruko's apartment and turned to her.

"Is something wrong Hitoe-san?" he asked.

"Um... This is Ruko's apartment," she answered "I want to let her grandmother and brother know that Ruko is not hurt for the moment. But..."

"Given the circumstances," Yuzuki spoke, continuing for her Selector "Letting them in on the whole situation and the fact that she and us were involved in the Selector Battles will only make things worse for Ruko. When Kai battled her, she said that she ran away to avoid having them involved in some way and since Link Joker has somewhat of a hold on her with Iona, I can't exactly blame her."

"I see..." murmured Aichi. Before the group could resume their journey back to Kai's apartment, the door to Ruko's apartment opened up, revealing a tall boy with the same hair colour as the aforementioned Selector exit the front door before looking out in front of him. He was somewhat surprised to say the least, to see Hitoe along with the four cardfighters present right in front of him. The Selector already knew from meeting on occasion with her friend whilst she still had Midoriko that this was Ruko's older brother.

"Oh Hitoe, is everything alright?" he asked. Quickly thinking up of an excuse to not raise any suspicion, she gave out an answer to him.

"Not really Ayumu..." she answered "I was just passing by. I'm sorry I couldn't find Ruko for the moment..." Had Aichi and Naoki not recalled Yuzuki's explanation of the scenario at hand to them, they would have called out loud in disbelief, possibly making things worse for the aforementioned Selector and her friends.

"I see, I was just heading outside to try and look for her myself," he murmured before looking over at Aichi, Naoki, Leon and Ren who just playfully shrugged in response. "You seem to have quite the crowd here. Are they friends of yours?"

"Y... Yes!" Aichi answered "Hitoe-san met us a while ago and... we heard about what happened. We want to do what we can to help but... we haven't had any luck finding your sister so far."

"Well, I suppose I should be glad for the additional help," Ayumu spoke, somewhat bewildered that these friends of Hitoe were willing to help out. Before he could say anything else, an elderly figure emerged from the doorway. She wore a green jumper over a white shirt and had a red hairband present amongst her grey hair. Aichi assumed from appearance alone that this was Ruko's grandmother as Hitoe had briefly mentioned. She looked over to Hitoe and smiled warmly.

"Hello there, Hitoe-chan," she said warmly "I heard you were just passing through?"

"T... That's right," the Selector answered before looking over Aichi and the others "T... These are some of my friends that came along with me."

"I see," the elderly figure replied kindly as she looked towards the Royal Paladin user "I assume you are this Kai that Hitoe-chan briefly mentioned on a previous visit?"

"Um... no, but we're close friends with him," Aichi answered "My name's Aichi. Sendou Aichi."

"Ishida Naoki," Naoki replied before holding out a hand pointing over his two colleagues. "That's Soryu Leon and Suzugamori Ren."

"Hello there," Ren said cheerfully. Leon said nothing, but nodded in agreement with the Shadow Paladin user's greetings.

"It is nice to meet all of you," the grandmother replied as she gave a gentle bow of respect before looking over to Hitoe. "Given that you were passing by, would you not mind joining me for a bit whilst Ayumu goes out and looks for Ru-chan?"

"S... Sure," said Hitoe.

The elderly woman smiled kindly and opened the door for her and the cardfighters to head inside whilst Ayumu waved goodbye and went down the stairs of the building, heading out into the streets in the hopes of finding his missing sister, still unaware of everything that was transpiring around her. When everyone was inside Ruko's apartment, Hitoe, Leon, Naoki and Ren all took a seat at the small table present on the floor of the living space beside the small kitchen area. As Ruko's grandmother began preparing drinks and cake for the group, Aichi had gone up to the windowsill, looking out into the city and the early afternoon sky out in front of him. What caught his attention was the tallest buildng amongst the ones he could see, unbeknowst to him was where Ruko's last battle with Tama took place and where she and Kai had confronted each other.

It was nearly complete in its contruction since that battle had took place, though Aichi could feel somewhat of an ominious presence deep within from just looking over at it. Wanting to get his mind off of that thought, he turned around to rejoin the others. As he went over towards an open space at the table, something then caught his attention on the shelves on the wall to his right, just a bit beside the table. Heading over towards the smaller lower shelf that was nearest to the stand divding up the kitchen and living space, he could see a photo within the frame. It depicted what appeared to be a much younger Ruko and Ayumu within a majority of the photo with a taller woman present behind them, though for some reason, the top right corner of the photo which would depict her face and upper body had seemingly faded away, much to his confusion.

As Ruko's grandmother prepared the group their food and drink on the table, she looked up at where Aichi was and had a solemn expression present on her face. Putting his food and drink down at his seat, she walked up to join him at the shelves. She noticed his glance at the photo and looked over to him as he did to her. Noticing her expression, Aichi seemed a little worried.

"Is... something wrong?" he asked.

"Not at all Aichi," she answered "I just couldn't help but see that you took notice of Ru-chan's old family photo, when she was still living with her mother."

"I see..." he murmured "Um... forgive me for asking, but... what happened?" Ruko's grandmother seemed uncomfortable with going over the subject, particuarly to a friend of Hitoe who she had just met. But with some of her suspicions over her granddaughter's disappearance growing by the second and Aichi willing to offer his help in trying to find her, she thought that disclosing the subject could maybe give him a clue to follow on when finding out why Ruko was missing.

"A few years ago," she began "Ruko's mother had transferred care of both her and Ayumu over to me. I was confused as to why, but she claimed that she couldn't understand what she thought that Ruko was thinking and that had scared her. As far as I was aware, Ru-chan never asked for anything more. She never gave any more details to the subject and left both my grandchildren with me, just like that. Then again, I always had my doubts regarding to the scenario as she had neglected Ru-chan in past."

"I'm sorry to hear," said Aichi, feeling guilty for asking over a particularly touchy subject.

"I understand Aichi," the grandmother replied "Before Ruko disappeared, when she would invite Yuzuki and Hitoe over, I had a feeling it would only be a matter of time before one of them found out." After a few moments of silence, she began smiling warmly again. "That reminds me," she said "Your drink and cake are on the table if you want them."

"Thank you very much," he spoke kindly as he went back to sit at the table to join his friends.

**Around an hour later...**

Eventually after spending some more time with Ruko's grandmother and Ayumu had returned to deliver the bad news that he had been unsuccessful in his attempts to look for the Selector herself, Aichi, Hitoe and the other cardfighters bid the family goodbye and continued on their way up to Kai's apartment. Eventually after going up another flight of stairs, they found themselves at the place they needed to be. Unlocking the door with the key that Kai had provided them with, Aichi opened up the apartment for everyone to enter inside. They could see that its size was somewhat similar to Ruko's own apartment, only downgraded by the fact that there was only bedroom and joint bathroom available outside from the kitchen and living space in the whole complex.

"I guess Kai wasn't expecting all of us to show up when he was trying to find a place to stay," murmured Naoki.

"I find that understandable, given how long he has been in this world for," replied Leon as he glanced around the living space. "Ren, if you would head back to the city streets to find us some spare futons for our sleeping arangements?"

"But of course," the Shadow Paladin user replied "It's not like we plan on sleeping on the hard floor itself, right?" Everyone else just ended up sweatdropping at his rhetorical question. Ignoring the confused gestures, Ren smiled and exited the apartment to carry out his task for the day. Looking out the open window to see the afternoon sun starting to set, Aichi still had one thing on his mind that he felt he needed to get sorted.

"I should probably go out and look for Kai-kun," he said "I'm starting to worry about him."

"I... I'll come with you," replied Hitoe "I'll need to head back home soon."

"Thank you very much," Aichi spoke "Naoki-kun, can you take care of things here with Leon?"

"You got it!" the Narukami user replied energetically whilst giving a thumbs up. Leon nodded in agreement with Aichi's request to accept Naoki's help around the apartment. When everyone was happy with what they needed to do, Aichi and Hitoe left the two remaining cardfighters to themselves, exiting the apartment and eventually leaving the whole building. When they were outside, the Royal Paladin user and Selector began their search for Kai, hoping that he was alright after the way he appeared during their discussion at the library, completely unaware of the fact that Akira had wounded him a short time ago.

"I should try his mobile number..." Aichi murmured "But we're in a different world, so I'm not sure..."

"You should be able to still call him," Yuzuki interjected "You're both in the same world now and Hitoe can get in contact with him just fine."

"Okay then," he replied as he began dialing the number. When he did so, he listened carefully for any sign of an answer. Eventually, after a few ringtone bleeps, nothing happened.

"He's not answering...?" he pondered in concern. Before he or Hitoe had time to process that thought, they could suddenly hear some panting from nearby. Turning their attention forward, they suddenly saw Chiyori running towards them. The younger Selector although usually energetic was panting from rushing over to this point, leaving Aichi, Hitoe and Yuzuki to wonder what was going on. They soon found out after seeing that Chiyori's expression was littered with panic.

"Chiyori?" murmured Yuzuki "What's the ru..."

"There's no time to explain...!" she panted, a slight hint of panic present in her voice "I've been looking for you...! Something's... happened... to Kai!" This only led to several collected gasps from Aichi and Hitoe whilst the LRIG could only wonder in worry about what had happened. An "ahem!" was suddenly heard as Chiyori then dug into her pocket to bring out Eldora's card to the group.

"What's going on Eldora?" asked Aichi.

"I don't know," she replied "But from the look of things, Kai's in bad shape. We have a friend keeping an eye on him for the moment, but she'll need help carrying him through the city."

"So he's... injured?" Hitoe murmured in worry.

"Follow me!" called Chiyori as she quickly sped off to where Kai currently was. Aichi and Hitoe nodded in agreement with each other and hurried after the younger Selector, hoping they were not too late to help out their friend. Eventually, after passing through several streets to the City Park, Aichi could only gasp in horror as he saw Kai's unconscious state. He could see that someone was beside him, seemingly waiting for help.

"Kai-kun!" he cried as he ran down the stone steps towards the cardfighter. The girl, Amika, who had observed his conversation with him and Naoki earlier in the day looked over to Aichi as he joined her.

"Is he alright?!" he asked in panic.

"For the moment, he's still breathing!" she replied as she quickly held out something to Aichi. "But I found this pen stabbed into the back of his abomen. I'm concerned that he may have been poisoned by the ink if it has been in there for a while and I'll need help carrying him to the nearest hospital quickly!"

"I got it!" called Aichi as he got himself underneath one of Kai's shoulders, as did Amika with the other. Hitoe and Chiyori quickly joined the two and the unconscious cardfighter as they all worked together to heave Kai as hard as they could along the rest of the park and down the streets of the city. Along the way, they had to call out to groups of people ahead to step aside, allowing them all to pass by. Panic was the only thing running through their minds, hoping they could help out the wounded cardfighter before it was too late, unaware of the perpetrator involved in the act.

* * *

**Ruko's School: After School Hours**

Ulith waited patiently from within the empty classroom that she sat in. She was expecting Akira to hopefully return with Tama's card as she specifically requested, after the Selector's earlier blunder with making herself known to the other cardfighters in her battle with Naoki, thereby exposing her to their knowledge. She felt angered by the blunder so much that she was almost unwilling to give her another chance until she mentioned the Narukami user's units had a yellow border on their cards, which was odd as Wixoss never had Yellow registered as an official colour within the game. Well, at least until his arrival that is. Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as the door to the classroom had opened up, revealing Akira in her presence.

"Have you been successful?" Ulith asked with a hint of venom to her voice.

"But of course, Ulith-san," Akira replied as she held out Tama's card before the cruel demanored Selector. Ulith then walked over to her and took the card, inspecting it closely. When she saw the LRIG's panicked and worried expression present as well as her hectic breathing, she smirked as that was the authentic LRIG.

"I see you have accomplished your task well, Aki-lovely," she spoke "Perhaps you aren't as incompetent as I originally thought."

"And I have an additional bonus for you as well," the Selector continued as she held out a rectangular shaped object, wrapped in cloth to obscure it completely. Ulith took the object from her and shedded a bit of the cloth. Upon looking closer, she picked out what was inside the object. A Wixoss deck and a very familiar one at that. Inspecting the cards closely, she placed them back in the object and wrapped the cloth back over it.

"I have no use for these cards," she spoke "But seeing as you went through that effort to obtain them, feel free to keep them, if you so choose."

"W... Why thank you, Ulith-san!" Akira replied with joy as she placed the object back in her hoodie pocket, a sinister thought having crept across her mind.

"That reminds me," Ulith continued "Have you set the bait?"

"Yes!" the Selector answered "With any luck, Aichi has come across Kai's wounded body and should be on his way in a matter of time."

"Excellent," she smirked "I only look forward to seeing what twisted expressions that 'hero' of the other world will show me soon enough." Her sneer never stopped for a moment, which greatly worried Tama as her card rested within the palm of the Selector Akira had now given her to.

* * *

**City Hospital**

Everything was dark for Kai. For the moment, he couldn't move, hear or even see about what was going on around him. Just an empty black void was present in his vision as he had no idea of anything around him for the moment. Eventually, after ushering out a weak, but collective groan, his hearing started to return to him.

"He's waking up!" called a female voice.

"Kai-kun, hang in there!" cried a different voice.

Although he wasn't fully aware of his surroundings or hearing just yet, he knew that tone of voice well enough to recognize that it was Aichi who had called out to him just now. Next, he tried opening up his eyes, resulting in his vision becoming blurry at first before his true line of sight eventually came back. Blinking his eyes to become more used to the light in the room that he was resting in, he sat up from the bed that he had been lying down in. Looking closely at what was in front of him, he could see Aichi, Hitoe and Amika looking over him, with relief coming around to their expressions.

"He's alright! Alive! Well!" called a familiar voice from a different person. Looking over to his left, he could see Chiyori bouncing up and down in both joy and relief that he was okay before briefly spinning around with Eldora's card, much to the LRIG's dizziness and dismay. As he attempted to get up, he suddenly felt a sharp pain from where he had been stabbed.

"Easy Kai!" called Yuzuki "The doctors said it may take a while until your actual wound properly heals."

"I see..." he murmured before he looked around the hospital room. "How did I...?"

"I found you when Chiyori and I were going through the park," Amika explained before bringing out the pen that she held, the sharp point of which was still stained in blood. "I removed this pen from your wound and waited for help to carry you over here. I'm just glad the doctors managed to get out all the ink that ended up in your blood. My name's Amika by the way. Hashimoto Amika."

"Then I owe you my thanks, Amika," Kai replied. He then clutched his head, trying to remember the incident before he blacked out. "I was attacked earlier and... Tama...!"

"Kai-kun?" murmured Aichi.

"Is Tama's card here?!" he asked. Both the Royal Paladin user and Hitoe along with Yuzuki shook their heads, confirming Kai's suspicions.

"I knew it," he muttered "Whoever attacked me must have taken Tama's card."

"And when we think about how sharp that pen was..." said Yuzuki "There's only one person we know who has that kind of fondness when she's unstable..."

"Akira..."

Everyone turned to Amika, having heard the voice come over from where she was standing. Kai, Hitoe and Yuzuki being the most surprised as they had heard the voice of that LRIG before and not since their first encounter together. The Selector looked at Aichi and Kai, noticing their expressions in confusion for a moment. She remembered her LRIG telling her previously that Kai could see her and that same possibility lay with Aichi and Naoki who she also saw earlier.

"S... Say..." she nervously spoke "You wouldn't happen to somehow be Selectors yourselves?"

"I guess..." murmured Aichi "We can hear and see the voices of LRIGs." Amika then dug into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out Piruluk's LRIG card, revealing the LRIG to everyone present in the room and Aichi, Chiyori and Eldora for the first time in their case. Her expression seemed to be the same as Kai remembered seeing in his first battle against Akira, although closer glances would tell that she didn't seem exactly as 'cold' as the Kagero user first saw. She glanced over towards Kai, keeping her gaze upon him.

"So Piruluk, we meet again," he murmured.

"Likewise," she replied in a monotone like voice. "I assume from your injury that you were unfortunate this time round to fall victim to one of my former Selector's unstable fits."

"Wait... you don't mean the same Aoi Akira who works with Urazoe Iona in the fashion department?!" Amika asked in disbelief.

"T... That would be her..." Hitoe whimpered nervously, remembering back to their first encounter and how it ended.

"And we happen to know," Yuzuki replied, she too also remembering her Selector Battle against her when she was still a Selector herself, with Hanayo in her possession.

"But even so..." Kai murmured "If Akira was my attacker, why would she want to steal Tama from me?" As he fumbled his hands around, he suddenly felt a bump present in his right coat pocket. Reaching his hand in, he suddenly felt what appeared to be a scrap of paper stuffed inside recently. Grabbing a hold of it, he quickly brought it out to reveal a piece of paper, folded irregularly and with the name, Sendou Aichi written in bold on one of the folds.

"What is this?" Kai pondered, looking closely at what he held.

"It looks like it's for me..." Aichi murmured as he took the scrap from him. Carefully unfolding the paper that was before him, he could see what appeared to be a letter in front of him. It read out:

_"Oi, so called 'hero' from another world"_

_"Aki-lucky here's got something that you and Kai-unlucky want back"_

_"If you want to know where I've taken Ru-pon's LRIG to"_

_"Meet me and a guest at her school tonight and all of your questions shall be answered..."_

_"Lucky, lucky, Aki-lucky..."_

At the bottom of the message was what appeared to be a chibi anime style picture of Akira with a wink and a heart symbol above her head, no doubt glued on after being cut out from one of the fashion magazines that she and Iona, or rather Ulith as of now, starred in whenever they were called on to do fashion shoots as part of their jobs, aside from just being Selectors themselves. Aichi was primarily confused as to why Akira wanted to see him along with this 'guest' she mentioned in the message, though everyone else was beginning to feel uncertain. None however were more uncertain than Hitoe, Kai and Yuzuki, having been well aware of previous experiences around the Selector that Aichi was in the dark about. Nonetheless, the Royal Paladin user knew that she had taken Tama and Ruko's school was where he was to find the stolen LRIG.

"I'm going to save Tama," he spoke, his tone of voice being serious enough to define his decision being resolute. As he got up though, Kai quickly attempted to rise from the bed, grabbing a hold of the cardfighter's arm and wincing in pain from his injury.

"Aichi...!" he called.

"Kai-kun?" Aichi murmued.

"Listen to me," Kai spoke "I have no doubt that if you have to battle Akira for Tama, you have more than enough skill needed to face her. But, I need to confront her myself!

"But you're still injured!" replied Eldora "As long as that wound hasn't healed by a signifcant amount, you won't be able to walk properly!"

"Besides, didn't you say that Aichi was one of the strongest opponents you've faced?" asked Yuzuki.

"Because I'm not willing to risk him being wounded as well..." he replied before he then turned to Aichi himself. "As far as I'm aware, you're not used to being threatened by any dangerous methods, sharp objects in particular and she will no doubt attempt to wound you herself if she becomes unstable in her mannerisms." Aichi however put a hand on Kai's shoulder.

"Please rest Kai-kun," he said "I promise I will be careful around Akira and I promise that I will save Tama and get her back!"

"Aichi..." Kai muttered. Sighing in defeat, he sat back down into the hospital bed that he was in. "Very well then, but I won't allow you to face Akira on your own."

"I... I'll go with him." Everyone looked over to Hitoe who had nervously spoke out in response to Kai's statement. Even Yuzuki could only gasp in horror and shock as she couldn't even imagine what her Selector was thinking right now.

"Hitoe!" she called "You were already in a bad state after your battle with Akira, there's no telling that she would be looking to harm you again!"

"B... But if I guide Aichi to Ruko's school..." the Selector replied nervously "And if I stay out of sight from Akira... then everything should be fine... You don't mind, Aichi?"

"I understand," he answered before looking back to Kai. "Hang in there for now, I promise we'll be careful and return with Tama." The Kagero user said nothing in response, still concerned about letting Aichi go to confront Akira in order to recover Tama, but he knew that as long as he remained injured from the earlier wound, he was powerless to do anything for the moment. Sighing, he nodded in compliance with his decision. With that, Aichi and Hitoe then left the hospital room leaving Kai, Amika and Chiyori all on their own.

"Well, I should probably get going too," sighed Amika before putting Piruluk's card back into the pocket of her shorts and looking back to Kai "I hope your friends and yourself end up alright."

"Likewise," replied Kai as he lay back on the hospital bed. The Selector then left the hospital room, waving goodbye as she left. As Chiyori looked up at the Kagero user, he shuffled his hand into his jacket pockets. His eyes suddenly widened as he felt as if something important had gone missing from his left jacket pocket. Quickly checking his other pockets, his worst suspicions were only just confirmed.

"Don't tell me...!" he gasped.

"Kai?" murmured Chiyori.

"If Akira has taken it as well, then...!"

* * *

**Ruko's School: School Entrance**

It was now nighttime by the time Aichi and Hitoe had reached Ruko's school. The sun had already gone down just before they arrived at the front entrance, meaning that the black night had now become present in the sky above. Much to Yuzuki's surprise, the gates had not closed, allowing them to wander freely onto the campus, though part of her was still worried for Hitoe's safety, hoping that Akira would not spot the Selector at least before Aichi had a chance to find her. The cardfighter then looked over to Hitoe who seemed to be shaking with fear.

"Is everything alright Hitoe-san?" he asked in concern.

"I... It's nothing...!" she replied loudly, a hint of panic still present in her voice. Taking a deep breath and gulping for a moment, she began walking towards the school building. Aichi walked alongside her, not entirely convinced from her composure, but pressed onwards. The silence of the night air around the school certainly didn't help to brighten the mood as it all seemed very quiet. Albeit, a little too quiet for their tastes. When they were halfway towards the front doors of the main building, they could suddenly hear a pair of footsteps up ahead. Hitoe suddenly stopped, having to bite her lip to avoid screaming out loud. Aichi kept one hand on her shoulder to calm her down before looking around. Then, before anyone else could think of something, several small knives suddenly struck the ground in front of them, causing Hitoe to jump and grab on to Aichi's left arm in fright.

"So you actually showed up, Sendou."

Hitoe nervously gulped and moved behind Aichi as she saw Akira approach the cardfighter from the front doors of the school's main buidling, stopping only a few feet in front of him. Upon looking closer, she noticed Hitoe before sneering. This caused the Selector to nervously shift out from behind Aichi to be alongside him.

"And you've brought the blubbering mess of a Selector along for your little trip here?" she sneered "Seems someone's gone and overstepped."

"Leave Hitoe out of this!" snapped Yuzuki, remembering fully well of what happened from their first encounter, having explained about it to both Kai and Aichi.

"Where is Tama?!" Aichi demanded.

"Oh, you came all this way out for her?" Akira mused "Funny. I remember writing in that note that I'd give you your answer, I never said I would hand her back."

"W… What are you saying?" Hitoe asked nervously. Aichi glanced back at her for a moment before looking back at Akira, hoping to get a clear answer as to what exactly she meant.

"But since you came this far with "Hittoe" ***** , I suppose I'll be kind enough to tell you," she continued "I've delivered Tama over to my guest I mentioned. That would be Ulith."

"What?!" gasped Aichi.

"Ulith has Tama?!" cried Yuzuki.

"That's right," she replied "And she apparantly wants Aichi to pay her a visit in person."

"Ulith... wants to see me…?" he murmured "Then do you know where I can find her...?"

"That is why I'm here," Akira explained "To prevent you from advancing any further and disposing you for her."

Aichi didn't exactly get the full understanding from what the Selector was telling him, but it appeared that despite Ulith wanting to see him, Akira was wanting to take him out before he would even get a chance to meet her and hopefully, rescue Tama from her clutches. Thinking over the scenario very carefully, he realized there was one conclusion that Akira had expected him to figure out by now. He opened his eyes and brought out his deck box from his jacket pocket. He looked briefly at Blaster Blade's card before turning his attention to the Selector in front of him.

"Are you saying you want to battle me?" he asked.

"But of course," she replied before glancing over to Hitoe. "Or if you want, I'll let you take a free pass. That is, if you're willing to use your little accomplice as a shield to take your place."

"That's absurd!" roared Yuzuki "Hitoe would never accept any challenge from you and I know Aichi wouldn't even consider throwing her in harm's way!" Aichi nodded in agreement with the LRIG.

"I'll battle you if it means getting to Ulith and Tama," he spoke.

"Very well then," said Akira "Even if you beat me, Ulith will be sure to make you crack, one way or another. A shame too, as your little friend seems far too spineless to even take a stand. After all, would Ru-ru really want a useless, blubbering coward as a friend?" As Aichi kept his gaze trailed upon Akira, partially growling under his breath for the words said towards his friend, Hitoe watched on from beside and ran the situation through her head, thinking about everything that was said out loud. Yuzuki looked up at her Selector in worry, concerned about how she was really feeling.

"H... Hitoe," she said "Akira has no right to say those kind of things to you. You're not a coward and I know that for a..."

"Wait, Akira!" Hitoe called. Both Aichi and Akira suddenly turned around to see that the Selector had spoken out for herself. Taking a deep breath and holding Yuzuki's card in her right arm, she stepped forward towards the pair.

"I'll... I'll battle you in Aichi's place!"

"Hitoe-san?!" gasped Aichi.

"What are you thinking?!" replied Yuzuki.

"My, oh my," Akira spoke in a mocking tone "It appears that the coward has decided she wants something to prove herself. Well, if that is fine with Aichi over here, I'm more than willing to give you a fighting chance to settle the score."

"Hitoe..." murmured Aichi "I know Akira shouldn't have said those things. But let me..."

"I'm not wanting to settle scores Aichi," the Selector replied, a hint of nervousness still present in her voice. "I may not even stand a chance against Akira, but I want to prove that I'm willing to do anything I can to help my friends, including you. If battling her will get you immediate passage to Ulith without wearing you down first, I'm going to risk even my own wish of having new friends on the line."

"But..." spoke Yuzuki.

"Yuzuki, please!" called Hitoe "I need your help if we're going to give Aichi a better chance of saving Tama! So please...! As my friend... I really want your help!" The LRIG didn't know what to say. Her thoughts were telling her to say no and allow Aichi to handle Akira himself and hope that his skills would be enough to overcome the Selector, but she knew from the scenario that Hitoe had raised a point. What if battling him was just a means of wearing him down so he would face Ulith unprepared? Yuzuki didn't want to believe that, but she didn't know what to say.

"Aichi, what do you think?" she asked. Aichi thought long and hard over this decision. He still was unsure of allowing this to happen, but he knew there were only two ways he could get to Ulith and he had to pick one of them. He looked into Hitoe's eyes and held a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you really sure you want to go through with this?" he asked in concern.

"... Yes," Hitoe answered with resolute determination. "If I remember the saying right... 'What are friends for?'"

"Alright then... Just please be careful," Aichi said, still uncertain of whether or not this was a good idea. Looking back at Akira, he made a decision.

"I will agree to let Hitoe battle you," he spoke.

"Then... proceed," said Akira, stepping to the side and gesturing for him to enter the building. He didn't have to be told twice as he ran into the school through the front doors, briefly looking back at Hitoe before beginning his search for Ulith and Tama.

_Please be careful... Hitoe-san... Yuzuki-san..._

When the cardfighter was no longer in sight and had already gone deep into the school building, Akira sneered in delight as she turned around to face Hitoe. The more nervous Selector tried her best to keep a determined glance towards her, with mixed success from her expression. Taking a few deep breaths, she awaited for the eventual signal to conduct the battle between her and Akira. The opposing Selector then walked towards Hitoe, reaching out in her pocket and pulling out an LRIG card. This however had caught the attention of her current LRIG, Milulun who seemed bewildered and somewhat annoyed.

"Hey!" she called from her other pocket "Aren't you going to use me?!"

"That won't be necessary, Milulun," replied Akira, sneering upon glancing at the card she held. "I have a much better idea for this occasion so you can sit out for this one." As Milulun made a pouting noise from the other pocket, the Selector held out the card towards Hitoe who clutched Yuzuki's LRIG card tightly, trying not to let her now built up composure fall apart at the last moment. The LRIG looked up at Hitoe, still concerned for what she was thinking of before looking back at their opponent.

"Well then," Akira spoke as she held out the card she was holding towards Hitoe. "Given that Yuzu-pon was once a Selector herself, I think that I'll relish in the delight that I'll crush two of my favourite victims again tonight for the price of one. That being said, are you prepared to suffer once more?" Hitoe said nothing, holding out the back of Yuzuki's card towards the Selector.

"Open!" they both declared. At that moment, to Yuzuki's shock, a fiery red flash also erupted from the card that Akira was holding, clashing with the one from her card, bringing both the Selector and Hitoe to the field that awaited them. Over from the open entrance gates of the school, peeking out from the edge the entire time was none other than Ruko herself, who had been overhearing the entire conversation from the very start. She too had also felt worried about Hitoe, but she knew at as long Link Joker's influence was present around her, she felt she couldn't risk doing anything to intervene in case her friend became exposed to that same power. Turning her attention back to the subject on her mind, she ran past the two Selectors and right into the school.

_Aichi... Just why are you getting yourself involved in all of this?_

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When both Selectors regained consciousness, they could see that the entire background colours from both sides of their fields were completely covered in red, much to Hitoe and Yuzuki's surprise as they knew fully well that Akira normally used a Blue deck as it was complementary to her playstyle. When they turned their gaze to the figure that was present in the LRIG space of the opposing Selector's table, they could only gasp in shock and horror. Standing right on the table was an all too familiar figure that was armed and at the ready. Milulun was seen sitting beside the LRIG deck, pouting over the fact that she wasn't being used in the battle, but that was the least of Hitoe's concerns right now.

"B… But that's…!" she stuttered.

"Surprised?" Akira smirked viciously. "The LRIG you see is indeed, Lizard Soldier, Conroe!"

"No way...!" gasped Yuzuki "But why is the deck you have is...?!"

"That's correct! The deck you now see before you is in fact..." the Selector replied, her sneer not leaving her crazed smile for even a moment. "The deck that belongs to Kai Toshiki!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it for the next batch of chapters! Hope you continue to enjoy the story so far!


	25. Arc 2 - Ride 25: That Impure Flame

**Kai's Rented Apartment**

"Alright!" called Naoki as he laid out the last of the futons that Ren had previously ventured out into the city to purchase. "Now we'll be able to stick around here without too much difficultly! Right Leon?"

The Narukami user suddenly blinked as he looked towards Leon who was gazing out of the window and into the night sky, curious of the events that had transpired around them since Kai had first vanished from his own world, as a result of Tatsunagi Takuto's abrupt summoning. The Selector Battles, Mayu and the possibility of the Void being present in this world, all of it was a lot to take in at once and he intended on getting to the bottom of the mystery that lay before him and others, much like his friends and allies who were also seeking the same answers so they could hopefully bring an end to the charade in the works. Naoki walked over to him and tried waving to grab the Aqua Force user's attention.

"Um..." he murmured "... Something to do with 'the wind' I guess?"

"That is correct," replied Leon "Even now, I can sense an ominous presence in the air. And yet, I can't quite figure out what that may be."

"I see..." said Naoki as he scratched his head, still not quite getting the gist of Leon's sayings of 'the wind' even to this day.

"Well, he does raise a point," spoke Ren as he laid back on the single sofa present in the living space of the apartment and stretched his arms out wide for a moment. "Something does feel amiss though." Everyone's thoughts were interrupted as they suddenly heard the door open up, revealing a barely standing Kai in their presence. He clutched onto the injury that was present, still wincing in the pain as he struggled over to the group on his feet. Naoki gasped in horror as he quickly went over to his side and helped him over to a nearby chair.

"Kai!" he called "What happened to you?!"

"There's no time to explain...!" Kai groaned as he immediately heaved himself up and over towards the bedroom door. "Right now, Akira has not only stolen Tama from my possession... but she's also taken my entire deck!"

"Akira did this?! Damn it!" the Narukami user growled as he bashed his fists together. "Dragging me into the Selector Battles unaware is one thing, but injuring our friend and stealing from him is taking things too far!" Before Naoki could charge out of the front doorway and down the stairs to the outside of the building, Leon held a hand over his shoulder, motioning for him to stop.

"I understand how you may feel," he spoke "But allowing your rage to cloud your judgment will only result in the situation becoming worse than it already is."

"I already know that!" Naoki replied "But she hurt Kai and took Tama and his deck off of him! We can't just sit around and do nothing! More importantly, where is Aichi?!"

"He went after Akira to Ruko's school...!" Kai answered from the bedroom "Hitoe went with him."

"Alright then, that's where we go!" he said. Before he could run out of the door, it then suddenly hit him that the group, minus Kai had no idea of where Ruko's school was in the first place. "Um... You wouldn't happen to know where exactly this school is, right?"

"I'll lead the way there..." Kai groaned as he exited his bedroom with something clapsed in his right hand. Ren however glanced towards him, knowing exactly what the Kagero user was planning and held out a hand to stop.

"Right now from the way you're holding up, battling is no option for you," he spoke "Even Aichi-kun would agree on that. Besides, you said it yourself that Akira took your deck."

"That may be true..." the Kagero user replied as he struggled to the center of the living space "But not everything..." He then revealed the card Amber Dragon, Eclipse from the deck he was holding to the other cardfighters in the room, indicating that despite the loss of Overlord, he still had the means to fight on. He had previously scrambled together several spare units to form a decent backup deck around the Amber Dragon series that he once used against Kourin and from the way it appeared, he was hoping to battle Akira head on if it meant retrieving Tama along with his stolen deck. If only he knew of the current circumstances surrounding her and Hitoe going on at Ruko's school at the moment.

"I guess then there's no arguing with you then," Ren shrugged "If you would be kind enough to lead the way?" Kai nodded in response before Naoki quickly got underneath his shoulder once again.

"I'll help you over," he said.

"I appreciate your aid, Ishida," replied Kai as they headed for the door, followed by Ren and Leon.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Hitoe could only look on at Lizard Soldier, Conroe in shock, horrified to find that Akira had not just wounded Kai and given Tama to Ulith of all people, but had also gone as far as stealing his entire deck to now use as she saw fit.

"But... why do you have Kai's deck?!" she asked in shock.

"Oh that," the Selector answered in a bemused tone "When I blindsighted Kai and took Tama's card, I noticed the corner of his deck box at the edge of his pocket. Thinking that it would be an extra bonus for Ulith, I figured it would be best if I 'relieved' him of it. Needless to say, she said she had no use of Overlord so I could keep it. The result is this, I now have the one weapon he used to defeat me before and no one can stop me!"

"If Akira has Dragonic Overlord in that exact same deck," murmured Yuzuki before her eyes widened in realization. She didn't have to speak out as Hitoe had already figured it out.

"Then we have to face the End as well?!"

Looking over at Akira, Hitoe grew slightly more nervous, not from the Selector's ever increasing smile but from what she was thinking of ahead. Imaging it in her mind, she could see a fiery blaze behind Akira, taking on the features of Dragonic Overlord. The yellow eyes among the hazy inferno looked down upon her, giving her a reason to be nervous in the scenario she now found herself in. Plucking up enough courage, she shook her head to dispel the image from her mind and turned her attention to Akira, who was still awaiting a response from her.

"If I win, will you hand back Kai's deck?" she asked.

"Pfft. Do you really think I will accept to those terms from one of the weakest Selectors I've ever come across?" the Selector spat. A sinister thought then creeped into her mind as she suddenly sneered at the proposition offered. "Say... I'll tell you what. I will accept your proposal, on one condition."

"And what would that be?" Yuzuki asked sternly.

"If 'Hittoe' wants to have a chance to win back Kai's deck, she'll have to wager up something of equal value," replied Akira before giggling a little under her breath, the answer having already come to her. "Therefore I have decided, if I win this battle should I accept your challenge... You must surrender both your deck and Yuzuki's LRIG card!" The LRIG suddenly gasped in horror, having not expected this kind of wager to be required if she and Hitoe were to have any chance of winning back Kai's deck and returning it to him. She turned around to her Selector, concern plastered all over her face.

"Hitoe, forget about the wager and just focus on surviving!" she called.

"B... But even if we win... How I am supposed to explain to Kai that I just let Akira escape with his deck like that?" asked Hitoe.

"I know that!" replied Yuzuki, still slightly shaken from just now. "But I'm more concerned about your own safety! Even I know now there's a clear difference between being brave and being foolish!" She then looked up at her Selector to see that she had held her head down, trying to come to a decision. "Hitoe...?" Hitoe however didn't answer in response to her question. She was thinking back to earlier in the day when Aichi had comforted her over the matter of feeling useless to her friends and their conversation earlier from on the way to Ruko's school.

**_Flashback_ **

As the sun continued to set over the horizon of the city, Aichi and Hitoe walked through the streets in the direction towards Ruko's school. It was almost dark and several street lamps had already begun to light up as they passed by them. The Selector was out a little bit in front of the cardfigher, leading the way as he was still mostly unfamiliar with the city around him. Hitoe was fidgeting with her hands, a wave of nervousness for what lay ahead having already washed over her. Yuzuki looked up from her card, feeling sorry for her in this current state considering what had happened the first time she and Akira had crossed paths with each other. Aichi noticed this too and turned to her out of concern, noticing a glint of discomfort present on her expression.

"Is something wrong Hitoe-san?" he asked.

"A... Aichi... can we talk for a bit...?" Hitoe replied nervously.

"S... Sure," said Aichi.

"I know it's a bit... early for me to ask of this," she murmured "But I was wondering... if you could give some advice on...?"

"Your self-confidence?" Yuzuki interrupted, finishing the question for her. Hitoe nodded in response to her guesstimate.

"I see..." Aichi pondered on as he looked up to the darkening sky for a brief moment, trying to think of a sincere answer he could give to the Selector. When a few long moments had passed by, he finally had something he could tell her.

"Well... if I were to think about it..." he said "I think the first step to take is believing in yourself."

"Believing... in myself?" murmured Hitoe.

"Yeah," Aichi replied as he smiled warmly "You're a really kind person, but I think you need to have some more faith in yourself."

"I see..." she said as she briefly looked down to the floor, blushing for a few moments before she shook her head to clear her thoughts. As they passed by another building, just before the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon, she looked at her reflection on a large glass window to her right. Hitoe was no stranger to her own reflection, having been used to using mirrors in her home to sort out her hair before the day for her usually began. Now that was she looking at it in a different light however, she could begin to see what exactly Aichi was talking about. She could see that her composure wasn't in the best of states given that she wasn't feeling optimistic about their current scenario and that they needed to find Akira to retrieve Tama, who could blame her.

"Hitoe..."

Hitoe suddenly looked away from the window back to Yuzuki's card as they left the vicinity of the building with Aichi alongside her. The LRIG seemed to be riddled with slight concern as she looked up at her Selector.

"Just... don't put yourself down," said Yuzuki "We've all been through the worst of the Selector Battles on our own spectrums, but I'm worried about you just as much as Ruko in her own state." Aichi who had listened to what the LRIG had to say could only agree with her, nodding in compliance with her answer. Hitoe said nothing as she continued to lead the way to Ruko's school, the entire sky above them now having gone almost completely dark.

**_Present_ **

Back on the battlefield, all was still silent for the moment as Akira lay back in her seat whilst resting up her feet onto the table, a mannerism she had previously picked up from one of her previous battles, only this time showing it off as a sign of impatience to get the battle started. Mirurun who was already peeved from being left out of the action just sat beside the LRIG deck on her Selector's table, still pouting in annoyance. Yuzuki could only look up at Hitoe in worry, concerned for whatever decision she was planning to make in regards to the wager that Akira had offered them if they wanted to win back Kai's deck. Having gone over her thoughts for long enough, the more nervous Selector looked back up towards Akira, taking a few deep breaths and trying to give off the most determined expression she could try and muster up.

"I'll accept the wager!" she called.

"Hitoe!" gasped Yuzuki.

"Ah, so the blubbering coward's decided to step up for her 'human shield'," spat Akira "Fine by me, that is if you win. Look up."

A sudden creaking noise sounded throughout the entire battlefield as Hitoe and Yuzuki could only look above their heads to see what had appeared before them. Rather than the usual giant roulette that had the two opposing colours implemented into each adjacent slot, what appeared to look like a giant greyish silver arrow that was styled almost like the tip on Iona's spear had begun whirling around above their heads. Yuzuki was surprised the most, having had more experience in the Selector Battles than Hitoe and having not come across an opponent with the same coloured deck until this moment. She could only remain curious as to what this would all mean.

"This is…" she murmured.

"Since our decks use the same colours," Mirurun explained, still in a pouting tone "The wheel has changed to a single arrow. Whoever it points towards will give them the option to decide the turn order." No sooner than the LRIG's explanation had finished did said arrow begin to slow down in velocity, indicating that it had almost completed its full spin. The arrow begun spinning slower, slower and slower until it came to a stop, pointing in the direction of Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"Now then," Akira sneered "What will it be?" Hitoe looked up at the arrow for a moment before looking back to the Selector's table, glancing over at Lizard Soldier, Conroe.

"I'm going second!" she replied. Yuzuki said nothing in response, but glanced up towards Hitoe with concern still present on her expression.

_Hitoe, I just hope you really know what you're doing!_

"Very well then," Akira replied as she drew her single card to start the battle. Sneering at what she had present in her hand, she held out her left hand towards the LRIG space. "Grow! Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!"

In a bright red flash, Conroe vanished from the table as the all too familiar demon clad in red armour appeared on the LRIG space, standing tall and ready with the blade that he held. In front of him, Iron Tail Dragon appeared in the center SIGNI space, hovering just a little bit above the table. Akira made a simple hand gesture directed towards both Hitoe and Yuzuki, both in an attempt to mock them and to indicate that she was ending her turn. Hitoe took no notice of the mocking sign of the Selector's gesture and drew her cards. Looking down to Yuzuki, the LRIG nodded in agreement with her.

"Yuzuki, grow!" she called. A small series of white rectangular flashes rose up around Yuzuki as a small red marking appeared beneath her left cheek whilst the two red cannons from this form appeared, hovering to the side of her arms. Hitoe looked over hand before then taking two cards from it and placing them in the left and right SIGNI zones on her table respectively. To the left appeared Gatling Claw Dragon and to the right, Tokage, Phantom Dragon. A red aura suddenly surrounded the Phantom Dragon as if she was somehow resonating with the Kagero unit to increase her own strength.

**Tokage, Phantom Dragon: 1000 - 2000**

"Tokage, Gatling Claw, attack!" declared Hitoe.

The two dragons nodded to her command and charged across the battlefield towards Bahr, rushing right past Iron Tail Dragon as they did so. Tokage being faster on her feet managed to reach Bahr first as she leaped into the air and landed a series of scratches from her "claws", causing the demon to limp for a moment before she leaped back to allow Gatling Claw Dragon to conduct the second attack. The Flame Dragon took aim at Bahr before unleashing a barrage of fiery yellow bullets at him, knocking the Embodiment of Armor off balance. Akira's first two Life Cloths revealed Dragonic Burnout and Dragon Monk, Genjo, the second card glowed indicating the Life Burst effect had gone off. Akira herself sneered as the top card of the deck moved to her remaining Life Cloths. Hitoe then turned her attention to Yuzuki.

"Yuzuki!" she called.

"Got it!" the LRIG replied as she aimed the cannon beside her right arm at Bahr, the barrel of which began glowing indicating that she was charging it up. When the glow grew big enough, Yuzuki unleashed a blast of fiery red energy straight at the demon, head on to be precise. Dragon Monk, Genjo's card suddenly moved from Akira's Ener Zone to her Trash Pile as the Selector herself revealed Dragon Knight, Gimel from her hand.

"Quintet Wall," she mused, a hint of sarcasm and a mocking like tone mixed in her voice.

The Dragon Knight appeared in front of the table as he raised his shield, generating a green circle in front of him before Blue Ray Dracokid, Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon, Seal Dragon, Artpique and Goddra, Phantom Dragon appeared beside him. Yuzuki's attack stopped dead in its tracks coming into contact with the shield, engulfing the SIGNI in a small blast for a brief moment before they all disappeared. The four SIGNI moved to Akira's Ener Zone whilst Gimel's card and Expelling Flames of the Dragon Phoenix moved to her Trash Pile. Yuzuki herself could only growl under her breath whilst Hitoe felt a little nervous from her efforts being reduced down to only succeeding in buffing up Akira's Ener Zone and bringing her Life Cloth total only down to 6.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-One : Embodiment of Armor, Bahr**

**SIGNI : Tokage, Phantom Dragon - EMPTY - Gatling Claw Dragon : EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 5**

As Akira drew her cards, her sneer never left her lip which made both Hitoe and Yuzuki feel only more uncomfortable for whatever she had planned for the battle, considering that she was using the deck that she had stolen from Kai. As Lintwurm's card moved to her Trash Pile, she held out her hand over the LRIG space.

"Grow, Nehalem!" she called.

Bahr vanished from the LRIG space as the Dragon Knight along with the 'steed' that he stood atop of entered the field, hovering ever so slightly above the table before the dragon landed on the surface via its lower feet, emitting a low growl from under its breath. Mirurun who had been watching the battle so far was not the most amused to say the least. Akira noticed this and glanced towards her.

"What is your little worry?" she spoke "I still have you as my requirement to obtain my wish, whatever that may be."

"And yet, I still don't see the point of relying on a few overgrown lizards to make the task any easier for you," the LRIG moaned "I mean, what don't I have that Kai's cards do anyway?" Upon listening in on Mirurun's comment, the dragon that Nehalem rode on top of glared at her before turning its head and letting out a huge roar right in her direction.

"They have a bit of a short temper, if I do say so myself," Akira mused before continuing with her turn, ignoring LRIG's sudden change in expression to nervousness.

"Conroe's skill!" she called as another card from her Ener Zone moved to her Trash before a file of light scanned through her deck and brought the card she wanted to her hand, revealing it for a brief moment. "I add Barri to my hand!" After concealing the card in her hand, she placed two more into the left and right SIGNI spaces available on her table. These cards revealed themselves to be Berserk Dragon and Flame Edge Dragon. The two headed dragon suddenly roared as a pair of fireballs suddenly erupted from their mouths and hit Tokage head on, banishing the SIGNI from Hitoe's field. Hitoe herself could only sweat a little as it seemed like Akira was far from done.

"Attack!" she called. Berserk Dragon let loose another pair of fireballs from both heads as they struck Gatling Claw Dragon, also banishing it from the battlefield. Before Yuzuki had time to properly prepare herself, Flame Edge Dragon and Iron Tail Dragon had already flown right above her. She held out both cannons in an attempt to defend, but both Flame Edge and Iron Tail already slashed her, knocking her to the floor before retreating back to Akira's table. The top card of the Selector's deck, Calamity Tower Wyvern, entered her Ener Zone. As Yuzuki struggled back to her feet, Hitoe could only look on in worry.

"Are you alright?!" she cried. The LRIG didn't say anything in response, but her ragged breathing indicated that she was barely holding on for the moment. Hitoe's first two Life Cloths, to her shock and horror were both copies of the Spell, Swift Advance. The sight of which only sent Akira up into a fit of hysterical and sinister laughter.

"Bwahahahaha!" she sneered "Without those two Spells at your disposal, you won't be able to steal a Level up advantage on me for the rest of the battle!" She then turned her attention to Nehalem. "Attack!"

Before the dragon took flight, the Dragon Knight himself could only emit a stubborn growl from underneath his breath as he aimed his lance over towards Yuzuki. He pointed the long weapon towards her as a surge of purple lightning came the LRIG's way. As Yuzuki prepared to brace herself for a third hit, Hitoe however wasn't planning on letting it go through so easily as she revealed Wyvern Guard, Barri from her hand.

"Guard!" she called. The Wyvern Guard appeared in front of Yuzuki to shield her from Nehalem's attack before vanishing when the resulting sparks from impact had diminished. As the LRIG glanced over towards the Dragon Knight, she could see that his expression from what wasn't obscured of his face that it seemed somewhat pained and angered. Akira ignoring the apparent anguish from Nehalem turned her attention back to Hitoe and Yuzuki, her sneer having not left her face for even a second ever since that battle had begun.

"Ooh… Playing hard to get, aren't we?" she mused "Either way, it's funny to see you of all people finally putting up a fight, considering the last time we crossed paths. Of course, the same could be said about Yuzu-pon as well, considering your dark secret." Her tone on her last sentence had somehow suddenly grown far more sinister that it already was before. As Hitoe could only look on in confusion, Yuzuki however could only gasp, wondering what Akira was intending to bring to light here and now.

"What do you mean?!" the LRIG demanded.

"Huh?" pondered Hitoe.

"My, she never told you yet she bothered to let Ru-ru in on it?" Akira pondered in a mocking tone before resuming to her sinister demanor. "Very well then, the shocking truth shall now revealed!" She continued to laugh maniacally before she then held out her right arm, pointed in the direction of Hitoe's table, a crazed look now present in her eyes. "Hitoe, Yuzu-pon's wish was to be in love with the one person she cares about, her own brother!"

At this point, Yuzuki could only freeze up in shock and panic. She already knew for a fact that her secret was out to Ruko, Tama and her own school, thanks to Hanayo being in possession of her own body. But now, she was afraid of how Hitoe would take this entire revelation, considering the subject matter at hand was in the territory of taboo itself, incest to be more precise and the fact that she never told her about this in the first place. Expecting the worst to come, the LRIG fell to her knees, feeling helpless to do anything and awaiting any hurtful comments to spout out from her Selector's mouth. Hitoe meanwhile could only stare at Yuzuki in shock, completely bewildered and weirded out from what Akira said she originally wished for.

"Y... Yuzuki...?" she murmured "Is it...?"

"It's true...!" the LRIG sobbed "My wish was to be in love with my brother, Kazuki!"

"But... isn't that...?"

"I know!" Yuzuki replied "It hasn't been the first time that I've gotten backlash over the subject... There have even been times where I've tried to discard my love for him just to save him his dignity...! But no matter how much I've tried... my feelings for him will always seem to surface! Even so, Hanayo managed to succeed where I failed...!"

"Then that means...!" gasped Hitoe.

"Yeah," the LRIG sniffed "... Hanayo is actually the one using my wish to be with Kazuki and he doesn't even know it..."

The Selector couldn't find the words to describe everything that Yuzuki had just confessed to. On the one hand, the thought of incest even for a moment had completely weirded her out and was something she never would be sure of wanting or considering her friend to pursue, even as a wish. But after hearing everything that the LRIG had told her about, she felt somewhat sorry for everything she went through up to this point. Hitoe remembered at some point before they met Kai for the first time, when she asked about Akira out of curiosity, Yuzuki had confessed that she too was broken down by her in their battle, though she kept her reason as to why hidden from her, until now at this very moment.

The Selector then looked down on the table, taking everything that was brought to light into account as she went deep into thought. Akira meanwhile glanced over towards her, smirking maliciously.

"Turn end," she spoke before musing to herself in her thoughts.  _Though to be honest, after things your little friend has learned, I don't think I even require Overlord to break you apart._

**End of Turn 3**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-One : Dragon Knight, Nehalem**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY** **\- EMPTY -** **EMPTY** **: Berserk Dragon - Iron Tail Dragon - Flame Edge Dragon**

**Ener - 4 : 2**

For a long moment, all was silent across the battlefield as Hitoe had still made no response after listening to everything that had just been brought to light. Yuzuki could only look up at her, noticing her eyes were closed as she held her head down. The LRIG could only assume the worst case scenario had indeed occurred and that there was only one way to end this madness.

"Hitoe..." she spoke, her voice on the verge of breaking up "I know that my wish has... comprimised our friendship and I can understand why... you may hate me. If you want to throw the battle to save yourself and surrender me to Akira, then... I will accept that punishme..."

"I don't understand..."

"Huh?"

"Yuzuki... why didn't you ask Ruko, me or anyone for help on the matter before?!" Hitoe asked, finally bringing her head up to meet her gaze with the LRIG's own.

"I... was afraid of worsening the situation..." she replied "That Kazuki would... brand me for being..."

"Weird? Deluded? Or just downright insane?" Akira taunted, interrupting their conversation. "Oh my, how disgusting, even for someone like you! Goosey-goosey-goosey-goosebumps!" Hitoe drew her cards to begin her turn before moving Gatling Claw Dragon's card from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile.

"Yuzuki, grow!" she called.

A series of flashes rose up around the LRIG, adding another red mark to her opposite cheek and enlarging the cluster of crystals behind her back and changing the number of barrels on each of her cannons from one to one large barrel with a smaller one present on each side. Yuzuki herself suddenly looked up at Hitoe, sensing a new look in the Selector's eyes. One that she thought she would never see until now.

"Yuzuki," said Hitoe "I don't know everything that's going on with you and Kazuki, but that's something we can't worry about for the moment."

"Hitoe..." the LRIG murmured.

"Right now, I need you here and now to get Kai's deck back from Akira!" she replied "So... please help me battle!"

"... I got it," said Yuzuki, finally wiping away the tears that were present earlier on her face before the two then turned their attention back to Akira, who didn't seemed fazed by the fact that her efforts to break apart their trust had seemingly gone to waste. Hitoe then continued her turn by moving one of the Swift Advance Spells from her Ener Zone to her Trash.

"By using Salvage!" she called as the card revealed itself from her LRIG deck "I add Barri back to my hand from my Trash!" After the Guard SIGNI flew out of her Trash Pile and back into her hand, she concealed it amongst the other cards present before reaching out for three more and placing them into the SIGNI spaces in front of Yuzuki. These were revealed to be Kannya, Phantom Dragon who appeared to the left and another copy of Tokage, Phantom Dragon to right of the LRIG whilst Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara appeared in the center space.

"With Kimnara's ability!" Hitoe continued "I banish Iron Tail Dragon!" Tokage's card then moved to her Trash Pile as Kimnara used its staff to strike Iron Tail Dragon with a flash of purple lightning before both units suddenly vanished from the field, their respective cards moving to their respective Selectors' Ener Zones. Hitoe then summoned Flame Edge Dragon into the center SIGNI space. Looking down to Yuzuki, she nodded in agreement with her to get the attacks up and going. The Selector turned her attention to the two SIGNI she had available on the left and right spaces.

"Tokage and Kannya attack!" she declared as their cards downed themselves. The two SIGNI nodded in agreement and charged towards both Akira's Flame Edge Dragon and Berserk Dragon. When they reached Akira's table, both Dragon Beasts were able to quickly overpower the Kagero units before retreating back to Hitoe's table.

"Flame Edge Dragon!" she called. The Kagero unit took flight in response to her command and charged towards Nehalem. The Flame Dragon and the Dragon Knight briefly clashed, exchanging blows with one another before Flame Edge saw an opening and took the opportunity to strike Nehalem before retreating back to Hitoe's table. Akira's next Life Cloth revealed Blue Ray Dracokid, the Life Burst being useless as there were no SIGNI available to assign the power bonuses to. Yuzuki saw this and her spirits ended up being lifted ever so slightly.

"Yes!" she cheered "You managed to make Blue Ray Dracokid go to waste!" Hitoe smiled warmly in agreement before turning her attention back to how things were playing out.

"With Flame Edge Dragon's ability!" she called "I Ener Charge!" She reached for the top card of her deck before flipping it face up. Her look turned to horror to see what she had just ended up Ener Charging. It was Servant D2, a Guard SIGNI that could have helped her out. Yuzuki could only groan a little upon realizing this as the card entered the Selector's Ener Zone. Akira sneered for a moment.

"What's wrong?" she mused "It seems all your crushed Life Cloths and Ener Charges are against you tonight! How scary!" Hitoe ignored her comment and continued to press on with her last attack.

"Yuzuki!" she declared.

"Alright!" she replied as she charged across the field towards both Nehalem and the dragon he rode on top of, as did they towards her. When the combatants met in the center of the battlefield, their clash had already gone underway. The Dragon Knight was already sending multiple bursts of purple lightning right at the LRIG who was barely dodging all of them as did the dragon who was dodging every one of her cannon bursts. Nehalem and Yuzuki continued attacking at one another before the LRIG spotted an opening by pouncing on top of the dragon's head before leaping into the air and scoring a direct hit on the knight with her cannons. Both Nehalem and his 'steed' fumbled around in mid-flight as Yuzuki descended back to the ground.

As she did so, she suddenly caught another glimpse of what little was shown of the knight's expression, showing a form of anguish that she had seen earlier. Both combatants then retreated back to the table of their respective Selectors as both Hitoe and Akira looked at each other, each one reviewing the current scenario from their own perspectives on the battle so far. By the time Yuzuki had returned, she glanced up to her Selector.

"Hitoe!" she called "I might be acting crazy but... I think Nehalem doesn't like battling under Akira."

"I see..." Hitoe murmured as she looked across towards Akira's table, the Selector's sneer having not left her. Her Ener Zone now had another Iron Tail Dragon present amongst the other cards there, as a result of Yuzuki's successful attack. Hitoe sighed in partial relief in that she managed to take the lead, for now at least.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 4**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Two : Dragon Knight, Nehalem**

**SIGNI : Kannya, Phantom Dragon** **\- Flame Edge Dragon - Tokage, Phantom Dragon** **:** **EMPTY** **\- EMPTY -** **EMPTY**

**Ener - 3 : 7**

Yuzuki glanced over to where Akira was, noticing that her smile had not decreased in the slightest even under the current circumstances that she was in. She clenched her teeth as she felt slightly nerved, hoping that Hitoe was ready for what was to come.

* * *

**Ruko's School: Ground Floor**

"Tama! Are you here?!"

Aichi called out for the LRIG again for the umpteenth time as he exited another empty classroom. So far, his efforts to find Ulith, who Akira had handed Tama's card to had been for nought. He didn't hear any response from Tama nor could he find the cruel demanored Selector anywhere around the school, for the time being. From the way things were looking, he had already covered pretty much all of the ground floor on the left side of the entire school premises and he knew that at the rate he was going around, he could be looking for the LRIG all night long. Panting for a moment to regain his breath before he could decide to rush to the right side of the building or advance up one floor, he couldn't help but worry about the LRIG and also ponder about what he would face when he would find Ulith. Before he could set off on his way again however...

"We meet again Aichi."

Aichi suddenly heard footsteps in the corridor in which he was currently standing, the sound of which grew louder as the figure they were from came in closer. Looking over to the source, he could only gasp as he looked on at the person that now came into his vicinity.

"R... Ruko-san!" he gasped before looking over to the card she held, revealing the LRIG she possessed into his vicinity. "And you must be... Iona?" he murmured.

"That is correct," the LRIG replied before glancing up at Ruko. "Shall we?"

"Huh?" Aichi blinked for a moment, confused by what Iona had just asked Ruko before the Selector suddenly took a step forward, holding out the card towards him.

"Sendou Aichi," she spoke "I can't let you go any further!"

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

"Up and draw."

Akira sneered as she looked over the cards in her hand before glancing over to the LRIG deck for a brief moment, her smile growing ever more vicious before she looked over to Hitoe and Yuzuki, the Selector of whom could only look on in worry and nervousness, knowing what was coming next. Yuzuki could only "TSK!" under her breath.

"Flames of purgatory, bind to my command and rise against this pitiful resistance! Grow!"

A column of fire erupted from the LRIG space as Nehalem vanished from Akira's table, only for the shadow of an all too familiar presence to arrive to take his place on the battlefield. A low growl could be heard from the fire, one that was enough to make even Mirurun feel nervous being up close to the figure that was about to emerge. Akira sneered as she finally called out the name of the Kagero unit she had brought into play.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

As the flames dispersed, Dragonic Overlord emerged from the blaze in all of its glory, taking flight above the LRIG space on Akira's table for a brief moment before landing on its two feet, with a thud that echoed across the field. It gazed at both Hitoe and Yuzuki with a fierce glint in its yellow eyes and let out a defeaning roar across the battlefield. Whilst the LRIG shielded herself from the impact of the roar, the Selector however could only stare at Kai's avatar, not in awe like before when he used it, but in fear that it was in the possession of her opponent who had stolen it from him along with his entire deck.

"Overlord..." she murmured, a hint of nervousness present in her voice.

"So it's finally here...!" muttered Yuzuki, glaring over towards Akira who simply continued with her turn.

"I summon Calamity Tower Wyvern and use its ability!" she called before drawing her single card, the Wyvern materializing onto the center SIGNI space in front of Dragonic Overlord. Dual Axe Archdragon and Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon then appeared to the left and right of Calamity Tower Wyvern. A glowing red surrounded the three SIGNI as the two Kagero units powered up.

**Dual Axe Archdragon: 8000 - 10000**

**Calamity Tower Wyvern: 2000 - 4000**

"Well now, 'Hittoe', shall we?" Akira spoke in a mocking tone before holding out her hand. "Finally, I will power up Dragonic Overlord with One Rule, Two Birds to render Barri useless to you!"

Hitoe could only gasp in worry as Barri's card suddenly began leaking sparks, indicating that she couldn't use it to stop Dragonic Overlord's attack for the turn and she had no other Guard SIGNI on hand to try and fend off the oncoming assault. Akira upon noticing her reaction could only giggle sinisterly, pleased that everything was going as she had planned it. She then turned her attention to the SIGNI in front of the Kagero Commander.

"My SIGNI attack!" she declared. Dual Axe Archdragon and Calamity Tower Wyvern took flight into the air whilst Lintwurm slithered across the battlefield towards her prey, Kannya. The two Dragon Beast SIGNI brawled for a few moments before Lintwurm finally outmatched and overpowered Kannya, banishing the SIGNI. Dual Axe Arch Dragon and Calamity Tower engaged both Tokage and Flame Edge in several clashes, eventually defeating their opponents leaving no SIGNI left on Hitoe's table. As the Selector could only sweat in panic, Akira held up her left arm into the air.

"Now then," she spoke "Suffer the wrath of your friend's own weapon, now under my own command!" Akira then snapped her fingers, declaring the signal to attack. "Eternal Flame!"

Dragonic Overlord roared loudly, forcing Mirurun to cover up her ears from the noise before the Kagero Commander took flight and charged across the battlefield towards Hitoe's table. It hovered several feet in the air above the LRIG before unleashing its signature attack in a blazing torrent of fire right at her. Yuzuki could only hold out her cannons in front of her face as the flames struck the table all at once, consuming her in an instant as she cried out aloud in immense pain, suffering from the attack greatly.

"Yuzuki! Ack!"

Hitoe gasped as she folded out her arms in front of her face as Dragonic Overlord's Eternal Flame went right across the table all around her, the intense heat and force from the flames having almost knocked her over. She groaned as she too struggled through the fire as she glanced up towards the Kagero commander, the dragon's fierce gaze still trained upon her, only increasing both her nervousness and anxiety even more than they were at the very start of the battle. When the flames died down, Yuzuki looked up just in time to see Overlord dive down towards her and knock her backwards with a large slash of the blade that it carried in its right claw.

Hitoe could only look on in concern for the LRIG as she struggled back onto her feet before noticing her next two Life Cloths revealing another copy of Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara and Dragon Dancer, Barbara enter her Ener Zone. The second card glowed indicating a Life Burst.

"W... With the effect...!" she panted, a slight hint of panic to her voice "I regain 1 Life Cloth!" As the top card of her deck moved face down to her remaining Life Cloths, she tried breathing in and out as slowly as she could, trying to regain her composure which greatly worried Yuzuki as she looked on up at her. Hitoe looked down at her left hand and was shocked to see that it was actually trembling. She silently gasped, realizing that Dragonic Overlord's presence had only stirred up her worst fears once again. Akira sneered as she made a gesture to signal the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 5**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Two : Dragonic Overlord**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY** **\- EMPTY -** **EMPTY** **: Dual Axe Archdragon** **\- Calamity Tower Wyvern - Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon**

**Ener - 8 : 4**

"Is this the extent of your resolve?"

Hitoe suddenly blinked at the sound of the voice. Looking behind her for the source, Yuzuki having fully recovered from Dragonic Overlord's Eternal Flame glanced at the Selector, unsure of why she was acting this way.

"What is your reason for fighting?"

Realizing that the voice did not come from either Akira, Mirurun or even her own LRIG, Hitoe could only stare across towards the opposing table, the only possible conclusion being set in stone for her as to who had just spoken out to her. Looking over to her answer, she suddenly felt nervous upon looking upon it, its fierce gaze having not left her or Yuzuki at all.

"O... Overlord?" she murmured.


	26. Arc 2 - Ride 26: This Faith is Strength

**Ruko's School: Inside**

Aichi just remained still as he looked on at Ruko as she held Iona's LRIG card towards him. He couldn't understand why she was doing this though. All he knew was that she didn't want him to advance any further in his search for Tama and Ulith. This had only raised even more questions running through his head though. How did she know that Akira had stolen Tama and passed her on to the cruel demanored dual Selector/LRIG before he arrived and why was she trying to stop him? He remembered Kai mentioning that she now distrusted the LRIG for not going through with the oath to conduct her wish, which was to save everyone that had become an LRIG at the risk of her becoming one herself.

However, Kai had also told him that Tama revealed that she did so on purpose to save Ruko from that fate and possibly worse from Mayu herself, unaware that Iona had been waiting for that moment to become the Selector's new LRIG, whilst also bringing Reverse upon her, regardless of whether it was her own intention or not. Noticing that her gaze trailed upon him, Aichi blinked for a moment before looking at the Selector, wanting to get some answers.

"Um... Ruko-san," he began "I know that... things didn't go the way you wanted between you and Tama, but..."

"That is the reason I'm stopping you here and now!" spoke Ruko "You can't get involved in this any further nor can you trust Tama!"

"But she was trying to save you!" Aichi replied "Don't you know what happens if..." At this moment, the Selector held up her other hand, motioning for the Royal Paladin user to stop his explanation, much to his shock.

"Aichi... Hanayo may have told you everything there is to know about the Selector Battles," Ruko continued "But, that is all the more reason for me to stop you."

"Ruko-san..." he murmured. As he gathered his thoughts together on how he should try and approach the situation, believing that he would envitably have to battle her in order to advance, he reached into his pocket to bring out his Royal Paladin deck. Before he could feel the deck case, a sudden high pitched noise caught his attention, causing him to freeze up for a brief moment.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Aichi's eyes suddenly widened in horror. A loud scream echoed throughout the entire school building and the voice that it belonged to was all too familiar. Unfortunately, it wasn't just all too familiar to him either but it was the voice of someone that Ruko had also known all too well. Although she didn't appeared as shocked or horrified as the cardfighter from listening carefully, a part of her for some reason felt it was foolish to simply dismiss this sudden turn of events. Aichi rushed over towards the stairs before looking all around frantically.

"Tama! Where are you?!" he called.

The LRIG's pained scream sounded out even louder, making it apparent that whatever harm that Ulith was presumably inflicting upon her was not even close to being finished. Listening carefully to the noise, Aichi turned back to the stairs that he was right beside and quickly assumed that she was somewhere at the top of the school. When that assumption was made, the scream faded out, leaving only silence in the school building once more.

"Please hang in there Tama!" he cried out. Before he could run off to go and look for the LRIG, he quickly looked back at Ruko, realizing that he was going to have to make a decision on how he should handle the matter.  _What should I do?! I want to help save Ruko-san like Kai-kun, but right now, Tama is...!_ His trail of thoughts were interrupted as he saw the Selector turn around with her back to him, much to his and Iona's confusion. The LRIG seemed somewhat miffed by the sudden action, annoyed that Ruko was seemingly avoiding another opportunity for a battle with the cardfighter to try and talk some sense into him.

"If you really think Tama is worth saving, I will do nothing more, until we see each other again," she said "But mark my words. If you put your faith in her as I once did, you will regret it."

Aichi could only look on at Ruko in concern, unsure of whether to take her last sentence just now as the proper truth. He knew Tama seemed harmless enough, considering that she went out of her way to prevent the Selector from turning into an LRIG herself for the sake of her wish. But there was something about the bitterness in her tone that he couldn't help but ponder about. Was there even more to the story that he didn't know about already? Shaking his head, he took one last look at Ruko, though he knew that in the end, it seemed as if his decision was made for him. He ran up the stairs, advancing as fast as he could to the top floor, hoping he wasn't already too late. Meanwhile, Iona who despite being disappointed about Aichi getting essentially a final 'free pass' to avoid a battle, couldn't help but hold her head down, running the current situation through her mind.

"Sentimental fool," she muttered under her breath "Ulith is not like anyone else he could ever imagine." At this point, Ruko could only tilt her head down towards the LRIG's card, somewhat confused as to why she said that.

"What do you mean?" the Selector asked.

"If he truely believes empathy will help him follow through... then he is sadly mistaken."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

At the school entrance gates, Kai with Naoki holding him up from under his shoulder followed by both Leon and Ren hurried into the open space in front of the building. To their surprise, they found both Hitoe and Akira in sleep like states, indicating that the two were currently engaged in their battle. What made the current scenario more disturbing however was the lack of Aichi's presence within the entrance gates, unaware that he was already advancing through the school building in search of Tama, having briefly ran into Ruko on the way. Kai could only glance over towards Akira, concerned for Hitoe's state and angered about the 'stunt' that she had pulled on both him and Tama earlier in the day.

"I assume that's this Akira you were talking about?" murmured Ren, interrupting the Kagero user's trail of thought.

"Yeah," replied Naoki, growling under his breath before glancing over to the knives stuck in the ground near the front doors "And from the look of things, she's already made one attempt at hurting 'em as badly as Kai. Maybe worse."

"I will see to it they are removed out of her sight immediately," said Leon as he went over and removed the sharp objects from the ground, before hiding them out of sight in a nearby bush so Akira would not be able to wound them directly if she lost her temper after the current battle. Kai glanced over to Naoki, pulling out Amber Dragon, Eclipse's card from his pocket and holding it towards Hitoe, prompting the Narukami user to pull out Big Bang Dragon's card from his deck and hold it out in the same manner. However, Kai suddenly hesitated for a moment, concerned about where Aichi could be and if he was currently alright for the moment.

"Leave Sendou to us," Leon spoke, bringing the two cardfighters' attention to him and Ren, now over at the front doors. "For the moment, you already have your deck to recover from Akira."

"I understand," replied Kai "Keep your guard up." Ren sheepishly smiled in response whilst Leon gave a single nod before they entered the school building, leaving both the Kagero and Naoki outside on their own. Nodding in agreement, the two held out their respective cards towards Hitoe and Akira.

"Open!" they called as a flash erupted from their cards, bringing them to the battle that continued to rage on.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Hitoe could only look on at Dragonic Overlord in bewilderment, curious about the words that the Kagero commander had spoken out towards her and presumably Yuzuki as well. She knew that in order to win back Kai's deck from Akira's clutches, she would have to defeat his avatar all by herself. Even so, Hitoe couldn't help but run over the words that were said to her through her mind, trying to figure out their meaning. Meanwhile, Akira could only stare up at Dragonic Overlord, somewhat curious as to why it had chosen to speak out towards Hitoe like that, even though it was clearly under her control for the battle. Or at least, she thought it was.

"Hey! What's with the riddles for 'Hittoe' over there?!" she demanded. "You are under my command now! Your power belongs to me!"

"Your power?" it growled "If you believe that, then prove it to me, by overcoming the obstacle before you."

"Keh. We'll see about that," replied Akira before glancing back to Hitoe, motioning for her to begin her turn.

Meanwhile, high above in a nearby tower amongst the shadowed buildings in the background, a small glow appeared for a brief moment as Kai and Naoki emerged from the light, now fading out to nothingness. The two quickly made their way to the tower windowsill and looked down onto the field. Kai could only grimace as he looked over towards Akira's table, gritting his teeth under the fact that she already had Dragonic Overlord in play. As he clenched his teeth, he turned his attention over to Hitoe, just in time to see her start her turn by growing Yuzuki up an additional level. Naoki could only look on in worry, knowing that the Selector had barely managed to hang on for as long as possible in her previous battle with Ren and was concerned that she would not stand a chance against one of Kai's strongest units.

Down on the field, Yuzuki could only glance behind her in concern, worried for Hitoe's sake. She had done alright so far in surviving against Kai's units, but Dragonic Overlord's presence had already shaken their confidence, presumably causing their chances of victory to slowly start dwindling away from them. The Selector placed down 3 additional cards in her SIGNI zones, causing the figures depicted to appear. From Yuzuki's left all the way to her right appeared Berserk Dragon along with Hitoe's own Calamity Tower Wyvern and Dual Axe Archdragon. As two cards slid out from underneath the card form of Yuzuki-Three, Hitoe drew another card before two more cards from her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile.

Berserk Dragon roared for a brief moment before it launched a pair of fireballs from both heads right at Akira's Calamity Tower Wyvern, banishing it from the battlefield. As the card moved to her Ener Zone, the opposing Selector didn't seem fazed in the slightest at all. Her trademarked sneer from earlier had come back and it was certainly not helping the mood at all. Looking over towards Dragonic Overlord, Hitoe gulped nervously before speaking.

"Um... Overlord?"

The Kagero commander glanced towards her, the fierce glint in its yellow eyes having not left at all. A low growl sounded from under the dragon's breath, almost startling Hitoe in complete fright.

"I... I've been thinking about... your question..." she stuttered nervously "I... might not be the most calm Selector... but I do have a reason for battling!"

"And what would that be?" the dragon asked, a slight hint of bitterness to its tone.

"I... I'm battling to help my friends! Even now... I'm battling to get your card and the rest of the deck back to Kai!"

"Is that so?" it replied "Then show me... what that ideal means to you!"

Yuzuki could only clench her teeth after hearing what Dragonic Overlord had to say. The Kagero commander had its sword pointed towards both her and Hitoe, indicating that it was serious in what it had said to them. The Selector shook her head for a brief moment to gather her thoughts together before looking over towards Akira's table, making a decision.

"W... With the ARTS, Dominating Fury!" she called "I banish Lintwurm!"

As three more cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile, a torrent of fire suddenly engulfed Lintwurm, incinerating the SIGNI in an instant as the card moved right into Akira's Ener Zone. The Selector didn't seemed fazed in the slightest, not concerned for the loss of the Dragon Beast SIGNI. Hitoe then turned her attention towards her own SIGNI.

"My Dual Axe Archdragon will attack your Dual Axe Archdragon!"

"Pfft. So it's mutually assured destruction you want," mused Akira "Go right ahead."

The Dual Axe Archdragons that were present on both Selectors' tables glared at each other with a fierce glint in their non-scarred eyes before letting out loud roars from under their breath and charging across the battlefield towards one another. Both dragons swung their axes at each other, matching blow for blow with neither one of them wanting to back down from the other. The fierce clash continued on for several more moments until Hitoe's Dual Axe Archdragon parried away the axe from its opponent's left arm before taking the opportunity to slash down the front, banishing the other Archdragon from the field. As the unit returned back to the table, Calamity Tower Wyvern and Berserk Dragon let out mighty roars of their own before unleashing torrents of fire from their heads right at Dragonic Overlord.

The Kagero commander remained still as the attacks hit it head on, engulfing Akira's table in a large explosion that drew up a lot of smoke for a few brief moments. When it had subsided, her next two Life Cloths revealed Goddra, Phantom Dragon and Gatling Claw Dragon, the second of which had a Life Burst. As Akira drew her single card, Mirurun looked up to the Selector to see that she wasn't fazed in the slightlest from just losing out one of Kai's most powerful SIGNI, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer as to why.

"Y... Yuzuki attacks!" Hitoe called. As Yuzuki pointed her left cannon towards Dragonic Overlord, Akira sneered before slapping down a card from her hand onto her table. Servant D2 appeared in front of Dragonic Overlord, generating a green circle in front of it to ensure that the attack would not go through to the Kagero commander. As the charge in her cannon died down, Yuzuki growled under her breath as the Guard SIGNI vanished from the battlefield.

"Damn it... Akira's definitely not messing around," muttered Naoki "But what was up with Overlord just then?"

"I don't know..." murmured Kai "But, if Hitoe hasn't got a powerful enough defence, there is no chance of victory for her."  _Especially since that Overlord is..._ His trail of thoughts was suddenly brought to a halt as he glanced over towards Akira's table, noticing only Mirurun beside the LRIG deck, no doubt still pouting as she had been since the start of the battle. His eyes suddenly widened as he quietly gasped in realization, loud enough to catch Naoki's attention.

"What's wrong Kai?" he asked.

"Tama's not with Akira..." Kai muttered "But if that's the case..."

"Could this be why Aichi isn't here?" the Narukami user murmured. The Kagero user said nothing, his suspicions only growing worse by the second as he knew that Akira's turn was now coming up. Before Hitoe decided to end the current turn here and there, she had something she felt that needed to be addressed right here and right now.

"A... Akira... I have a question," she said nervously.

"Oh?" Akira mused.

"I... I know it shouldn't be right of me to poke my nose into other people's business... but I wanted to know. Why did you say all of those hurtful things at me in our first battle? And why did you go as far as injuring Kai?" Hitoe asked, biting her lip once or twice as she did so.

"Keh. We're already closer to your demise in this battle and you choose to ask this now?" she spat before smirking "Very well then. Seeing as you asked 'nicely', I suppose I'll tell you. You want to know why I say those things towards other Selectors...? It's because I enjoy seeing them break down before my eyes!" Yuzuki could only clench her teeth as Akira broke out into hysterical laughter.

"So you mean to say Hitoe wasn't the first Selector to be bullied by you?!" the LRIG snapped.

"'Bullied'? I prefer the term, broken by the undeniable truth," Akira replied "Sadly, I no longer possess the luxury of Piruluk's Peeping Analyze for that benefit, but yes. That it is why I continue to battle. As for why I went as far as hurting Kai, it was so I could take his deck, stripping him of his means to enter the Selector Battles and watch him wallow in despair as the dragons that fought alongside him, now serve me!"

Looking down at the table, Hitoe could only run everything that was now brought to light through her thoughts. It was one thing that Akira enjoyed seeing people break down before her, but going as far as injuring Kai and the sudden thought of the same possibility to go about with Aichi and Ruko had her on edge. Taking a deep sigh, she looked back at the opposing Selector, preparing for the worst to come.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 6**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Three : Dragonic Overlord**

**SIGNI : Berserk Dragon** **\- Calamity Tower Wyvern - Dual Axe Archdragon** **:** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 9**

"It's finally time," Akira spoke sinisterly as she drew her cards before giggling under her breath "Can't you hear it yet? The sound of your end approaching. Keheheheh... Final Turn!"

As Yuzuki and Hitoe could only gasp quietly, over from the tower, Naoki's eyes widened in horror whilst Kai could only clench his teeth, hoping that the timid Selector had a defence set up for what was about to come into play. Akira threw Seal Dragon, Artpique's card from her hand into her Ener Zone before the two Goddras and Blue Ray Dracokid moved from there to her Trash Pile. A circle of flames surrounded the LRIG space as Dragonic Overlord growled loudly under its breath whilst the LRIG deck enveloped itself in a bright orange glow, nearly blinding Mirurun as she was essentially right beside it. Akira's eyes widened in sheer delight as her ever crazed smile only grew wider.

"Flame of the apocalypse, descend here in a fiery tempest and burn everything that is meaningless before you to mere ashes! Crossbreak Grow!"

"Crossbreak?!" gasped Naoki.

"It's here!" muttered Kai.

The circle of fire that surrounded the LRIG space suddenly erupted into a column of fire, obscuring Dragonic Overlord aside from its silhouette from everyone's sight down on the battlefield. As the shapes of the dragon began to change, its arms doubling in number as well as its wings, Akira sneered as she called out the name of the form transcending before her very eyes.

"Dragonic Overlord... the End!"

As the flames dispersed, Dragonic Overlord the End emerged from the blaze with a much louder defeaning roar to accompany its presence. The force of the roar was much stronger than before, knocking the sidelined LRIG Mirurun onto her knees as she covered her ears whilst Yuzuki struggled to keep on her feet. Hitoe could only look over towards the End in worry, knowing that things were only going to get much harder from here on in. She gulped nervously as she stared up at the dragon, hoping that she was even ready for what was to come.

"The... End..." she murmured nervously.

"Hitoe, we better brace ourselves!" Yuzuki called, bringing the Selector's attention back to reality. Akira sneered as she continued on with her turn by summoning two copies of Kannya, Phantom Dragon to the left and right SIGNI spaces whilst Seal Dragon Artpique appeared in the center space. The 3 dragons all had a bright orange aura surrounding them, their power increasing from Dragonic Overlord the End's Cross Grow bonus.

**Kannya, Phantom Dragon x2: 7000 - 9000**

**Seal Dragon, Artpique: 2000 - 4000**

"With Artpique's ability," Akira spoke "I move it to my Ener Zone to give 3000 power to the Kannya on my right!"

The Seal Dragon vanished in a bright orange glow as the card moved to her Ener Zone, in turn bringing up an aura of the same colour around the selected Kannya, powering it up again to 12000 for the turn. The Selector sneered indicating that she wasn't even close to done yet.

"Finally, I'll summon another Lintwurm," she continued "Now my SIGNI power up again!"

**Kannya, Phantom Dragon (L): 12000 - 14000**

**Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon: 7000 - 9000**

**Kannya, Phantom Dragon (R): 9000 - 11000**

"And now... one more copy of One Rule, Two Birds!"

Hitoe gasped in panic as the copy of Barri that she added back a few turns ago began leaking sparks again along with another card in her hand, rendering them useless against Dragonic Overlord for the entire turn. The fact that Akira went as far as declaring this to be the 'Final Turn' had seemingly already sealed both hers and Yuzuki's fates. The LRIG could only look behind in worry, concerned for Hitoe and wondering what was going through her head.

 _Is this really the end?_ she thought  _That can't be..._

"Well then, let's start with 'the beginning of the end'," Akira sneered "My Kannyas alone will attack first!" The two Dragon Beast SIGNI nodded in response to her command and flew across the battlefield towards Hitoe's table, easily overpowering both Dual Axe Archdragon and Berserk Dragon with their greater amount of strength from both Dragonic Overlord and Lintwurm. The two SIGNI cards moved to Hitoe's Ener Zone as she could only look on, struggling to maintain her composure. She knew at as long as she couldn't guard the End's attack, she was completely helpless to do anything...

 _No! I can't start thinking about that!_ she thought  _There must be something I can do! I can't give up! For Aichi and Kai!_

"The End attacks Calamity Tower!"

Yuzuki's eyes suddenly widened in shock as she looked on over towards Dragonic Overlord, taking flight above the table and aiming right at the last remaining unit. She was confused. Why was Akira attacking the SIGNI with Overlord? A horrible feeling in her gut however was telling her that she was about to find out... right now to be precise. Dragonic Overlord roared as it brought down the two guns in its upper right arms before firing a barrage of fiery bullets at Calamity Tower Wyvern, banishing from the field before a sudden explosion egulfed Yuzuki in a cloud of smoke as she cried out in pain.

"Yuzuki!" gasped Hitoe as she suddenly saw her next Life Cloth, another copy of Berserk Dragon enter her Ener Zone. As Yuzuki stumbled back up to her feet from the sudden attack, she glared back at Akira.

"How did...?!"

"Dragonic Overlord's Break Grow ability," Akira interrupted, sneering as she did so "When I attack a SIGNI this turn with the End, not only does it gain Lancer for the one time only, but I can also do this!" Another card from the Selector's Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile as she revealed Dragon Knight, Gimel from her hand and dropped it into her Trash Pile. Dragonic Overlord the End roared loudly as the card form on the LRIG space suddenly upped itself, to everyone's shock, except for Kai whose frustrated gaze remained fixated on Akira, who was seemingly having the time of her life.

"The End... stood back up?!" gasped Yuzuki.

"That's right," she replied "By attacking this way with the Break Grow ability, I can preserve a copy for the End's Persona Blast, which Ulith generously gave me a few hints about."

"Then... Ulith gave you all of Kai's strategies?!" Hitoe stuttered in disbelief.

"That's correct, a small means to an end to... well, bring the end to the two of you!" Akira answered before entering a brief phase of hysterical laughter. After a few moments passed, she turned her attention back to the LRIG space.

"The End attacks again!"

As Dragonic Overlord charged up the guns it held in its upper arms again, Yuzuki looked back to Hitoe, panic present all over her expression.

"Please tell me you have something to guard with!" she called out. After a few moments of silence however, the LRIG's expression became crestfallen as she turned around just in time to get struck by multiple fiery bullets from the End's guns, screaming out loud in pain. Hitoe shielded her face as several of the bullets flew right past her, just as two more cards entered her Ener Zone, neither of which had any Life Bursts either. They were Dual Axe Archdragon and Komodo, Phantom Dragon.

"Hit," Akira sneered "Counterblast and... Persona Blast! Overlord, stand up once again!"

Dragonic Overlord roared as it brought up the swords stashed up in its lower arms, preparing to strike Yuzuki once again. The LRIG struggled back to her feet, panting heavily after recovering from the Kagero commander's assault. Hitoe could only look up in worry, her composure now edging even closer than before to the breaking point.

"What's wrong?" Akira taunted "Have you run out of options? Then it is decided. You're done for! Now start grovelling!" Her response however was something she was not expecting.

"I'm not giving up!"

Everyone else present on the battlefield, including Kai and Naoki but minus Dragonic Overlord had their eyes widen in surprise after seeing that it was Hitoe who had spoken out for herself in this most dire of situations. Yuzuki looked over towards the Selector and struggled back onto her knees, curious about the expression she was now seeing before her. It was still riddled with nervousness, no doubt from being forced into a corner at this very moment. However, something seemed different about her this time around.

"There's too much riding on this battle!" Hitoe replied "I can't give up... for Kai's sake! And... I'm sure Aichi would feel this way if he was in the same spot!"

"Hitoe..." murmured Yuzuki.

"Hmph. It hardly matters," spat Akira "The End's next Persona Blast will be more than enough to finish you. Now then... prepare to suffer!"

Dragonic Overlord the End roared loudly as it dived down towards Yuzuki, bringing up one of its swords down upon the LRIG. She raised and held out both cannons in an attempt to block, but the blow was far more stronger than she anticipated. The force of which ended up knocking her off balance as she stumbled backwards, giving Overlord the opportunity to slash her with the other sword that it carried in its right lower arm. Akira sneered and entered another crazed fit of laughter for a brief moment before gazing maliciously at both Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"And with that, you have no Life Cloths left!" she called "Now it is truely the end!"

Hitoe could only sweat as the final Life Cloth flew up from her table as it went over to her Ener Zone. It flipped face up, revealing Dragon Dancer, Barbara as the final card. The card suddenly glowed, indicating that its Life Burst went off. The top card of the Selector's deck moved to her table face-down, resuming the sudden tension. Akira however was annoyed, to say the least.

"So you lucked out on that card," she spat "But that only prolongs your end for another attack!"

"Alright, enough with 'the End' puns already," muttered Mirurun "We get it." Akira glared down at her for a brief moment, making a mental reminder to herself to shut the LRIG's mouth when she felt like it once the battle was over. In the meantime, she turned her attention back towards Dragonic Overlord, now hovering above Hitoe's table once again.

"Persona Blast!" she declared "And I attack again!"

Yuzuki could only look up from her feet as Dragonic Overlord began charging the energy it used in the guns that it carried in its upper arms. She looked back to Hitoe in worry, knowing that an additional Persona Blast from the End was just enough to end the battle and there was very little chance in hoping that the new Life Cloth was another copy of Barbara.

"Hitoe... I'm sorry..." she muttered under her breath "We've failed..."

"W... We haven't lost yet," said Hitoe, taking a few deep breaths to regain her composure. "All you need is a little confidence... in me."

Yuzuki could only stare at her in concern, knowing that if she lost, they would be seperated from one another again, only this time, possibly for good. That was when it suddenly hit her from what her Selector was trying to say. Before she could speak out the answer, she could only look up towards Dragonic Overlord the End. It roared loudly as it brought down both of the guns it held in its upper arms, firing a larger and more faster barrage of fiery bullets at the LRIG who was quickly engulfed in a large explosion that forced Hitoe to shield her face from the impact. As the smoke cleared, the last Life Cloth revealed Gatling Claw Dragon, another Life Burst, albeit different from the last one.

"W... With the effect," Hitoe said nervously "I draw 1 card!" As she eyed the deck and reached out her hand towards it, her sudden anxiety from before suddenly returned back to her, causing her to hesitate and freeze up. Panic was running through her mind, causing her to second guess her chances of surviving the battle now one attack away from being over. As she was about to start breathing hectically, a familiar voice rang through her head, suddenly quelling her doubts from before.

" _You're a really kind person, but you need to have some more faith in yourself._ "

 _That's right!_ she thought  _I wanted to step in for Aichi so that I could help him out in the best way I could and right now, I'm doing my part to help out Kai. Even if I have no chance, I have to try for them!_

Placing her hand on the top card of the deck, Hitoe closed her eyes as she pulled it towards her ever so slightly. Taking a deep breath, she moved the card out to her right, obscured from the view of everyone else, including Kai and Naoki up from the tower. As she opened her eyes and looked towards it, her eyes could only stare in wonder and amazement. This however had caught the attention of Akira.

"What are you smiling about?!" she barked "You have nothing left to protect you! This time... this time it is over! Persona Blast!"

Dragonic Overlord roared loudly as it hovered down into the view of both Hitoe and Yuzuki, the latter of whom was now struggling onto her knees to brace herself for the worst to come. A small fireball was beginning to take shape in the Kagero commander's mouth as the Selector could only look on at the dragon, seemingly staring right into the face of defeat.

"It all ends here!" declared Akira as she held out her arm in a commanding gesture. "Eternal... APOCALYPSE!"

"Damn it! I can't watch!" cried Naoki.

Kai could only grit his teeth, assuming that the worst was to now fall over Hitoe and Yuzuki and that there was nothing they could do to stop it. Dragonic Overlord the End opened its large jaw, unleashing a large inferno from the single fireball that erupted into a blaze of scorching flames. The blaze was so large that it ended up covering across the entire top half of the table, engulfing both Selector and LRIG, leaving nothing to be seen within the raging fire that now obscured them from sight. Upon seeing that her final attack had seemingly won her the battle, Akira let out a hysterical laugh, more sinister and in a sense, far more insane than the previous few that she had done throughout the battle.

"Yes! I have done it!" she called "Now wallow in despair as I take Yuzuki as per our agreement and suffer the wrath of Kai's... WHAT?!"

Mirurun looked up in confusion to see what the sudden change in the Selector's reaction before looking over to Hitoe's table to see a blinding white flash emerge from the inferno that was still present. It disappated the flames, blinding her, Akira, Kai, Naoki and Dragonic Overlord itself before the flash died down to see Yuzuki, barely standing up from the ordeal, shielded by a familiar Guard SIGNI whilst Hitoe was panting from enduring most of the dragon's attack, evidenced by the scorch marks present on her shirt and the fact that she was wearily holding the card that saved her from defeat. It was Servant D2, a SIGNI with just a high enough Level to bypass the effect of One Rule, Two Birds.

"Ngh... You drew into that card?!" growled Akira "That's impossible!"

"Yes!" called Naoki "She withstood it!"

"Yeah," replied Kai "With no more copies of the End in the LRIG deck, Akira can no longer harness Overlord's full potential. Hitoe has done well to endure the relentless attacks from my avatar."

"Grr, don't get your hopes up or anything!" snapped Akira as she glared over toward Hitoe who placed Servant D2's card into her Trash Pile. "As soon as you pass the turn, any attack will be enough to finish you off! As long as I possess that which once belonged to Kai, you are nothing!"

"That is where you're mistaken."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock and surprise to hear that Dragonic Overlord had chosen at this very moment to speak out loud for itself. As it hovered back towards Akira's table, it looked back at her, with a fierce gaze present in its green eyes.

"Power is not merely for enjoyment," it spoke, a fierce tone to its voice "It is something that you must grasp with your own hands. Stealing it from others to abuse for your own entertainment is not the true means to achieve it." Akira was not pleased to be spoken to by the Kagero commander, her temper rising by the second.

"You... You dare to lecture me?!" she barked "I possess your card! Everything you do in these battles is to my command!"

"Pitiful girl," replied Overlord "It seems even as I'm battling under your banner instead of that of my Vanguard, unlike a certain few, you've learned nothing. You are not even worthy to even call yourself a wielder of the Aerial Assault Unit, Kagero."

"You...!" she growled before glaring back at Hitoe, wanting to deal with her first, angrily crossing her arms and turning her head away in stubborness. "... Turn end!"

**End of Turn 7**

**Hitoe vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Three : Dragonic Overlord the End**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **-** **EMPTY** **: Kannya, Phantom Dragon** **\- Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon** **-** **Kannya, Phantom Dragon**

**Ener - 9 : 0**

Hitoe took a deep breath before sighing in relief in the fact that she managed to get the battle under control again. But after looking back at her hand, she knew things weren't looking good for her.

 _I managed to hang on_ she thought  _But because the power of Akira's SIGNI is below 12000, I can't use my See Through the Fiery Ambition ARTS to have the weaker SIGNI I have attack Dragonic Overlord directly. I'll just have to hope I can draw the SIGNI I need here and now._

Before she could begin the turn, Yuzuki who had now managed to get back onto her feet, standing tall and ready to continue the battle, looked over to the Selector with a weak smile on her expression.

"This is our last chance..." she murmured "Hitoe... just as I have always counted on you to see through our previous battles, don't forget who's also counting on us."

"Y... Yes," replied Hitoe as she looked on towards Dragonic Overlord who gazed back at her, awaiting a sign that it and Yuzuki would clash again soon. "And... I don't want to let them down either! So... Yuzuki, please lend me your strength!"

Before the LRIG could nod or say an upbeat "Yes!" or something similar along the lines, a sudden orange glow circled around the LRIG space, catching the two by surprise. As Akira and Mirurun could only stare on in confusion, several bright orange glows that almost blinded them, resonated with some of the cards on their table. More specifically, the cards depicting Lizard Soldier, Conroe and Embodiment of Armor, Bahr from the LRIG Trash and Dragon Knight, Nehalem whose card was stacked beneath Dragonic Overlord the End's card on the LRIG space.

"W... What the hell is this?!" gasped the Selector.

Meanwhile up in the tower, Naoki could only look down at the battlefield in awe, wondering what exactly was going on at the floor right at the bottom of the space. Before he could mutter a question to himself, he turned over to Kai and suddenly gasped.

"K... Kai, your pocket!" he called.

Realizing that was where he kept the spare deck containing the Amber Dragon series, Kai quickly dug into his jacket pocket and brought out the source of the bright orange glow. He could only look on in shock as Amber Dragon, Eclipse's card was covered in the exact same aura that was already occurring at the battlefield beneath the tower from where he and Naoki were currently standing.

"This is..."

His murmur was interrupted as the aura suddenly left the card in a wisp-laser beam like pattern that soared out through the tower windowsill and went straight towards Yuzuki on the LRIG space of Hitoe's table. The auras from the Kagero LRIG cards, barring the Dragonic Overlord cards, had left those same cards in the exact same manner, much to the shock of Akira and Mirurun, who remained still with dumbfounded expressions as the streaks of orange light suddenly struck Yuzuki all at once, almost knocking her backwards to the ground. The same aura that had struck her was now surrounding her and the LRIG deck that Hitoe had on her table. It felt all so strange and yet, it seemed just... right. As she suddenly realized what this could be all about, she turned back to her Selector. Hitoe looked towards the LRIG deck, seeing the strange aura amongst the remaining cards before looking back at the LRIG.

"Hitoe, declare Grow now!" called Yuzuki.

"I... I understand," she replied before she looked back towards Akira. "Grow!"

At the moment that incantation was declared, a fiery column suddenly erupted from the aura, engulfing the LRIG in another torrent of flames. Unlike Dragonic Overlord's previous attacks on her however, this was different. A Vanguard circle suddenly flashed briefly in front of the column of flames, catching the said Kagero user's attention as it gazed upon the inferno that stood before it. As Hitoe looked at the column of fire, upon staring at it for long enough, she suddenly realized that this was not the Fourth Warning form she had used in practice battles against Kai and Ren. One thing was for sure, the name of this new emergence, now became clear to her in an instant as she spoke it out loud in an instant.

"Yuzuki-Four... Combustion of Perdition!"

When the name was called out, the fiery column suddenly burst apart into smaller embers, revealing the newly changed form of Yuzuki. Her clothing as an LRIG remained nearly unchanged, but there were now several additions to her appearance. The red bandages covering the lower half of her arms had now been replaced with spiked armour, resembling that of dragon hide. The same could also be said for the stockings covering her legs, they too also covered in scaly armour. Her crystal wings were no more, now replaced with what appeared to be black coloured natural wings, but unlike Iona's wings in her higher level forms, they looked more organic, much like that of dragon wings to be more precise.

The cannons had also undergone quite the change, now single barreled and coloured in gunmetal grey with golden trims at the end. The scrunchie that Yuzuki had used to tie the back of her hair from when she was previously a Selector remained unchanged whilst the top front half of her head was covered by a small metal headdress, giving off the impression of streaks of fire. In the circle at the centermost part of the headdress on the forehead, a strange symbol was emblazed upon it. A symbol that was all too familiar to Kai as he looked down from the tower onto Hitoe's table.

"That's... the Kagero clan symbol?" he murmured "Could it be that... they lent their strength to Yuzuki?"

Naoki said nothing, too amazed to see what had now emerged before him and the Kagero cardfighter. All that he and Kai knew for the moment now was thanks to this sudden turn in events, Hitoe's chances to overcoming Akira may have just increased, regardless of whether she had already realized that or not.

* * *

**Ruko's School: Rooftop**

Aichi stepped out onto the roof through the door that he exited from the top floor. He panted for a few moments to regain his breath after running up the stairs and frantically searching through all of the classrooms on said top floor for Tama before finding himself where he was now. The night air was eerily silent, the dark sky above almost like a black void smothered by the clouds that were present. As he took a few steps forward onto the floor present before him, the door that he opened suddenly closed behind him because of a sudden, but brief gust of wind that stirred up for a short moment. The sudden moment had Aichi feeling nervous, but he knew that he had other things to worry about.

"At last, we finally meet in person, scum," a voice spoke cooly " Or rather... Sendou Aichi."

He looked on ahead towards the source of the voice, stepping out of the shadows from the small shelter in front of him at the far side of the roof. Ulith emerged from the darkness previously obscuring her and walked out until she was a considerable distance from the cardfighter.

"Um... Are you Ulith?" Aichi asked nervously.

"That is correct," the Selector replied "I believe I have something that you and Kai want back."

"Then... you have Tama's card?" he pondered.

"Or rather, Shiro?"

Aichi blinked in confusion. He couldn't understand exactly what Ulith was telling him right now, referring to the LRIG Tama as this 'Shiro'. He had a feeling that with everything that had come to light over today's events, he was going to find out right this instant.

"My, I suppose the rumor I've heard so much about from the 'girl of black' was true," Ulith spat "Shiro, or rather Tama as you call her, did indeed lose all of her original memories."

"Then... the reason Tama doesn't know anything about herself before meeting Ruko-san..." murmured Aichi.

"That is correct," she replied before holding a brief sneer "In fact... why don't I just show you, the true Shiro."

The cruel demanored Selector dug into her blazer's right pocket and pulled out an LRIG card, evidenced by its white backing. She held the back of it towards Aichi before turning it over to reveal the LRIG in question. The Royal Paladin user could only look on in shock, concerned about what he was now seeing before him. There in that very card was Tama herself or 'Shiro' as Ulith had preferred to call her. But she was not in her usual cheery and upbeat mood. Instead she stood still inside the card frame, holding her head down and obscuring her expression from Aichi. A few moments later, she tilted her head upwards, revealing that her eyes had gone completely dull, almost lifeless in appearance, to which the cardfighter assumed was from the pain he was hearing her suffer from earlier. She opened her mouth, speaking 3 words that would only confirm his fears.

"Are you... strong?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Dragonic Overlord** (Break Ride)  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): When your Kagero LRIG grows from this LRIG, until end of turn, that LRIG can attack a SIGNI your opponent controls once during this turn and gains both Lancer and “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Red and choose a card from your hand and discard it: Once during this turn, at the end of a battle that this LRIG attacked a SIGNI, you may pay the cost. If you do, up this LRIG and it can attack again.” until end of turn. If the LRIG that grows from this card is not Level 4 when this effect activates, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field.  
> [Constant] Lord (If you have a summoned SIGNI whose Color is not the same as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot attack)


	27. Arc 2 - Ride 27: The Countdown to Despair I

**Ruko's School: Inside**

Ruko remained still in the corridor that she last spoke to Aichi within, unsure of why she hadn't moved from that spot since he left her on her own. After everything that Iona had briefly told her about Ulith a few moments ago, she felt somewhat conflicted about the current situation. Aside from her own problem of trying to ward off the effects of Reverse that was constantly 'biting away' at her willpower to resist being under the control of Link Joker, she felt that the center of this conflict lay with both Tama who currently remained in Ulith's possession and Aichi who had gone off to save the LRIG without even knowing what the Selector was capable of doing. Or so that Iona had told her. As she walked forward immediately, she wasn't paying attention as to where she was running off to, until she bumped into something or rather, someone.

"You really should be more careful."

Ruko looked up to see that it was Ren of all people that she had run into without noticing at first.

"I... I'm sorry!" she called.

"Don't worry about it," the Shadow Paladin user said "Though now that you're here, I suppose you could help me find someone?"

"Who would that be?" asked Ruko.

"Aichi-kun, of course," he replied in a playful tone. This was enough to snap Ruko back to her earlier demanor, now curious about why he asked for Aichi's name, minutes after he left the corridor to go after Ulith and Tama.

"Do you also know Kai Toshiki?"

"But of course," answered Ren, briefly confused as to why the Selector was acting this way. Before he knew exactly what he had gotten himself into, Ruko revealed Iona's card before him, showing the LRIG in his view of sight. Iona herself glanced over to Ren, upon noticing his gaze was now directed upon her and gazed back at him in return.

"Oh," he mused "So you must be one of these Selectors Kai mentioned. What's your name?"

"Kominato Ruko," she answered "And... I will end your envolvment with the Selector Battles here!"

"I see..." Ren murmured, knowing exactly who he was faced with. "Kai told us what happened when you two battled. I suppose there's no talking you out of your decision."

Ruko said nothing in response, turning Iona's card around and holding the back of it towards the Shadow Paladin user, preparing to start an inevital battle. Ren took out the case that held his deck and removed the cards that were contained within. He gazed down at Blaster Dark Revenger's card, curious to see how things would end up playing out for him and his Shadow Paladins in the first Selector Battle they would be involved in.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

At the top of the tower, Kai and Naoki could only look down towards Hitoe's table, surprised by not just the fact that she managed to withstand Dragonic Overlord the End's attacks at full power, but the fact that all of the units that were turned to LRIGs barring Overlord itself had lent their strength to Yuzuki to give them a fighting chance to free them from Akira. The LRIG stared across the field towards Dragonic Overlord, awaiting for a signal from her to get on the offensive so they could hopefully defeat the Kagero unit if it had meant getting back Kai's deck from Akira. That is, if the opposing Selector was willing to keep to her word. Speaking of whom, the aforementioned Selector could stare at the LRIG's newly acquired form in disbelief, completely shocked that this had just happened before her own eyes.

"H... How the hell is even possible?!" gasped Akira "As far as I know... LRIGs don't gain new forms in the middle of a battle!"

"And now, we know..." muttered Mirurun. Yuzuki glanced over towards Akira for a brief moment before looking back at Hitoe.

"Let's finish this whilst we still can!" she called. The Selector nodded in agreement and in compliance to her decision.

"First, I will Ener Charge with my Charging ARTS!" Hitoe called "Then I will summon Calamity Tower Wyvern, Dual Axe Archdragon and Flame Edge Dragon!"

As the top card of her deck, Wyvern Guard, Barri moved to her Ener Zone, the three Kagero units materialized into the SIGNI spaces over on the Selector's table from left to right. As two cards slipped out from underneath the card form of Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition, Hitoe drew a single card from her deck before glancing at it, her decision now having come to mind. She looked over to Yuzuki who looked back towards her, nodding in agreement with whatever had come to the Selector's mind. She then turned her attention back towards Dragonic Overlord the End and Akira, holding out the back of the card that she just drew via Calamity Tower Wyvern.

"Next, I will pay the cost for Yuzuki's ability to banish Lintwurm from the field!" she called.

Three red cards moved from Hitoe's Ener Zone over to her Trash Pile as Yuzuki aimed her left cannon at Lintwurm, charging up the energy within the barrel. As the glow from the stored power grew brighter and larger, the LRIG fired all of the energy within at the Dragon Beast SIGNI, striking it head on and engulfing it in a large explosion. When the smoke had eventually died down, Lintwurm vanished from the battlefield as her card moved over to Akira's Ener Zone. As the Selector could only frown from the two remaining Kannyas on her field having their power decrease a bit as a result of that loss, she looked across towards Yuzuki and her eyes suddenly widened in shock as to what she was seeing. A fiery red glow was now present around the LRIG as she briefly glanced back towards Hitoe.

"Do it!" she called. The Selector nodded in agreement before looking back towards Akira and Dragonic Overlord.

"First I will pay the cost for my own One Rule, Two Birds!" she called "Then Flame Edge Dragon attacks the End!" The unit roared loudly before flapping its wings to take flight and charging towards its opponent. It raised up the blade that it carried in its right claw, before suddenly bringing it down in a striking motion. The attack struck Dragonic Overlord the End, causing it to briefly stumble around before it hovered back up into the air and growled under its breath. Akira's next Life Cloth revealed Goddra, Phantom Dragon, no Life Burst being present on the card. The Selector could only look back at her hand and growl as Wyvern Guard, Barri was leaking sparks whilst Dragonic Burnout remained unaffected.

"Then Dual Axe attacks the Kannya in front of it!" Hitoe continued.

Dual Axe Archdragon roared in response to her command before taking flight and charging down the battlefield towards Kannya. The SIGNI was helpless to do anything as the Kagero unit dived towards her before bringing the axes down upon her, banishing her from the field in an instant. At this moment, the fiery glow around Yuzuki grew even larger as her gaze upon Akira and Dragonic Overlord grew more intense. Nodding slightly, that was the sign that Hitoe needed for this very moment. The Selector held out her right hand over the LRIG space.

"For the sake of my friends and the units that are counting on me, I... I will move forward!" she called "LIMIT BREAK!"

A fiery red Vanguard circle flashed in front of Yuzuki for a brief moment as the last 3 cards moved from the Ener Zone to the Trash Pile. Hitoe then revealed Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess along with Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess from her hand and dropped them into her Trash Pile as the cards glowed in a blinding bright orange glow, completely obscuring it whilst at the same time, even more energy began surrounding Yuzuki, this time charging up the barrels of both of her cannons at once. She pointed them together, right towards Dragonic Overlord the End as the energy intake grew even stronger before it suddenly erupted from the cannons, as one giant beam of flames. The 'attack' struck Overlord dead on as it growled and cried out loud fiercely as a result.

Akira shielded her face from the flames, as did her LRIG Mirurun on her table, the heat being much more stronger than she anticipated at first. Then to her shock, a Life Cloth suddenly flew upwards from the amount left in front of her and flipped face up. The card, revealed to be Dragon Monk, Genjo, began glowing indicating that Hitoe and Yuzuki ended up triggering off a Life Burst in the result. Akira's sneer returned as she burst out in laughter for a brief moment.

"Bwahahaha! Your effort was a complete waste!" she snickered "With the Life Burst, I'll regain one..."

"You won't do anything!" called Yuzuki.

"What?"

As Akira reached for Genjo's card, a ball of fire suddenly erupted in front of her hand, forcing her to pull it back from the card as it was engulfed by the flames, dropping into her Ener Zone as a result of this. When the flames had eventually vanished, Dragon Monk, Genjo's physical card had darkened slightly, as if it was 'charred' or 'burnt' by the effects of Yuzuki's Limit Break. The Selector growled under her breath as she turned her attention back towards Hitoe, her glare mainly focused on Yuzuki in front of her whilst Mirurun could only stare at the state of Genjo's card, wondering how this was possible.

"N... No way! What the hell did you do?!" she snapped.

"The second effect of my Limit Break!" Yuzuki replied before glancing behind her. "Hitoe, if you would be kind enough to explain?"

"When I use this effect, one of my opponent's Life Cloths is crushed," Hitoe answered "Then if the number of your cards in your Ener Zone is 3 or less, all the Life Bursts that cloth had is negated!"

"Negated?!" gasped Mirurun.

"Awesome!" called Naoki "Hitoe not only cleared a path for Flame Edge attack's to build up the Ener she needed, but she's managed to get Yuzuki to deal damage before she's even attacked!"

"In addition, with the power she obtained from the Kagero units," Kai spoke "Yuzuki even managed to gain the same ability as that of Vortex Dragonewt, burning away the effects of Life Cloths, but at a higher cost."  _Nonetheless, an impressive feat indeed._

"T... This cannot be...!" Akira cried as she looked down at her hand, realizing that there was nothing she could now. "I... I can't lose to the same scared Selector I crushed before, least of all with Kai's cards!"

Yuzuki flapped the wings present on her back, taking flight into the air and preparing to clash with Dragonic Overlord the End whose fierce gaze remained trained upon her as it raised both the swords and the guns it held in all four of its arms, anticipating said clash was to come at any second from now. As all of this was going on, Akira could only sweat in panic before looking over towards Hitoe who held her head down. Mirurun looked over towards the Selector as well, wondering what exactly she was planning to say to them.

"Midoriko-san, Yuzuki, even Kai... all of them were hurt by you," she said, her voice slightly trembling at what she was bringing up "That's why... I won't let you hurt Ruko-san or even Aichi-kun!"

"Hitoe..." Yuzuki murmured. She shook her head clear of the sudden thought as she aimed both of her cannons at Dragonic Overlord the End who responded by roaring loudly at her whilst also charging up the energy in the barrels of the guns that it held. Whilst Akira could stare on in horror at the envitable result whilst Mirurun hummed to herself, ignoring her Selector's despair, Hitoe brought up her head to face them and held out her right arm in a commanding like gesture, knowing exactly what to do next.

"Yuzuki, attack Dragonic Overlord the End!" she declared.

The LRIG nodded in response to her request and charged through the air towards Dragonic Overlord who in turn charged across the battlefield to meet her head on. The two combatants pointed their weapons at one another and began firing fiery hot bullets from both their guns and cannons at each other. With the wings that both Yuzuki and Dragonic Overlord possessed, they were quick to dodge the attacks that came their way before the LRIG took the opportunity to dive down towards the dragon. Overlord upon sensing this, quickly raised its lower arms and prepared to strike with the swords that it carried. Yuzuki quickly pointed her cannons downwards and fired them immediately to thrust herself up into the air, just in time to dodge Dragonic Overlord's swords. Pointing the cannons upwards, a large fireball formed inbetween the gap above her head, which ended up growing larger and larger.

With a loud scream, as a result of gathering that much energy for the fireball above her head, Yuzuki instantly pointed her cannons right down towards Dragonic Overlord, which in turn sent the huge fireball right towards it. The Kagero commander remained still as the attack came crashing right into it, engulfing the dragon in a massive explosion upon contact. It roared loudly in pain as it fell out of the air and landed on the solid ground on its front, indicating that the victory had indeed gone to both Yuzuki and Hitoe. Speaking of the Selector, she could only look on ahead at the result before her, still somewhat in disbelief as to what had just happened before her.

"I... won?" she murmured.

As Akira could only hold down her head in frustration and shame, Yuzuki flew down to the floor at the center of the battlefield. As soon as her feet were back on the hard ground, she ran over towards Dragonic Overlord the End, stopping just a meter or two from its form before her. The dragon growled under its breath, slightly weakly, presumably as a result of the final attack that it suffered from. It dropped its weapons as it struggled onto its knees with support from all four of its arms at once.

"Overlord...!" called Yuzuki "... Are you alright?"

"... This is something you should not be concerned about," Overlord spoke, its tone not as fierce as it was earlier. "It would appear the other members of the Kagero troop had indeed made their decision and that has brought us to this result."

"Result?" she murmured.

Upon finishing her reply, Dragonic Overlord gazed over towards Hitoe before a small, but slightly dim orange aura surrounded the Kagero commander. In turn, a blinding orange glow appeared from the LRIG Trash, much to the Selector's surprise. Picking up the cards that were covered in this aura, Hitoe could see that they were seemingly blank for the moment. Then in almost a single instance, several fiery like horizontal waves moved up each of the cards she held, which formerly represented Yuzuki's Level 0 form all the way up to her Level 3 form, causing them to change in appearance. When the aura had died down, the Selector's eyes widened in surprise. Right before her, the changed cards still depicted Yuzuki, from Level 0 through 3, albeit with different appearances. But the most shocking change amongst the cards that she held was the additional LRIG type, right beside Yuzuki's very own.

"... This is..." she breathed.

"What is Hitoe?" asked Yuzuki.

"This is the power I have entrusted to you," Overlord interrupted "It would appear that you have earned their respect, as you already have with mine. Yuzuki, was it?"

"Y... Yeah," the LRIG replied.

"Mark my words," the dragon spoke "Power comes with great responsibility. Remember that well, unlike her." Overlord's tone grew fierce and bitter at the last two words it spoke, as it glared right back at Akira, who in turn could only glare back at the Kagero commander in anger. As this was going on, up in the tower, Naoki and Kai could only look down at the battlefield, partially out of bewilderment from the overall result, but no one was more excited and upbeat than the Narukami user himself.

"Yes!" he called "Hitoe beat Akira!"

Kai said nothing in response, but briefly let out a smile, showing that he was impressed with Hitoe's performance in the battle that had gone on. After a few more moments, the entire battlefield went black, bringing everyone back to the outside world.

* * *

**Ruko's School: Entrance**

As Hitoe blinked upon returning back to the school entrance grounds, she looked forward to see Akira growling under her breath, no doubt ranting to herself about the way things had gone for her tonight. She held up Yuzuki's card to see how the LRIG was doing after the long and hard battle that the two of them had managed to endure through, eventually emerging victorious from the whole ordeal. Needless to say, Yuzuki looked up at Hitoe and smiled, indicating that she was alright and that she was glad that everything in the end had worked out for them. Before Hitoe could say anything, she suddenly felt a hand briefly pat her on the back, as if it was to get her attention.

"You really took it to Akira there Hitoe!" a familiar voice called. Hitoe turned around to see who had called out to her.

"I... Ishida!" she called, upon noticing him. He gave a big smile and thumbs up of approval before the Selector looked over to Kai, who was back on the Narukami user's shoulder, still barely able to move about due to his earlier injury.

"Are you alright Kai?!" Yuzuki asked in concern.

"Yeah," he replied before wincing in pain for a brief moment "My injury is still taking its toll... but I have made the effort to come and observe the battle."

"I see..." murmured Hitoe before she suddenly remembered. "That reminds me..." She turned around to face Akira, who looked up at her, looking even angrier than she already was with everything that had gone on. Hitoe gulped nervously before clearing her throat.

"A... As you promised, hand back Kai's deck!" she called "We don't need any more trouble than we already have!"

Akira was about to spit out an insult or something along the subject before she suddenly looked behind Hitoe, noticing not just Naoki who kept a fierce gaze upon her, but Kai who had been supported by his shoulder, he too also glaring at her.

"T... The deal's off!" she barked as she made a run for the school's front doors.

"O... Oi!" cried Naoki.

"After her!" called Kai.

Hitoe nodded in agreement as the three of them quickly chased after the Selector, Kai's efforts being slightly slowed down by his injury. Akira looked behind her and sneered for a brief moment before she looked forward straight into the seemingly empty entrance hall, failing to notice a foot come into view from the right side of the doorway. Upon noticing it, she realized she was going too fast to slow herself down and ended up tripping over, falling to the floor face first. The sudden fall had resulted in Kai's deck case flying out of her pocket and Dragonic Overlord's card from her right hand which ended up being caught by the hands of the instigator who quickly moved in front of her fallen state. Looking up, Akira could see that the figure that had tripped her up, was none other than Leon.

"A comrade once taught me that you shouldn't take things that don't belong to you," he spoke as he gazed down upon her.

"You...!" she growled. Akira then got back onto her feet and turned around to see Hitoe, Kai and Naoki arrive at the front door. With her knives no longer stuck in the ground outside to arm herself with, she was very much out of options.

"Mark my words, when Ulith-san finds you," she spat "You'll suffer greatly, I can assure you that!"

Upon finishing her sentence, she swiftly leapt past Leon to a nearby window and opened it up in an instant, making her exit from the school premises through there. As the group watched Akira leave the vicinity of the school, they decided now that Kai's deck was in safe hands once more, pursuing her was not worth it anymore. When the group turned back to face each other, Leon handed both the deck case and Dragonic Overlord's card over to Kai, who in turn placed said unit's card back in said case.

"I owe both you and Hitoe my thanks," he spoke.

"T... Thank you Kai," said Hitoe, smiling gently in response.

"That reminds me," Kai continued "Where is Tama and Aichi?"

"Akira handed Tama over to Ulith," Yuzuki answered "And Aichi went through the school to look for her. Akira didn't say where exactly she was though."

"I see..." muttered Naoki "I guess we'll have to search the school from top to bottom."

"There is no need."

Everyone else suddenly turned towards Leon in confusion, who had spoken out for himself as a gentle breeze whistled through the open gaps in the school's open doors and the window that Akira had chosed to escape through. Whilst Hitoe shivered a little from the chilliness of the evening air that was being stirred up, no sooner than Leon had opened his eyes did said breeze eventually die down, especially when the answer that there were all searching for had already come to pass for him.

"Sendou is present on the rooftop," he spoke.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" called Naoki "Let's find Ren in this place and hurry up to where Aichi is!"

"I agree," replied Kai before looking at Hitoe. "Hitoe, head with Leon to the rooftop, Ishida and I will look for Ren."

Everyone else nodded in agreement with the Kagero user and hurried off in different directions of the building, in the hope of finding the Shadow Paladin user quickly and catch up to Aichi as soon as possible. Whilst Leon and Hitoe hurried up the stairways of the school building, Kai and Naoki hurried across the corridors towards the left hand side of the premises. The Kagero user although certain that Ren would be able to handle himself, was still concerned given his usual way of thinking and acting along the with circumstances present before them.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Meanwhile, in the all too familiar space of where the Selector Battles occurred, another battle was already in progress unbeknownst to Aichi, Kai or the others. Much like how Hitoe and Akira's field had red covering both backgrounds on both ends of the battlefield, this field had black colours covering all ends of the background, to represent the decks that were being used this very instant. The eerie silence that was currently present in the area was suddenly broken up by a loud battle cry as an all too familiar swordsman, clad in black armour dashed across the field to meet his opponent, his dark red cape flowing behind his back as he charged forth towards Iona, who stood at the ready, clutching a simple but small plain black sword, manifested from the darkness. That being the element that her colour represented.

Blaster Dark swung his blade at the dark LRIG who leaped backwards to dodge the attack. Iona smirked for a brief moment before leaping back at him, swinging the sword she carried right at him. The Shadow Paladin unit swung his blade right back to parry the counterattack before thrusting it forward in an attempt to land a clean strike on the LRIG. After she dodged again, the two were engaged in their combat, matching blow for blow with both blade and sword, neither one willing to back down from the other. Eventually after matching each other for a short while, Blaster Dark eventually found an opening to strike and quickly took the opportunity to thrust his sword forward, heavily grazing Iona's right side. When he did so, his eyes briefly widened for a moment, causing him to stop immediately.

_This is..._

Iona who had immediately recovered from her brief loss, returned back to Ruko's table, the Selector of whom glanced to her Ener Zone which already comprised of 5 cards, including the crushed Life Cloth from just now. These cards were Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter, Code Anti Vimana, Code Maze Tajmaha, Healing Revenger and Darkness Revenger, Rugos. Ruko glanced over towards Ren, whose expression seemed a bit more serious than he was the way he was acting during their brief conversation earlier. Blaster Dark had gone all the way back to the LRIG space on his table, the Shadow Paladin's gaze trained upon Iona for some reason, unbeknowst to the LRIG, the cardfighter and the Selector all at once.

_She appears to be like her and yet she's... different. If that's the case..._

"Something on your mind?" Ren interrupted.

"Keep your guard up, my Vanguard," Blaster Dark replied "I suspect my opponent may not be who she seems."

"If you insist," he shrugged as he gazed across the field back towards Ruko. He had a feeling however that if what Kai said was true about their previous battle, then he knew he could be in for an uphill struggle.

* * *

**On the rooftop...**

"Tama..."

Aichi could only stare at the LRIG in shock and horror at the state she was in. Her dull eyes along with the words she had spoken out, including the tone that she had said those words in, that had only worried him even further. Whatever Ulith had done to her, it did not look like it had settled well at all. Speaking of whom, the cruel demanored Selector kept her gaze upon her, appearing to seem somewhat pleased with the reaction that she was seeing from the Royal Paladin user right before her own eyes. Aichi could only look back at Ulith, seemingly angered by what was seeing in front of him.

"What did you do to her?!" he demanded.

"I simply awakened her true self," she replied "The true girl of white, the LRIG Shiro."

"Shiro? What do you mean?" asked Aichi.

"All in due time Sendou," said Ulith, a brief smirk hidden beneath her expression "For now though, you will be my opponent."

"Opponent?" he murmured, blinking for a moment. "Are you wanting to battle me?"

"But of course," she mused "That is why you came here, isn't it? Then again, with regards to our current scenario, I know a great deal about you."

Upon finishing her sentence, she walked forward from where she was standing, advancing slowly towards Aichi. The Royal Paladin user for some reason suddenly tensed up, unsure of why he was feeling uncomfortable from the Selector's ever so closer presence towards him. She stopped her advance when she came alongside him, gazing at him with her brownish eyes, the sight of which up close had almost caught him by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Aichi asked, slightly nerved by her advance.

"Oh, you know," Ulith continued as she came up alongside him "Saving your own world from the darkness of Link Joker, only to be infected by it. And to think, you were stubborn enough to reject that power for yourself, even denying support from your own friends."

"I made a terrible mistake in not believing in my friends then," he said "I won't let that happen again."

"Keh," she spat as she then turned around, before beginning to walk back to the previous spot she stood from "As expected from that world's 'hero'. But more to the point, now that you're here... I look forward to seeing those twisted expressions I will pull out from you." Her tone had grown slightly more sinister at the last sentence, her expression having also darkened within that same light. She then turned around and held out the back of Tama's card towards Aichi, with the absolute intention of initiating a Selector Battle between them. As the cardfighter reached into his pocket to bring out his deck, he glanced back at Ulith.

"If I win, will you hand back Tama?" he asked.

"Of course, that is why you came here after all," Ulith sneered "However, if victory is mine, not only will I see those painful expressions to satisfy my tastes... but you must also surrender your avatar to me!"

His eyes widening in brief shock, Aichi had quickly realized what exactly she had meant. If he was planning to win back Tama in this battle, to return to Kai who would hopefully plan on returning to Ruko when the time was right, he would have to put up Blaster Blade as a bargaining chip to ensure both sides had equal stakes. He felt uncomfortable with the idea in the first place, not even willing to give away Blaster Blade at all, but he knew that if he didn't accept, then Tama would remain in Ulith's possession, no matter what. Especially in the state that he saw her in earlier, he felt... no, he knew that leaving her like this was not an option. Reluctantly, he took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and looked back at Ulith.

"I'll accept the conditions!" he replied.

"Very well then," Ulith said as her eyes were closed "But I wonder..." She then opened up her eyes all of a sudden, her gaze now directed upon the cardfight. "How long will it be, before I hear those cries from you that I long for!" Aichi said nothing in response and held out the back of Blaster Blade's card to meet with the back of Tama's card.

"Open!" they called. At this moment, two white flashes erupted from both of the cards and collided with one another, creating a blinding flash that would bring them to the battlefield that awaited them.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield: With Aichi and Ulith**

Aichi opened his eyes to find himself seated at the table that would represent his own side of the playing field. He looked around the space, noticing the background was littered with silhoutted buildings and a pure white background colour. He remembered this being somewhat similar to the field that he was observing from in Naoki's battle with Akira, but this felt different to him. Upon noticing that his starting hand and Life Cloths were already set on the table for him, Aichi looked forward to see Advance Party Seeker, File on the LRIG space on his table. The Royal Paladin unit had his hands clutched to the lances that he held and that his cape was briefly flowing behind his back as a result from his presence being summoned to the battlefield.

"F... File?" Aichi murmured "Is that really you?"

"M... My Vanguard!" File stuttered, slightly surprised from hearing the cardfighter behind him and also being greatly downsized as a result of being summoned as an pseudo-LRIG. "Then... this must be this field that Blaster Blade and Zenon warned me about!"

"I see..." he said "In that case, can you all please lend me your strength? There's someone that we need to save."

Both Aichi and File looked across the battlefield towards Ulith on the opposing table, her earlier expression having not left her face whilst Tama's expression seemed much more lifeless than she was earlier. Upon noticing the LRIG's expression, the Royal Paladin unit looked back up at Aichi.

"I assume you mean her?" he asked "She doesn't look so good."

"Yeah," replied Aichi.

Their trail of thoughts were interrupted by a loud creaking noise. They both looked up to see the arrow, in the exact same style as the one that was used at the start of Hitoe and Akira's earlier battle beginning to rotate in a clockwise direction above their heads, increasing in speed with each rotation. Aichi briefly looked over towards Ulith, noticing her gaze was still trailed upon him, not concerned with where the arrow was going to land. Eventually, after several more moments had passed, the arrow began to slow down in speed. It went slower and slower and slower, until it came to a complete stop. Where the tip had ended up pointing though, that was directly towards Ulith herself who was pleased with the result.

"I believe I will go first," she spoke, the tone of which had made Aichi slightly more uncomfortable than he was from her earlier approach.

"I draw and Grow!" she called "Tamayorihime, Nova Miko!"

Tama's dress hadn't changed at all as a result of growing, but a sheet of metal was covering over the top half completely, acting like chest armour for the LRIG. What also didn't change at all was her expression, still seeming dull as she lifted her head to look towards Aichi.

"... Battle..." she murmured, in a seemingly weak tone "Shiro wants to battle..."

 _Please hang in there, Tama!_ Aichi thought  _I'll definitely save you!_

"Using Shiro's ability," Ulith explained "I discard one card from my hand and draw." To the cardfighter's shock and surprise, she revealed Freezing Revenger to him before dropping it into her Trash Pile and drawing another card, sneering from the result.

_Excellent. With this, the countdown to Aichi's breakdown has only just begun. For now though, I want to have a little... fun._

"Turn end," she spoke.

As Aichi drew his two cards to begin his turn, he could only think about Ulith's previous move just now. From what he already gathered, Tama was a LRIG that possessed the White colour, seeing as how Ulith's end of the battlefield was coloured white, much like his own. But what confused him was the fact that the Selector was appearing to use several Black SIGNI in her deck as well. He wasn't sure why, but if there was a reason she prepared a deck like this beforehand for the situation that had befallen him and Tama herself, he knew that he couldn't let his guard down. Aichi glanced over towards the LRIG deck and held out an arm.

"Grow, Marron!" he called.

In a bright white flash, File vanished from the table as the Little Sage himself took to the battlefield, now standing at the ready on the LRIG table. He looked up briefly to Aichi and the two nodded in agreement.

"I summon Cynric!"

In front of Marron, the Honest Seeker appeared and took a fighting stance, pointing his small crossbow like weapon over towards Tama and preparing to take aim for the oncoming clash.

"Cynric attacks!" Aichi declared.

Cynric nodded to his command and leaped across the battlefield from spot to spot, firing several light beams from his weapon right at Tama. The LRIG effortlessly dodged all of them by moving side to side, until the Seeker leapt up into the air and fired a barrage of light beams at her, knocking her slightly backwards indicating that the first attack of the turn was a success. Ulith's first Life Cloth revealed Skull Witch, Nemain, no Life Burst having gone off this time. The Selector did not seem to be displeased by this turn of events at all however. When Cynric returned back to the center SIGNI space on the table, Aichi then turned his attention over to the next unit he had at the ready.

"Marron!" he called.

"Understood!" the Little Sage replied, as he opened the book that he carried and began chanting an incomphrensible language. As he did so, several sparks of energy stored themselves in his left hand before he suddenly opened his palm, unleashing the stored energy as a lightning bolt that was directed towards Tama. Ulith however, was more than prepared for the coming assault.

"Iseult!" she called as she revealed the Royal Paladin unit from her hand. Said unit materialized in front of Tama, creating a barrier that easily deflected Marron's attack. The sage growled in frustration as Mac Lir vanished from the battlefield before he looked back up at Aichi.

"I'm sorry, my Vanguard," he said, a hint of bitterness present in his voice.

"It's alright," said Aichi, trying his best to reassure Marron as he looked over towards Ulith, who remained smug from the outcome.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 6 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Little Sage, Marron : Tamayorihime, Nova Miko**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Honest Seeker, Cynric - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 1**

Ulith said nothing as she drew her next two cards befoe concealing them amongst the other cards in her hand. Smirking for a brief moment, she revealed Energe, Original Spear from her hand before tossing it into her Ener Zone, only for it to move into her Trash Pile.

"Grow," she spoke "Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko!"

As the brief series of flashes rose up around her, Tama's ribbons that tied her hairs in two had been replaced with a large series of feathers with the same colours those ribbons had possessed. Also as a result of growing, Tama now held a long sword with a golden hilt which she had pointed directly in the direction of both Aichi and Marron. In addition to that, the chest armour that originally covered only the top half of her dress had now covered both the entire front and the waistline of said dress. Ulith sneered as she proceeded to summon out Healing Revenger, Hastall, Medium Spear and Servant D2, much to the confusion of Aichi, who assumed that she would save it in her hand for Guarding his attacks.

"Now then Aichi, I wonder what kind of cries you will let out, soon enough," she spoke "Hastall attacks Cynric!"

Hastall charged across the battlefield towards Cynric, who desperately shot out several beams of light from his weapon in an attempt to slow down the SIGNI, but she was just too fast for him to keep up with as she slashed right past him, banishing him from the field. Marron suddenly gasped and shielded his face as both Healing Revenger and Servant D2 came up close to him. Healing Revenger used her green orb to blind the Little Sage and give Servant D2 the chance to kick him before slashing Marron with her blade. The two of them then swiftly retreated back to Ulith's table.

"Marron!" cried Aichi.

"I... I'm alright," replied Marron as he struggled back onto his feet. Aichi looked to his Ener Zone just in time to see Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Margal enter his Ener Zone, the second card glowed indicating a Life Burst.

"With Margal's Life Burst," he explained "I draw 1 card."

"Shiro attacks Marron," Ulith spoke.

"Shiron guards!" Aichi responded as he revealed the unit from his hand. Shiron appeared in front of Marron, generating a green circle which prevented any attack from Tama from passing through. The LRIG remained motionless, doing nothing as a result of the turn. Shiron then vanished from the battlefield, having done what he needed to do. Ulith didn't seem disappointed with the end result at all though.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 3**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 6 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Little Sage, Marron : Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Healing Revenger - Hastall, Medium Spear - Servant D2**

**Ener - 2 : 1**

Letting out a sigh of relief for a brief moment, Aichi regained his composure as he began his turn. Looking at the cards in his hand, he had quickly come to a decision. He revealed Seeker, Loving Healer's card from his hand before sending it to his Ener Zone. Then Gallatin's card moved from that same area straight over to his Trash Pile as he held out his hand over towards the LRIG deck, knowing exactly who to call upon in this most troubling of scenarios. The cardfighter could only hope however that even 'his' help would be enough to recover Tama from Ulith and hopefuly snap her out of the state that she was presently in.

"Stand up, my avatar!" he called "Grow, Blaster Blade!"

A blinding white glow enveloped Marron, removing the Little Sage from the battlefield as an all too familiar figure descended down the column of light to land firmly on the solid ground beneath him, or rather the LRIG space of Aichi's table in a manner of speaking. Blaster Blade opened his green eyes, looking out in front of him towards both Tama and Ulith. His blade was held out horizontally in front of him, the tip of which was close to his free hand. Looking down at his avatar with a gentle smile on his face, Aichi could only feel happy that Blaster Blade himself would be fighting alongside him. He looked back towards Ulith with a serious expression once more, now prepared to do everything he could to defeat her and save Tama from her clutches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Difference(s) from original FF publication:  
> *Mac Lir was changed for Iseult to correct an error due to the card texts specifying an LRIG of Black or White depending on which one was on the field. Another card will be changed later in the battle to rectify the prior issue.
> 
> Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Yuzuki-Zero, Spark of Perdition**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Yuzuki, Kagero
> 
>  **Yuzuki-One, Ember of Perdition**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Yuzuki, Kagero
> 
>  **Yuzuki-Two, Flare of Perdition**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 1 Red  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Yuzuki, Kagero
> 
>  **Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Yuzuki, Kagero
> 
>  **Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 3 Red  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Yuzuki, Kagero  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase/Attack Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): Pay 2 Red and 1 Colorless and Choose 2 Level 3 or higher Red SIGNI from your hand and discard them: When your opponent’s SIGNI is banished by your attack or card effect, you may pay the cost. If you do and the number of cards sent from your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile during this turn is 6 or more (including this effect’s cost), crush one your opponent’s Life Cloths. Then if the number of cards in their Ener Zone is 3 or less, negate the effects of any Life Bursts that crushed Life Cloth has. This effect can only be used once per turn.  
> [Action] Pay 3 Red: Choose one of your opponent’s SIGNI and banish it. Then if you control a SIGNI with “Perdition” in its card name and all the SIGNI you control are Red, choose as many SIGNI in your opponent’s Ener Zone whose Level is either the same and/or one lower than the banished SIGNI (other than that same card) up to the number of SIGNI you control with “Perdition” in their card names, send them to your opponent’s Trash Pile. This effect can only be used once per turn.
> 
> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Margal**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: High Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Royal Paladin LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Move this card to your Ener Zone: Choose one of your White SIGNI. It gains 3000 power until end of turn.  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.


	28. Arc 2 - Ride 28: The Countdown to Despair II

**Selector Battlefield: With Ren and Ruko**

"Fanatic Illusion!"

The silent air across the darkened battlefield was abruptly broken by the declaration of the attack at hand. A loud roar sounded across the entire area as Dragruler Phantom charged through the air, holding out the blades that he carried downwards as he took flight towards Iona who merely remained still on her Selector's table, seemingly not concerned about the situation before her. Her situation you may ask? Her Selector had no Life Cloths remaining on her table, meaning that this single attack would be more than enough to end the battle. Said Selector being Ruko herself, was more than prepared for this occasion, having already dispatched of her opponent's SIGNI with a previous two ARTS during the same turn to reduce the risk of losing said battle as she revealed a card from her hand.

"Mac Lir!" she called.

The Shadow Paladin unit appeared in front of Iona, generating a green circle in front of it. Dragruler Phantom raised up his sword before thrusting it forwards into the barrier, resulting in sparks flying off. Although several cracks appeared in the circle, the repelling force eminating from within was enough to push back the transformed Mordred Phantom, resulting in his attack being a failure, much to his chargin as Mac Lir himself vanished from the battlefield, doing nothing more. Dragruler Phantom took flight and returned back to the LRIG space on Ren's table, the cardfighter of whom could only look forward at Ruko, seemingly not as annoyed as the Shadow Paladin unit from what happened. In any case, he appeared to be somewhat smiling.

_Quite impressive_ he thought  _By taking advantage of the damage dealt by Dragruler Phantom, you've managed to set up a much more effective use of a combination between Ancient Surprise and Death Beam which I failed to notice after using my own. Then again, given what happened in your battle with Kai, that's to be expected._

"I'm confused."

"Eh?" Ren blinked for a moment, seemingly confused himself from Iona's sudden comment.

"You've failed to defeat me this turn and yet, you still believe you have a small chance of hope?" the LRIG spoke "Given that you only have two cards in your hand, only one Life Cloth and 3 cards in your Ener Zone, your fate is sealed."

"Who knows?" he mused "But... I wonder how Ruko will respond to the situation."

Ruko herself had her eyes closed throughout the whole conversation. The only thought on her mind was defeating Ren after her attempts to force him to turn back from the Selector Battles via a surrender had been for nought. As the field remained silent for a few more moments, she opened her eyes, her gaze now directed upon both the Shadow Paladin user and Dragruler Phantom.

"Final Turn!"

Ren slightly tensed up at this declaration, having already known that Ruko had been serious throughout not just her actions just now, but her plays throughout the entire battle. He was well aware from Kai's warning about Iona's attacks resonating with the fragment of the Seed that was embedded inside him, but so far, at least to him, that didn't seem to be the case. Ren knew that he felt small glimpses of Reverse leaking out from Ruko's LRIG deck and there was several moments throughout their clash when it appeared that the Selector was trying to keep that dangerous power restrained. Perhaps this was the moment where she would bring out the source or rather the form of the whole calamity. Iona closed her eyes, keeping a hidden smirk under her expression as she went deep into thought.

_Finally, it is time. A simple Grow is all I need to instill the same terror that Kai felt into Suzugamori and then..._

"It's not worth it."

The LRIG's eyes widened in shock as she glanced backwards, noticing Ruko had chosen to speak out for herself, as if she somehow read the LRIG's thoughts on her own. From the sound of what the Selector was saying, it appeared that she had no intention of Growing Iona into her Ultima/Maiden form as she felt that the current scenario wasn't worth using it in. The Selector held up the three cards she had in her hand before throwing them all at once into the three SIGNI spaces in front of Iona's LRIG space. The SIGNI that appeared were two Code Anti Vimanas to the left and right spaces whilst in the center appeared Healing Revenger. This choice had somewhat ticked off the LRIG, irritated by this turn of events, much to Ren's slight surprise.

"Why?!" she demanded "Why are you not using my true form?!"

"I use Healing Revenger to attack Dragruler Phantom!" Ruko interrupted.

Nodding to the Selector's command, Healing Revenger ran across the battlefield towards Dragruler Phantom. Ren glanced across towards the cards in his hand, gazing down on them closely. They were Hellrage Revenger, Quesal and his own Dark Revenger, Mac Lir. He knew that although he had a chance of blocking one of Ruko's attacks with Quesal, unless he managed to get a Life Burst from his last remaining Life Cloth, the Selector's second or third attacks from her remaining two SIGNI would be enough to end the game. Sighing for a brief moment, he made no further actions as Healing Revenger raised up her blade and slashed down the front of Dragruler Phantom, knocking him backwards before the unit retreated back to Ruko's table. The impact of the slash was enough to send the last Life Cloth flying up into the air. The card flipped over before landing face up in Ren's Ener Zone, revealing that it was Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss". Ren pouted for a brief moment before looking back at Ruko who seemed far from finished, now that the end result was within her grasp.

"This is the end," she spoke "The Vimana on my left attacks!"

Vimana held out her hands in front of herself as she formed a sphere of dark energy within her palms. When the black sphere had grown large enough, she motioned her hands forward, unleashing the dark energy as a devastating beam that struck Dragruler Phantom directly, engulfing Ren's table in a massive explosion. When the smoke had settled, Dragruler Phantom was down on the ground, indicating that the battle was over. The Shadow Paladin user did nothing for the moment before he glanced over towards Ruko as the battlefield went black.

* * *

**Ruko's School: Inside**

When the two of them regained consciousness, Ren blinked for a brief moment, having needed a few seconds to redajust himself back to the real world that he was still standing in. Looking forward, he could see Ruko panting for a few seconds as a dark red aura briefly surround her for that period of time before it suddenly faded away. Then it suddenly hit him. Although he had lost the battle, it appeared that the Selector's efforts to restrain Reverse through not just her own willpower but by not calling out the form of Iona that was empowered by Link Joker had spared him from falling to that power again, after barely managing to unconsciously resist it the first time for long enough for Aichi to defeat the Reversed Tatsunagi Takuto after the Shadow Paladin user lost to Kai beforehand at that time.

Despite this though, he knew that although he managed to narrowly escape being caught up in Reverse for a second time, the fact remained was that nothing had changed, aside from 1 strike to his loss tally in the Selector Battles. Ruko was still under the strain of Reverse, still eating away at her willpower and he now knew that even his own skills were not enough to break her free or even try to show her some sense about the situation. Sighing bitterly, he let out a smile to try and get the disappointment out of his head.

"Well then, I suppose Kai was right about your conviction," he mused "I guess I was a little careless back there."

Ruko walked towards him with something clasped in her hands, this not being Iona's LRIG card that she was holding out before her. It was wrapped up in a piece of cloth, concealing whatever it was from sight. The Selector looked up at Ren as if she was expecting him to take it. Needless to say, he accepted her 'offering' out of curiousity before seeing her turn around.

"Ren, I need you to pass on a message for me," said Ruko "To Aichi."

"I'm all ears," Ren replied as he briefly glanced down at what he had been handed, curious as to what it was.

"When he finishes his battle with Ulith," she explained before pointing at the window, her finger directed towards an all too familiar building in the distance. "Tell him I will be waiting, when he is ready." And with that, she walked off through the corridor, leaving the Shadow Paladin user to himself. Ren although somewhat bewildered by the turn of events knew that the Selector was serious in what she was saying. Her mention of Aichi battling Ulith this very moment had also raised some intrigue of the scenario. He didn't know much about her from Kai, having been informed to keep his guard up around her if they happened to encounter each other. His trail of thoughts was interrupted when he heard several footsteps rushing into the corridor.

"Ren!"

Ren turned around to see that Naoki had called out to him, hurrying towards the Shadow Paladin user as fast as he could whilst keeping Kai steady on his shoulder. They eventually stopped just short of him, with Naoki nearly out of breath from his efforts.

"Oh, I see you've caught up," Ren mused "I suppose you managed to recover your deck?" Kai nodded to confirm that things that sorted themselves out for himself. That was when the Kagero user noticed the wrapped object that was in his hands.

"Ren, what is that you're holding?" asked Kai.

"Ruko gave this to me after our battle," Ren answered before sighing for a brief moment.

"You battled Ruko?!" he gasped "What happened?!"

"She won," the Shadow Paladin user replied "But I wasn't reversed due to her not growing Iona to her Reverse form and somehow restraining that dangerous power."

"Thank goodness," sighed Naoki "The last thing any of us want is to deal with one of us being reversed again."

"That's true..." murmured Kai "But that doesn't change the fact that she and any Selectors near her are in serious danger."

Ren nodded in agreement before then turning his attention to the object that lay in his hands. Unwrapping it carefully, his eyes suddenly glanced closely at what was unveiled before the three of them. Naoki let out a silent gasp whilst Kai's eyes could only widen at what he was seeing. Wrapped inside the cloth appeared to be a deck of cards, a Wixoss deck to be precise from the topmost card that was facing them.

"This is..."

The topmost card of the deck that Ren had been handed with was a form of Tama. A Level 4 form to be more precise named Tama, Full Moon Miko. It depicted Ruko's former LRIG in a most cheerful state compared to the state she was currently in during her current bout with Aichi at this present time. The boots on her feet were much longer than normal, extending as far as her knees with a single wing attached to the top of each footwear. The ribbons in her hair were also replaced with giant feathers of the same colours and she also possessed sleeves of the same colour scheme. A white ring with several outward pointing spikes hovered behind Tama along with a few smaller white rings beside her as she clutched what appeared to be a trident based weapon in her two hands. Ren gazed over towards Kai, his suspicions now confirmed.

"It would be safe to assume that this was Ruko's original deck, before Iona became her LRIG," he spoke. The Kagero user nodded in agreement before taking the deck from Ren and placing it in his trouser pocket. Looking over towards Naoki, the other cardfighter nodded in agreement, knowing exactly what he had on his mind.

"We better hurry," the Narukami user said.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield: With Aichi and Ulith**

Meanwhile at the other field, Aichi kept a determined gaze towards Ulith, showing her that he was serious in his intent to defeat her and save Tama from the Selector's clutches, hopefully finding out exactly why the LRIG was behaving the way she was. Meanwhile, over in a nearby tower from within the multitude of buildings in the background of the battlefield, Leon and Hitoe appeared from a flash of light, Yuzuki having been held gently in the palms of the Selector's hands. They quickly went over to the windowsill to get a closer look, wondering how this battle would turn out. Whilst Tama just gazed blankly towards Blaster Blade, not saying anything at all, Ulith however looked closely at him, intrigued by the fact that this was indeed the real swordsman standing before her, albeit downsized to battle Tama on even ground.

"So you're the fabled Swordsman of Light, Ahmes," she spoke "We finally meet."

"How do you know of me?" Blaster Blade asked sternly, keeping a sharp gaze directed towards the Selector.

"I've heard many things about you, as I have already done with Aichi," Ulith replied "But how I've come to know about that, well, that is something I will not drop. For now at least."

Blaster Blade said nothing in response before gazing over towards Tama herself. From the way she was looking, her behavior and appearance disturbed him greatly before he turned his attention back to Aichi. The cardfighter looked back to his avatar in return, both seemingly having the same thoughts on their minds for the moment.

"Let's go, Blaster Blade," said Aichi.

"I understand, my Vanguard," the swordsman replied "Be careful." Aichi nodded in response, having not needed to be told twice about the circumstances that lay before him.

"With Blaster Blade's Counterblast, I send Hastall to your Trash Pile!" he called.

As the two remaining cards from the Royal Paladin user's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile, Blaster Blade raised his blade high into the air before striking it into the table's surface, causing a blast of light to travel across the battlefield in a straight line towards Hastall, Medium Spear, striking the SIGNI head on. As the light disappated, Hastall fell to the ground before vanishing from Ulith's table as the card moved to her Trash Pile. The Selector gazed there for a moment before glancing back to Aichi, her earlier smile having not left her expression, indicating that she was not fazed by this move. The cardfighter turned his attention to the cards in his hand, knowing exactly what to do next.

"I summon Epona, Gallatin and Cynric!" he called.

From left to right, Bringer of Good Luck, Epona, Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Honest Seeker, Cynric appeared in their respective SIGNI zones on Aichi's table, each stanced and ready to strike at his command.

"I'll start with Epona and Cynric attacking your remaining two SIGNI!" he called.

Cynric took aim at Healing Revenger with his crossbow stylized weapon before shooting out several light beams which struck the Shadow Paladin unit head on, banishing her from the field. Epona grabbed ahold of his beetle's reins as it took flight and charged across the battlefield towards Servant D2 who remained still as she was. The Royal Paladin unit slashed down the front of the SIGNI with his sword, banishing her from Ulith's table before flying back to Aichi's own table. Tama gazed aimlessly on towards Gallatin, expecting the next attack to hit her dead on. Speaking of whom, the Knight of Silence was already rushing across the battlefield with his sword sheathed out. The LRIG remained motionlessly still as Gallatin slashed past her before retreating back to Aichi's end of the battlefield.

Ulith's next Life Cloth revealed the Spell, Arc Aura. It glowed, indicating that Aichi had ended up triggering off another Life Burst in this battle. The Selector's smile remained as it was, as she felt that it wasn't necessary to increase it. At least in her view, not yet.

"With Arc Aura's Life Burst," she spoke before holding out her hand in front of her "I down Blaster Blade!"

Before the Swordsman of Light could react, he suddenly felt all of his strength leave him as several black sparks raged throughout the LRIG space, shocking the Royal Paladin user in the result. This also resulted in the card that represented him downing itself, preventing Blaster Blade himself from attacking for the rest of the turn. Aichi could only look on at his avatar in concern as the sparks eventually disappeared, leaving the swordsman panting as he clutched onto the sword that he wielded and was also named after.

"Are you alright, Blaster Blade?!" Aichi asked in worry.

"I... I'm alright," he panted as he got back onto his feet, gazing over towards Tama and taking a closer glance at her expression, making note of her dull, seemingly lifeless eyes. Aichi gazed over towards Ulith who remained smug with the result.

"Turn end," he said.

**End of Turn 4**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko**

**SIGNI : Bringer of Good Luck, Epona - Knight of Silence, Gallatin - Honest Seeker, Cynric :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 4**

"They're tied for Life Cloths," murmured Yuzuki "But Ulith seems to be keeping up a good defence."

"Indeed," replied Leon "By sealing Blaster Blade's attack before it had even began, she didn't have to waste a Guard SIGNI at that point."

Hitoe said nothing to interject on the matter, looking closely down from the tower towards Aichi. She couldn't help but take note of his determined expression in the face of Ulith, after remembering her last battle alongside Midoriko coming to a most unfortunate end. Part of her still wished that she could have found out about the consequences of winning and losing the Selector Battles sooner so that she could have taken their final battle together more seriously or better yet, find some of her newfound belief in herself that had emerged in her previous battle with Akira sooner before then, so she wouldn't have broken down at the last moment. But even she knew for an iron clad fact that she couldn't change the way that things had already happened and that said newfound belief was only recently possible thanks to a morale boost from Aichi.

Hitoe made a mental reminder to herself to thank him later for his help earlier in the evening, slightly blushing from just thinking about it. Turning her attention towards Tama over on Ulith's table, the Selector could only stare on in horror at the LRIG's expression, not exactly liking the seemingly lifeless look that she was having around her. Yuzuki having sensed her Selector's discomfort looked at Tama as well and nearly had almost the exact same reaction to what she was seeing below her. Although Leon had not been around Tama for nearly as long as any of the other cardfighters, he too could only share his disgust of the scenario in silent agreement with both Hitoe and Yuzuki. Back on the battlefield, Ulith drew her cards as her smirk grew wider, slightly discomforting Aichi in the result.

"Um... Ulith, I have a question," he murmured.

"And what would that be?" she mused.

"I was wondering about how you ended up in the Selector Battles," Aichi answered "It's just... I heard from Kai-kun that before Iona became Ruko-san's LRIG, you were Iona's LRIG."

_My... He's already played into my hands and I didn't have to do anything. I guess Photon was correct in him being somewhat gullible._

"Very well then Sendou," said Ulith "If you want the truth that badly, then I'll tell you."

"Things of beauty... Things of power... Things of splendor... Things of justice... I love seeing all of them being broken," she spoke, her tone appearing soft to the ear, but with her smug exterior mixed with the words that she said before she then opened her eyes, her gaze directed upon Aichi. "All things are at their most brilliant when they are being broken. Don't you agree?"

"What do you mean?" he asked. The cruel demanored Selector closed her eyes, her smile having somewhat nerved him. Little did Aichi know that was indeed the reaction she expected to see from him. He didn't know about this and unfortunately for him, neither did Blaster Blade. Ulith smiled for a few more moments as she began reminiscing everything that she had been through up to this point.

**_Flashback;_ ** _**Ulith's Memories** _

" _It started off small. I kept on breaking various things._ "

A small white butterfly was resting on a flower in the middle of a large meadow, darkened greatly by the tone of the clouds that were present in the sky above. It appeared relaxed, its wings moving up and down, very slowly. A figure, blacked out in the vision which was presumably Ulith herself moved out through the tall grass towards the flower, reaching out for the butterfly resting on top with one of her hands. All appeared calm from this reminiscence of past events until... SNAP! The figure clasped her hand shut in a hard instant, crushing the poor unfortunate insect to death.

_"They went cold in the palms of my own hands."_

The air around the meadow became cold and eerily still after what had just happened. All was silent for the moment as the now dead butterfly slid out of the figure's hand and landed on the hard ground beneath it. Her earlier expression had now become far more sinister, a creepy looking smile now present on lips as she gazed at the lifeless insect that she had crushed.

_"When I was young, I was able to decieve the adults around me. But that didn't last very long at all."_

**_Present_ **

"Then it struck me that it's fine as long as no one finds out," Ulith continued "All that is required for me to do is leave a scar in a place where it cannot be seen."

"Cannot... be seen...?" Aichi murmured.

"That's right. That way, no one will speak of anything about it." She then opened her eyes once more, her gaze directed right upon the cardfighter, again making him feel even more uneasy. "Tell me Sendou Aichi, Ahmes. What is the softest place of a person that you can't see from the outside?"

The Swordsman of Light's eyes widened in horror for a brief moment, having realized exactly what she had been talking about at this very moment. He resumed his sharp gaze upon the Selector, seemingly disgusted about what she was bringing up and where her explanation was leading up to.

"You can't mean..."

"Indeed. The heart," she answered for him "Of course, I don't have any taste for inflicting pain directly through my own two hands. I just lead people to hate themselves. To hate their lives to the extent... where they end their lives themselves."

Aichi could only gasp in shock, horrified about everything he had been hearing so far. He was well aware that Ulith was someone that he could not afford to take lightly according to what little Kai had already known and told him about, but the things she was now revealed to have done, on her own volition no less, the fact that she enjoyed breaking others for her own amusement, the thought of which made him feel sick on the inside. Or at least, in a sense it did. He was not the only one feeling this way though. Up from the tower, whilst Hitoe covered her mouth, unable to even think about everything that Ulith had done to the people around her, both Leon and Yuzuki could only stare down at the Selector in anger, having not expected her to be capable of even this much cruelty to everyone she came across. Said Selector kept her composure smug as she continued her explanation.

"But being the child I was back then, I failed in my objective. A simple mistake led to discovery and so I had to behave myself until I was certain that the case had died down. I acted like a sweet girl and made... 'friends'. However..."

**_Flashback;_ ** **_Ulith's Memories_ **

_"I just had to break someone. The long boredom was so great that I was the one who felt like dying."_

Ulith wandered across the streets, seemingly appearing friendly and open to the people walking around her, if only those same people were aware of what really lay beneath that seemingly innocent enough appearance. Speaking of appearances, the Selector's true appearance represented that of a young middle school girl in a dark blue school uniform and she also appeared to have fairly pale skin along with purple hair. When there were no more people surrounding her in the street, her traditional cruel smile had appeared in place of her previous expression, showing her impatience into bringing more harm to anyone unfortunate enough to be on her mind. At this time, a truck from the road in front of her drove by, the one word imprinted on the side of the trailer bringing her attention to it.

_"But then, as if fate had answered my call..."_

Ulith at some point later in the day had been successful in obtaining her own Wixoss deck, the box clutched gently in her hands as she opened it up. What she found inside had surprised her indeed, but at the same time, was the catalyst to the point of where she now found herself.

_"I met... an LRIG."_

**_Present_ **

"Being a Selector is wonderful!" she called out loud, her expression seeming far more crazed than it was earlier. "There's no need to worry about others in the battlefield. You're free to hurt anyone as much as you want. Adults, law, common sense, none of that has any relevance." Aichi couldn't find anything to say to her with the way things were being explained to him. Ulith smirked as she brought up one hand upwards, almost in a clawed like motion.

"I broke them all to my heart's content. Stepping on the wishes of others to make them lose hope and their spirit. Even to this very moment, I can still relish in their screams as I will yours. I wanted to be within this. Within this vortex of sorrow, hate and regret. That was why I wished to become an LRIG, even if it meant being in the service to both the mistress of the Selector Battles and the forces around her!"

**_Flashback_ **

"You mean... I can become an LRIG?"

Ulith was standing deep within the confides of the White Room, where the mastermind of everything behind the Selector Battles was standing before her. Mayu gazed upon the soon-to-be-LRIG, seemingly surprised that she asked this question, not just from her seemingly casual tone but from the way she said it. Normally, most Eternal Girls in her presence after finding out the truth of the Selector Battles would wallow in despair for the feeling of deception coming across them before she would banish them from her domain to a new Selector that she could simply choose of her own free will.

"That is correct," Mayu spoke "But I'm curious. You seem to not be... overwhelmed by this. Why is that?" At this moment, Ulith held her head down, concealing her trademarked sinister smile from the person she was conversing with.

"A never-ending cycle of lies, deceit and... despair," she mused "That is the purpose of these battles. Or rather, one of those purposes." She then held her head up to face Mayu once more. "Am I wrong?"

Mayu said nothing in response, seemingly curious as to what Ulith was trying to say to her. She already knew that there was more than one purpose she had in mind to creating the Selector Battles herself, with some 'outside' assistance of her own. The mastermind was already deep in thought over the whole subject. Ulith had intrigued her somewhat. At first glance, it would appear that she had already managed to figure most of her 'little game' all on her own. However, even Mayu knew that there had to be more to what the newly appointed Eternal Girl was saying or she wouldn't be acting so confident.

"You are correct," she answered "But there is something I must ask in return. Why tell me this?"

"I can tell from your expression, that we both share something in common," Ulith replied.

"Go on."

"I can sense a great deal of resent, eminating from you," she spoke "This White Room, is not a part of the world that I am already acqainted with. That resent... that is directed at the world outside of this dimension. Right?" Mayu said nothing in response, her gaze still trailed upon Ulith as she spoke out before her. Truth be told, the former Selector could already tell from the mastermind's expression that she was indeed correct in her guess.

"You may want to wreak despair on the outside world," Ulith continued "But whilst you are somehow trapped in this dimension, the Selector Battles are your only means to do so." Her lips then pursed an even more devious smile. "I can help you. I too could care less about what happens to the outside world, as long as I too am satisfied with the emotional destruction that is inflicted. I can sense, that you need eyes and ears for this filthy world, so I will be willing to make you an offer. I will continue to play along with your little game, becoming an LRIG and Selector forevermore. In return, I will act as your eyes and ears for the outside world so we can flush out any... 'rats' and I will also have free passage to travel between both it and your White Room."

"Very well then," spoke Mayu as she rose up from her negative hued throne and walked over towards Ulith. Her gaze then turned to behind her, as if she was already expecting someone to join them at this very instant before looking back at the former Selector.

"But first, there is someone I think you should meet."

As if on cue, Photon suddenly leaped out from one of the open window frames that were present on the walls of the White Room. He landed perfectly still on his feet, maintaining a brief stance as he did so before gazing over towards Ulith and walking over to both her and Mayu.

"I heard everything," he spoke as he glanced over at the former Selector who didn't seem the least bit bewildered or surprised to see the Cyberoid for the first time. "So you will be an outside acqaintance?"

"That is correct," answered Ulith "A pleasure to meet you."

"Call me Photon," the Cyberoid replied.

The former Selector said nothing, but kept the same expression she wore earlier on her lips, having not changed for a single moment since she announced her bargain with Mayu. Speaking of whom, the mastermind coughed for a brief moment to bring both Ulith and Photon's attention towards her.

"Ulith, if I heard correctly from observing your battles, remain still," she spoke. She then raised up a hand towards the now-to-be LRIG and summoned up a swirling smog of darkness that engulfed her in an instant. A dark red aura surrounded Mayu as she focused her power upon Ulith for several moments until the swirling darkness in front of her faded, as did the aura around her. The newly changed Ulith that now stood before her possessed pale skin, short white hair and purple eyes. She had minimal clothing that greatly resembled tights, with white on the torso and light purple on the leggings. The newly changed Ulith also had light purple shoes and white gloves. In addition, she now sported light purple bandage wrappings on her right wrist and on her head tied like a ribbon. As the now-LRIG took a brief moment to observe her new appearance she briefly turned her attention back to Mayu who held a seemingly gentle smile.

"That appearance is fitting for you beside 'her', the person I will assign you to next," she spoke before raising an arm towards one of the open windows, a dark vortex opening up within the gap. "Now go!"

And with that, Ulith went through the vortex to find her new Selector, so that she could resume her acts of emotional breaking terror to anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths.

**_Present_ **

The air remained eerily still within the dark dimension of the Selector Battlefield, now that everything about Ulith had seemingly come to light before everyone that was present at this time. Whilst Ulith had remained as smug as she normally was, over in the tower, Leon, Hitoe and Yuzuki couldn't find the words to describe the things that the Selector-turned LRIG-turned back to Selector had done to her unfortunate victims. None however felt more distraught about any of this other than Hitoe who said nothing from where she was standing and Aichi who had his head held down, still trying to process everything that he had just heard. Blaster Blade could only silently feel disgusted by all of this, but right at this very moment, this wasn't his main concern. Behind him, he hear the sound of one of Aichi's fists being clenched tightly, the cardfighter seemingly angered in his current state with one or two tears flowing down his cheeks.

"You... you knew about how the Selector Battles worked... that people would be hurt... and yet...!"

"Aichi!"

Aichi opened his eyes and quickly looked down towards Blaster Blade, realizing that the Swordsman of Light had called out to him. Most of the anger that had been pent up inside of him had faded away, at least to a controllable extent. Blaster Blade knew that although he managed to bring the Royal Paladin user's attention down to him, he was well aware that this alone was not going to be enough to prevent the current situation for the cardfighter to get any uglier.

"I understand how you feel. I too feel angered by all of this, but you can't lose focus on why you are here!" he called "Remember why you're battling her!"

"... I got it..." replied Aichi as he wiped away his tears, the anger in his expression having seemingly vanished. "Sorry, Blaster Blade."

Ulith however remained intrigued from their conversation just now. She had almost succeeded in making Aichi lose control over his own emotions for the moment, but that was only the start for what she had planned for him. The Selector revealed Kukri, Small Sword from her hand before throwing it into her Ener Zone as Arc Aura and Servant D2 moved to her Trash Pile.

"Shiro, grow!"

A brief series of flashes rose up around Tama, her appearance not changing by much with the exception of her weapon changing to a more trident based spear and the ribbons in her hair had also grown even larger. Ulith's smile could make Aichi tell that she wasn't even close to finished.

"And, Swift Advance!" she called as she revealed the Spell from her hand "Superior Grow!"

Another series of flashes rose up around the LRIG, this time changing her appearance vastly. Gone was the armour covering the front and sides of her dress as well as the ribbons in her hair and in the place of those ribbons were giant feathers. If only Aichi had known beforehand, this form was indeed the exact same form that Kai just now had seen from the topmost card of Ruko's original deck. This form was indeed, Tama, Full Moon Miko. At this point, Tama herself had finally found a form of emotion from her current state and it wasn't a pleasant one to the eye. She appeared to be smiling, but with malicious intent, much like Ulith who currently held the LRIG in her possession.

Speaking of whom, the Selector placed down Energe, Original Spear to the left SIGNI space whilst Skull Witch, Nemain appeared to the right. Healing Revenger's card moved from Ulith's Ener Zone to her Trash Pile as she discarded Code Anti Nebra from her hand before drawing another two cards and then immediately summoning another Energe, Original Spear. She sneered at what she obtained before glancing over towards her Trash Pile, taking note of the cards already there before then turning her attention over back to Aichi. and Blaster Blade.

"Now then... the fun has only begun," she spoke "I use my Charging ARTS and have my SIGNI attack!"

After another copy of Healing Revenger entered her Ener Zone straight from the top of the Selector's deck, the two White SIGNI along with the Shadow Paladin unit nodded in response to her command and charged across the battlefield towards each of their individual targets. They quickly overpowered Epona, Gallatin and Cynric, banishing them from the field as their cards moved to Aichi's Ener Zone. He sweated for a brief moment before looking on ahead just in time to see Tama charge straight at Blaster Blade, engaging him for a brief moment before quickly slashing down the front of him, knocking the Swordsman of Light off balance.

"... Shiro wants more...!" the LRIG called "... Shiro wants to battle more...! More pain...!"

She then retreated to the table where Ulith was seated as Blaster Blade struggled up onto his feet. Aichi looked on down in concern for his avatar, wondering if Tama's attack had hurt him far more than he anticipated.

"Are you alright?!" he cried in worry.

"I'm... fine..." replied Blaster Blade as he looked on down the battlefield towards Tama, taking note of her expression and the words she just said right now.  _Something is off with that girl and I'm certain my Vanguard knows of this as well. If my suspicions are correct, there is only one power capable of twisting her normal behavior._

Ulith said nothing, making a simple gesture to signal the end of her turn. Aichi said nothing in response, but kept a close gaze upon the Selector, with one thought running through his mind.

_Ulith isn't like anyone I've faced before. She already knew everything about the Selector Battles and that didn't stop her from taking advantage of them to hurt anyone she wanted. I... I will stop her before she hurts any one of my friends!_

Little did he or anyone else know or notice was that a small, but brief pinkish glow flared up within the determined expression present in his blue eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it with the next batch of chapters! Don't forget to leave your feedback on the story so far as it will be beneficial for me when working on the latest chapters once we get to a point where I can simul-upload both here and FF. Until next time, I bid farewell.


	29. Arc 2 - Ride 29: The Countdown to Despair III

**Selector Battlefield**

Aichi kept a close glance on Ulith as he drew his cards to begin the start of his turn. He looked down at his hand for a brief moment, thinking carefully about he should do next. The Selector had already nearly managed to make him 'lose it' when she revealed everything about the cruelty she inflicted upon others prior to becoming an LRIG and going into Iona's possession once before. Although he was thankful that Blaster Blade had managed to make him not lose focus on his goal of freeing Tama from Ulith's grasp, the earlier anger that was pent up from hearing about everything she had done in the past was still simmering at the back of his head, albeit not as violently as before. Taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts, he held out a hand over the LRIG space.

"Enter the fray, king of all knights!" he called "Grow! Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv!"

As Blaster Blade vanished in a blinding white column of light that appeared in the LRIG space on Aichi's table, in his place appeared the King of Knights himself, descending towards the table surface before slowing down to briefly hover and then land on his feet. Alfred opened his eyes to see the opponents present in front of him, his gaze mainly focused on Tama from noticing her current state before he turned his attention to the Selector opposite him.

"Oh...? So we now have the 'Avatar of Justice' in our corner," Ulith mused, keeping her smirk present on her lips. "The King of Knights, ruler of both the Royal Paladins and the Liberators of Gold Paladin, the slayer of the Star-vaders' most powerful weapon, "Omega" Glendios."

"So it appears word of me and quite a lot about my Vanguard has somehow reached you," Alfred spoke, keeping a sharp gaze directed up at her from where he was standing, somewhat suspicious of what he had just heard her say.

"Alfre... I mean, your majesty!" called Aichi "I need your strength to defeat Ulith so I can get back Tama from her and figure out what's wrong."

"I assume you refer to the girl standing on the space on that 'other' table as the one we need to save," the King of Knights spoke in assumption. The cardfighter nodded agreement to acknowledge that he was correct in his guess.

"I understand," replied Alfred "And... as you are my Vanguard, there is no need for the formality from yourself. Just feel free to call me Alfred."

"I see..." murmured Aichi before briefly shaking his head to get himself focused back onto the battle. He then reached out for two of the cards in his hand and placed them into the left and right SIGNI spaces. The SIGNI and unit that appeared were Axe, Large Breaker and Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn.

"With Tranquil Unicorn's skill, I Exceed Blaster Blade to power up Axe!"

**Axe, Large Breaker: 7000 - 12000**

A bright white aura surrounded both Axe and Tranquil Unicorn, as the Royal Paladin unit transferred the power bonus over to the White SIGNI. Having done that, Aichi then turned his attention over to his LRIG trash before holding his hand out right towards it.

"Seek mate!"

As Cynric, Gallatin and Margal's cards exited the Trash Pile and rearranged themselves into the deck, Blaster Blade's card flew up from the LRIG Trash and the cardfighter caught it in a single swipe with his right hand before holding it high into the air.

"Stand up again, my avatar! Blaster Blade!" he called before placing the card beside Alfred Exiv's on the LRIG Space "Legion!"

A bright white light appeared beside Alfred as Blaster Blade returned back to the battlefield, descending down the white column before landing in a stance firmly on his two feet, holding out his blade pointed forward in the direction of both Tama and Ulith. The Legion symbol briefly flashed in front of them as the two Royal Paladin units were briefly glowing in a bright golden aura that flowed through their armour, representing the bond that they shared. Up from the tower, both Hitoe and Yuzuki were somewhat amazed to say the least.

"Legion...?" the Selector murmured.

"Two LRIGs, or rather units in the same space..." the LRIG replied "Aichi must have been lucky to have Tranquil Unicorn on hand to make this possible."

Before Leon could interject with his thoughts on the matter, a bright white glow appeared from behind them as Ren, Naoki and Kai appeared at the back of the tower's room to now join them on the 'sidelines' of the battlefield. The three of them headed towards the windowsill with the Narukami user still holding Kai steady over his shoulder as they trudged forwards together until they joined the others.

"How is Aichi holding up?" the Kagero user asked.

"For the moment, he appears to have regained control of the situation with Alfred Exiv," Leon answered "But, there is something that still greatly concerns me."

"What do you mean?" Naoki asked, curious as to what exactly the Aqua Force user meant.

"When Ulith had explained everything about her previous exploits in the Selector Battles," he explained "I could briefly sense a violent wind emanating from Sendou, as if he was enraged for a short moment from what he heard."

"He's not the only one feeling that way," Yuzuki interrupted, bringing everyone's attention down to her. "Ulith... Everything she did to the Selectors that crossed her path... it sickens me! No wonder Akira would stoop so low as to aiding her!"

"Yuzuki..." murmured Hitoe, concerned for her LRIG's current state. Ren said nothing in response, but he could tell from Yuzuki's expression that Ulith was someone to not think of as simply another opponent for Aichi to overcome. Everyone then turned their attention back to the battlefield, curious as to how the Royal Paladin user was planning to progress forwards in his current scenario. Ulith meanwhile was seemingly not surprised by Aichi's decision to Legion immediately, if it meant catching up to Level 4 so he could level the playing field with more powerful SIGNI.

"Legion..." she murmured.  _I see now that Akira's little mishap with Ishida did prove to be beneficial in more ways than one._

"Finally, I use Avon to search for two copies of God Eater, Ultimate Sword to my hand!" Aichi called as 2 single files of light scanned through his deck, eventually picking out the two Level 4 SIGNI and putting them straight into his hand. He then summoned one of them straight to the field in the only open SIGNI space that was left on his field. Before he could think about who to attack first, Ulith sneered and held out her hand over towards her White deck as the only 3 Black cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile.

"Ancient Surprise!" she called as the all-too familar ARTS appeared. "I use its first effect to force us to send the top 7 cards of our decks to our Trash Piles!"

A purple bolt of lightning shot out from the card and struck the motionless roulette that was still housed on the ceiling of the battlefield before it diverged into two seperate beams that struck both Aichi and Ulith's decks. The top 7 cards from each deck flew upwards from impact before falling right into their respective Trash Piles. Ulith eyed the falling cards her falling closely before seeing that amongst 6 of those cards, she had ended up sending two copies of Hellrage Revenger, Quesal, another copy of Skull Witch, Nemain, Dark Revenger, Mac Lir, Code Anti Nebra and Code Anti Cryskull. The Selector kept a hidden smile from Aichi's gaze, seemingly pleased with the result, even if a bit of self destruction had to be involved.

_The pieces are now in place. Sendou has now sealed his own fate._

**Aichi's Deck: 19 - 12**

**Ulith's Deck: 19 - 12**

_Thank goodness..._ Aichi sighed in his head  _I didn't manage to lose out on too many powerful SIGNI or cards that I needed to Guard with. But there has to be a reason why Ulith chose self-destruction on her own deck as well. I need to be careful._

"Let's go!" he called "Axe and God Eater attack your Energe SIGNI!"

The two White SIGNI nodded in response to his command as they charged across the battlefield to meet their respective opponents. Axe and God Eater engaged both Energes, head to head on their own columns. Eventually, Aichi's two White SIGNI overpowered the Original Spears and retreated back to his table. Ulith simply shrugged as she brought up her gaze to meet Aichi's.

"Quite impressive," she spoke "It appears you have the will to fight on after all. I suppose you and Ruko share a common trait in stubborness."

"What do you mean?" the cardfighter asked, confused by what she meant. Ulith just huffed a simple "Keh" under her breath before continuing to speak out to him.

"How fascinating that after all this time, the "boy Selector" hoping to defeat me is the one that banished the darkness of Reverse from his own home world," the Selector mused "And you believe that you can overcome the designated fates in the Selector Battles?"

"I will do what I believe is right if it means saving Tama, everyone involved in these battles and Takuto-kun from the person behind all of this!" Aichi replied before then turning his attention to Blaster Blade and Alfred.

"Alfred Exiv, Blaster Blade, join your swords and bring hope to the battlefield!" he declared "Legion attack!"

"Now we advance!" Alfred called as a bright blue aura surrounded both him and Blaster Blade.

"Roger!" the Swordsman of Light replied. The two then leaped into the air and began flying across the battlefield with the aid of the aura to reach the other side. Tama took flight with the aid of both the wings at the top of her boots and the white ring behind her back and charged towards both Alfred and Blaster Blade, clutching her trident tightly. The two Royal Paladins and the White LRIG briefly stared off with one another before Tama thrust her trident at Alfred who blocked with his sword. The two engaged each other for a brief moment before the LRIG shoved the King of Knights backwards and looked up, just in time to see Blaster Blade from above swing his sword downwards, creating a thin, but powerful arc of light that crashed straight into her.

The impact caused a small explosion, engulfing Tama who fell out of the air, spiralling downwards and backwards until she landed on her back on Ulith's table. The Selector who wasn't concerned with the result saw the Spell, Revive Flare enter her Ener Zone. She merely shrugged, unfazed by the result of the clash. By the time Blaster Blade and Alfred had returned back to Aichi's table, the cardfighter glanced over towards the fallen LRIG to see her open her eyelids. Aichi's eyes widened in surprise from what he saw next. Tama's eyes were no longer in a dull state, as was her expression, now dazed and confused as she struggled back onto her feet, dropping her trident in the result.

"Tama!" called Aichi "Are you alright?!"

"A... Aichi?" the LRIG spoke, a hint of confusion still present.

"Tama... thank goodness," he said with a hint of relief to his voice. Tama could only ponder as to why he was feeling this way and why she was currently in battle against him. She then turned her head around and noticed Ulith, slightly gasping upon looking at the Selector. Ulith was still seeming very smug, despite the result that had just unfolded before her. She then began clapping for a few brief moments, seemingly putting up an impressed look over her sinister expression.

"Bravo Sendou, Ahmes," she spoke as she eventually ceased her 'praising' "I suppose even the legendary sword, the Blaster Blade can break through the mind controlling effects of Reverse when its not fully in effect." At this point, her mention of 'that power' had caught Aichi's attention as well as that from Blaster Blade, Alfred and everyone else up in the tower.

"Reverse?!" gasped Naoki.

"Then that's the reason Tama's been acting so strangely, even if it was partially in effect as Ulith said," murmured Yuzuki.

"Um Kai...? If Tama is under the effects of Reverse... then, shouldn't that mean that Ulith is... you know, reversed?" asked Hitoe.

"I don't know," answered Kai "But even what she's said about Tama is true, I can sense that Ulith is not reversed. If that's the case, then she's somehow wielding that power under her own free will, just as I had once done." He gritted his teeth for a brief moment, grimacing at the thought of bringing up his own experience of Reverse once again but otherwise concerned about the state that Tama was in. It was true for the moment that the Selector had only corrupted her with a small portion of that power, but that only worried him for what the LRIG would become once Ulith had decided to infuse the full power through Tama's veins. Back on the field, Aichi could only gasp in shock, worried for how things were turning out right in front of him. Tama who was now also aware of the scenario looked towards him in panic, now wanting to tell him as much as she could before whatever Ulith had planned for the LRIG could come into fruition.

"Aichi, Tama remembers something!" she called "Before Tama met Ru!"

"What is it Tama?" he asked, still concerned about her current state. The LRIG gulped nervously before looking back at him.

"T... Tama's real name..." she stuttered "T... Tama is really Shiro!" The field fell silent for a brief moment as everyone barring Ulith could only stare on at Tama to take in this information now brought to light. None were more surprised however than Aichi who had now understood why the Selector had been calling the LRIG by that name earlier in the battle.

"And... Shiro also remembers something else!" the LRIG continued "Shiro remembers battling... someone called 'The Clown'!"

At this point, Alfred, Blaster Blade and Kai's eyes widened in shock, having known exactly who or what also went under that all too familiar name. At least, all too familiar to them.

"Don't tell me...!" the Kagero user muttered.

"What is it Kai?" asked Ren, interrupting his trail of thoughts.

"If what Tama, or rather what Shiro saying is true," he answered "There's only one unit that matches that description. And it's one I have used before."

"W... Which unit would that happen to be?" Hitoe asked nervously.

"Chaos Breaker Dragon," replied Kai, a tone of bitterness present in his voice. Naoki said nothing in response, but he could understand why the Kagero user was feeling this way. Chaos Breaker Dragon was the last Link Joker unit that he had used in a previous cardfight against Aichi in which the reversed Kai at the time was victorious. Although he hadn't seen that unit again since Aichi's fight with the Reversed Tatsunagi Takuto, he knew it was one that brought back bad memories of that time. Down on the field, Blaster Blade kept his gaze on Shiro, wanting to know more about this confrontation that the LRIG had spoken of.

"Can you remember anything else about your battle with Chaos Breaker?" he asked, his tone being deadly serious. Shiro shook her head in response.

"Shiro doesn't remember anything else...!" she answered, her tone now depressed. "But... Shiro doesn't want Aichi hurt!"

"I understand Ta... I mean, Shiro," replied Aichi "Just hang in there a little longer! I promise I will get you back from Ulith!" He then turned his attention back towards Ulith who had remained smug throughout the whole occasion.

"Turn end!" he declared. At this moment, the white aura around Axe, Large Breaker vanished causing her power to return to normal.

**End of Turn 6**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 4 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Tama, Full Moon Miko**

**SIGNI : Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn - God Eater, Ultimate Sword - Axe Large, Breaker : EMPTY - EMPTY - Skull Witch, Nemain**

**Ener - 0 : 3**

"Finally, it is time..."

Aichi looked on towards Ulith, being slightly nerved once again at the tone of which she spoke those words. As she drew her cards, a small but quiet gesture of sinister laughter echoed out from under her lips as she tossed Code Anti Cryskull from her hand to her Ener Zone before she held her hand over the LRIG space. Before Shiro could question about what was going on, she suddenly fell to her knees, crying in pain as a dark red aura suddenly surrounded her.

"Shiro!" Aichi cried in horror.

"This is the best," Ulith spoke, ignoring his panic and concern for the LRIG as Shiro screamed loudly. The Selector's eyes became far more crazed than they were before as her tone grew far more sinister as she continued speaking. "Seeing everyone shining brilliantly with hope... It makes crushing your heart much more worth it, Sendou Aichi! I want to break you and even more girls with the original 'girl of white'... all until Shiro's heart has been completely shattered into a million pieces! Reversing you and any more Selectors isn't enough! No, I want to relish this moment for all eternity, until this world comes to a most unfortunate end! I'm going to start by destroying you bit by bit!"

"No! Shiro doesn't want any of this!" the LRIG cried out, screaming in pain as the aura grew far more intense, also gaining a dark shade of blackness to it.

Aichi along with everyone else up in the tower could only gasp and watch on in horror as the aura slowly, but surely consumed Shiro as her cries and pleas grew weaker and weaker until she fell forwards as the power of Reverse lifted her barely conscious body into the air. The blackness that surrounded the Reverse aura had now changed into a column that obscured the LRIG from sight.

"A pure white heart, stained with the power of an eternal darkness...!" Ulith spoke "Show yourself and shatter even the most fragile and resolute of hearts here and now! Grow!"

"Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko!"

When the black column eventually began to disappate, Shiro emerged from the darkness in her newly formed state. Her dress and hair colours had been completely warped, now having gone from silvery white to black and very dark greys. Speaking of her dress, it was now a two piece with the aforementioned warped colours that plagued the LRIG, with outlines of yellow present on the black flame pattern on the top piece of her dress and the right side of her body, including her face, whilst the bottom piece had a yellow pattern that covered over her lower waist. In addition, Shiro in her changed state had also a large yellow ring with 6 points both inside and outside of the object that floated behind her back and her eyes were now a purplish red colour, bloodshot with the impression of pure evil within them.

Before Aichi could question exactly what had happened to the LRIG, a cracking sound was heard. The golden ring behind Shiro now began to crack, with several dark red lines running over said cracks as the noise grew louder. It only became louder and louder until a crashing noise was heard as the golden ring had now completely shattered and in its place was something that Aichi had hoped to not see again. Right behind Shiro, was the object concealed underneath the yellow ring she formerly had. That object was a hovering black ring with an all too familiar dark red aura flowing through it.

"... Shiro's been... reversed...?!" the Royal Paladin user gasped, still in disbelief from what he was seeing before him.

Alfred and Blaster Blade said nothing in compliance, but raised their swords, bracing themselves for the uphill struggle that was to come for the two of them and their Vanguard in this most dire of scenarios.

"Shiro..." Hitoe murmured, distraught by what she had now seen before her eyes. This transformation had also brought about a flare of anger in the expressions of Leon, Ren, Naoki, Yuzuki, but none more so than Kai who could only glare down towards Ulith. He felt as if part of him was now kicking himself for not being on his guard earlier in the late afternoon so that Akira wouldn't have succeeded in stealing Shiro, let alone giving her to the Selector just so the LRIG could be reversed like this. Feeling the frustration once again get the better of him, the only thing felt he could do was punch the windowsill of the tower as hard as he could, growling under his breath in the result.

The jolt from the impact of Kai's fist unexpectedly almost shook Yuzuki off balance from the tower windowsill as she turned her attention towards the Kagero user, shocked to see his current expression. Naoki who had been holding him from the shoulder could also see both the anger and guilt present in his eyes, that had just been vented at this very moment.

 _He's really been takin' it hard..._ the Narukami user pondered in his thoughts  _First almost getting fully reversed again against Ruko and nearly doing the same to her, now everything that's gone on from Akira's sneak attack. No wonder he's feelin' this way._

Back on the battlefield, Aichi could only remain horrified upon looking straight on at Shiro, whose appearance as of now was greatly disturbing him. But his attention was mainly diverted onto Ulith who remained smug over the outcome, not even concerned about the LRIG's state.

"Ulith... do you have any idea of what you've just done?!" he cried out loud.

"Of course I do," she replied cooly "I've simply awakened Shiro to the strongest of her abilities and I'm afraid there is worse to come. Observe!"

Before the Royal Paladin user could question what was going on, a surge of black sparks raged all across his table, striking all of the cards in his deck, hand, SIGNI Zones and Trash Pile, but not even one bolt went for his Ener Zone. That was when he saw the changes that were occurring right before him. His cards became obscured in a dark aura, much like the one that transformed Shiro into what she was now before the sparks disappated, revealing exactly what had happened. Aichi gasped as he saw that all of the SIGNI cards on his side of the field and the ones in his hand and his Trash Pile had their borders completely changed to the colour black, the symbol for that colour now overwriting that of the White colour symbol as well.

"M... My cards are black?!" he exclaimed.

"That's correct," Ulith replied "With the exception of our Ener Zones, every SIGNI we have on the field, our Trash Piles, our hands along with all of the SIGNI in our decks have their colours rewritten to black!"

"So then..."

"Indeed," she spoke "You were smart enough to use your ARTS the previous turn, otherwise I would have locked you out from searching for the God Eaters that would have been stuck in your deck."

"Now I see..." muttered Blaster Blade "Even though I can sense that Shiro for the moment does not possess the power to Lock any cards, she's Locked my Vanguard out from using any cards to search for or revive White SIGNI."

"How observant, 'Swordsman of Light'," Ulith mused as she continued with her turn, summoning another Energe, Original Spear to the field. She then sneered as she held out her arm over her Ener Zone.

"Shiro's skill!" she called "Eradication Lock!"

Shiro gazed upon God Eater, Ultimate Sword before holding her right hand into the air, her expression seeming far more crazed than Ulith's, maybe even more so than Akira's own trademarked sneer. Several black sparks raged through the palm before a black ring with a dark red aura to it formed in that same hand. Shiro moved her arm backwards before thrusting it forwards, hurling the black ring towards God Eater. The dark object encircled the former White SIGNI before sparks raged across her, causing the SIGNI to scream loudly until she slumped into a lifeless state, vanishing from the battlefield. As Aichi could only watch in shock and horror, God Eater's card moved to his Trash Pile. In the center SIGNI space on Ulith's table appeared another Code Anti Cryskull.

"Attack!" she declared.

Both Energe, now darkened thanks to the reversed Shiro's power and Nemain managed to quickly overpower Tranquil Unicorn and Axe, Large Breaker with little effort from the power that they commanded. Cryskull on the other hand with no SIGNI to battle against in front of her, aimed her staff at both Blaster Blade and Alfred who could only brace themselves for the oncoming onslaught. The Black SIGNI fired a bolt of energy from her staff which struck both units at the same time, bringing up a small explosion upon impact. Aichi's next Life Cloth revealed Seeker, Loving Healer, the card reverting back to its original White colored self upon entering his Ener Zone before glowing to indicate its Life Burst had been triggered.

"I recover one Life Cloth!" the Royal Paladin user called as the top card of his deck moved to his remaining Life Cloths.

"Shiro, let us begin," Ulith spoke "Shatter the will of Sendou Aichi as you overwhelm all before you!"

"... Shiro... wants to destroy!" the LRIG called out as she flew across the battlefield, eventually ending up right in front of Alfred before he had a chance to properly defend himself. Shiro dealt a devastating punch to the gut of the King of Knights, causing him to fall backwards in pain. When the LRIG turned her attention to Blaster Blade, she began with a kick towards him whilst he held out his blade to block it. The Swordsman of Light struggled to hold her at bay through her barrage of punches and kicks until she eventually found an opening and charged all of the dark power surrounding her into a single kick that sent him into the air before he fell backwards onto the table.

"Blaster Blade!" cried Aichi as he looked on in concern. As Shiro retreated back to Ulith's table, before he could ask again, the cardfighter suddenly cried out in pain as a terrifying, but all too familiar feeling throbbed through him. A red aura briefly surrounded him before he shook himself to clear it away.

"My... Vanguard...!" Blaster Blade panted as he struggled back onto his feet. He wasn't the only one concerned about the state the cardfighter was currently in as of now. Everyone else up in the tower could only look down in worry, none more so than Hitoe, Yuzuki and Kai.

"That's what happened when Kai faced Iona when she entered her Ultima/Maiden form!" the LRIG gasped.

"It's the same pattern..." Kai muttered "The attacks of the reversed Shiro are interacting with the Seed fragment that's embedded inside of Aichi."

"Stay strong out there, Aichi!" Naoki called out loud, hoping that the Royal Paladin user would at least hear his words of encouragement. But with the height of the tower taken into account and how far away Aichi was, both Ren and Leon weren't so sure.

"Aichi..." Hitoe murmured nervously.

Down on the field, Aichi panted as he struggled to get himself together, as did Alfred who had finally recovered from the worst of Shiro's attack on him, at least for now.

 _This must have been what Kai-kun felt when he faced Ruko-san..._ he thought, still trying to recover his breath.  _It feels like the Seed fragment is trying to use the Reverse taken from Shiro's attack to take me over. But... for the sake of her and Ruko-san, I won't give up!_

Ulith just watched on as he meet her gaze once more, now recovered from his brief resistance to that power. She made a simple gesture to signal the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 7**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 4 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Energe, Original Spear - Code Anti Cryskull - Skull Witch, Nemain**

**Ener - 3 : 2**

As Aichi regained his breath, he looked out at the field in front of him. Shiro was still looking as maniac as she was earlier, thanks to the full power of Reverse now coursing through her veins due to Ulith's own doing. As he drew from his deck to begin the turn, the Selector had chosen to speak out at this very moment.

"It's very sad if you ask me."

"Huh?"

The Royal Paladin user blinked in confusion, unsure as to what Ulith was actually meaning in what she was saying to him. The Selector merely sneered, as if she was indeed expecting that reaction to come from him.

"Earlier in this battle," she spoke "You said that you would save everyone, Selector and LRIG alike by fighting your way through the Selector Battles in order to find your own way to Mayu. But..." Her lips then pursed a sinister smile, one that had sent both Blaster Blade and Alfred on edge, wondering what she was planning to say next to Aichi. "The real irony of the matter is, the filth that you intend to save from this neverending cycle... will be the same scum that you'll break apart yourself!"

"W... What do you mean?!" Aichi gasped, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"That's the point," replied Ulith "In your desire to meet the one behind the Selector Battles, to put an end to the 'madness' as you see it... You'll taint their wishes."

"Th… That's not true!" he replied, a hint of panic starting to arise in his voice.

"That is the absolute truth," the Selector continued, her tone growing far more sinister by the second. "In order to become a candidate for an Eternal Girl or in your case, an Eternal Boy, a first I may add, in order to meet Mayu, you have to defeat other Selectors in battle. When a Selector loses 3 times, their wish becomes tainted and true despair is brought upon them. You may not taint a wish directly, but you can certainly contribute to it."

Aichi's eyes widened in disbelief, but mostly horror as to what Ulith was saying to him. Then it suddenly hit him harder than he anticpated. He remembered back to what Hanayo had explained about the Selector Battles to him, including the consequences for both the victors and the losers. Everything that he wanted to do to help the LRIGs and the Selectors that were caught up in this whole mess... it now felt all wrong to him. He would never go out of his way to hurt someone, but it appeared that if he was going to find Takuto and free everyone from the Selector Battles, he didn't have a choice. Up in the tower, everyone could see what was going on beneath them and could only stare on in shock as their friend was completely frozen in fear, unsure of how to respond to Ulith and what she had posed in front of him.

"No way..." murmured Hitoe.

"Even now, from everything we've learned... Ulith's practically bringing up the truth of the risks involved," Yuzuki muttered, growling under her breath.

"Hurting people in one way or another with his own hands goes against everything that Sendou stands for, something that he himself is well aware of," Leon spoke "And unfortunately, it appears that Ulith was already prepared to use that to her advantage." Neither Kai, Ren or Naoki said anything, but their disgruntled expressions showed that they silently agreed with the Aqua Force user's statement. Back down on the field, both Alfred and Blaster Blade could only look up at Aichi, noticing that his breathing was getting hectic and that his expression was even more panicked that it was before.

"I... I won't taint their wishes!" he cried.

"You won't have a choice," Ulith replied smugly "You're either going to beat me and then advance onwards in the Selector Battles until you reach the person you want to see, all whilst crushing the wishes of a few insignificant Selectors, or you're going to be beaten 3 times and 'let them all down' as you put it, just to save their own skin. Of course, with your units being from Cray, who knows what would happen to them if you were to go ahead and do that. Then again, if you were like me in what I live for in these battles, this should be common knowledge to you."

"W... What do you mean...?!" Aichi asked, panic arising in his voice. Ulith then closed her eyes, before pursing her lips for a brief moment.

"Image it," she spoke "Experience the memories of my enjoyment and the screams of those I have broken!"

Before he could do anything, his eyes suddenly glowed a bright rainbow colour, indicating that Ulith had somehow activated his PSY Qualia without his own will or consent as the entire field around him went completely pitch black, obscuring Blaster Blade, Alfred, Tama and everyone watching him from the tower. The entire area had gone completely dark, with no sign of Ulith either. All was silent as Aichi could only look around for any signs of life until the sound of fingers snapping echoed throughout the image he now found himself in. A loud female shriek sounded throughout the space as he was forced to cover his ears from the loudness before the blackness around him began to fade away.

Aichi could only gasp in horror at what he saw before his eyes. There before him seemed to be the form of dozens of girls, around a little below his age, some even younger. What frightened him the most was all of their expressions littered throughout their faces. Their eyes were seemingly lifeless, as if the most devastating thing in their entire lives had completely broken them apart, leaving them with nothing but their own despair to wallow about in. Aichi could only shiver when he heard a sobbing noise come from one of the girls laying on the ground before him, unable to even imagine about what she had been through. He then froze stiff in an instant as he felt a frightening presence come up towards him from behind. His eyes moved to their left, his answer was that of a single fingernail from the slender left hand of Ulith which slid gently down the side of his cheek.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" she spoke, almost as if she was coldly whispering right into his ear. "After all, a similar result will be bound to happen with you, soon enough."

"Why…?" he quivered "What good can come from harming other Selectors?!"

"My, you really are persistant aren't you?" she spoke "I already told you. This is what I live for in the Selector Battles. I'm surprised you haven't felt the same, considering you were all too willing to sell out a friend's memories just to save a meaningless world. If I recall correctly from the person who told me, Kourin was her name. That must be easy for someone whose cardfighting life has had practically no consequences on the world there."

"B... But..."

"Oh that's right, I almost forgot," Ulith continued "You have felt the need for breaking others before, just as I have. The first time you felt PSY Qualia enter your life, you were completely unstoppable, everyone you fought broke down before your superior might." Aichi's distraught eyes could only widen in horror upon hearing what she had just brought up which only led to even more questions about the Selector brewing up in his head by the instant.

"H... How did you...?!" he gasped, his voice almost becoming a whimper.

"I know everything about you," she cut in, reappearing on his right. "It's truely a shame that Kai Toshiki had to ruin your fun back then, otherwise I'd been more than happy to take you under my wing."  _Much like a certain lap-dog._

"N... No! I won't hurt the people around me again!" cried Aichi "I'm no longer that same person!"

"I can sense your indecisiveness," Ulith spoke "It appears that your 2 years outside of breaking others through PSY Qualia has taken its toll on you. Perhaps this will change your mind."

Upon clicking her fingers once again, the many bodies of the broken Selectors in front of them screamed loudly in pain and despair as Aichi could only stare in horror, the noise and the image before him ended up engraved into his mind.

"Stop it...!" he cried.

But his plea had fallen on deaf ears. The folowing laughter of Ulith and the screams from the Selectors in her image continued ringing through his head. Aichi could only remain still as the noise got the better of him, feeling powerless to anything as he allowed her words to sink in. Was he really willing to do anything it took to save everyone in the Selector Battles by hurting them whether he wanted to do so or not? He didn't want to believe it at all, nor did he even want that image to come true.

"STOP IT!" he cried out loud, the screams ringing in his head finally ceasing their long drawn out noise and his sense of reality finally returning him back to the battlefield that he was previously at. Aichi panted heavily, having barely managed to last through the 'torture' that Ulith had just put him through. It was scary enough that she was already capable of harming anyone she pleased, but managing to show him an image that could come true from his own actions was something else entirely. Upon noticing his expression and what he intended to do next, Blaster Blade raised a hand to try and interject something.

"Wait, my Vanguard!" he called.

"I attack with Alfred Exiv and Blaster Blade!" Aichi declared. As the blue aura from the previous turn surrounded Blaster Blade and Alfred, Ulith just smirked.

"Honestly, at this point you're just struggling," she mused, interrupting his declaration "Not that it matters. Sunspot Miko's Exceed effect! By Exceeding 5 cards, your SIGNI and LRIGs are downed meaning they can't attack this turn!"

Shiro then held out her hands, shooting two beams of black energy towards the Royal Paladin units, shocking them into submission as their cards downed themselves, preventing them from attacking for the turn. Aichi could only look even more distraught than he already was, feeling that the only person he could blame for the situation and what could come in the near future was himself. He looked down on the table as several tears leaked out from his eyelids as he could only utter two words from his mouth.

"... Turn end..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: High Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> [On-Play] Exceed 1 or Pay 1 White: Choose 1 of your other SIGNI and it gains +5000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Difference(s) from original FF upload**  
>  After correcting Mac Lir for Iseult earlier in the battle, Code Anti Cryskull was added to the cards sent by Ulith to her Trash by Ancient Surprise to fulfil the Grow condition of Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko.


	30. Arc 2 - Ride 30: That Escape from Despair I

**Selector Battlefield**

The entire battlefield had fallen practically silent at the turn of events that had just occured. Aichi was completely frozen, silently sobbing away at the scenario that lay before him. Ulith had gotten inside his head and broken the truth out of what impact that his actions would have on the people and LRIGs he faced in the Selector Battles. He knew for a fact that no matter how much he could deny that he wouldn't want to hurt them, he knew that the Selector herself was indeed correct. One way or another, he would hurt them in his efforts to save them and he knew that the only one that could be blamed, was himself. This then led him to misplaying by trying to attack with Blaster Blade and Alfred, before summoning any SIGNI for defence, only to have his turn to come to an end immediately due to a power gained by the reversed LRIG now opposing him.

Shiro, still darkened by the power of Reverse in her Sunspot Miko form, eyed the cardfighter along with the two Royal Paladin units maliciously, impatiently waiting for another command from Ulith so she could attack them both once again. Both the Swordsman of Light and the King of Knights were already beaten and battered from her previous round of attacks and were greatly concerned for Aichi's state after everything that Ulith had spoken to him about. The Selector on the other hand remained still on the table, keeping her cold smile and her gaze trained on her opponent, now broken by the truth that she had given him. And now, thanks to his recent misplay, it appeared that victory would be in her grasp sooner than she imagined.

Meanwhile up in the tower, everyone watching could only stare down at Aichi, greatly concerned for his state. None were more horrified from the recent turn of events that occured than Yuzuki, Naoki, Hitoe and Kai. The Selector amongst the group could only feel very worried, her eyes close to the verge of tears and being unable to bear watching through the whole ordeal any longer. Kai turned to Leon and Ren, whose gaze remained trailed on Ulith, a brief rainbow coloured glow flaring in their eyes, as if they knew exactly everything that had been going on.

"You saw that image too, didn't you?" he asked, his serious tone filled with a hint of pent up anger.

"Yeah," replied Ren "That image Ulith showed Aichi... she already knew that was more than enough to make him snap."

"And by taking into account everything we've learned about the Selector Battles so far," Leon explained "Whether we want to believe it or not, there is some truth to her words."

"But still, what she did to Aichi... that's just plain cruel..." Yuzuki growled, struggling to restrain herself from letting her anger get the better of her.

"Aichi!" yelled Naoki "Can you hear us?! You gotta snap out of whatever Ulith put into your head!" But his words didn't even reach the Royal Paladin user's ears as he then looked down towards the ground from the tower windowsill.

"Damn it!" he growled.

"W... We're too high up..." Hitoe murmured, a hint of worry still present in her voice "No wonder Aichi can't hear us."

"Mayu must have it made it this way so spectators couldn't give their preferred Selectors the support they needed," Kai muttered, growling under his breath as he looked down to the battlefield. Although he wasn't exactly showing it, he too was greatly concerned for Aichi's current state, wondering if the Royal Paladin user would even be able to recover.  _Aichi... Just what will you do?_

Back at the battlefield, Aichi remained as he was, distraught from both the words Ulith had spoken to him and the image that she had shown him during the previous turn. As tears continued to fall from his eyes onto the table's surface, Blaster Blade turned his attention over to him.

"My Vanguard, you can't lose hope now!" he called "As long as you continue to allow her words to dictate your every move, you won't be able to save Shiro, nor will we be able to save anyone!"

"B... But if have to hurt them..." Aichi sobbed.

"Remember why you're battling to free Shiro!" replied Blaster Blade "Remember why you've entered this world!"

At first, Aichi had stopped sobbing, an indication being that there were no more tears flowing from his eyes. But even Alfred knew that Blaster Blade's words alone were not enough to snap the cardfighter out of his current state. That suspicion was all but confirmed when Aichi didn't answer, his expression minus the earlier tears having not changed at all. That was all Ulith needed to assure herself that he was beyond the point of recovery, at least from her perspective. The Selector smiled viciously as she drew her cards to start her turn.

"I suppose even your words were meaningless, Ahmes," she spoke, seemingly mocking the Swordsman of Light's efforts to try and snap the cardfighter out of his state. "How about I give Sendou some space to sulk around whilst sparing him the pain of seeing you annihilated before his eyes."

With a snap of her fingers in her free hand, Aichi could feel his PSY Qualia activating again without his own consent, the glow in his eyes having appeared once more as everything suddenly went dark.

* * *

**Aichi's Vision**

Once again, all vision he had of the field around him faded into pitch black, essentially leaving him to believe that he was all alone once again in this image, expecting Ulith to appear and break him down even further. When a few moments had passed, it appeared to him that the cruel demanored Selector was nowhere to be found in wherever he now found himself in. As he gazed around the space he now found his consciousness in, the only thing he felt he could do was to fall onto his knees and think about everything that had happened throughout the battle. The words of Ulith echoed through his head once again as he struggled to think over all that lay before him.

" _The real irony of the matter is, the filth that you intend to save from this neverending cycle... will be the same scum that you'll break apart yourself._ "

"W... Why...?" he said to himself, his voice filled with complete guilt "Why do I have to hurt other Selectors when I want to save them...?

" _This is what I live for in the Selector Battles. I'm suprised you haven't felt the same, considering that you were all too willing to sell out a friend's memories just to save a meaningless world."_

"How... did Ulith know about Kourin-san...?" Aichi quivered "I didn't want to have her lose her memories... but if I didn't stop the other Takuto at that time... then..."

" _That must be easy for someone whose cardfighting life has had no consequences on the world there._ "

"This isn't right... And yet... I... I have to hurt them... tainting their wishes and... bringing them nothing but despair..."  _Am I really no different than her?_

"Despair...?"

Aichi's eyes for the first time since Ulith's first image suddenly broke out of their distraught appearance and widened in response to what he just heard. This was a voice that he thought that he wouldn't have a chance to hear again. Not since the night that he first entered this world had he heard that familiar voice. Slowly but surely, he got up from his knees and turned around to find the source that was standing right behind him. When his eyes looked upon the source that had spoken out to him, he could only gasp.

"You are...!"

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

In the reality around the cardfighter however, it appeared to everyone else with the exception of Ulith that Aichi was practically helpless on his own, with no response as to what was about to befall him. His eyes appeared seemingly dull, with only the continuous glow of his PSY Qualia keeping them alight. Alfred and Blaster Blade could only stare up at the motionless Aichi, wondering what had happened to him. The Swordsman of Light turned his attention back to Ulith, glaring at her intensely with anger present in his eyes.

"What have you done to my Vanguard?!" he demanded fiercly.

"It's just as I said," she replied "I'm merely just using his PSY Qualia to spare him the pain of seeing you and Alfred being crushed before Shiro. Then he will join Reverse along with the two of you once that has occured."

As Blaster Blade gritted his teeth in response to what the Selector had just said to him, Alfred had suddenly realized what she had meant exactly. And the answer was not a pleasant one at that.

"I see!" he gasped.

"What is it, your majesty?!" the Swordsman of Light asked.

"By manipulating his PSY Qualia... She's sealed off Aichi's consciousness and focus elsewhere, meaning that he can't use any of the cards from his hand whilst he's in this state!" the King of Knights replied. Everyone else up from the tower gasped in shock upon hearing the conclusion that Alfred had managed to draw up.

"That's practically cheating!" yelled Naoki "If that's true, Aichi can't even guard any attacks coming his way unless he snaps out of it!"

"I never thought I'd say this, but is this something even Mayu herself would allow?!" Yuzuki growled "The fact that she's allowing underhanded tactics like this to go on under her gaze?!"

No one else from amongst the group said anything out aloud, but each were occupied with their own thoughts on the matter. All of them were hoping however that deep down, Aichi would find a way to break out of the scenario he now found himself in before all of Ulith's upcoming attacks could finish him off. Speaking of whom, the Selector's lips pursed a devious smile as she kept her gaze upon the Royal Paladin user.

"Nemain, Cryskull, Energe," she spoke "Drown Ahmes and Alfred even deeper into the depths of despair and bring Sendou Aichi one step closer to oblivion! Attack!"

The 3 SIGNI on her table nodded to her command as the two Royal Paladin units could only brace themselves for the onslaught to come. They held out their swords in front of them, but Energe, Nemain and Cryskull launched devastating black beams of energy right at them. The beams joined together to form one large attack that instantly hit both Blaster Blade and Alfred head on at practically point blank. A massive explosion rocked the table, knocking Aichi's subconscious body backwards into the seat that he was sitting in before slumping downwards. His eyes still remained open with his PSY Qualia remaining activated whilst Alfred and Blaster Blade were knocked to the ground from the impact of the blast they had suffered from.

The next 3 Life Cloths flew upwards and revealed themselves one by one. The first, Servant D glowed, indicating that the first attack had triggered its Life Burst. The top card of the cardfighter's deck, which was another copy of the Colourless Guard SIGNI, moved to his Ener Zone. The second Life Cloth revealed Knight of Silence, Gallatin and the third, Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes. The final two Life Cloths did not have any Life Bursts to aid the cardfighter in this dire hour of need, not that he was aware of it. Meanwhile back in the tower, everyone watching could only glance down at Aichi, worrried about what was coming next.

"Aichi! Hang in there!" Naoki called desperately "You can't let her beat you like this!"

"Do something!" cried Hitoe.

"Aichi..." Kai murmured, he too also concerned for the state of the Royal Paladin user, unaware of what was currently going on with him.

* * *

**Aichi's Vision**

"You... are...?"

Aichi could only stare wide-eyed at the person that had now appeared in the vision that Ulith had sent him into. Right there in front of the cardfighter, standing before him at this very moment, was Umr. She was at a much closer distance towards him compared to the last time that the two had apparently encountered each other in the Royal Paladin user's 'dream' from entering this world. Aichi although aware of the fact that the circumstances for their 'first meeting' were possible to have only been a dream in itself, felt this was the opportunity he needed to get some answers right now.

"Umr..." he breathed.

"U... mr...?" the girl replied, a hint of confusion present in her voice and expression, just like the last time the two of them had seemingly crossed paths.

"That's right... I think," said Aichi "That's your name. Um... Do you remember me?"

"Remember..." Umr spoke, her tone seemingly monotoned now that she had regained her composure. "Another word for recollection... But it appears you are correct... I do recall something about you that feels... familiar."

"Then... you remember me?" the Royal Paladin user asked.

"Vaguely..." she answered "It appears that... I have somehow lost a small portion of my recollection. Aichi, was it?"

Aichi was surprised. He had partially expected Umr to not even have a thought about him, given that the last time he saw her was in a dream from his arrival in this world. But now that she had some recollection of him, it appeared that their meeting just being a dream was starting to not be the case. Why that was remained a mystery to him, even to the girl standing before him. Out of curiousity, Umr walked a little closer towards Aichi, glancing all over his expression with her bright blue eyes, as if she was studying him.

"Your eyes hold... sadness..." she murmured "And you mentioned... despair..."

At this point, Aichi's mood had suddenly dropped again, having remembered immediately about why he was in the state that he was in. A small tear left his right eye as he began recalling everything that had been going on throughout the battle.

"It's... someone I've been fighting..." he explained "They showed me the truth... of what might happen if I continue to fight... in the Selector Battles. The only thing I'll do... is hurting people... all because of what I believe in."

"Then why?"

"Huh?" Aichi blinked in confusion to Umr's sudden question, having not expected her to respond like this.

"Why do your eyes hold sadness, if you all you are doing is fighting for what you believe in?" she asked.

"I... I don't want to hurt any more people..." he answered "But if going through the Selector Battles, hurting more people, is the only way forward... then what should I do?"

The air remained silent around the space as Aichi and Umr could only look on at one another, wondering about what would happen next. Several moments passed as the two remained in place before the girl suddenly raised her right arm out in front of her. Aichi was slightly surprised from the sudden action, but was unsure of what was to come from this.

"I vaguely recall you... reaching out like this..." she murmured.

"That's right..." Aichi replied "Um... I reached out for your arm, hoping you would hang on to my hand when that vortex appeared in that dream."

"Then rise up..." Umr spoke "Take my hand as you tried to once before."

The Royal Paladin user was unsure from this sudden action. Back in that dream, he only reached out for Umr's hand as a gesture in the hope that she would help him ride out of the storm that occurred at that time. But here, now that there was seemingly nothing to interfere with their conversation, he felt as if she didn't quite understand the implications of what could be seen as an otherwise harmless gesture. Regardless though, he felt as if the only way he was going to understand everything about her would be to do as she suggested. Slowly, Aichi raised his own right arm in front of him as he walked a little forwards towards Umr. Eventually, when they were practically arms' length from one another, they moved their respective hands towards each other until eventually, they made contact.

At the moment of contact however, neither were expecting or prepared to anticipate what was about to occur. Aichi's eyes suddenly flared up with the glow of his PSY Qualia once again as a strange black aura surrounded Umr.

"T... This is..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the girl was completely enveloped and obscured by the aura, now pulsating with a bright rainbow coloured glow mixed in with the blackness that covered her.

"Umr?!" gasped Aichi.

At this moment, the aura that covered Umr suddenly erupted into a bright rainbow coloured flash, mixed with several streams of black as the space that the Royal Paladin user was in grew brighter and brighter and brighter. Before everything went completely white from the sudden intensity of flash, Aichi suddenly froze up, a strange feeling having begun coursing through him.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Back on the battlefield, for the moment, it appeared that nothing had changed since Ulith had begun her onslaught of attacks on Blaster Blade and Alfred, now bringing the total number of Life Cloths that Aichi had to 0. To make matters worse for the Royal Paladin user, Shiro still hadn't waged an attack during this turn and that meant from how he appeared, unless he did something, Ulith was guaranteed to claim victory. The two Royal Paladin units struggled back onto their feet, the previous attack(s) from all 3 of the Selector's SIGNI having already done a number on them, compared to the punishment that the reversed Shiro had put them through on the turn before that. Ulith kept her malicious smile on her lips as she kept her gaze upon the cardfighter's seemingly lifeless eyes, barring the glow of PSY Qualia.

"It has certainly been fun," she spoke "But, it appears that unlike your previous exploits, you were not destinied to save anyone. This ends now. Shiro, put Ahmes and Alfred out of their misery!"

"Shiro... final... ATTACK!" the reversed LRIG called out as the all too familiar dark red aura surrounded her once again. Whilst Alfred could only "TSK!" under his breath as he prepared himself for the worst, Blaster Blade then turned around and turned his gaze towards Aichi.

"My Vanguard, come back to us!" he called out loud "If you remain the way you are, then all hope for us and Shiro will be lost! You cannot give up on what you believe is right!"

At first, there was seemingly no response from Aichi, aside from his eyelids falling shut, as if it appeared at first that he couldn't bear to watch the devastation that would unfold before him. As Blaster Blade could only look behind him, seeing Shiro had begun her charge towards him and Alfred, he held out the blade itself before him, bracing himself and hoping that his words were enough to break Aichi out of the stupor that Ulith had caused him to spiral into. Up in the tower, everyone could only watch in horror as Shiro got closer towards the Royal Paladin user's table, concerned about his state and if he could still defend himself now whilst he still had that opportunity.

Then, just when all appeared to have been lost, Aichi suddenly opened his eyes, still retaining their aura of PSY Qualia and quickly leaned forwards, throwing a card that he still held in his hand sideways towards the front of the table he was seated at. As he did so, no one noticed a faint purple glow eminating from his LRIG deck.

"I guard with Defending Seeker, Shiron!"

Suddenly, everyone that was watching from up the tower gasped in shock upon hearing him speak once again. It wasn't the words that he spoke out loud that had caught their attention, but from the voice that spoke. From what they heard, it appeared to be Aichi's regular voice but mixed in with that of a vastly different voice. One that was familiar to the Royal Paladin user but unfamiliar to the others. From what they could gather, a female voice had overlapped with the cardfighter's own the moment he declared the instance to Guard. As the Royal Paladin user threw the card sideways down onto the table in front of the LRIG space, the unit appeared in front of Alfred and Blaster Blade, shielding them from the oncoming attack.

Growling under her breath, Shiro relentlessly punched and kicked away at the shield, but it refused to shatter before her efforts. Eventually after she had worn herself out from repeatedly attacking the barrier, she begun retreated back to Ulith's table. Just as the reversed LRIG did so, both it and Shiron disappeared from the battlefield. Speaking of the Selector, Ulith who had kept her sinister sneer throughout the entire battle up to this point, could only stare on at Aichi in disbelief, as if she had known something that everyone else present on the battlefield was unaware of for the moment.

_What the hell?! Surely that voice couldn't have been...?!_

As she tried to process the scenario that lay before her in her head, meanwhile at the top of the tower, everyone spectacting the battle could only glance down at Aichi, wondering what exactly had happened to him before he managed to successfully guard against Shiro's attack, enabling him to survive another turn. None however were more shocked from this than Kai, Yuzuki and Leon, who were even startled by the strange turn of events.

"What was that all about?!" gasped Naoki.

"Please tell me I wasn't hearing things just then!" replied Yuzuki. Leon shook his head, to confirm the LRIG's suspicions.

"I'm not sure how this is possible," he spoke "But... I'm sensing another presence... from within Sendou!"

With the exception of Ren who merely gazed upon the Royal Paladin user, everyone else present amongst the group at this very moment, were speechless at the conclusion that the Aqua Force user had managed to draw up. Even Kai was shocked at the sudden turn of events. After hearing the way that Aichi had spoken out just now, he had wanted answers as to why this was, but the fact that there was apparently another presence within the Royal Paladin user had only led to raise more questions. What was this other presence that Leon spoke of? Why was it eminating and speaking out from within Aichi? Little did he and everyone else know was that the answer to those questions would soon come to light.

Back down on the field, by the time that Shiro had returned to the table, Ulith's earlier expression of shock and confusion had turned into a sharp glare, as if she too had already suspected everything that was going on around Aichi.

"Well, I suppose I should congratulate you for surviving this far," she spat, a hint of annoyance present under her breath "But your fate remains sealed! Now that it's become the turn's End Phase and Shiro's attack failed to damage you, I activate Lockdown Barrier!"

As the Black Spell card revealed itself to all, a sudden gale raged across the battlefield as sparks flew across the LRIG space on Aichi's table. The sparks suddenly began shocking both Alfred and Blaster Blade as they cried out loud in pain, falling to their knees. Whilst Aichi seemingly remained unresponsive as to what was happening in front of him, his attention seemingly fixed on the card that was just put into play, Ulith gazed upon him once more with a fraction of her sinister expression having returned to her.

"First, I Lock all of my SIGNI!" she called. At this very moment, 3 pairs of black rings suddenly appeared around Energe, Original Spear, Code Anti Cryskull and Skull Witch, Nemain before enclosing both of the SIGNI and Shadow Paladin unit in a black sphere each. In turn though, their cards on Ulith's table had also been flipped face down with black sparks going across them.

"With this, not only can I prevent you from upping Alfred and Blaster Blade at the start of your next turn," the Selector explained "But in addition, you can't Grow into any White LRIGs during that turn! Finally, any SIGNI you summon during your next turn whose colours were already different from your LRIG or rather your Legion, cannot attack!"

"Tsk... so she's even gone as far as to sealing our Vanguard's attacks during his next turn..." Alfred muttered as he glanced up towards Ulith.

Blaster Blade however was not concerned about that fact for the moment. The Swordsman of Light glanced up towards Aichi's eyes and could only silently gasp in shock. Something seemed different about them, or at least, his left eye in particular. That eye had a much brighter shade of light blue in contrast to his regular eye colour. And then there was his voice just now. It sounded like him when he was serious, prior to Ulith's words breaking him apart. But now, unless he was sure she was imagining things, Blaster Blade could have sworn she could have heard a female voice overlapping with the Royal Paladin user's own voice.

"My Vanguard, what is this strange presence I can sense from you?" he asked.

"B... Blaster Blade...?" Aichi replied in partial confusion, the other voice from earlier not overlapping his own for some reason. Before he could ask anything else, that same feeling from earlier when the image he was in faded out, had crept into him once more.

"Do not be alarmed..." the earlier female voice spoke out through his lips, this time without his voice overlapping with her own.

"So you are that presence..." Blaster Blade muttered "What reason do you have for possessing my Vanguard?"

"I never expected nor intended for things to appear this way..." the voice continued "But, I can assure you that this will only be temporary."

"What do you mean?"

"Look."

At this point, the strange presence that was possessing Aichi, moved his right hand and pointed his finger towards the LRIG deck. Blaster Blade along with Alfred glanced towards the LRIG deck as well. Their eyes widened in surprise as the purple glow that they didn't notice from earlier had gotten brighter. Then, it suddenly hit the Swordsman of Light as he returned his gaze back to the possessed cardfighter.

"Are meaning to tell us... that you're an LRIG?" he asked.

"That, I do not know," the voice replied "I feel as if... I was meant to be brought to a battlefield... to participate."

"Participate...?" murmured Alfred.

"Whether I will end up doing so or not is something... that Aichi will decide..." she answered "I will... relinquish control back to him."

And with that, Aichi's eyes closed once again, only to immediately spring open once again. His regular breathing could be heard, indicating that the 'presence' that had briefly possessed him had kept her word to Blaster Blade and Alfred and the Royal Paladin was now back to normal. Well, almost normal considering that PSY Qualia remained active and his left eye colour still remained a bright light blue.

"W... What happened?" he murmured to himself.

"My Vanguard!"

Aichi blinked for a moment before he looked down to Blaster Blade who had called out to him and the King of Knights that stood beside him. Their expressions seemed serious as they gazed at him.

"That presence... do you know her?" the Swordsman of Light asked.

"Presence...?" he murmured. Then, it suddenly hit him as he finally pieced everything together. "Umr... Did she...?" He then glanced over towards his LRIG deck, the purple glow still eminating from the cards that were there. Aichi recalled that Yuzuki once told him at the library earlier in the day that Umr was considered to be a one of a kind LRIG in the game outside of the Selector Battles and that neither her, Ruko or Hitoe had encountered an actual LRIG named Umr. Was this meant to be a sign that she was trying to call out to him somehow? Through his own PSY Qualia no less? Aichi didn't know what to think. From what he read of the rules about Wixoss due to some aid from Yuzuki's brother, Kazuki, he knew that he could not Grow an LRIG whose type was different from the one he currently controlled.

"There's no need for concern."

Aichi at this point could have sworn that at this point, he was now hearing things. Now it seemed to him that Umr's voice was now echoing in his head.

"That girl's Lockdown Barrier," her voice echoed "According to what I could read, has sealed you from standing your current LRIGs, growing into any White LRIGs and any SIGNI with a different colour from said LRIGs won't be able to attack during this next turn. But, there is a fatal flaw with that."

The cardfighter's eyes could only widen. Now that he was brought up to speed after being temporarily possessed by her, albeit without her own intent, by the way that Ulith had laid things out before him, he couldn't even do anything to turn the battle around. Thinking over the scenario, he replayed what Umr said just now and glanced towards the LRIG deck. Just what could she mean by a fatal flaw? He shut his eyes in an attempt to remember everything that had gone on through her brief possession. Eventually, he managed to recollect the exact moment where his gaze was trailed upon Ulith's Lockdown Barrier card the moment that the Selector had activated it. He now remembered seeing something on the card that he could benefit from.

 _But... Will Blaster Blade be alright with it...?_ he thought.

"Is something wrong, my Vanguard?"

Aichi snapped out of his thoughts as he turned his attention down to Blaster Blade.

"Um... I think I know a way to get around Lockdown Barrier..." he murmured "But... I'm not sure if you'll like it..."

"Although I sensed no malicious intent from her, if you feel that you want to trust that presence, then I won't stop you," the Swordsman of Light spoke "Remember what I said to you earlier. Do not give up on what you believe is right."

"That's right..." Aichi murmured as he looked back towards Ulith and then gazed down towards Shiro.  _I haven't forgetten, Shiro. I will... This time, I will definitely save you!_  The Selector said nothing as she made a simple gesture to officially end her turn.

**End of Turn 9**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 5 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Energe, Original Spear (Locked) : Code Anti Cryskull (Locked) : Skull Witch, Nemain (Locked)**

**Ener - 7 : 2**

"Just what was with Aichi now?" murmured Naoki. "He was acting all strange and now he's... normal again?"

"It was like... someone else was talking through him somehow..." murmured Hitoe, unable to think of something to properly describe the situation after being so bewildered.

Yuzuki despite not saying anything, nodded silently in agreement. Kai meanwhile could only keep his gaze upon the Royal Paladin user, wondering how exactly he was planning to overcome Ulith's Lockdown Barrier for the upcoming turn, that is, if he could at all. Down on the field, Aichi drew his cards before looking carefully amongst his options. Then, as if he wasn't exactly thinking at all, he took Servant D2 from his hand and placed it into his Ener Zone. Looking back towards his LRIG deck, the purple glow having not left it at all, he reached out for the cards present there and looked through them. When he found the source of that light, his eyes widened in surprise. Ulith however had not taken her sinister gaze off of him.

"Just what do you hope to do," she spoke "Due to Lockdown Barrier, you can't Grow into any White LRIGs as both Alfred and Blaster Blade are of that colour. Your final hope for Growing into a different Royal Paladin has faded away."

"That's wrong, Ulith," he replied.

"What?" the Selector spat.

"I pay 2 of my Servant Ds from my Ener Zone, using their Multi-Ener effects to Grow my Legioned Alfred and Blaster Blade into a Level 4 Black LRIG!" Aichi called. At this point, Ulith could only stare partially dumbfounded at the Royal Paladin user, a crazed expression having now been plastered on her face.

"What do you actually plan to do?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm and insanity present her voice. "After all, if I recall from the way the battle has progressed, none of your Royal Paladins that are LRIGs possess the colour of Black!"

Aichi at this point took ahold of the card that emitted the purple glow and placed the rest of his LRIG deck back in its original spot on the table.

"Due to your Lockdown Barrier's effect," he explained "If I have an LRIG that is a different colour from one that I have on the field, during this turn, I can grow it ignoring the LRIG type rulings!"

"What are you...?!" Ulith then stopped in mid reply, glancing over at Lockdown Barrier at the top of her Trash Pile. She looked carefully at the Constant effect, more specifically at the last 2 or 3 lines of text and inwardly gasped in horror.  _Crap! I forgot about that drawback! But, what does he actually have to save him?!_

At this moment, the two Servant D Guard SIGNI cards from Aichi's Ener Zone moved from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile as the cardfighter held the card that was now in his hand high above him. He closed his eyes as he began to speak out aloud for everyone present on the field to hear.

"Formed from pitch-black darkness," he spoke "To fight those who would hurt anything and everything I care about, transcend my image and come before us! Grow!"

Aichi then opened his eyes, the glow of PSY Qualia within his eyes from earlier having now intensified as a black aura surrounded him from head to toe and the light blue that was now covering his left eye shined even brighter than it was before. A dark aura surrounded the LRIG space as Blaster Blade and Alfred remained bewildered for a brief moment before they suddenly vanished from the battlefield to make way for the new appearance. A giant column of black energy erupted and covered the entire table, obscuring the Royal Paladin user from sight. When several moments had passed over, a bright rainbow coloured glow disappated the column, revealing Aichi and the newcomer that he brought to the battlefield.

"Umr=Fyra… Wielder of the Key of Impartiality!"

Umr seemed vastly different than what Aichi had remembered seeing in his dream, or in the case of everyone watching from the tower, the form that was depicted on the artwork of Ren's Ancient Surprise ARTS. Aside from just her usual black scarf, most of her clothing… if one could call it that, consisted only of several very long straps that seemed to act like bandages, wrapping around both her arms and legs as well covering up both her chest and her lower body, all of which were tied up by multiple buckles that kept the straps tied together. To both sides of the LRIG were two wing like structures, each with several large keys attached to them and the weapon of choice that she carried which manifested itself out of the dark energy was a large gleaming silver key that was much taller than she was, the hilt blade being nearly twice as wide as the girl herself.

In addition, Umr's hair was much longer than anyone had remembered seeing, now tied up in multiple places and her horns had grown slightly larger with some straps wrapped around and held together by more buckles. Everyone from up in the tower gasped in shock as to the arrival of the new LRIG, now made possible thanks to Ulith's own card and her meddling with Aichi's PSY Qualia.

"That's... really her?!" gasped Yuzuki.

"Then there's no doubt about it," said Ren "That girl, was the presence within Aichi-kun earlier."

"This is... the real Umr..." Kai muttered.

"T… This is impossible…!" Ulith gasped in sheer disbelief and fury as to what she was seeing before her, though it was quiet enough for everyone else to not hear.  _How did he manifest the conscious of Project: Locked Soul as an LRIG?!_

Shiro, still under the influence of Reverse, gazed upon Umr as maliciously smiled, clenching her fists as sign of impatience to clash with the newfound LRIG. Speaking of whom, Umr clutched a hold of the gleaming silver key that she now wielded, in the same manner that Blaster Blade would have clutched his own blade, as if she was already seemingly prepared to clash with the corrupted LRIG. Aichi, now freed of the earlier despair he had originally found himself within, turned his gaze upon Ulith. A sign that he was now prepared to go all out in this battle to save Shiro and restore her to normal, no matter what. Turning his attention to his hand, he reached out for three cards and placed them in his empty SIGNI spaces. The figures that appeared were God Eater, Ultimate Sword, Axe, Large Breaker and Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes.

"Let's go!" he declared "Attack!"

The two former White SIGNI and Palamedes, their cards now corrupted by the reversed Shiro's ability nodded to his command and charged towards Ulith's table. When they reached the SIGNI that she had locked earlier, they suddenly leaped into the air. The Selector growled under her breath, having recalled that since she turned Aichi's SIGNI black thanks to Shiro and that Umr herself was under the colour of Black, Lockdown Barrier couldn't stop them from attacking. But that was the least of her concerns.

"That's right," Aichi spoke out "If I can't attack SIGNI that are locked, that leaves only one target!"

"Tsk, so you figured it out," she muttered under her breath.

At this moment, Axe, God Eater and Palamedes all took the opportunity to deal a slash each onto Shiro who stumbled backwards from the impacts and fell onto her back, growling both in pain and annoyance. Ulith's crushed Life Cloths revealed Revive Flare, Energe, Original Spear and Code Anti Cabrera. Energe's Life Burst was useless to the Selector as she had turned all of the White SIGNI in her deck Black and that her other copy of Arc Aura was in her Trash Pile thanks to her earlier Ancient Surprise ARTS. As she appeared uninterested by the result, the two SIGNI and the single unit had returned back to her table. Umr, who had been awaiting for a command, turned around and looked up towards Aichi.

"It appears... you have found your resolve..." she spoke.

"Yeah..." he replied "I... I don't know how to thank you..." He then looked back at his opponent, prepared to make the move that would decide the outcome of the battle before them.

"Ulith!" he called "I will prove that we're not the same as you claim we are and save Shiro from you!"

"How interesting," the Selector mused "I didn't expect you to recover thanks to that girl saving your neck at the last minute and exploiting the way around my Lockdown Barrier. However..." As she finished her sentence, an all too familiar dark red aura surrounded her as her expression now seemed even more crazed that it did before.

"I will personally see to it, that you'll be drowned in the depths of despair once more and that this time... this time, you'll stay broken!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original Story Cards:  
>  **Lockdown Barrier**  
>  Color: Black  
> Cost: 0 Colorless  
> Limiting Condition: Tama only  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - End Phase] Lock all SIGNI you control (min. 2): Activate only if your LRIG is “Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko”. If that LRIG attacks during that turn and that attack is disabled or doesn’t damage your opponent, you may pay the cost. If you do, until the End Phase of your opponent’s next turn, they cannot Up any of their LRIG(s) and during their Grow Phase, they cannot Grow into a LRIG with the same color as the LRIG(s) they currently control. SIGNI that they summon whose color is different from their LRIG cannot attack during that turn. During their next End Phase, unlock the cards you locked with this effect.  
> [Constant] During your opponent’s turn after you activate this card’s first effect, until their End Phase, if they have an LRIG in their LRIG Deck of a different color and whose LRIG type is different from those of the one they currently control, they can Grow one LRIG who follows under those conditions by paying its Grow cost and ignoring the LRIG type condition rulings.


	31. Arc 2 - Ride 31: That Escape from Despair II

**The White Room**

Mayu stared out into the window that was directly in front of her, showing the battle that had been raging on for the last few moments. Several minutes earlier, she had recieved word from Photon that his soldiers had run into the same 'hiccup' they came across with 'Project: Locked Soul'. The mastermind, annoyed by this turn of events had ordered him to see to the problem immediately whilst she continued to monitor the current battle that had caught her attention. That was when things had taken a turn for the shocking. The moment that Aichi was able to take advantage of Ulith's Lockdown Barrier to grow Umr into battle had all but confirmed her suspicions. At the same time though, this had indeed raised her intrigue. Not just in the Royal Paladin user's PSY Qualia, but his own abilities as well.

Despite how much fury that was currently seething through her head at the sight of Umr fighting alongside Aichi, mainly because of Ulith's own doing, Mayu couldn't help but smile a little. The Selector did succeed in exploiting a weakness within the cardfighter and although it was possibly too late to use such a tactic again at this stage of the battle, there were always... other opportunities. That and Mayu herself was intrigued to see how the battle would conclude now that the odds were seemingly going back into his favour. However, even she was aware that Shiro, now darkened by the power of Reverse, was still waiting in the wings to get back on the offensive to finish both him and Umr off. Glancing over towards Ulith from the changed view of the window, she kept a hard gaze upon her, expecting the Selector to finish the battle and make the Royal Paladin user one less wrench in her plans to worry about.

**Selector Battlefield**

Back on the battlefield, Aichi gazed towards Ulith as Umr did towards Shiro, a sign of their upcoming clash about to befall the four of them. The reversed LRIG looked over towards the mysterious black LRIG, smiling maliciously as the all too familiar aura flowed through her again Over in the tower, Kai, Hitoe, Yuzuki, Ren and Leon could only look down towards the field, they too also eager to anticipate as to what was to happen next. Taking a few deep breaths, the Royal Paladin user steeled himself before holding out one arm in front of him, indicating that he made his decision clear.

"Umr, attack Shiro!" he called.

"Understood..." she spoke.

As soon as Aichi's command was given, the keys that were hanging off the two wing structures on either side of the LRIG had suddenly straightened themselves out as if they almost had a mind of their own. Umr took a brief stance on her feet before leaping into the air, clutching the giant key she held tightly as she did so. When she did, several bursts of purplish energy suddenly erupted from the gaps that were present between each key on her 'wings', causing Umr to accelerate forwards through the air and across the battlefield towards Shiro. The reversed LRIG, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden maneuver began charging up energy within the palms of her hands and frantically hurling it in the form of several black orbs at Umr.

The black LRIG at first remained motionless as she came towards the oncoming projectiles. Holding out the giant key out in front of her for a few moments, she made one swift motion with the object, slashing past the orbs and causing them to detonate long after she passed them. Before Shiro could gasp in shock, Umr was right in front of the reversed LRIG in an instant, holding the key she wielded above her head. When a few short moments had passed, the black LRIG slashed the front of her opponent with a powerful strike from the object she held before retreating back to Aichi's table. Ulith who had remained unfazed from the result eyed her final Life Cloth, which was another Revive Flare.

Whilst the Selector kept her earlier smile plastered on her lips, Umr had returned to the cardfighter, the aura that was between the keys on her wing structures having faded away when she was back on her bare feet. Over in the tower, everyone in one way or another was surprised from the brief clash that had occurred before them.

"She's quick..." murmured Hitoe.

"I guess Umr is full of surprises," muttered Yuzuki.

"Well, you can't argue about that," Ren mused "I can only wonder what else she has, considering that Aichi had prior knowledge of her."

Neither Kai or Leon said anything in response, but anyone could tell from their hard expressions that they agreed in retrospect with the Shadow Paladin user. They continued to look down on the battlefield to see how things would play out from this moment onwards, especially since Ulith's turn was coming up. Speaking of whom, the cruel demanored Selector had begun giggling under her breath, catching everyone's attention, just as Shiro got back onto her feet. The black ring that was behind the reversed LRIG cracked slightly, but not enough for any fragments to fall off the structure.

"To think you still had this much fight left in you..." Ulith mused whilst she had her eyes closed. "I must say Sendou Aichi, you never cease to amaze me."

"What is she talking about?" Umr asked, glancing up to Aichi.

"I'm not sure..." he murmured in reply. Then before he knew it, he was suddenly clutching his head in pain, screaming as he did so. As the LRIG turned to him in concern, she suddenly looked at her arm. Then she gasped in shock and looked all around her body. It appeared to her and Aichi, by the time he raised his head that she was fading in and out in a constant, but consistant rhythm. The Royal Paladin user groaned as he looked back across the field towards his opponent.

"It seems you've realized it," Ulith spoke.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Hasn't it become obvious to you?" the Selector continued "The only reason Umr has even able to exist in this space is because of your PSY Qualia! Because of how long I've been manipulating it for along with your own efforts to keep her manifested on your side of the field, you've been getting weaker!"

"So then...!"

"Then this must mean... that when you run out of strength..." Umr murmured as she gazed upon her fading right arm. "Then I will vanish from this battlefield..."

"Precisely," replied Ulith "Should an LRIG abruptly vanish from the battlefield for some strange reason, then it is considered an act of surrender for their Selector. In other words, once Aichi runs out of strength to keep you in play..."

"... Then you'll automatically win the battle..." Aichi groaned as the glow of PSY Qualia from within his blue eyes, including the right eye that had turned light blue when Umr had briefly possesed him, intensified. As he breathed heavily, a trickle of sweat briefly dripped down his cheek and dropped onto the table's hard surface, catching said LRIG's attention. She wasn't the only one to notice him suffering from the side effects of his PSY Qualia being activated for so long, having had to use it to bring her into battle so they could win together. Up from the tower, everyone could only stare down at Aichi, concerned about the scenario that he now found himself in.

"What the hell?!" gasped Naoki.

"So let me get this straight..." muttered Yuzuki "If Aichi doesn't keep his PSY Qualia activated, Umr will vanish meaning an automatic victory for Ulith. But if he does keep it active..."

"He'll be straining himself," Kai answered, finishing the LRIG's explanation for her. He glanced down towards Aichi, concerned that he would be able to hold on for as long as he could, let alone last long enough to save Shiro from Ulith's clutches. As the Royal Paladin user eventually got himself back together, he looked down at Umr as she eventually stopped fading, for now at least, before turning his attention back to the Selector in front of him.

"Turn... end..." he panted.

"At this moment," Ulith cut in "Since Lockdown Barrier wears off at this turn's End Phase, its effect also unlocks my SIGNI."

As if right on cue to her explanation, both of the Selector's SIGNI and the Shadow Paladin unit that she had locked earlier immediately became unlocked as the black spheres and the rings surrounding them had faded away. In turn, their cards were also flipped face up on her table.

**End of Turn 10**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Impartiality : Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko**

**SIGNI : Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes - Axe, Large Breaker - God Eater, Ultimate Sword : Energe, Original Spear - Code Anti Cryskull - Skull Witch, Nemain**

**Ener - 6 : 6**

At first, all was silent on the battlefield, with the exception of Aichi's heavy breathing as he struggled to keep on taking the strain of his PSY Qualia, if it meant keeping Umr in the battle long enough for him to defeat Ulith and save Shiro. At last, the cruel demanored Selector had opened her eyes, the unnerving glint from within now having surfaced from her once more. She pursed her lips as she came around to speaking some all too familiar words to all that were present within the battlefield.

"Final Turn."

Whilst Aichi could only silently gasp at the declaration that was spoken out before him and everyone else up in the tower could only stare down in horror, concerned about what was to come, Umr could only stare blankly at Ulith as she drew her cards. Glancing closely at them, she placed them into her hand before holding out one arm. The Code Anti Cryskull that was out on her field vanished as the card moved to her Ener Zone before Kukri, Small Sword appeared in its place in the same center SIGNI space. The Selector sneered as she gazed upon Aichi, who had almost flinched from this.

"It appears that hope has completely deserted you," she spoke "Now then, allow me to end your poor suffering taken from the earlier truth by defeating your new ally. I activate's Shiro's skill twice, Eradication Lock!"

As all four of the black cards from Ulith's Ener Zone moved straight to her Trash Pile, two large black rings materialized in the palms of the reversed LRIG's hands as she raised them above her head and behind before hurling them towards Aichi's table. The rings encircled both God Eater and Palamedes as they cried out loud in pain before sparks raged through the black rings. In an instant, they vanished along with both the SIGNI and the Royal Paladin unit whose cards had moved to Aichi's Trash Pile. As he looked at the cards for a brief moment, he then suddenly cried out loud and clutched his head with his right hand, seemingly in pain just as he was a few moments.

At the same time, Umr suddenly began fading in and out once again as Aichi struggled to keep up the strain of his PSY Qualia remaining activated, groaning as he did so. He brought up his head back into view as the LRIG eventually stopped fading again, but he was still clutching a hold of it to try and keep both his focus and himself steady as he could only wonder what Ulith had planned for him next. Little did he know was that the answer would come his way in precisely four seconds as the Selector suddenly snapped her fingers.

"And Gothic Boundary!" she called "I return Axe to your hand!"

As the last three cards from her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile, the ARTS revealed itself from her LRIG deck and shot out a bright white beam of light that struck Axe, Large Breaker, causing it to vanish from the battlefield. Aichi could only glance down at the cards he held in his left hand as he now saw that Axe's card was amongst them once again. He gritted his teeth, both in pain from the strain of his PSY Qualia and in bitterness from the situation that was now before him. Ulith had practically wiped his field clean, he had no Guard SIGNI present in his hand and she still hadn't declared an attack during this turn. Umr glanced up at the cardfighter, noticing his expression before briefly looking behind her to see Shiro's evil smile as she eyed the black LRIG maliciously.

She was impatiently awaiting Ulith's signal to allow her to finish them off, evidenced by the fact that she was already charging up more energy in the palms of her hands, evidenced by the black sparks that were raging about. Speaking of the Selector, her gaze had not left Aichi for even one moment as she giggled sinisterly under her breath.

"Well, I must say, you did indeed put up a good fight," she mused "But your efforts have come to nought! An attack from Shiro or any of my SIGNI will be enough to finish you and Umr off. This is the end, Sendou Aichi!"

As Umr clutched her giant key tightly, bracing herself for the worst to come, Aichi slowly, but steadily moved his right hand off of his head as he reached out towards his LRIG deck, having had something in mind for this occasion.

"A... ARTS!" he called, still under the strain of his PSY Qualia. "Pinch Defense...! I prevent Shiro and Energe from attacking this turn...!"

As three of the white cards from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile, which turned Black upon entering there, the ARTS revealed itself and shot out two rope like light beams which wrapped around both Energe and Shiro, preventing them from going after Umr. The reversed LRIG shrieked loudly and struggled to no avail, ranting under her breath. Ulith simply huffed, not concerned with the result.

"Now you're just getting desperate," she spoke "I still have two SIGNI left to attack with and you have nothing left to stop me."

Whilst Aichi and Umr could only stare on at her, over in the the tower, everyone's concerns had greatly risen, considering that the Royal Paladin user was still in the worst case scenario. Although he sealed off Shiro and Energe's attacks for the turn, Ulith still had two SIGNI she could attack with and one was just enough to end the battle itself. And who knew what would happen next if that result were to befall Aichi.

"Damn it!" growled Naoki "Just what can Aichi do now?!"

"I... don't know if I can watch..." Hitoe murmured nervously.

"Aichi..." Kai muttered, still greatly concerned for the Royal Paladin user's state and felt bitter for being powerless to do anything.

"My, this certainly is not good," Ren mused as he looked down on the field, before glancing over towards Aichi's table. "But... there is still hope for him."

"Indeed," Leon spoke "It is just a matter of Sendou figuring it out and having enough strength to keep Umr manisfested for just long enough."

Whilst Yuzuki could only look up at the two cardfighters in confusion as to what they actually meant, she then turned her attention back down to the field, praying that Aichi would hang on and be able to save Shiro whilst he still had a chance. Ulith meanwhile had raised her hand high into the air before pointing it right towards Aichi.

"Well then... Have a nice trip into despair!" she called "Nemain attacks Umr!"

As the Shadow Paladin witch held up her crystal skull, with purple sparks surrounding the object, Aichi quickly reached out for one of the cards in his hand.

"I use my Servant D2's Multi Ener effect as a Black card for Umr and use Plume Wall Angel!" he called as he revealed the card.

"What?!"

Before Ulith could exclaim in utter shock as to how or why this was possible, Plume Wall Angel suddenly appeared in a bright flash of light, righ in front of Umr, much to the LRIG's surprise. Alongside the Seeker were two God Eater, Ultimate Swords, two Margals and a single Servant D, more than enough reinforcements that were required to block Nemain's attack due to the strength of the newly formed Quintet Wall. As Nemain gritted her teeth and depowered the crystal skulll that she held by lowering it, the Quintet Wall along with the SIGNI and the Royal Paladin unit vanished as the 5 cards that were called from the top of Aichi's deck were moved to his Ener Zone.

"He blocked it!" Naoki called, now relieved by the outcome.

"But... there's still one more..." Yuzuki pointed out.

Back on the field, Ulith could only grit her teeth in complete annoyance. She had not expected Aichi to last this long against her and now, he was barely hanging on, blocking attack after attack that she was throwing in both his and Umr's way. The Selector quickly regained her composure, albeit only a little.

"My... you really are stubborn..." she mused "No matter. Kukri, final attack!"

As the Level 1 White SIGNI dashed across the battlefield towards Umr who simply held out her key in front of her, preparing for the final clash, Ulith could only sneer in triumph. But that expression only lasted for exactly two seconds as her smile turned to shock and disbelief as she saw Aichi reach out for another card in his hand.

"Quintet Wall!" he called as he revealed another Plume Wall Angel from his hand.

As if on cue, the Royal Paladin user appeared in front of Umr once again, along with the final 3 cards from the cardfighter's deck, revealing Paladmedes and two Axe, Large Breakers. The unit and the two SIGNI joined Plume Wall Angel as a green circle appeared in front of them, just in the nick of time to deflect Kukri's attack as her sword bounced off the barrier with no effect. When the 4 figures vanished from Aichi's table, 3 of their cards entering his Ener Zone, all of the cards in his Trash Pile suddenly flew into the air all at once and rearranged themselves before landing back in the space where his deck formerely was. This came as no surprise to Aichi himself however, having already been familiar with that rule thanks to both Kazuki and Hanayo.

Ulith however could only growl under her breath in both annoyance and complete fury. She had him exactly where she wanted him and thanks to Umr along with some well preserved defence, he had outlasted all of her attacks.

"You are really starting to get under my skin..." she huffed "No one has escaped the truth of the Selector Battles or my 'entertainment' and I'll certainly ensure you won't be the first! Turn end!"

**End of Turn 11**

**Aichi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 2 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Impartiality : Tamayorihime, Sunspot Miko**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Energe, Original Spear - Kukri, Small Sword - Skull Witch, Nemain**

**Ener - 10 : 0**

"He did it!" called Naoki "Aichi survived Ulith's attacks!"

"Thank goodness..." said Hitoe, letting out a breath of relief, as did Yuzuki.

"Well, he was certainly cutting it close," murmured Ren. Neither Kai or Leon said anything in response, but both were in silent agreement in regards to the current scenario at hand. Whilst it was true Aichi had managed to recover thanks to Umr and the cards he had leftover in his hand, he was still at an overwhelming disadvantage. Ulith still had three SIGNI in play, double the number of cards that she had in her hand compared to his and it was safe to assume she still had one or two ARTS at her disposal. If Aichi was still planning to save Shiro from Reverse, he had to do it now.

Speaking of whom, the cardfighter panted for a short moment as the strain of his PSY Qualia had almost got the better of him once again as he drew his cards to begin his turn. Umr who had noticed this turned up to him.

"Aichi... If you plan to win this battle now, you need to do it on this turn," she spoke "I can sense you only have enough strength left to last for not very long."

"I... understand... Umr..." Aichi groaned as he looked over towards the LRIG deck, now knowing exactly what to do. He reached out for the cards present there and looked amongst them. There were only two cards left for him to use in that White backed deck. The first was Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei. She would have been beneficial to have out either now or the previous turn, but he had to use Umr to get around Ulith's Lockdown Barrier meaning that she wouldn't help him now. The other was a White ARTS that was completely new to him called Arc Destruct. He took the ARTS and held it towards him, after placing back Ashlei's card first before going deep into thought, reminiscing about how he obtained this card in the first place.

_**Flashback** _

Shortly after Aichi and Hanayo had left Yuzuki's home in search of Kai earlier in the day, the former LRIG now in possession of the Selector's body, to which Aichi wasn't aware of at the time of this memory, had something on her mind that she had been meaning to tell the cardfighter. Or at least, something that she had been meaning to hand over to him as a reward from their earlier battle. She lightly tapped his shoulder, getting his attention over towards her. Aichi stopped and then turned around, confused as to why she had wanted him to stop for a moment before noticing what was in her right hand. That object was a single card with a white backing.

"This is something I wanted to give you after our battle," she said, handing it over to him "I feel you could use it."

"Arc Destruct?" he murmured, glancing closely at the ARTS.

"I think it's better off with you," Hanayo explained "It's powerful, but it conflicts with the strategy of my own deck."

"I see..." said Aichi as he got out his deck case and slipped the card inside before placing the card back into his jacket pocket. "Thank you very much, Yuzuki-san."

"You're welcome," she replied "Now let's find your friend."

"Yeah," he answered as the two continued onwards through the city streets.

_**Present** _

Aichi kept his eyes closed as the memory that he went back over eventually concluded.

_Thank you Hanayo-san. I won't let your gift to me go to waste._

He then opened his eyes, focused directly on Shiro.

"Shiro!" he called "I promise you, that I will save you from the power that's plaguing you! And that together, I'm sure, we can definitely save Ruko-san! Isn't that what you wanted?!"

"Keh, so you've met the 'destined Selector' herself," Ulith spat "Well, regardless of what you speak of, you won't succeed in defeating me nor will you even be able to 'save' Ruko as you so claim! That is, if she even wanted saving in the first place!"

"What do you mean, Ulith?!" asked Aichi.

"Oh never mind about that," she spoke "All that matters is, your final hope has faded away."

The Royal Paladin user simply closed his eyes as he held the card he picked out of his LRIG deck high into the air as the two Margal cards from his Ener Zone moved over to the now empty Trash Pile. When this occurred, Aichi opened his eyes, his PSY Qualia glowing brighter than ever before, the rainbow coloured aura now covering over his entire body.

"I activate the ARTS, Arc Destruct!"

When the ARTS revealed itself to all, a bright glow surrounded Umr as the lights of several familar figures revealed themselves into the presence of all on the battlefield, friend, foe and spectator alike. Three of these figures revealed themselves to be File, Marron and Alfred who emerged from the bright flashes of light. From the cardfighters observing the battlefield, they would know all too well that these were three of Aichi's all too familiar Royal Paladin units. Umr stared at the three units, somewhat surprised from their presence now being around her.

"I see..." she murmured "You are all of Aichi's past companions..."

"Indeed, strange presence," replied Alfred "Or Umr, as my Vanguard now calls you. I can now see he was correct in trusting in you."

"We'll lend our strength to the two of you," spoke Marron.

"So don't let it go to waste!" called File "For his and Blaster Blade's sakes!"

"... I understand..." said Umr "His burden now shared with mine."

Aichi nodded in agreement before suddenly clutching his head in pain once again, though he was quick to shake off the pain of the strain that was now beginning to take its toll on him. Focusing his attention Ulith, the Selector merely glanced down at the cards in her hand and smirked.

"I am aware of how powerful your last ditch attempt is," she mused "But I'm more than ready for you. So, as the saying goes, give me your best shot!" Her tone had gone sinister at the last part, as if she already knew what was to come. That didn't faze Aichi though as he turned his attention down to Umr.

"Umr, we need to destroy the ring that's behind Shiro," he said "If we do that, not only will we win, we'll free her from the power controlling her!"

"Understood," she replied, taking up a stance to attack, as did the Royal Paladin units that were now beside her.

"Umr, attack Sunspot Miko!" Aichi declared as he held out his arm in a commanding like fashion.

The keys on Umr's wing structures straightened themselves out once again as the purplish energy from before emerged between each key before boosting the LRIG forwards, allowing her to take flight across the battlefield towards Shiro. Due to the aura that now surrounded them, the Royal Paladin units that were called upon by Arc Destruct also took flight, charging across the field alongside Umr to meet their opponent. Ulith however felt that she was more than prepared as she reached out for one of the cards that was in her hand.

"Mac Lir!" she called.

The Shadow Paladin unit suddenly appeared a few inches in front of Umr and the Royal Paladins, arming both of his shields and generating a green circle in front of him. Marron and File looked at one another and nodded before charging ahead of Umr and ramming themselves right into the shield, allowing both her and the King of Knights to pass by the shield.

"Using Arc Destruct's effect," Aichi explained "By Exceeding 2 cards from underneath Umr, she can be upped for another attack."

"I'm already well aware of that," Ulith cut in before she took out another card from her hand and revealed it to the Royal Paladin user. "I Guard once again!"

Another Mac Lir appeared just a few meters away from the Selector's table and just like before, he generated a large green circle to prevent Umr's attack from getting through. As the LRIG could only grit her teeth as she and Alfred advanced closer and closer towards the Shadow Paladin unit, Ulith's expression had gone far more crazed as she began cackling madly, believing that the result had already been decided.

"You put up an admirable effort, but it has all been for nought!" she called "You don't have enough LRIGs stacked underneath Umr's card to initiate the one attack you need to end this battle! Then, when my turn begins, one attack from Shiro will be more than enough to end you!"

"You're wrong about that!" replied Aichi.

"What are... WHAT IS THIS?!"

To her shock, Ulith was seeing another bright white aura surround Umr, much to the LRIG's surprise . It suddenly left her as if it was already taking on a form of its own and to everyone's surprise, with the exception of Aichi, that form was being taken on by an all too familiar figure. Or rather, as the brightness faded out, an all too familiar Swordsman of Light.

"Ahmes?! But that's impossible! The only card that should be left beneath Umr is..." Ulith then suddenly gasped in horror, having now realized what had indeed happened, or least, what she believed could have happened. "DON'T TELL ME!"

"That's right," Aichi answered for her "When I grew Umr over Alfred Exiv through your own Lockdown Barrier on the previous turn, Blaster Blade's card as it was in Legion, also moved into the stack beneath her card. Therefore, I can use him and Alfred to pay Arc Destruct's cost again for one more attack!"

As those words were spoken, Ulith could only look down on the remaining two cards in her hand, frustration now raging through her head. One of them was a Quintet Wall, but because she had used up all of her Ener in clearing Aichi's field the previous turn, she had none left to pay the cost for the effect. As Umr approached Mac Lir's shield, Alfred went out in front of her and raised up his sword before bringing it down on the barrier. He then turned to both the LRIG and Blaster Blade.

"Advance quickly!" he called.

"Understood, your majesty!" replied Blaster Blade as he turned to Umr, who nodded in agreement before the two advanced past the Shadow Paladin unit and began flying up into the air via the auras that surrounded them. As Ulith could only stare up at the two in horror, realizing there was nothing she could do to stop them, they held up their weapons high above their head before diving down towards Shiro, whose expression was exactly the same as the Selector she was trapped to. As Shiro remained frozen in shock, Umr was the first to reach her, landing on her feet and bringing down the key to knock the reversed LRIG backwards and into the air, just in time for Blaster Blade himself to bring down his blade, not upon Shiro herself, but the cracked black ring that was behind.

With a mighty smash, the Blaster Blade itself cut right through the black ring like a knife through hot butter. The object instantly shattered into hundreds and thousands of tiny fragments that landed outside of the LRIG space on Ulith's table. The Swordsman of Light landed on his feet and quickly rushed over to catch Shiro in his arms just before she landed back first on the table's hard surface. Umr quickly rushed to join Blaster Blade and looked upon the LRIG, just in time to see the Reverse aura leaving her, as both the cards that represented her Sunspot Miko form and both copies of Lockdown Barrier from Ulith's Trash Pile suddenly disintergrated with the Reverse aura having left them as well.

Meanwhile on the other side of the field, Aichi panted as he looked on towards Blaster Blade, Umr and Shiro, the strain of his PSY Qualia having at last managed to take its toll on him. He could see that the black LRIG was fading, although this had not come as much as a surprise to both of them. They both knew she would vanish when he would run out of strength, although she had partially anticipated that she would have vanished before the battle would. As Blaster Blade looked over towards her fading form, he offered out one hand towards her as he rested the now unconscious Shiro on the ground between them, gently.

"Both my Vanguard and I owe you a great deal of thanks, Umr," he spoke.

"... Naturally..." the LRIG replied as she held out her fading hand towards his own before the two briefly shook their exchanged hands. She glanced over towards Aichi, now tired out from his ordeal and for the first time since she had seen him, she let out a small, but natural smile. She closed her eyes as she eventually prepared to accept her inevital fate. Meanwhile, Ulith who had been watching the whole ordeal was infuriated. The Selector was almost tempted to thrust a fist towards the group on her table, but knew it was unwise to do so as Blaster Blade was still armed and ready to defend both himself and Shiro. Meanwhile, Aichi breathed slowly as the hard fight was now finally over.

"I... did it..." he panted as he finally felt his strength leave him as he fell face forwards onto the table. When he did, Umr finally disappeared from the battlefield along with any traces of her, including the card that represented her on the LRIG space of Aichi's table. After that had happened, the entire battlefield had gone completely dark, obscuring everything in pitch black.

* * *

**Ruko's School: Rooftop**

When everyone's sense of reality had finally returned to them, the now drained Aichi fell straight to the floor, unconscious as a result of his strength leaving him thanks to his PSY Qualia being kept activated for so long. When he hit the ground, everyone watching stared in both shock and worry. Everyone except for Ulith who was still scowling fiercly under her breath.

"Aichi!" called Kai as he attempted to force himself forwards, only to nearly fall upon forgetting about and partially wincing in pain as a result due his earlier injury. Luckily for him, Naoki managed to catch him again in the nick of time before the Kagero user hit the floor, face first. Whilst both Ren and Leon had turned their attention to Ulith, Hitoe had already ran over to the Royal Paladin user, coming over to his side and holding him up by his right shoulder.

"Are you alright Aichi?!" she asked in concern.

To fuel her worry even more, there was no reply. Then in a few moments, she could feel the cardfighter's gentle breathing which was a bit of reassurance for her and everyone else, but even she knew that he was in quite a state. As did Yuzuki who looked over towards Aichi from her card, also concerned for his current state. Everyone then turned their attention towards Ulith who glared towards the unconscious cardfighter before slipping back into her sinister persona.

"Tsk... To think you would even break out of that depressing truth, this time," she muttered, as if she was speaking directly to him. "But... that will only make your despair much more exhilerating when that truth will eventually come into effect. Remember this well, Sendou Aichi. No matter how hard you fight for your beliefs... you can't save everyone."

This only made everyone else who was conscious tense up, Hitoe especially as she took a brief step forward in front of Aichi as she kept a hold of him on her shoulder, feeling ready to protect him if necessary. That had then caught Ulith's attention as she gazed upon the Selector, her gaze slightly nerving Hitoe a little.

"I never forget a face," she spoke. "Uemura was it? I can sense you've slightly changed since the last time we crossed paths."

"A... Aichi's already been through enough because of you..." Hitoe replied nervously "I won't let you hurt him again."

"And I see you've become quite defiant as well," Ulith said sinisterly before she dug into her pocket. "But of course, I am a Selector of my word. Aichi defeated me, so take her."

She then tossed the card towards the group as Kai quickly snatched it out of the air, revealing it was now Shiro, no longer affected by the Reverse and back to normal. The LRIG was also unconscious, much like Aichi, so he was well aware that it would take some time before she could fully recover. Naoki who had been holding on to the Kagero user could only glare at Ulith, scowling under his breath, he too angered by the earlier torment that she had inflicted upon Aichi with his own PSY Qualia. The Selector simply smirked before turning her back to the group.

"For now, it's farewell," she spoke "I'll see you all again... very soon."

She then took out a card from her pocket and held it towards the ground in front of her.

"Open!"

Then in an instant, a bright flash consumed Ulith, blinding everyone else present on the rooftop as the cruel demanored Selector suddenly vanished from sight. Where she had disappeared off to was a mystery to them and they had a feeling this was one that would figure out for themselves, soon enough.

For now though, everyone looked at each other and eventually felt reassured that the ordeal before them was finally over. Shiro was finally back with them, no longer trapped by the power of Reverse and Kai's Kagero deck was now back in his possession. If there was a phrase one could think of to sum up the events that had befallen them, "All in a night's work" would be the first one to come to mind. Their thoughts were interrupted when they suddenly heard a buzzing noise. Hitoe quickly realized that it was her phone going off and that her parents were concerned about how late she had been out for. Quickly using her free hand that wasn't holding up Aichi, she dug into her pocket and answered the call immediately.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hitoe, thank goodness," the voice on the other line replied. Everyone else in the group who were listening could quickly make out that the voice was female and were quick to assume that this was Hitoe's mother. Needless to say, they were correct.

"Sorry if I made you worry, mother," Hitoe answered.

"Are you still around Ruko's school as you said you were headed for?" the voice asked.

"Yes..." the Selector replied before glancing over towards Aichi who she still held on her right shoulder, still greatly concerned for the cardfighter's state from the battle. "Is father around the city?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because... I'm going to need some help."


	32. Arc 2 - Ride 32: This Reawakening of Hope

**Ruko's School**

After exiting the school building and closing both the main doors along with the front gate, the group advanced forwards onto the pavement in front. They were waiting for Hitoe's father to arrive after her mother had sent him on his way to Ruko's school. As they waited anxiously for his arrival, Hitoe looked over towards Aichi's face as his unconscious form was held on her right shoulder and could only stare in worry. His breathing had become slightly ragged and his face, most notably his forehead had gone red.

"Aichi...?" Hitoe murmured nervously.

"He's burning up..." said Yuzuki "I guess the drawn-out strain of having to keep Umr around in the battle must have did a lot more than just tire him out."

"It's no surprise though," spoke Ren "Overusing PSY Qualia can result in some 'side effects' as I experienced firsthand when I was consumed by that power and... when I was getting used to it."

"It hasn't been the first time Sendou has fallen victim to a concussion post battle because of something like this," muttered Leon "But it appears that the consequences have only been more fatal this time."

The moment the Aqua Force user had finished his sentence, everyone within the group immediately looked to their right as they heard the noise of an oncoming vehicle approaching where they were currently standing. A medium sized car came into view as it came up towards the edge of the pavement before coming straight to a halt in front of everyone. When the engine's noise had died down, the right door at the front opened up, revealing a tall man with black hair and a pair of glasses over his brown eyes. When he turned to face everyone, he immediately noticed Hitoe along with Aichi that she had resting on her shoulder.

"F... Father..." the Selector murmured.

"I'm glad to see you're alright," the father replied as he came over towards her before looking at Aichi for a brief moment. "Your mother told me that you wanted my help for something."

"Y... Yes," she answered, quickly shrugging her shoulder holding up the cardfighter for one or two seconds. "Aichi's fallen ill and I'm worried about him. I want to help, but I don't know if dragging him through the city will make things any worse for him."

Before he did anything else, Hitoe's father glanced over at the rest of the group, curiousity present on his mind as told by his expression. It wasn't stern but it was full of a little bit of bewilderment.

"I was aware my daughter mentioned she made a new friend recently, though this is quite the lot," he spoke "Is any one of you this Kai Toshiki she spoke of?"

"That would be him," Naoki answered by pointing over to Kai who was still held up on his shoulder. The Kagero user nodded in response to the Narukami user's answer, indicating that he was the person that Hitoe had told her father about earlier.

"I suppose we meet at last," he said before noticing the small ink stain at the Kagero user's right side, presumably explaining to him why Naoki was holding him upwards at this point.

"Indeed, Mr. Uemura," replied Kai "I only wish that the circumstances were not as unfortunate as they appear."

Hitoe's father nodded grimly in agreement with the his statement before turning his attention back to Aichi's unconscious state and approached the cardfighter himself. He studied his expression carefully before taking note of both his breathing and the redness present on his forehead. He then turned his attention back to Hitoe as if he already knew what to do.

"... Bring him in quickly," he spoke "We'll take him over to home and help him recover from there."

"R... Right!" the Selector replied as the back door beside her was opened up. As she gently moved Aichi over towards the back seats, her father turned her attention back towards the remaining cardfighters.

"With the way things are," he continued "I won't be able to fit all of you in the car with Aichi and Hitoe at once."

"K... Kai can catch up with us," Hitoe replied, causing him to look towards her with a small hint of confusion. "He escorted me home on the night we first met."

"So I see..." he murmured before glancing back at Kai, who nodded to confirm his suspicions. The father then turned back to his daughter who had already gotten into the back seats of the car with Aichi laid back on the seat that was beside her. "Very well then Hitoe. We'll wait for Kai and these others there. Perhaps you would be kind enough to introduce all of them to your mother when they catch up."

"Yes!" the Selector answered.

"We'll meet you there as soon as we can," said Leon "Be careful."

Hitoe said nothing, but nodded in response to tell him that she understood what he was saying. Although she knew Hitoe's father could not hear her, Yuzuki kept her mouth shut, knowing better to avoid raising any suspicion around both him and her Selector. Glancing up from her card towards Aichi, she could only remain worried as to what could happen if he remained the way he currently was. After closing the doors, Hitoe's father drove the car away from the school and down the street towards their home. When the area was quiet once again, Naoki looked over to Kai who he still held over his left shoulder.

"Lead the way," the Narukami user spoke.

Kai didn't need to be told twice about this, having nodded in agreement with his statement. As the group left the school premises for Hitoe's home, an all too familiar Selector stepped out from the shadows, watching them head off into the distant streets. Ruko glanced over towards Kai and Ren in particular as she watched them vanish into the darkness, also taking note of the conversation that she had been observing.

"So Aichi emerged victorious..." she said to herself, somewhat letting out a breath of air out as she did so.

"You seem relieved, for someone wanting him to face you soon enough."

Ruko then turned her attention towards Iona, whose card she had fished out from her jacket pocket. The LRIG seemed puzzled by this choice of tone and action from her Selector, considering the 'message' that she wanted Ren to pass on over to Aichi once his battle with Ulith was finished.

"Even so, I can't imagine how he was able to overcome Ulith's cruelty on his own," she murmured "Then again, that will make things all the more interesting, when I eventually face the 'third one'."

"The 'third one?" Ruko murmured in confusion.

"All in due time," Iona replied. "For now, I believe you need to steel yourself."

Just as the LRIG had finished speaking, Ruko suddenly found herself cringing in pain for a brief moment as an all too familiar dark red aura surrounded her once more. That was when something would have suddenly felt strange to her, that is, if it had not happened beforehand earlier in the day. The Selector held up her right arm and carefully folded back the sleeves of both her jumper and coat, revealing her bare arm to her sight. Ruko could only grit her teeth a little as she knew this was starting to become a common occurrence. Her arm as she was seeing now almost appeared as if it was being squeezed tighter than she anticipated by a large compression, the fact that some veins were now bolded out had practically given that away. The compression in this case being the power of Reverse that she was still struggling to keep restrained.

_So it's even affecting my body now that I'm struggling to keep it back_ she thought  _But... I won't let this stop me from freeing everyone from the Selector Battles, one way or another. Until I can save everyone... I can't lose!_

* * *

**Uemura Household**

Hitoe's mother waited anxiously in the living room of the Selector's home for the eventual return of her daughter along with her father, wondering what exactly had been going on recently when Hitoe herself said that she needed some help with something. In fact, she couldn't help but remain worried about the Selector in general, unaware of her role in the battles taking place outside the comfort of the house. First after making new friends amongst Ruko and Yuzuki, Hitoe from her perspective had been acting strange, breaking down in pain whenever she attempted to pick up her phone or read through her notes, claiming that they were vanishing from her mind.

Recently after coming as close back to normal as possible, one of her best friends happens to vanish from her home for some strange reason. Then around two nights afterwards, Hitoe began talking about this Kai Toshiki that she had met who was willing to help her find Ruko. Although the mother of Midoriko's former Selector had been slightly skeptical about this at first, the fact that Hitoe herself was appearing to be honest in her findings with Kai so far had a bit of positive impact for her and hope that Ruko would eventually be found, safe and sound. If only she would had known about or could even possibly comprehend everything that was amiss in the outside world.

Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as she heard the front door open up with a slight creaking noise to it. Walking over to the front entrance, she came into the hallway, just in time to see Hitoe with the unconscious and unwell Aichi on her shoulder along with her father enter the house, closing the front door behind him as he did so.

"Hitoe, what's going on?" she asked in confusion before glancing over to the Royal Paladin user. "Is this Kai that you mentioned?"

"N... No," the Selector answered "He's a friend of Kai and right now, he needs help."

"This is Sendou Aichi, as Hitoe has explained to me," the father continued "He seems to be in a concussion for the time being, with a bit of a fever stirring up. We brought him here so we could help him quicker and so Hitoe could introduce us to Kai Toshiki when he arrives."

"I see..." the Selector's mother replied as she briefly looked over Aichi's expression, taking into account of what was present on his face and forehead as well as his breathing. "I'll prepare a wet cloth for his forehead. Hitoe, get him settled on the sofa."

"Right," Hitoe replied as she walked over into the living space, carefully carrying the cardfighter over on her shoulder and glancing over at him as she did so. By the time the Selector had gotten over to the sofa, her mother had already managed to get a wet cloth ready from the nearby sink. After laying Aichi down along the full length of the sofa, Hitoe then took the wet cloth from her mother and gently lay it over his forehead, moving some of his hair to the side in the process. The two of them waited anxiously for a few moments, as did Yuzuki from her card, to see what would happen. Eventually, as the Royal Paladin's breathing had somewhat calmed down as a result, the three of them could only let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," Hitoe murmured.

Eventually, the room fell silent once more as the Selector's mother glanced over Aichi's unconscious state. From his appearance alone to her perspective, he seemed harmless enough to her, otherwise her daughter would not have been so concerned over how he was holding up.

"So how long have you known about this Aichi in particular?" she asked.

"I only just met him today, along with some of Kai's other friends," Hitoe answered "But... Aichi's one of the kindest people I've ever known. Seeing him like this though..."

"I understand," the mother replied, placing a hand over the Selector's shoulder gently for some reassurance. "But for the moment, all we can do is wait and hope that he recovers just fine. That reminds me, you mentioned Kai was on his way over here?"

"Yes," she replied "I'll let him know that Aichi's resting just fine for the moment."

After her mother let out a gentle smile in response, Hitoe picked out her mobile phone from her pocket and immediately called Kai through on his number to let him know that the Royal Paladin user was resting for the moment. Eventually, a short while later after recieving her answer back from the Kagero user himself in their conversation, a knock at the door was heard. Hitoe's father went over and opened it up to see Kai, now no longer being supported on his feet by Naoki who merely stood beside him whilst Leon and Ren were standing behind the two.

"Has there been any change in Aichi's condition?" asked Kai.

"He's remained unconscious for the moment," Hitoe's father answered "But the earlier fever he was picking up seems to be dying down now."

"That's good to hear," Naoki replied "We owe you and Hitoe one there."

"Well then," he spoke "If you would kindly follow me, I believe Hitoe's mother has a lot to discuss about with you."

The group stared at each other for a brief moment before following Hitoe's father inside, one person at a time. Kai briefly cringed in pain for a moment, but pressed on inside. During the trek over to Hitoe's home, he eventually found the strength within to walk by himself once again, with some of the pain from the injury still present, albeit not as much as before though when he struggled from the hospital back to his rented apartment to tell the group of what happened after Akira had attacked him earlier in the day. He held back a hand for a short moment to assure Naoki that he was 'fine' and could keep on going.

* * *

**The White Room**

"Ulith, you dare return empty handed?"

Mayu sat atop her negative hued throne in the center of the White Room, a hint of displeasement now present on her face. She had watched over the conclusion of the earlier battle in which Aichi had emerged victorious thanks to the aid of both Umr and Blaster Blade. Ulith, although angered from losing to the cardfighter due to a small miscalculation in not knowing the full conditions of Legion, was hardly concerned for the result at all. In fact, part of her was still smiling, despite being on the recieving end of the mastermind's fury at this very moment.

"That is no longer of our concern," the Selector replied. "The battle, regardless of what happened, spoke out for itself. Shiro is no longer of any use to us, nor is even a threat any more."

"And what ensures that conclusion?" Mayu asked.

"I felt it myself," Ulith answered "Shiro is no longer at the prime of her true strength, even during the battle. It appears a majority of it was lost due to that 'incident' that Photon generously filled me in on. Even through that setback, I now know about Sendou's strengths and where I can make him crack."

"Even so, we cannot leave another possibility of Sendou coming into contact with Project: Locked Soul once more out of debate," the mastermind spoke "The problem in sealing that 'contact point' within her mind would be solveable if one were to truely understand the mysteries of PSY Qualia themselves."

Upon finishing her sentence, Mayu suddenly paused for a brief moment as a thought had crossed her mind at this very instant. Then she let out a small, but dark laugh underneath her breath. Ulith merely remained unresponsive as it was sounded out over the vast white expanse with the hundreds of windows surrounding them. Mayu got up from her throne and turned around, opening a small vortex in front of her. She then turned around and glanced back to the Selector in her servitude.

"Tell Photon to meet me in his lab and make sure, that he brings 'him' along," she spoke.

"Understood," Ulith replied, briefly bowing as she did so.

Mayu then turned around and left for Photon's lab through the portal that she created, before it sealed up behind her. When the White Room had fallen silent again, if anyone was somehow observing through the windows that surrounded the vast expanse, no one would have noticed a small, but sinister smile creep up across Ulith's twisted expression.

* * *

**Uemura Household**

Back at Hitoe's home, the group of cardfighters, minus Aichi who remained on the sofa unconscious were conversing with Hitoe's parents, mostly explaining about how they came to meet each other and how they were willing to aid the Selector herself in her search for Ruko, all whilst keeping their lips shut about any details linking to the Selector Battles and the LRIGs. A topic that Naoki had almost stumbled into had it not been for Leon interrupting at the last second, much to the Narukami user's inner relief when he eventually realized what he would have said. Hitoe meanwhile had remained in the large chair beside the sofa, looking over at Aichi and her deck which she had laid out on the small table in front of her.

When she was looking at her cards though, her attention was mainly focused on the still LRIG cards representing Yuzuki's new forms in battle. Empowered by Kai's Kagero units towards the end of the battle with Akira, she could see that the Kagero clan name was imprinted beside the LRIG's very own type. Yuzuki herself couldn't help but ponder about all of this though. Ever since the battle had ended, she could still feel a small portion of the power she had possessed for that moment coursing through her veins. Perhaps this was all a result of her now walking under the banner of Kagero, sort of. Both she and her Selector had their trail of thoughts interrupted when they heard a groan come from the sofa beside them.

"He must be waking up," Yuzuki spoke.

Looking over towards it, they could see Aichi slowly trying to open his eyes which also caught the attention of everyone else around the kitchen table who came over to see the Royal Paladin user at once. Eventually, with much effort and a bit of adjustment to the light in the living space, Aichi was awake once again.

"Uh... Where... am I?" he murmured as he gazed around the room, his sight eventually landing on Hitoe. "H... Hitoe-san?"

"Are you alright Aichi?" she asked in concern.

"I... think so," Aichi replied as he tried to sit up. He clutched his head for a brief moment, his right hand now touching the wet cloth on his forehead, much to his confusion. The Royal Paladin user then looked to his left, now seeing Kai, Ren, Naoki and Leon all looking down at him.

"Kai-kun... where are we?" he asked.

"We are currently at Hitoe's home," Kai answered "Her father helped to bring you here."

"You have been in quite the state to be honest," Ren mused.

"Indeed you have," Hitoe's mother spoke as she came over towards the Royal Paladin user, now standing beside her daughter. "I helped to prepare the cloth that's currently on your forehead. It kept down a fever that you were getting whilst you were unconscious."

"So then... you must be her mother," Aichi murmured before he bowed briefly, clasping the wet cloth over his head as he did so. "T... Thank you very much."

"It's the least we could do for a friend of our daughter," Hitoe's father replied as he came into view. "Are you feeling any better?"

"My head feels a bit light..." he replied "But I think I'm alright now."

Hitoe smiled warmly in response to his answer, relieved that the Royal Paladin user was recovering just fine, as did Yuzuki from her own card, who felt a waver of relief wash over her. Her parents looked at one another and smiled in agreement with each other, knowing that Aichi was just as kind and geniune as their daughter had told them so. In regards to their earlier conversation with Kai and the others, that was when the Selector's mother had something on her mind that she wished to speak out about.

"Aichi, from what I've been told," she said "You, Kai and your friends are Wixoss players yourself. I was wondering... if one of you could maybe have a game with Hitoe so we could see how things would play out?"

"I wouldn't mind," Aichi murmured as he attempted to get up from the sofa, only to recieve a hand to his shoulder from Kai in response. Looking up in brief confusion, the Royal Paladin user then turned to Leon.

"Are you certain you have recovered enough to battle again?" the Aqua Force user asked.

"I think so..." Aichi replied as he removed the wet cloth from his forehead, now back to its original colour, and brought out his deck case from his pocket. He watched as Hitoe cleared the table in front before rearranging her deck back together. Everyone present in the living space took a seat each to watch the friendly battle that was about to unfold as the Royal Paladin user and the Selector as the two of them set up the playmat along with their decks, Life Cloths and starting hands. When both Aichi and Hitoe were ready to begin, they reached out for the starting LRIGs they had face down on their sides of the field. Over from her card was, Yuzuki looked up towards her Selector.

"Do your best, Hitoe!" she called.

Hitoe said nothing in response, not wanting to draw any confusion or worse suspicion from her parents watching, but briefly glanced back and smiled in response to the LRIG's encouragement before turning her attention back to Naoki and the card she kept ahold of.

"Open!" they both called.

Respectively, both of them flipped up Advance Party Seeker, File and Yuzuki-Zero, Spark of Perdition. From there, the game between them advanced fairly quickly between the two of them in the opening three turns. Everyone watching from the sidelines were curious as to how the friendly battle between them would unfold, Hitoe's parents in particular as it was the first time for them seeing their daughter participate in a game of Wixoss. Hitoe having already been aware of this fact was somewhat thankful that neither of them would have to experience some of the dangers or horrors that lay within the Selector Battles and that she could play for fun at this very moment, much like with Ruko before she ran away from home because of Reverse.

At the start of the fourth turn, Aichi took two of the three cards he had in his Ener Zone, Defending Seeker, Shiron and Margal and placed them in his Trash Pile before searching through his LRIG deck for the card he was after. Before he took a hold of it though, he briefly looked amongst the other cards, confirming to him that Umr really did vanish at the end of his previous battle with Ulith. He then placed back the remaining cards as he held the one he picked high above him.

"Stand up, my avatar!" he called "Grow! Blaster Blade!"

On the battlefield that both Aichi and Hitoe had imaged out before them, Marron vanished in a bright white flash before Blaster Blade himself then appeared in his place, holding the weapon out in front at arm's length. In front of him for the moment was Honest Seeker, Cynric who smiled in approval to the Swordsman of Light's arrival before to the units' left and right, appeared Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Seeker, Loving Healer. The three units in front of Blaster Blade charged out towards Yuzuki as well as both the Dragon Dancer, Barbara, Genjo and Kannya, Phantom Dragon that were on the field.

Both Gallatin and Loving Healer quicklyoverpowered their opponents, banishing them from the field before Cynric shot out several light beams that struck Yuzuki who tried desperately in vain to shield her face from the impact with the cannon hovering over her right arm. Then when she got back her line of sight, the LRIG looked forwards just in time to see Blaster Blade charging towards her. The Swordsman of Light leaped into the air, preparing to bring down the blade upon her before Wyvern Guard, Barri suddenly appeared in front, blocking his attack in the process. Landing on his feet and gazing at Yuzuki, he made a quick retreat back to his side of the field.

Back to reality, Hitoe placed Barri's card into her Trash Pile before glancing down at the field. Thanks to Aichi's move just now, she had no SIGNI present, but her Ener Zone was now brought up to 4 cards thanks to the Servant D's Life Burst she triggered from Cynric's direct hit. For the moment, the Royal Paladin user had taken the lead by just one Life Cloth and he appeared to have the advantage for the moment. The cardfighters, Kai included, said nothing for the moment as they kept a close eye on the two of them, as did Hitoe's parents.

"That ends my turn," Aichi spoke.

"R... Right," Hitoe replied as she upped Yuzuki's card before drawing two from the deck. Looking amongst the cards in her hand, she placed in face down on the table outside of the playmat as she moved both Servant D and Kannya's cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile. Searching through her LRIG deck, she picked out the card she needed before looking towards Aichi.

_I really do thank you for giving me the confidence I needed to get back Kai's deck from Akira_ she thought  _I'm not sure if I can get as serious as you and the others, but I'll do my best!_

The Selector held up the card she picked high into the air, much like Aichi in how he grew Blaster Blade on the previous turn.

"Stand up... my...!" For some reason though, she suddenly froze up, earning a multitude of confused looks from most of the people watching the battle. These mainly came from Yuzuki herself, Aichi and everyone else watching, with the exception of Kai and Leon who said nothing in response.

"Is something wrong, Hitoe-san?" the Royal Paladin user asked, blinking for a brief moment.

"N... Nothing!" she replied "C... Can I try that again?"

Aichi gave a single nod, a little unsure as to why exactly though. Taking a deep breath, Hitoe held out the card she was already holding in the air once again.

"St... No... Ignite, my avatar!" she called as she placed down the card over on top Yuzuki's new Level 2 form. "Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition!"

On the imagined battlefield, a blaze of fire surrounded Yuzuki as the organic black wings on her back grew even larger and the cannons that were hovering either side of her were now a gleaming gunmetal grey with a hint of gold near the mouth of the barrels. Back to reality, Aichi looked down upon Yuzuki-Three's card, remembering that it was far different than it appeared in Hitoe's previous friendly battle with Ren back at the library, much like the other forms he had seen her use so far. What had surprised him the most was not the change in appearance, but the Kagero clan name being beside Yuzuki's LRIG type. He pondered for a brief moment, wondering if Hitoe's battle with Akira had caused this change somehow, he himself having not been present when it concluded.

"W... Was that alright?" Hitoe asked, interrupting his trail of thought.

"Yes," he said, smiling a little nervously. He saw that the attempt had came off as somewhat forced in his opinion, but the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally offend his friend for a 'valiant' effort.

"T... Then I'll use Swift Advance to Superior Grow!" she continued "S... Soar higher, my avatar! Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition!"

After placing the card down on top of Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition, Hitoe also placed down Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess and Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess to the left and right SIGNI spaces along with Tokage, Phantom Dragon in the center. Back on the imaged battlefield, as the three Dragon Beast SIGNI appeared in front of Yuzuki, now with much larger wings and cannons along with what appeared to be dragon hide covering over where the bandages covering the lower halves of her arms and legs. Tokage glowed a bright red as she powered up from the presence of both Dragon Princesses being alongside her.

**Tokage, Phantom Dragon: 1000 - 9000**

"My SIGNI attack!" Hitoe called "With Orochi's ability, I send the only card in your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile!"

Aichi moved Palamedes' card who was already in the Ener Zone from an Ener Charge on Hitoe's first turn of the battle. Then, he moved all of his defeated units over to his Ener Zone.

"Yuzuki attacks!"

Aichi did nothing as he imaged everything happening in front of him. On the battlefield, Yuzuki took flight with her large black wings and charged up the energy for her attack in the barrels of the cannons either side of her. The LRIG pointed them directly at Blaster Blade who could only brace himself as she launched the energy in two fiery streams, right at the Royal Paladin unit. The Swordsman of Light cried out loud in pain as he was scorched by the flames before they eventually withered away as Yuzuki landed back on the ground. Back in reality, Aichi's next Life Cloth revealed Axe, Large Breaker, a Life Burst coming into his favour. He searched through his deck for God Eater, Ultimate Sword and placed it into his hand.

"T... Turn end," Hitoe spoke.

**End of Turn 5**

**Aichi vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 7 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess - Tokage, Phantom Dragon - Orochi, Phantom Dragon Princess**

**Ener - 4 : 1**

"My. I see that our daughter is doing rather good," Hitoe's mother murmured.

"Well, her experience around Ruko before she went missing does add up a bit," the father replied.

As Aichi began the start of his turn, he looked forward to see Hitoe glancing down at her cards before suddenly turning her attention back to him, as if she had something on her mind.

"Um... I'm sorry about earlier..." she murmured.

"About what?" asked Aichi.

"It's just... I know how strong you are from Kai," Hitoe explained "So I tried to sound a bit more... serious. With the 'avatar' thing though." Her cheeks flushed a bright pink for a brief moment when she recalled that moment earlier in the previous turn.

"Don't worry about it," Naoki replied "I kinda did the same thing when I first battled Aichi."

"There's nothing wrong with that," the Royal Paladin user spoke, smiling warmly to reassure her. "Just go with what feels natural to you."

"... Right," she said, her face having now reverted back to its normal colour. "Carry on."

Aichi nodded in compliance and moved two of the cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.

"Enter the fray, King of all Knights!" he called "Grow, Light Source Seeker, Alfred Exiv!"

On the imagined field, Blaster Blade vanished in a bright white glow as the King of Knights himself appeared before Yuzuki and all of Hitoe's Dragon Beast SIGNI, pointing out his sword as he did so. Then in front of him and to his right appeared Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes and Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn. Tranquil Unicorn's horn set off two bright beams of light between Alfred and Palamedes, powering up the Royal Paladin unit that was to the right of the King of Knights as he leaped up into the air.

**Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes: 8000 - 13000**

"Seek mate!"

Upon the declaration, a bright column of gold yellow energy appeared beside Alfred as an all too familiar figure began to manifest beside him.

"Stand up once more, my avatar! Blaster Blade!" Aichi's voice called "Legion!"

With that, Blaster Blade appeared beside the King of Knights as they firmly landed on their feet, the Legion symbol briefly flashing in front of them as this happened. When the glow had died down, God Eater, Ultimate Sword appeared to the pair's left before both she and Palamedes charged forwards towards their respective opponents in front of them. Whilst the Swordsman of the Explosive Flames briefly powered up again, he quickly made short work of banishing Orochi from Hitoe's field, the Level 4 White SIGNI approached Mušḫuššu, quickly overpowering the Dragon Beast SIGNI, causing Tokage to lose all the power she gained the previous turn. After Tranquil Unicorn made quick work of the only remaining SIGNI, back to reality, Aichi turned his attention to Blaster Blade and Alfred.

"Bring hope to the battlefield and lead the way!" he called "Legion attack! With Alfred's skill, he gains Double Crush for this turn!"

"N... No guard!" Hitoe replied.

Back in the imaged field, Alfred and Blaster Blade charged forwards towards Yuzuki who held her cannons out in front of her, only for the King of Knights to slash them to the side, giving the Swordsman of Light an opening available for him to strike. He slashed down the front of the LRIG, knocking her backwards a few steps before she recovered back onto her feet with the aid of her wings. Meanwhile, Hitoe flipped up the two crushed Life Cloths she had as a surprised look came across almost everyone from watching. The cards revealed were both Gatling Claw Dragon and Wyvern Guard, Barri.

"A... A double Life Burst?!" Naoki gasped in disbelief.

"I'm assuming that's a good thing for Hitoe, right?" the Selector's mother asked out of curiousity.

"It would appear so," Ren spoke "The ones she triggered has allowed her to increase both her hand and Ener by a small margin. Then again, who knows if they will contribute to a victory?"

Everyone else in the room remained silent as they turned their gaze back onto the battle before them.

"Turn end," Aichi spoke.

**End of Turn 6**

**Aichi vs Hitoe**

**Hand - 6 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Light Source Seeker, Alfred (Legioned with Blaster Blade) : Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition**

**SIGNI : God Eater, Ultimate Sword - Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn - Swordsman of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 7**

Hitoe breathed in a little as she began the start of her turn. Looking amongst the cards in her hand, she made a decision before taking another copy of Dragon Dancer, Barbara in her hand and placing it in her Ener Zone.

"F... First, I'll use Salvage to add Orochi back to my hand," she spoke, revealing the ARTS from her LRIG deck and taking Orochi's card from amongst the cards in her Trash Pile and putting it back into her hand.

"Then I'll summon her and use her ability to banish God Eater!"

After the Selector had paid the cost for the Dragon Beast SIGNI's ability, Aichi took God Eater's card and moved it to his Ener Zone as a result of it being banished. When he looked back at Hitoe, he could see that for the moment, there was no longer a hint of any nervousness beneath her expression as there usually was. He was beginning to wonder if her earlier battle with Akira had indeed had a bit of an impact for her.

"Limit Break!" she called "I crush a Life Cloth and negate any Life Burst it has!"

Aichi's eyes widened in surprise. He knew a lot about Yuzuki had changed since their friendly battle had begun, but a Limit Break of all abilities was the last thing that he was expecting to appear before him. Hitoe revealed two Dual Axe Archdragons from her hand before dropping them into her Trash Pile along with another 3 cards from her Ener Zone. On the imagined field, Yuzuki gathered up the energy in her cannons before pointing them at Blaster Blade and Alfred and unleashing a torrent of flames at the two units, engulfing them into both a massive explosion and a raging inferno. As Aichi flipped up the crushed Life Cloth, he could only groan upon seeing that it was Margal. Without the Life Burst, he could not increase his hand as a result.

"Amazing..." he muttered under his breath "Just how strong did Hitoe get from her battle with Akira?"

Upon realizing it, he was immediately thankful that Hitoe's parents had not overheard what he had just said, at the risk of raising any suspicion of her involvement in the Selector Battles. Turning his attention back to the field, he saw the Selector summon another Kannya along with Gatling Claw Dragon.

"M... My SIGNI will attack!" she called.

On the imaged field, Orochi and Gatling Claw charged across towards their respective opponents. Palamedes and Tranquil Unicorn did the best they could to fend them off, but their efforts were in vain as they were quickly overpowered by the two dragons. When they retreated, Alfred and Blaster Blade looked forwards just in time to see both Kannya and Yuzuki taking flight towards them. The Dragon Beast SIGNI landed a kick to the King of Knights, knocking him backwards whilst the Swordsman of Light braced himself for the oncoming LRIG. A bright flash appeared in between them as Defending Seeker, Shiron emerged with a green circle in front of him, blocking Yuzuki's attack. Aichi moved Shiron's card to his Trash Pile as he looked back over at Hitoe.

"That was amazing," he spoke, a warm smile present on his expression. "I had no idea that Yuzuki managed to get that strong recently. This is really... fun."

"W... Well, I mainly have you to thank for that," the Selector answered, blushing a little as she did so. "But... now that you mention fun though..."

"Don't worry," Aichi replied "We're not giving up on Ruko-san."

"... Thank you," said Hitoe.

"I see now that these boys are good friends for Hitoe to have around," the Selector's mother spoke "They really do look out for her."

"Indeed," the father replied "The fact they would go as far as to help her in searching for Ruko does confirm this."

Whilst the two were conversing with each other, Kai briefly turned his attention away from the battle and took out Shiro's LRIG card from his jacket pocket. He could see that the LRIG was now sleeping peacefully amongst the space around in her card. He kept a gaze upon her before turning his attention back towards Aichi and Hitoe, with several thoughts now on his mind, thinking back to the battle he had with Ruko.

_From what I can understand, in order to save Ruko from Reverse_ he thought  _I need to not just restore her faith in the friends around her, but I also need to rebuild her trust with Shiro. Only then, could she possibly listen to reason. If that's the case, then this is what I must do._

He then took out the deck that Ruko had passed on to Ren, which he had passed on to the Kagero user, fanning out all of the cards that were present.

_Even now, Ruko's original deck alone will not be enough to accomplish that. But even so, I will advance forward._

* * *

**Fumio's Apartment**

_**Around an hour or more later...** _

After her LRIG Anne had fallen asleep on the card that was present on her desk, Fumio had turned down all the lights that were around her home, seemingly ready to tuck in for the night. However, a closer glance at her pained expression could tell that she was not quite ready to call it a night just yet. She turned her attention towards the farthest left draw in her desk and carefully opened it up. Inside was a pile of cards, seemingly compiled into a full deck that was compatible for the Wixoss card game. As she picked them up, a familiar dark red aura covered over the deck as she turned it around for her to view the top card.

"How long do I have... before it must begin?" she asked, seemingly to no one in particular.

"My higher ups will notify me when the time will come," a deep voice sounded out, the same one that the Selector conversed with since the night that Leon had arrived in her apartment. "For now, you know what to do."

"Indeed, for the sake of myself, Anne, and 'her'," Fumio replied "I will carry out your orders... Schwarzschild."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! Apologies for the wait, but I hope you have enjoyed these next few chapters of Stand Up, the LRIG! and are looking forward for more! We conclude today's import with the conclusion to Aichi and Ulith's battle and a hint to one of the tags that show up after the character ones. Next time, in addition to the next chapter, as a special treat, all six parts of the coming battle with Ruko will be included in the next batch as well! Until then!


	33. Arc 2 - Ride 33: This Advance is Resolute

**City Streets**

Later into the night, Kai, Aichi, Naoki, Leon and Ren had all bid farewell to Hitoe and her family before setting off for the apartment they were staying in. Before they did so, they asked if they could borrow the novels that Fumio had published, to which the Selector was kind enough to allow them to do so. As the five cardfighters walked through the mostly empty and dark streets in the dead of the night, each were preoccupied with their own thoughts on what the day had brought for each of them. Naoki constantly glanced all around the areas they passed by, leading the others to instantly assume that he was keeping a sharp eye out for Akira in the event that she would be planning another attack. When several minutes had passed by however, it took some reassurance from Kai that he thought that even the Selector would be wise enough to not be planning to strike again at this very moment, especially given the defeat that Hitoe had handed to her.

That in turn had also got Aichi a little surprised from learning of this, but he was otherwise glad and relieved from the overall outcome of the battle he 'allowed' her to partake in. Then again, it shouldn't have really come across as much of a surprise, since he now saw the Kagero LRIG type on the cards that depicted Yuzuki's new forms in his previous battle with Hitoe. Eventually, after a long while, the group eventually arrived back at the apartment blocks and made the long climb up the stairs to the floor where Kai's apartment was. Naoki didn't tire himself out as much during the long climb this time, now that he didn't have anything on his back to carry upwards. After entering through the door, the cardfighters quickly treated themselves to something to eat before getting ready to turn in for the night, with nothing else on their minds for the moment. Well, almost nothing else.

"That reminds me," Ren spoke "Ruko wanted me to pass on a message to Aichi."

"A message?" Aichi murmured.

"That's right," he replied before heading over to the window, motioning for the Royal Paladin user to join him. As Aichi walked over to where the Shadow Paladin user was, he in turn pointed out towards an all too familiar building in the distance. When Kai joined the two of them, he could only glance intensely in the direction that Ren was pointing in towards said building.

"The place where Ruko and I battled previously," he muttered "And the place where she had her final confrontation, with Urazoe Iona herself."

"Now it makes perfect sense," Ren mused, shrugging for a short moment, though a closer glance at his expression would tell that there was a bit more intrigue than he was appearing to let on. "She said for Aichi to meet her there, when he was ready."

"I see..." Aichi murmured as he looked on into the distance, wondering what was happening with the Selector herself and silently praying that Reverse had not taken her over already.

"Well then," Naoki spoke "I guess we should all be getting some shut eye by now."

"Indeed," Leon replied "This second night in this world for some of us has proven to be rather eventful."

The others nodded in agreement as the lights in the apartment were all switched off, leaving the rooms dark as a result with only the moonlight from outside providing any foresight for inside. After Kai left Tama's card over on the single table, he went into the single bedroom that he was staying in. Aichi, Naoki, Ren and Leon all tucked themselves into their respective futons and settled themselves down to sleep.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Meanwhile in the domain of Mayu, outside of her White Room, the Cyberoids that were monitoring the progress of Project: Locked Soul continued on with their task as the mastermind herself gazed at the giant concealed cylinder within the center of the room as she stood on top of the podium housed at the edge of the lab. She had felt as if there was more to the current situation involving the project than first glance was showing her and Photon and the confirmation of PSY Qualia being somehow involved, later revealed to have been Aichi's no less as evidenced from his previous battle with Ulith, some of which was because of the Selector's own doing. Her trail of thoughts were interrupted as the doors behind her opened up, as Photon and a footsoldier that went under the name Radon, entered the lab with Tatsunagi Takuto. His wrists were held out in front, shackled by a small black ring that was binding them together.

With a hard shove from the Unrivaled Star-vader, Takuto was pushed forward into the vicinity of the mastermind as he glanced up towards her, a hint of discomfort and uncertainty present on his expression.

"Tatsunagi Takuto," Mayu spoke "Your untimely appearance in the midst of the Selector Battles has certainly made things more... interesting."

"Mayu, was it?" the Cray being asked.

"That is correct," she replied as she approached him. At this moment, Photon held up a hand to Radon, prompting it to return to its current duty in patrolling the outer perimeter of the long corridor that led to the lab. The same long corridor that Midoriko had previously tried to traverse once before being captured and blasted by the Unrivaled Star-vader's beam rifle. After all of that had happened, Mayu had sent the LRIG off to her new Selector with nothing more after that event had happened. Of course, that wasn't to say that Hitoe's former LRIG was the first to stumble across what was really going on behind the scenes. Radon saluted for a brief moment before exiting the lab through the doors behind it as Photon walked over to join Mayu and their prisoner.

"What is the reason behind your actions?!" Takuto demanded "What meaning is there to toying with the wishes of others to make them suffer?! Even so, why would you go as far as consulting the Void and the Star-vaders to aid you in your plans?!"

At first, the lab remained silent, aside from the various noises that went about from the equipment that the other Cyberoids were using, as if Mayu appeared to have somehow remained unresponsive. Then, she stepped forward towards Takuto, her earlier gaze having now become a very sharp glare.

"For vengeance," she spoke "On the outside world. And all worlds that are beyond that one."

"Vengeance?" the Cray being murmured.

"Indeed Tatsunagi," Mayu replied "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, I am sure you are assuming as to why I had Photon bring you here?"

Takuto said nothing in response, but glared back at Photon, the Cyberoid of whom had already managed to figure that out on his own.

"We require your extensive knowledge of PSY Qualia, to complete Project: Locked Soul," he spoke.

"And if I refuse?" the Cray being replied in a questioning tone, feeling that there was more to this than the Star-vader and the mastermind of the Selector Battles were letting on.

"Then I shall have no choice, but to expand my domain of the Selector Battles across the junctures of space and time," Mayu spoke "Much sooner than I intend."

"You would go as far as reimagining the Selector system entirely in order to involve both the Planet Cray and the cardfighters of Earth in my dimension?!" he gasped.

"That's correct," she replied "Given your powerless state at the moment, retaliation is out of the question. So tell me Tatsunagi Takuto, what shall it be?"

Takuto could only clench his teeth at the offer that Mayu had proposed before him. He knew that although Link Joker had eventually been accepted as a clan from the Planet Cray itself upon the shattering of the Seed, there were still those that had chosen to remain sided with the Void, the Star-vaders that Photon had not left stranded on the surface being a prime example. He also knew that from what little knowledge he had of Mayu himself and having viewed several of the battles from where she had kept him imprisoned, that there was no telling what she would do if he were to refuse. Reluctantly, he looked back at her, a decision now having come to his mind.

"All right then," he sighed "I will complete Project: Locked Soul if it means you will not involve my dimension in the Selector Battles. But I have the feeling you already knew that."

Mayu said nothing in response before turning her back to the Cray being, who was then immediately escorted down to the lower level of the lab by Photon who had one of his twin swords pointed right towards his back.

 _Now I must turn my attention to dealing with Sendou_  she thought  _I suspect he must be after Ruko and 'the girl of black' now that he's learned nearly everything about her from Kai Toshiki. When they do find her... my instrument of destruction will be beyond their reach._

* * *

**Kai's Rented Apartment**

When dawn broke, Kai eventually opened up his eyes through what little sunlight there was seeping through the curtains that were in front of the bedroom window. Glancing over towards the clock that was beside his bed, he could only sigh a little. The time was reading as 6:55 am, 5 minutes earlier than the wakeup time that he was normally used to, regardless of whatever location, or world for that matter, that he was in. Deciding that it was not worth settling back down just to get up again immediately afterwards in a sense, he rose up from the bed and walked towards the door, slowly opening it up in an attempt to not wake anyone up. When he did though, he turned towards the window to see Aichi had also woken up early and was staring out into the distance.

"So you couldn't sleep either?" the Kagero user spoke, quietly enough to not wake everyone else who remained asleep in their futons on the floor.

Aichi almost jumped, having not expected Kai to have woken up early in the morning, much like he did, albeit a few minutes earlier. He turned around to face him as the Kagero user joined him by the windowsill.

"I... I've had a bit of difficultly," Aichi spoke nervously. "I'm thinking about a few things."

"It's about Ruko, isn't it?" Kai asked.

"Y... Yeah," he answered "Aside from that... I can't get out of my head... about what Ulith said."

Kai at this point could only grimace. It appeared that although Aichi had managed to defeat Ulith successfully to save Shiro from Reverse, the effects from her psychological torture through the Royal Paladin user's own PSY Qualia however had proven to have left a lasting impression on him. Although Kai was grateful that he had managed to pull through in the end, with aid from Umr that was, the fact that this was the case was proving to sound most troubling. That was when Aichi looked up towards the Kagero user, feeling he had something to get off his mind.

"Um... Kai-kun," he spoke "... Out of the Selector Battles you were involved with... did anyone have their wish tainted?"

"From my recollection, just one directly," Kai answered "It was one from a group of many fangirls that Akira had sent in an attempt to remove me from the Selector Battles. They were my last opponents before I faced Ruko herself."

"I see..." Aichi murmured "It's just... I can't help but worry if... we could only end up hurting Ruko-san."

"From what little knowledge I know from Yuzuki," he replied "Until her last battle alongside Shiro, Ruko has remained undefeated in Selector Battles. If Reverse has been plaguing her since that confrontation, that may still be the case."

Both remained silent at this point, each engrossed within their own thoughts to the scenario. Aichi remembered full well of Kai's explanation in that his attempt to make Ruko see that holding on to that power, even if for the moment if she was restraining it, was making things worse for herself had gone disasterously wrong from Reverse briefly taking control of him and it was only through Shiro's words that he snapped out of it just in time. Thinking back over what he was told, he suddenly realized that something didn't quite add up. He didn't quite get the chance to think about it immediately when he heard a loud yawn come from behind them. The two of them turned around to see Ren waking up as he slowly rose up from his futon, followed by Leon and Naoki.

"Oh... Are we interrupting anything?" the Shadow Paladin mused, yawning midway through his speech. Another noise suddenly rang through the room as Kai walked over towards the table, picking up Shiro's card as he did so. He looked at it, seeing the LRIG stirring up from her long rest.

"Uh..." she murmured drowsily before rubbing her eyes open to see the Kagero user once more. "... Kai!"

"Are you alright, Shiro?" he asked.

"... Shiro feels... strange..." the LRIG murmured "But... Shiro is alright."

"That's good," Kai replied "You may still require time to readjust from being brought out of Reverse."

Aichi could only smile warmly that Shiro had managed to recover just fine, relieved that his efforts in his previous battle against Ulith had not gone to waste. Thinking over for a moment, he suddenly remembered what he wanted to talk to Kai about before Ren and the others had woken up.

"Kai-kun... there's something I want to ask," he said.

"What is it?" the Kagero user asked.

"... Were you really defeated by Ruko-san?"

Everyone else in the room turned their heads towards Kai who remained still as Shiro looked up to him in concern, having known the real result of the previous battle between both him and Ruko herself.

"The battle abruptly ended by a strange energy pulse, right before I was defeated," he answered.

"Hang on..." muttered Naoki "But doesn't that mean... Ruko never beat you in the first place?"

"Not quite, but that would have been the case if Iona's final attack had connected," Kai replied "And unlike her previous confrontation with Ren, as I have told you before, the LRIG had the full power of Reverse coursing through her."

"Did that energy happen to be pure white?" Leon asked.

"Shiro says yes!" Shiro called "Shiro remembers white energy breaking apart the battlefield!"

"Then that means... our journey here ended up saving you from being Reversed again!" Aichi gasped, now having realized what had happened on that night.

"So that was the cause," the Kagero user murmured.

The entire room fell silent, now that the entire truth about Kai's previous confrontation with Ruko had been spilled out to the group of cardfighters. The Kagero user himself could only look down at Shiro's card, the LRIG having been concerned about the tension that had been rising up in the apartment. As everyone was deep into their own thoughts, Naoki suddenly remembered that there was something else they had to deal with first.

"That reminds me," he spoke "Weren't we going to look into those novels that Hitoe let us borrow?"

"That's right," Aichi replied as the others nodded in agreement, bringing the two novels they had onto the table.

As already noted on the covers, both novels were indeed written by Futase Fumio herself, the Selector that both Kai and Leon had encountered on seperate occasions of their own. Beginning with the first book, the group read through the compendium of pages, keeping an eye out for anything that could act as potential leads into the Selector Battles that were going on outside of the apartment blocks. When an hour or so had passed into going through the whole novel, the only pieces of information they could dig out from the pages was information that they already knew. The story in general had covered over a Selector who had lost twice only to eventually rise up and defeat her rival, eventually becoming an LRIG herself to continue fighting.

Things were seemingly bleak from their efforts before they began looking through the second novel, titled The Wings of Lamentation Encase the Dream of The Ruined Country. When the group did so however, this when new details had begun to come to light. The first of which depicted the appearance of 'Cocoon, the Dark Lord of Atonement'. With what little Aichi, Kai and others already knew from Yuzuki and Ruko to some extent, they quickly assumed that this 'Dark Lord' must have been the novel's representation of Mayu, the mastermind of the Selector Battles and the 'White Garden' that was mentioned, had to have been the White Room in which Takuto was imprisoned in.

Upon the hearing the mention of the Cray being from Leon, Kai was shocked to find that it was him of all people that had brought him into this world, even if it was unintentional. As the group continued to read the second novel up towards its climax in search for anymore clues, they couldn't find anything new within the rest of the book, until they reached the very last page. One which dropped down a single quote.

" _The girl of white and the girl of black... one the instrument of destruction... the other the instrument of rebirth_ _. From what I know, when these two powers align with that of the destructive nature of Cocoon's forces will everything change."_

"The girl of white... and the girl of black?" Ren murmured, pondering as to what the description could refer to. Something clicked in Aichi's head as he remembered something familiar about that namesake.

"Ulith called Shiro the girl of white during our battle!" he gasped.

"Then, could she be the same person decribed in the novel?" Naoki pondered.

"Perhaps," Leon replied "Everything we've learned from these novels indicate that Fumio knows more than in depth about the Selector Battles than we realize. The fact that she may already know much about Mayu and that White Room somehow confirms this."

"Girl... of white..."

Shiro mumbled those words out loud, as if she had somehow known about this beforehand. She suddenly clutched her head in pain as another image suddenly flashed before her eyes. It was brief, but it somehow made sense to the LRIG. Kai immediately noticed her sudden reaction and glanced down at her whilst Aichi walked over towards the Kagero user, looking down at the card.

"Are you alright, Shiro-san?" he asked.

"S... Shiro definitely remembers... being called that before..." she answered "By 'The Clown'..."

"Can you recollect anything else?" Kai asked.

Shiro shook her head, confirming the Kagero user's expected suspicions on the subject. It appeared that although the LRIG was starting to remember things about herself prior to meeting Ruko for the first time, there were still a lot of areas that remained blank within her memories. The circumstances as to why remained a complete mystery to both her and everyone else in the room, each having their own thoughts on the subject.

"Well then, what should we do about all of this?" Naoki murmured.

"I understand that we need answers from Fumio," said Aichi "But I think our main worry right now should be on saving Ruko-san from Reverse before anything bad happens to her and anyone else near her."

"I agree," replied Kai "Right now, there's no telling how long she can keep that power at bay for with whatever willpower she has left."

"Kai..."

The Kagero user turned his attention down towards Shiro, who had spoken out before looking up at him from the card that she was imprisoned in. She had a hint of worry and nervousness present on her expression as she glanced up at the Kagero user.

"C... Can Shiro be called Tama again?" the LRIG asked.

"But... isn't Shiro your real name?" Aichi murmured.

"S... Shiro wants to be remembered that way..." she said nervously "So... if it's alright..."

At first, the room remained silent as no one responded to Shiro's request, everyone with the exception of Kai being curious as to why the girl of white wanted to be called by the name given to her by her former Selector, the same Selector she now wanted to rebuild her trust with and save from the same power that had previously infected the LRIG herself. Eventually, when a few more moments had passed over, the Kagero user looked back down at the LRIG within the card in his hand, a serious glint now present in his green eyes.

"Then I only have one request," he spoke "Tama, will you fight beside me to save Ruko?"

At this point, Tama's eyes had for the first time since the previous night, gone back to their normal happy expression. Aichi could tell from her smile that she was overjoyed to hear exactly what Kai had to ask of her. The Royal Paladin user couldn't help but feel happy for the LRIG, glad that she had managed to recover from everything that had happened the previous night.

"Tama will help Kai!" Tama called "Tama will battle with Kai!"

The Kagero user nodded in agreement with the LRIG's answer, smiling briefly as he did so.

"Then it is decided."

* * *

**City Streets**

_**A few minutes later...** _

After discussing the course of action they needed to take, the decision was made amongst the group of cardfighters that before anyone could consider confronting Ruko at this point in time, there were still some things that had to be dealt with first. Kai had already left for Card Luck to see if he could further modify the deck that the Selector had passed on to Ren, who in turn passed it over to him, Aichi and Naoki went off together to return the novels they borrowed back to Hitoe and bring her and Yuzuki up to date with everything happening at the moment whilst the Shadow Paladin user went with Leon to 'attend to something' as he had put it.

Truth be told, he knew that it was something to do with his previous battle with Ruko and as he expected, the Aqua Force user had already figured out the basic premise of this. When the two eventually came across a pair of Selectors that were already engaged in a battle of their own, evidenced by their sleeping like states, Ren held out Blaster Dark's card towards them as did Leon with Trans-core Dragon's card.

"Open!" they both called. Two bright flashes erupted from their cards, bringing them to the battlefield that was present.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When the two eventually regained consciousness, they found themselves within the top of the tower that stood in the center and the far distance of the Selector Battlefield. They walked over towards the windowsill, briefly looking down at the battle that was already in progress out of partial interest. From what they could see though was that the battle seemed to be between both a red and a green user. When a minute or so had eventually passed, that was when Leon felt the need to question Ren over his idea of entering the field.

"What is your reason for coming here exactly?" he asked "You said that you needed to attend to something."

"Of course," the Shadow Paladin user replied in a cheery tone "You remember Kai said that he was able to summon Dragonic Overlord whilst he was observing a battle with Tama?"

"Indeed," Leon answered "But I'm uncertain as to what this may accomplish."

"You'll see," he mused as he held out the card that was in his hand right in front of him, pointed towards the tower windowsill. "Appear before us, my avatar!"

A black coloured beam surged out of the card and struck the surface of the windowsill, causing a dark purplish Vanguard circle to appear as a result. Within a few moments after a cloud of black mist emerged from the circle did Ren's avatar eventually appear before both him and Leon. Blaster Dark opened his green eyes, his sharp gaze now trained upon both the Shadow Paladin and Aqua Force users whilst the tip of his sword remained planted between his feet on the ground and the dark red cape that he wore remained trailing behind him.

"Hello," Ren spoke, smiling as he held up his right hand in the proper gesture.

"My Vanguard, what is your reason for summoning me here?" the Swordsman of Darkness asked, a stern tone to his voice.

"My, aren't you as serious as ever," the Shadow Paladin user mused "But there is a reason why I called you here now."

"Go on," Blaster Dark replied.

"Well then," Ren began as he opened his red eyes, a serious glint now present within them. "There has been something about our previous confrontation with Ruko that has had me thinking."

"And what would that be?" the Shadow Paladin unit asked.

"During the battle, I could sense that you weren't exactly yourself," he spoke "Because of that... I believe that there's something that you're not telling me."

"What makes you certain?" Leon interrupted.

"Just a hunch," Ren replied.

"He is correct."

The two cardfighters then turned their attention back towards Blaster Dark, now realizing that the Swordsman of Darkness did indeed have something to answer Ren's 'hunch' as the cardfighter himself had put it bluntly and somewhat jokingly in his own strange way. He didn't appear shaken to the fact that his Vanguard had already managed to suspect that he had been hiding something from him during that last battle.

"I didn't speak of this at the time as I was uncertain," he continued "But that girl or LRIG as you call her, Iona. Something about her feels off and I don't just mean the cursed power inside of her."

"Go on," Ren spoke.

"That LRIG we faced the previous battle..." Blaster Dark explained "Her appearance is almost identical to someone that recently joined the Shadow Paladin clan as part of the Revengers."

"Oh... so you got yourself a new recruit lately," the Shadow Paladin user murmured.

"Who would that be?" asked Leon.

"Until my comrades are fully certain as to who she really is," the Swordsman of Darkness answered "We can only assume for the moment she is that same person as her wielder called her. Before you called me here, Tartu was bringing her to Mordred for questioning."

"I see..." murmured Ren as he held his hand to his chin. "Well this will certainly make things interesting."

"Then for the moment, we can only wait and see how things will play out," Leon spoke.

Blaster Dark nodded in agreement with his statement before turning his attention down towards the battlefield, to see how the current battle between the two Selectors were going. Feeling that he had done what he needed to do, Ren merely shrugged for a moment, feeling he had now gotten the answers that he wanted for now, leaving him curious as to who this 'new arrival' into the Revengers that Blaster Dark was talking about, before leaning over onto an empty part of the tower windowsill to watch the conclusion of the Selector Battle with Leon, who simply remained standing as he glanced down towards the field.

* * *

**Card Luck**

"Tama attacks Piruluk!"

Over in the shop that Hitoe and Yuzuki had introduced to him on the second day of his stay in this world, Kai was already well into a friendly battle against Amika, whom he remembered from bringing him into the hospital with help from Aichi, Hitoe and Chiyori after Akira's backhanded attack on him. The Selector of Piruluk approached him out of interest and challenged him to said friendly battle, to which he kindly accepted, feeling this was the perfect opportunity to test the modifications he made to Ruko's original deck so he and Tama would have a better chance of standing up to both the Selector, Iona and the power that had been plaguing them.

From how he originally viewed the situation prior to Amika's arrival, the deck in its previous state whilst mostly basic did already contain some powerful cards of their own merit, allowing him to conclude that there weren't as many changes he believed he needed to make as he originally thought. Using the catalogue he had obtained on that same day, the Kagero user picked through the single cards that the shopkeeper had available until he was certain that he had what he required. In efforts in finding the cards he was after, he noticed to his surprise several Royal Paladin units that had been transformed into SIGNI cards. Feeling that those would help a little in modifying the deck and for Aichi to use, he took the opportunity to purchase them, along with several additional ARTS as well.

Eventually, after a few minutes passed over, he had managed to reconstruct the deck that he had with him, all whilst Tama was watching closely from her own card that was also laid on the table. The LRIG ocasionally made a noise or two of approval from Kai's decisions in modifying the deck the way that he intended. Just afterwards did Piruluk's Selector approach him, with the opportunity she needed to challenge him. As of now, the Selector glanced over her hand before taking one of her three remaining Life Cloths, moving it to her Ener Zone seeing as there was no Life Burst present. That card in particular was Code Art DEF.

"My turn is over," Kai spoke.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Amika**

**Hand - 3 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko : Code Piruluk Gamma**

**SIGNI : Tlet, Gauntlet - Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine - Flamber, Medium Sword : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 6**

"Wow... Piruluk wasn't kidding herself when she mentioned about you and her crossing paths before," Amika said in partial surprise. "But she mentioned that you used something different... Dragonic Overlord was it?"

"That's right," he replied. "But I have my reasons for switching to Tama for the moment."

"I see..." she murmured. Before the Selector began her turn, any trail of thought that the two of them had was interrupted when he heard several footsteps coming up the stairs. He turned over to the entrance to see Aichi, Hitoe and Naoki enter the store as well.

"Kai-kun!" the Royal Paladin user called before looking to see who he was facing. "Amika?"

"Hello Aichi!" she called as she waved to him. Aichi blinked for a moment before turning to the others who merely shrugged in response before they walked over and took a seat each at the table that the Kagero user was seated at.

"D... Did you manage to sort out Ruko's old deck alright?" Hitoe asked.

"Yeah," Kai spoke "I believe I am now ready."

"That's good to hear," Naoki replied.

"Huh...? Is there something I'm missing out on?" Amika asked, interrupting the group's conversation as they turned their heads towards her. "Who's this Ruko?"

Realizing that they hadn't told the Selector anything about Ruko herself or her current situation, the group briefly looked around the shop, seeing only the shopkeeper was present for the moment. As Kai was about to explain, a familiar voice sounded out from the pocket of Amika's shorts.

"Kominato Ruko."

Everyone could easily tell from the tone present that it was Piruluk that had spoken out the full name of the aforementioned Selector. Amika pulled out her card before briefly looking behind her to check that there was no one else listening in on her current conversation with Kai and the others.

"She is a Selector I previously confronted, the last one that my previous Selector lost to before she faced Kai," the LRIG continued "Though I assume the reason Kai is using her deck with alterations is because something may have happened to her."

"Piruluk is correct," Kai spoke "Right now, Ruko is in danger and her deck along with Tama may be the only possible way to save her."

"So that's why you're using Tama now, so you could understand her strategies," Amika replied before smiling warmly. "I understand now. But, don't think this means I will go easy on you."

"Naturally," the Kagero user said rather bluntly.

No one else said anything in regards to the current scenario of the battle that had already been in progress. Right now, Kai was in the lead by one Life Cloth and had a full formation at the ready. But his hand had much fewer cards compared to that of Amika's, presumably due to Piruluk's speciality in discarding cards and freezing SIGNI to prevent them from attacking, two specialized features that he was already familiar with in both the Nubatama and Megacolony clans respectively back at his home world in the game of Vanguard as well as his first battle with Akira. The Selector placed Piruluk's card on the table beside the playmat before she begun her turn by drawing two more cards from the top of her deck and looking over her options carefully.

"I Ener Charge and..." she spoke as she revealed Code Art RFR from her hand before placing it into her Trash Pile along with two of the other cards in her Ener Zone before then picking through her White deck for the card she needed.

"I grow Code Piruluk Omega!"

On a field imaged within both Amika and Kai's minds, a large blue aura surrounded Piruluk as her dress changed slightly in appearance whilst the six crystal points behind her back also altered in their outward look, almost as if they were becoming sharp points of ice. The same could be said for the folds that were sticking out of the orb that was in the LRIG's hair. Tama and the SIGNI along with the Royal Paladin unit that Kai already had in play glanced towards Piruluk, bracing themselves for what could befall them. Back to reality, the Kagero user merely glanced down at Amika's side of the field, having not seen this form of the LRIG when he last battled Akira.

"Using her skill, by discarding another Blue SIGNI from my hand," Amika explained as she revealed Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir from her hand to her Trash Pile "I'll discard one card from your hand. Let's see... I think I'll pick the one on the right."

Kai barely made any sign of a response to what she had picked as he merely revealed the card she had chosen and discarded it to his own Trash Pile. The card that Amika had discarded was a Guard SIGNI, Servant O.

"That's not good," Yuzuki murmured "Now he won't be able to Guard Piruluk's next attack."

"Even so..." Naoki muttered "The fact that she also has Aqua Force units as well... Leon's certainly going to be surprised."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi spoke under his breath as he anxiously watched on, wondering what would happen next.

"Next, I summon Code Art DEF along with two Code Art DRS," Amika continued as she placed the three Blue SIGNI into the empty SIGNI Zones that were present on her side of the field. Kai gazed down closely, curious as to how the Selector was planning to advance. Tama watched on anxiously, wondering how he would now fare, considering that unlike Akira, Amika didn't seem to be making any mistakes in her plays so far. She was hoping he could win, so that would boost her confidence when the two of them would later confront Ruko.

"I activate the Spell, FREEZE and with it, I'll Freeze Flamber!" the Selector called. Kai simply remained still, seemingly not concerned with the scenario that had befallen one of the SIGNI he had in play.

"Finally, by downing DEF and activating her ability," Amika continued "I banish the frozen Flamber!"

Everyone that was watching with the exception of Piruluk herself could only watch in surprise as Kai moved Flamber's card to his Ener Zone, not expecting an effect like that which would allow Amika's attacks to land much more easily, especially considering that Elaine, the weaker opponent of DEF was in the same column as the Blue SIGNI. Taking this into account, they realized that it hardly mattered in that regard, considering that if Kai wanted to bring out a stronger SIGNI to take down Code Art DEF, he would have to Ener Charge it at the start of his turn or replace it with a stronger SIGNI.

"How's that?" Amika asked "Now I'll be able to damage you twice this turn! Let's go! Both Code Art DRS attack!"

Back on the imaged field, both of the Code Art DRS that were on Amika's field ran across the battlefield towards both Tlet and Tama. The first of the Blue SIGNI easily dispatched of the White SIGNI in front of her, banishing her from the field as Tama was caught completely off guard by the arrival of the second one. Her failure to forsee that was punished with a hard kick to the stomach, causing her to fail backwards before she regained her balance, just in time to see Piruluk summon a bolt of light blue energy which she fired from the fingertips of her right hand right towards her. The bolt struck Tama, causing her to cringe in pain as she fell to her knees. Back to reality, Kai revealed the second Life Cloth crushed by Amika's attacks, this one being Servant D.

"With D's Life Burst," he spoke as he grabbed the top card of his deck "Ener Charge."

He then placed both the revealed card, Energe, Original Spear and the crushed Servant D in his Ener Zone, beside the other cards there. This also including the previous crushed Life Cloth which was another copy of Flamber, Medium Sword.

"Turn end," Amika spoke.

**End of Turn 7**

**Kai vs Amika**

**Hand - 2 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko : Code Piruluk Omega**

**SIGNI : EMPTY** **\- Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine - EMPTY** **: Code Art DRS - Code Art DEF - Code Art DRS**

**Ener - 7 : 3**

"2 to 1..." Hitoe murmured.

"Kai just barely hung there," Aichi spoke.

"If Amika had gotten some of the more dangerous SIGNI or Spells that could be used with Piruluk into play," Yuzuki muttered "Kai could have been overwhelmed."

"Kai..." Tama mumbled nervously.

Naoki didn't say anything in regard to the current scenario, but could understand what exactly they were thinking. How would Kai escape the scenario that lay before him and what exactly would he do. Little did most of the spectators know was that the path that Kai needed to victory was all there. The Kagero user opened his eyes at Amika, slightly surprising her in the result.

"I see now," he spoke "Although you seem to be starting out with what you have for Piruluk, I can sense you have a strong conviction."

"I... I'm glad you think that," Amika replied "But, I wonder what you plan to do next."

"He already has everything that he needs."

The Selector suddenly blinked in confusion as she glanced down to Piruluk who had spoken out like this unexpectedly before turning her attention back to Kai, the glint within his eyes now far more serious than they were earlier.

"Final Turn!" he declared.

"Huh?!"

Amika glanced at the Kagero user in shock, wondering why exactly he had chosen to make that declaration. Aichi and the others that were watching knew exactly what this meant, if Kai was really being serious about where he was going in the battle. Tama glanced up at him, a hint of wonder and partial amazement present on her expression.

"Battle Kai!" she called.

"Up and draw," he spoke "I Ener Charge using Elaine and choose not to Grow!"

He then took out one of the cards from his hand before revealing it to the Selector, causing her to gasp in shock. It was as if she had recognized it from earlier on in the battle, much to the confusion of Naoki who had seen it up close for the first time.

"I activate Arc Aura!" Kai declared as he moved five of the eight cards that were now in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.

"That's..." Amika murmured nervously, her mind flashing back to an earlier point of the battle, before Aichi, Hitoe and Naoki had arrived to observe everything else up to this point in time.

_**Flashback** _

"I Grow Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko!"

Kai placed down the Level 3 form of Tama that he had in his possession on top of the Level 2 form that he previously had in play, which was Shooting Star Miko. He then moved one of the cards he had in his Ener Zone at that time to his Trash Pile.

"Using her skill," he explained as he held out his deck in a fanned like fashion before picking out the card that he needed. "I search my deck for Arc Aura and add it to my hand."

_**Present** _

Amika could only begin sweating, realizing that she should have been more careful in attempting to discard Arc Aura on her previous turn instead of the Guard SIGNI that she ended up removing from Kai's hand. The Kagero user glanced down at her, increasing her nervousness a little more.

"With this Spell," he spoke "Until the end of this turn, Tama gains an additional skill. Summon!"

He then summoned to his empty SIGNI Zones Sephiram, Shooting Star Bow and Bonya, Small Bow. He then revealed the top card of his deck, another copy of Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine and placed her into the final SIGNI zone, in compliance with the ability of Sephiram.

"Finally, I activate Gothic Boundary!" Kai declared "I return Code Art DEF to your hand!"

Amika could only 'TSK!' under her breath as she returned the SIGNI that she had in the center column to her hand whilst Piruluk herself simply remained unresponsive, as if she had already known what was coming next.

"... A... ARTS!" she called "Get Down!"

On the imaged battlefield, Piruluk summoned a bright rope like weapons and hurled it towards both Sephiram and Elaine, tangling them up which reflected the card's effect to downing them for the turn. Back to reality, Aichi and the others could only look on with a hint of worry to their expressions.

"She sealed two of his attacks!" Naoki gasped.

"This means Kai-kun will only be able to tie it up," Aichi murmured.

"Not quite," Yuzuki interrupted.

As both Aichi and Naoki looked to the LRIG in confusion as to what she meant, they turned back to the field to see what Kai now planned to do next. Over from her card, Tama glanced up at the Kagero user and smiled brightly.

"Go Kai!" she called "Tama's with you!"

Kai merely nodded in response before turning his attention back to Amika.

"Let's go!" he declared as he downed the card representing the LRIG's Level 3 form. "Tama attacks Piruluk!"

"G... Guard!" the Selector replied as she revealed Servant D2 before placing it straight into her Trash Pile. "I... protected myself."

"It seems you've already forgotten," Kai replied, much to her surprise. "Using the effect from Arc Aura, I send one White SIGNI to my Trash Pile and Tama stands up again!"

"Seriously...?!" gasped Naoki "Right now... Kai has three SIGNI left..."

"So he can stand up Tama for another three attacks..." Hitoe concluded.

"Amazing..." Aichi murmured "No wonder Ruko would have been so strong before she ran away from her home."

Amika could only watch on in shock as Kai moved Elaine's card over to his Trash Pile before Upping Tama's card once again, indicating that he was ready to make the next attack against her. She could only sweat, realizing that she had used up every card in her hand and she had only two Life Cloths left. Mustering up a bit of determination within her, she looked back at Kai, showing that she wasn't ready to give it up yet.

"My next attack," he spoke "Tama attacks Piruluk!"

Amika flipped over her next Life Cloth, revealing Code Art KEY. The card had a Life Burst Icon over it, indicating that the attack had triggered the effect.

"With the effect," she spoke "I draw one card."

As she reached for the top card of her deck, she silently prayed, hoping to get another Guard SIGNI to block one of Kai's remaining 2 attacks that he had leftover. To her disappointment though, when she drew that top card, it was revealed to be another copy of FREEZE. She cringed inwardly, much to the nonchalance of Piruluk herself, who had been watching over everything that had been happening.

"One more!" Kai declared as he upped Tama's card again before immediately downing it after sending Sephiram's card to his Trash Pile for Arc Aura's cost. Amika reached out and flipped over her last Life Cloth, reavealed to be the Spell Rainy much to her disappointment. Swallowing a bit of pride, she looked back at Kai, smiling a little.

"I suppose Piruluk was right," she muttered under her breath. "Right now... I'm no match for you."

"This is the end," he spoke as he placed Bonya's card in his Trash Pile. "The relentless advancement of Tama as we move on to victory, will be engraved within your image!"

Kai upped the card, Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko as he prepared to make the finishing blow. "Final attack! Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko!"

On the imaged battlefield, Tama clutched ahold of her spear tightly before charging towards Piruluk, who was too tired to move out of the way from all the hits that she had now suffered from. The blue LRIG remained still as Tama slashed the orange tip of the spear past the side of her, grazing a large part of her dress in the result, indicating that the final blow had now been dealt.

Back to reality, Amika looked over to Kai with a small smile on her face before looking down to Piruluk. Much to her surprise though, she seemed to let out a bit of a smile, leading the Selector to wonder if her efforts had somewhat impressed the LRIG during her friendly battle.

"That was amazing, Kai-kun!" called Aichi. Kai said nothing in response, but glanced back at him to acknowledge his compliment. As he did so, Amika rose up from the table, looking down at her phone for a brief moment.

"I'm sorry I can't stick around for any longer," the Selector spoke as she gathered her cards back together "I suppose all I can do is wish you luck in saving this Ruko you told me about."

"You don't need to tell me that," Kai replied "For the moment, I can only advise you to be careful in your future ventures, given your current situation."

Amika simply nodded and smiled in response before exiting the store down the stairs, waving goodbye as she left the room. With the exception of the lone shopkeeper who remained busy behind the counter, the entire store room was practically silent. That was, until the silence was broken by Tama letting out a cry of happiness and joy. Everyone else turned over to Kai, as he did to them.

"Well then, you know what to do," Yuzuki spoke "All we can do now is wish you the best of luck."

"So give it to her!" Naoki replied.

Kai nodded in agreement to everything that his friends had to say to him. The question now remained for him was, could he really do it. Could he now succeed in saving Ruko where he had previously failed in falling into the very same power that he once sold himself out to for what he considered as power at that time. He looked down at Tama who admantly smiled at him before he then turned his attention towards Aichi.

"Aichi, if under any circumstance where I don't succeed," he spoke "Everything is in your hands."

"I understand, Kai-kun," replied Aichi, nodding briefly as he did so. "Good luck."

The Kagero user said nothing in response, but his expression easily allowed him to tell that he understood everything that was happening by this point. He got up from his seat and picked up Tama's card, the LRIG of whom looked up at him. She smiled in approval, to let him know that he had her support in the upcoming struggle that would eventually befall them. After nodding in response, Kai placed Tama's card into his jacket pocket along with the deck that he assembled before looking down to the others.

"Now then, let's go," he spoke.

"Yes," Hitoe replied.

Aichi, Naoki and Yuzuki nodded in agreement. Now there was no turning back from the scenario that was laid out before them. Getting up from the table, the two cardfighters and the Selector followed Kai out of the store, to first regroup with Ren and Leon before then going to that place. The all too familiar building where everything would be decided on this very day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Elf  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.


	34. Arc 2 - Ride 34: That Cursed Dominion I

**Dreamscape**

"Don't go!"

A young girl with dark brown hair cried out loud as she ran down what appeared to be a very quiet street of the city in the midst of a stormy afternoon. The clouds were a very omnious dark grey and the rain that had been pelting down on her had pratically already drenched most of her clothing. Despite the chill that she was getting from the cold weather, that didn't matter to her in the slightest. Not when she had to talk to the person she had been trying to catch up with. She panted as she eventually came up close towards the person that was walking away from her.

"Mother...!" the young girl cried out loud.

The tall woman, now known to be the girl's mother, stopped for a brief moment, growling under her breath unbeknowst to her pursuer. Then she raised her right arm, that wasn't clutching to the umbrella that had been shielding her from the downpour all around her before smacking it straight into the young girl's face, knocking her backwards in the result. The girl fell backwards to the ground, in shock, pain and partial fear all at once as she gazed into her mother's eyes. Her face strangely enough was obscured from her vision, though she could tell from the two single white glows from where her eyes would be was a hard, sharp and fierce gaze that was now directed upon her, just as a thunderclap went off in the rainy sky above them.

"Stay away from me," she hissed.

"What did I do wrong...?" the young girl whimpered "Why am I scary...? What can I...?"

"You are no longer my daughter! Do not continue to pester me or I can assure you that you'll suffer for it!"

At this moment, a flash of lighting streaked across the stormy sky as the young girl remained still, shocked and horrified by what her 'mother' had to say to her. The tall woman turned her back to the person that had been following her and walked onwards through the empty street, until she had eventually vanished from sight. The young girl remained still as the rain continued to pelt down on her, having felt too cold from the atmosphere around her to notice that she was even drenched from the whole ordeal. She could only look down at her hands, still shaking over everything that she had now been told before closing her eyes and crying out loud.

"Mother... I'm sorry...!" she whimpered "PLEASE COME BACK...!"

* * *

 

Ruko suddenly opened up her eyes, panting a little at what she had witnessed or rather, what had ended up repressing about. She could only look down at the ground that she was sitting on in sadness. The Selector had relived a memory that she had hoped to never see again, the day that her mother had left her and her older brother Ayumu in the care of their grandmother. Until recently, she had never remembered back to that day as it was one where everything changed for her, all because her mother claimed she had scared her. Even to this day, Ruko still had no idea as to why that was the case. As far as she knew back to that time, she never really asked for much so why then?

 _But... this Reverse, as Kai called it..._  she thought _It does give grandma and my brother a reason to think I'm scary... Regardless of whether they find out or not... It will happen again._

"You seem troubled."

The Selector dug into her coat pocket and pulled out Iona's card in front of her. The dark LRIG's expression remained somewhat neutral from how she had spoken out, with a small bit of curiosity from why Ruko was panting just a few moments ago.

"Don't tell me you've become nerved of their presence?" she murmured.

"It... It's nothing like that," Ruko replied, unwilling to speak of what she had remembered. "Just... a bad dream."

"I see..."

Iona's sharp gaze had slightly nerved the Selector, with a hint of impatience almost visible amongst her expression. Sighing deeply for a brief moment, Ruko first looked up towards the sky, seeing that the evening sunset was about to come into view very soon. Then she glanced down from the top of the building, looking down towards the street that was leading right up to the front of the building's entrance. From there, she could see Aichi, Kai, Hitoe and Ren along with both Naoki and Leon, whom she had not met beforehand. All of them were walking down the road up to their destination, that being the building that she had been sleeping atop of, presumably to confront her at this very moment.

"So he's come back for more..." Iona murmured, catching the attention of the Selector "Very well then. If he wishes to have his will crushed again, then I or rather we will grant that wish."

Ruko said nothing, but kept her gaze upon the group as the afternoon sun behind her was beginning to start setting in the distance.

* * *

**City Streets**

Back on the ground, Kai and the others continued towards the entrance of the building. It was beginning to look much more complete than the Kagero user had last remembered from his previous two visits. A more recent example of this having been the addition of a silver metal plate on the right side of the entrance with the kanji spelling out "Daikichi Apartments" engraved into said plate. With the lack of presence around the ground floors of the building, it was easy enough to assume that the construction workers had already left a while ago, leaving them with hopefully enough time to get to Ruko and hopefully free her from the curse that had a grip on her.

"Kai-kun..."

Kai stopped for moment and turned to face Aichi who seemed a little concerned for what was about to unfold in front of him the moment that this confrontation would go down. Hitoe who stood beside him said nothing, but her expression could give away the impression that she too was slightly concerned, only her worries were more directed towards the question of whether Kai would somehow end up being reversed again or not.

"Are you sure you and Tama... are ready?" Yuzuki murmured, her voice coming from the card that her Selector had held out in front of her.

"Right now, there's no telling about what may be going on with Ruko," the Kagero user replied "If Reverse has already eaten away at the last of her willpower, the only thing left of her will be nothing more than a dangerous enemy within. Regardless though, I will not back down until she is freed."

"Tama's ready!" Tama called from the card that he held. "Right, Kai?"

"Yeah," Kai answered as he walked forwards towards the doors, opening them up.

The others nodded in agreement and followed him inside before making the long ascent to the rooftop. The group advanced through the various staircases and elevators that had been completed, steadily progressing towards the top of the building. As they were waiting inside one of the elevators to take them towards the top floor, Hitoe couldn't help but feel concerned about where the scenario for Ruko could be headed. Nervously, she reached out with her right hand and tapped Aichi's shoulder. The Royal Paladin user turned to face her.

"Is something wrong Hitoe-san?" he asked.

"I'm worried... about Ruko," she answered nervously. "I can only hope that Kai and Tama can do what they can to help... but the fact that she doesn't trust us from trusting Tama..." She then bit her lip for a brief moment, having known the possible reason as to why this was. "... I don't know what to think."

"Hitoe..." Yuzuki murmured.

"I understand," said Aichi "Right now, we need to have faith in Kai-kun. I know he's pulled through worse than this and with Tama helping him, I know he'll find a way to help Ruko-san."

"And if that doesn't work?" the LRIG asked.

"Then I'll have to do everything I can," he replied.

Eventually after a long silence, the elevator made it to the top floor allowing the group to advance onwards over to the doors leading to the person that had been awaiting them. Kai reached out for the handle of the right door that was in front of him before twisting it to open it up. Eventually, when the rooftop had come into view for everyone, they could see Ruko with her back turned towards them. Kai made a motion for everyone behind him to keep back as he stepped forwards towards the middle of the roof.

"So you've returned... Kai Toshiki," the Selector spoke as she turned around to face him.

"Indeed," he replied "I told you before that neither me nor your comrades are giving up on you. That goes for Tama as well." He then held out Tama's card out in front of him to make his point clear as the LRIG looked on out to her former Selector. Ruko merely frowned however, turning her head away from Tama herself.

"So neither you or the others have learned anything..." she muttered as she then turned her attention over towards Aichi who had been standing at the far back with Hitoe, Naoki, Ren and Leon. "And those others I haven't seen before. Your names?"

"Ishida Naoki," Naoki replied "And that's Leon. So you're Ruko that everyone's been talkin' about."

"I see... more of you to deal with," Iona spoke out loud, prompting Ruko to reveal the LRIG herself to all. The Selector dug back into her coat pocket and brought out the card, revealing Iona to everyone that was present on the rooftop.

"So I see that you have indeed come back here, Kai Toshiki," the LRIG murmured "I suppose your intention has remained the same as before."

"Iona..." Kai muttered "Aren't you even concerned about the power that Ruko is struggling to keep back?!"

"It hardly matters," she spoke "As long as Ruko continues to battle with me and obtain victory, that is all there is."

As the LRIG finished speaking, the dark red and black aura of Reverse suddenly appeared around Ruko as she cringed in pain loudly, wincing a little as she struggled to keep back the power before said aura had eventually vanished. Everyone's eyes with the exception of Iona widened in shock, but none were more concerned about this turn of events than Aichi, Kai, Tama and the Selector's own friends.

"Ruko!" cried Hitoe.

"Ruko-san, don't you realize that power is only hurting you?!" called Aichi "Please let us help you!"

"... I'm aware..." the Selector panted "But... that is not of my concern!"

"Ru, please listen to Aichi!" Tama called "Kai agrees too!"

The following silence that became apparent a few moments later however had indicated that Ruko had taken no notice of the LRIG's desperate plea, no doubt from still being bitter about her not going through with the oath at the end of their last battle together that led to this. Iona briefly looked up at the Selector before glancing back towards Tama.

"It would seem Ruko's decision has been made," she spoke "I would have liked to have faced Sendou Aichi before this very moment, to make our strength known as a reminder to those who dare stand before us. But now that Kai has brought you all the way here... this is a perfect opportunity for me to settle the score with the girl of white, once and for all."

At this point, everyone remained silent, wondering what exactly Iona had meant from her words. None were more confused than Hitoe or Aichi who could only ponder as to why she said so whilst Ren and Kai respectively had a feeling that they knew exactly what the LRIG was talking about.

"Settling the score...?" murmured Yuzuki "What could she be talking about?"

"It would appear it may have been from a previous confrontation with Tama when she was still with Ruko," Leon spoke "But... something feels different from the way she has spoken out."

"Ruko-san..." Aichi said nervously. As he finished speaking, Ruko first glanced over towards Tama who remained worried about her former Selector's state, then to Kai who kept his serious gaze upon her and finally the Royal Paladin user that had been watching everything with everyone beside him. As she did so, the sky above them had began to darken, evidenced by the sun that was beginning to set behind her in the far distance.

"Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki..." she began "I never intended for things to be this way... but, I will make both of you turn back at once."

"Both of us... at once...?" Aichi murmured in confusion. Kai merely sharpened his gaze, believing that there was more to what she was saying than first glance was appearing to let on.

"That's right," Ruko replied "You will both be my opponents for this battle!"

Everyone could only stare at the Selector in confusion, curious as to why this sort of challenge had been issued out to the two cardfighters in particular.

"A two on one battle...?" Hitoe murmured.

"What is Ruko even thinking?" Yuzuki muttered.

"You will both be paired as one team against me and Iona alone," Ruko explained "As your lone opponent, I will begin the battle with 7 Life Cloths, but will regain that same amount with the cards from the top of my deck the first time my total becomes 0 or as many as possible if my deck has fewer than 7 cards at that time. I can only normal Grow once every two turns and both of you will take turns attacking us. You cannot use Quintet Walls to guard for each other, but you may share the cards in your Ener and use any ARTS that your teammate has in reserve."

As a harsh breeze whilsted across the rooftop of the incomplete Daikichi Apartments, it soon became evident to everyone else that there was only one way that this was going to be settled and that was through the terms that Ruko had laid out before them. Whilst Tama could only stare on at the Selector in worry, Kai merely closed his eyes, now having drawn up the conclusion to this sudden declaration.

"I see... In your desperation to force both of us to turn back at this very moment, that's why you've set up this battle," he muttered before looking up at the Ruko. "I assume that you've played under those conditions before?"

"That's right," Iona answered "Ruko has battled several times under this sort of Battle Royale a while back before we met Sendou Aichi for the first time. Given how our last confrontation ended, I'm certain that even yours and his combined strength will mean nothing to us."

"I see now," Kai spoke before he then glanced to the group behind him. Aichi nodded in compliance before walking over to join him and Ruko, prepared to go through with the conditions that she had laid out for them.

"I'll accept your offer, Ruko-san," he replied "Kai-kun, Tama, my Royal Paladins and I will do everything we can to save you!"

"Tama agrees!" Tama called "Tama will save Ru from Reverse!"

The rooftop fell silent once more as Iona held a smirk on her lips before glancing up at Ruko, who appeared as ready as she ever wanted to be. She turned around the LRIG's card and held it towards both Kai and Aichi. As the sky darkened slightly more, the Selector knew exactly what she intended to do at this very moment.

"Open, Battle Royale!" she called.

A large black flash erupted from the card towards the group, engulfing Kai and Aichi as they shielded themselves before a dark red aura suddenly flowed through that same flash. The rest of the group could only watch as they too were eventually engulfed, bringing them to the battlefield that would await for all of them. This was now a sign that the battle for the Selector, Kominato Ruko, despite the conditions that had been laid out, had now finally begun.=

* * *

**...**

When Aichi eventually opened his eyes, he could gasp in horror as to where exactly they were. All around him, he could see nothing but a vast and seemingly empty black void, littered with stars in various places. As he glanced down as to what exactly was in front of him, he could only realize that his worst fears had indeed come true. Right in front of the Royal Paladin user was a single transparent red board that hovered in front of him where all of his field, the card Advance Party Seeker, File being face up with seven white dots littered around it, his seven Life Cloths already face down with both his Black and White Decks in place along with his starting hand being fanned face-down at the far back.

Looking right out in front, he could see File himself and was surprised. In this space, he was now at his regular size compared to the time where he started out in the previous confrontation with Ulith where the normal Selector Battlefield had downsized him to fit onto the table. Now it seemed that wherever he was battling in had slightly different properties than that of the battlefield. Aichi then turned to his right to see both Tama and Kai who were seemingly perplexed as to this sudden turn of events considering that they too appeared to be somewhat familiar with their surroundings.

"This is..." Aichi murmured.

"There's no other explanation," Kai muttered "This is... the Link Joker fight field!"

Aichi then looked over to his left to see everyone else in the far distance, who were also surprised to see that Yuzuki was now back to her normal size due to the field's differentiating properties. She knew though that despite the change in scenery from what they were normally used to, she and the others would unable to do anything but watch as the battle would play out before their eyes before then turning his attention forwards towards Ruko and Iona in the far distance who didn't seem the least bit fazed by this sudden change. The LRIG like Yuzuki was now the size of a normal human being in this space as was Tama. The darker LRIG was as tall as Kai whilst Tama was around a little shorter than Aichi. Ruko's former LRIG glanced around her surroundings in wonder, but had a hint of fear present on her expression, as if she had been here before.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

Tama suddenly glanced towards Iona, who had spoken out for herself, much to the LRIG's surprise and Ruko's sudden interest.

"I know all about your clash with 'The Clown'," she said "It's partially the reason you lost all of your memories."

"W... What does Iona mean?" the LRIG asked nervously.

"If you last long enough," Iona replied "I may be willing to tell you. It might interest your former Selector in the slightest, before you can say goodbye to her, forever."

Ruko said nothing in response before glancing over towards both Kai and Aichi who in turn had already picked up the cards that were laid out as their starting hands. Then a creaking noise was heard as everyone, the spectators included looked up above them to see the roulette that would normally be seen in the Selector Battles appear above their heads and began spinning. After a short while, it eventually landed on a black square. Iona seemed rather pleased with this result as she turned over towards Kai, Aichi, File and Tama who all tensed up, awaiting Ruko's decision that would be made.

"I will go first," the Selector spoke "Kai will follow afterwards, then back to me, then over to Aichi and so forth. Are there any objections?"

"Fine by me," Kai replied.

"Here we go!" Aichi called.

Over on the far side of the field, Hitoe, Yuzuki, Naoki, Ren and Leon all remained tense as Ruko began the first turn of the battle by drawing her single card.

"Iona, grow!" she called.

In a flash of a black and red aura, Iona's appearance changed as her grey costume suddenly turned pitch black as a small fireball suddenly materialized in her right hand. She opened her eyes and glanced towards Tama, who could only feel slightly nerved from the outlook of the situation at hand. Kai glanced at the LRIG, noticing her slight nervousness at this point as he begun his turn.

"Tama, I understand how you feel," he spoke "But if we are to save Ruko, I need your strength!"

"T... Tama understands!" she called in reply as she briefly turned around in an attempt to reassure the Kagero user. He nodded in compliance as he placed Energe, Original Spear from his hand into his Ener Zone before picking out one card from the White Deck on his table and placed it on top of Tama's base form, Zero of Tamayorihime.

"Grow!" he called "Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko!"

A brilliant white glow enveloped the white LRIG as the only change that was present of her for the very moment was the addition of some chest armour to the front of her white dress, a pair of white gloves with sleeves that went up as far as the full length of the lower halves of her arms and the extended lengths of her boots going up as far as her knees. She took a fighting stance as she eagerly awaited for Kai's command to make her first attack of the battle. Needless to say, she would get her wish a lot sooner than she anticipated.

"Attack!" Kai declared as he downed the card on his table.

Tama nodded in response and dashed across the space towards Iona who remained simply motionless as did Ruko who did nothing in response to the oncoming attack. With a thrust of her right fist, Tama dealt a large blow down the front of the dark LRIG who seemingly remained unfazed from the damage that had now been dealt. Aichi watched on as the white LRIG returned over back to Kai, now that his turn had immediately come to an end.

"Well done, Kai-kun, Tama!" he called.

As Tama nodded with a smile in response to the Royal Paladin user's words of compliment and encouragement, Kai's voice suddenly brought her senses back to reality as she faced both Ruko and Iona again.

"Here she comes!" he called.

"You better brace yourself!" File called from in front of Aichi's table.

Ruko then drew her two cards to begin her next turn before reaching out for two of the eight cards in her hand, showing one of them to be Darkness Revenger, Rugos and throwing it into her Ener Zone alongside Drei=Capsule, the first damage that Iona had suffered as a result from Tama's recent attack.

"I summon Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter!" she called as the Shadow Paladin appeared in the field to the right of Iona and blew loudly into the trumpet that she wielded. After the brief sound had ended, a single Freezing Revenger had appeared to the far right, indicating that Ruko had superior called him from her deck after paying the cost for Dark Bond Trumpeter's skill.

"Attack!"

With a blast of sound from her trumpet, Dark Bond's single long note forced Tama down onto her knees as she clutched her ears in pain. When the noise had stopped however, the LRIG looked up just in time to recieve a brutal fireball to the stomach from Iona who had launched it from her right hand right at her. Tama cried out loud as she fell backwards from the explosion that occurred from impact whilst the dark LRIG had remained still, a smile hidden beneath her expression from everyone else. On Kai's table, his second Life Cloth revealed itself to be Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine, the card glowing as it entered his Ener Zone slightly on top of the previous cloth, Hastall, Medium Spear.

"Heal Life Burst!" he called as he moved his hand to the top card of his deck "I recover 1 Life Cloth!"

"How boring..." Iona muttered as she then glanced over towards Aichi and File.

"Turn end," Ruko spoke.

As Aichi began his turn, he looked over towards the Selector's field before glancing down at the cards that were currently present in his hand. Coming to a decision, he searched through his White Deck for the card he needed and placed it on top of File's card on the LRIG space.

"I grow Marron!" he called.

A brilliant blinding white light enveloped File as he vanished from the battlefield as the Litte Sage arrived to take his place. Immediately, right in front of him and to his left appeared Cynric who had already taken up a stance to attack and a dragon with several yellowish scales along with gleaming blue eyes. It flapped its wings upon appearing in the field, hovering a little in the air.

"Cynric and Hallowed Breath Dragon attack!" Aichi declared.

The Royal Paladin units nodded in response and took aim at both Iona and Freezing Revenger respectively. Cynric shot several light beams from his small crossbow like weapon which struck the ground almost in alignment with each other until the final beam struck the Shadow Paladin unit, causing it to vanish from the battlefield. Hallowed Breath Dragon roared and unleashed a torrent of azure blue fire right at Iona who remained motionless as she merely held up her right arm to shield her face from the flames, as did Ruko as part of the attack went around her. Her next Life Cloth revealed another copy of Freezing Revenger, the card glowing to indicate its Life Burst going off. She drew 1 card as per the effect.

"Marron!" Aichi called.

"Mac Lir!" Ruko responded by revealing the Shadow Paladin Perfect Guard from her hand.

The unit appeared in front of Iona, shielding her completely, much to the annoyance of Marron who closed his book to cancel the offensive spell he was about to cast. Aichi could only clench his teeth as he was forced to end the turn right there. The Selector begun her turn by placing Healing Revenger from her hand to her Ener Zone before moving Rugos' card from there to her Trash Pile.

"Iona, grow!" she called.

Iona herself was surrounded by the same black and red aura that had previously changed her appearance, only it didn't seem to do as much this time. The only noticeable change was the green wisp like smoke that emitted from the sides of her outfit. Before anyone could comment just now, the colour of the smoke suddenly changed to an eerie dark red as an all too familiar aura began flowing through the LRIG, much to the shock of Tama. Suddenly, she clutched her head in pain as another image suddenly flashed before her eyes.

"What's wrong?!" called Aichi.

"T... Tama remembers something...!" she answered "When Tama faced 'the Clown'... Iona was there!"

"So Blaster Blade wasn't kidding when he said you faced Chaos Breaker," Marron replied.

"If Reverse is already flowing through her this early..." Kai muttered to himself. His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Ruko summon Skull Witch, Nemain to the far right where Freezing Revenger had previously been.

"With Nemain's skill, I draw and summon Triumph!" she called as the white SIGNI appeared between both Nemain and Dark Bond Trumpeter. "Triumph's skill, I discard and add another Mac Lir to my hand!"

"No way... she's managing to get access to her Guards this early?!" Naoki exclaimed.

"This happened the last time Kai face Ruko," Hitoe murmured "But with the extra lifeline she and Iona will get the first time they run out of Life Cloths, doesn't it seem a little strange to do it early?"

"She could be ensuring that she has them conserved for later, when she feels its necessary," Ren spoke "After all, when a Selector's deck runs empty, all the cards in the Trash Pile reset as new deck in exchange for taking 1 damage."

"Even so," Leon interrupted "I can sense a strange wind from Ruko. One that I haven't sensed in a long time."

"You don't mean Reverse?" asked Yuzuki "Even now, it feels like Iona has been emitting it and its not even at her most powerful form."

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied "But... I can tell that there is more to her dillema than just holding back that cursed power."

The rest of the group remained silent and turned their attention back to the battle, just in time to see Skull Witch, Nemain obliterate Cynric with a strike of purple lightning from the crystal skull she held whilst Dark Bond Trumpeter played a loud note that caused both Marron and Aichi to cover their ears in pain. The noise went on for several more seconds as Aichi's first Life Cloth revealed Knight of Silence, Gallatin. The cardfighter looked on to see Iona charging on towards Marron, preparing to strike the Royal Paladin unit.

"Shiron!" he called as he revealed the card from his hand.

Shiron appeared in front of Marron, creating a barrier in front of him just in time to deflect a nasty punch from Iona. As soon as she felt the recoil from hitting the Defending Seeker's barrier, she muttered under her breath before retreating back to Ruko's side of the field, prompting the Selector to end her turn there.

**End of Turn 5**

**Aichi and Kai vs Ruko**

**Hand - 4 : 6 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 6 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Little Sage, Marron : Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko : Iona, Uranus/Maiden**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter - Code Maze, Triumph - Skull Witch, Nemain**

**Ener - 1 : 3 : 2**

"Both of them have 6 Life Cloths to 5," Naoki murmured "And yet... it's only the end of the fifth turn."

"The extra turns that Ruko picks up from being the lone player on her own side has brought an extension to the length," Yuzuki spoke "And with what Iona's Ultima/Maiden form is capable of..."

"Or if that LRIG is really Iona."

Everyone else with the exception of Leon amongst the group turned their attention towards Ren who had spoken out whilst he had been glancing carefully over towards Ruko's side of the field. His attention mainly focused on the LRIG that she was battling with.

"W... What do mean Ren?" asked Hitoe.

"There's only one Urazoe Iona and that's the one that's with Ruko," Yuzuki spoke "Ulith's the one in control of her body."

"You're probably right," the Shadow Paladin user bemusedly replied whilst shrugging his shoulders. "Though from what I've found out today... that fact could very well be changed. All we have to do is wait and see if that's the case."

"I still don't really get all of this anyway..." Naoki murmured "I mean... why would someone go out of their way just to be an LRIG to battle with a Selector they like?"

No one spoke in response to the Narukami user's pondering question, unsure of the answer to that themselves. Back on the main part of the field, Kai began his turn by drawing his two cards before moving Elaine's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.

"Grow! Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko!" he called.

A brilliant bright light engulfed Tama as both her boots and gloves became slightly shorter as a result of Growing to this form. In exchange though, she now wielded a long sword with a golded hilt, the length of which measured up to half the height of both the Blaster Blade itself as well as Blaster Dark's own blade in comparison. Tama looked over towards Ruko, who was cringing after having to restrain another burst of Reverse that had just flowed through her. The LRIG gasped as she could see what appeared to be beads of sweat dropping onto both the table in front of the Selector and the floor of the space that they were battling in. That is, if it could be called a floor in the first place.

"Ru!" she cried "What's wrong?!"

"Quiet!" Ruko replied "All of this... all of this is your fault!"

"But..."

"It's because of you that no one was freed from the cards..." the Selector spoke "If you had only went through with the oath... I... We could have saved everyone from Mayu!"

"Then why are you not letting your comrades help you in your efforts?!" Kai demanded "As long as you continue to battle with that power leeching at your willpower, you won't be the only Selector in danger!"

"It's just as I told you," Iona interrupted, much to the Kagero user's shock. "If Ruko doesn't wish to abide by your request, then she doesn't need to."

"Even so... if you're the source of the Reverse that's within Ruko..." Aichi murmured "Then why are you allowing this?!"

"It's merely a minor inconvinience," the LRIG replied "If Ruko refuses to accept it for herself, that is not of my concern. What matters is the victories that we will continue to gather. Failure can never be tolerated in Selector Battles, therefore weakness is a sin."

Kai and Tama merely gritted their teeth in response, angered by the fact that not only did Iona not seemingly care about the state that the Selector was currently possessing her was in, even with the danger that was greatly involved, the only thing that mattered to the LRIG was seemingly victory and nothing more than that, even if she had to make her wish at that time a reality as a Selector to do so. The Kagero user placed down Bonya, Small Bow, Kukri, Small Sword and Flamber, Medium Sword as the three SIGNI appeared in front of and alongside Tama. After peeking at the top three cards of his deck via Bonya's effect and reassembling them in the order he desired, Kai turned his attention towards the SIGNI and the Shadow Paladin units in front of Iona as Tama readied her sword.

"Let's go!" he called "We don't have much time!"

"Tama's got it, Kai!" Tama replied as she and the SIGNI around her charged forwards towards Ruko's field. All of them glowed as the LRIG's current ability powered up the SIGNI around her by a small amount, just enough to overpower each of their opponents.

**Bonya, Small Bow: 1000 - 2000**

**Flamber, Medium Sword: 7000 - 8000**

**Kukri, Small Sword: 3000 - 4000**

When the Shadow Paladin units and the White SIGNI on Ruko's field had vanished, that had cleared a straight path for Tama to rush on through to Iona. The LRIG let out a loud battle cry as she did so, swinging her sword right at Iona who effortlessly weaved left and right for a few times until Tama brought down the sword in a vertical slash, knocking her backwards as she did so.

"I must say... you haven't changed a bit, Shiro," Iona muttered, smirking a little as she did so. Tama's ears perked up at the sound of her 'real' name being ushered again before retreating back to Kai's side of the field.

"So she also knows your real name..." Kai murmured, the LRIG immediately nodding in response. "And the fact she was present at your clash with Chaos Breaker on her own... Just what does all of this mean?"

He snapped out of his thoughts as he turned his attention back to Ruko who began her turn by immediately summoning from her left to right, Dark Bond Trumpeter, Darkness Revenger, Rugos.

"Then I use Swift Advance!" she called as she revealed the colorless Spell from her hand. "Iona, Superior Grow!"

The same aura from before engulfed Iona as four white feathered wings appeared on her back which were immediately dyed jet black with a hint of dark red, indicating the influence of Reverse that was still flowing through her. Drei=Capsule appeared in the last SIGNI space that Ruko had available before she then suddenly launched out a beam of dark purplish energy that struck Flamber right in the chest as the white SIGNI felt even weaker than she was before.

**Flamber, Medium Sword: 8000 - 3000**

She didn't have time to look up however as Rugos was immediately upon her, slashing down upon the SIGNI with the largest of the two blades that he had carried, banishing from the field. Dark Bond Trumpeter's trumpet emitted another loud note as Bonya fell to her knees before vanishing as a result of not being able to withstand the noise. Iona then summoned two black rings from within the palms of her hands and hurled them right at Tama. As the LRIG could only brace for the worst, a sudden bright flash appeared in front of her.

"Shiron!"

Both Tama and Kai turned over to Aichi who had decided to step in and Guard for them, feeling it was necessary to do so at this point in time. The Defending Seeker once again appeared in front of Iona who merely gritted her teeth, annoyed to have been stopped two turns in a row from the same unit, from the same cardfighter no less. She glared sharply towards Aichi whose determination remained unfazed as she retreated back to Ruko's side of the field. The Selector made no response as she simply ended the turn right there. The Royal Paladin user sighed in relief that he was able to help both Kai and Tama the way hoped to do so.

"I see now," Iona spoke, grabbing Aichi's attention right over to her. "That fierce determination, no wonder you were able to overcome someone like Ulith. I already knew from my time around her that she would be a more than capable Selector, but it seems I slightly miscalculated from our last encounter."

"I was able to save Tama from Ulith because of my friends and comrades fighting alongside me," Aichi replied "And with Kai-kun, Tama and my Royal Paladins, we will do the same for Ruko-san!" He then looked over to Ruko who had her eyes closed off to him. "Isn't that why you came so close to trying to save everyone?"

"You would know nothing about deceit," the Selector spoke "Just like Kai... the two of you and those others, you were able to enjoy the game you played in wherever you came from and had nothing to worry about. Because of that... you could never understand what everyone has had to go through!"

"Ru's wrong!" Tama called.

"What?"

"Kai and Aichi have had their own share of problems in their own world," the LRIG continued "Ren and Leon also went through something like that on their own. Right now, the evil Kai accepted once before is trying to get a grip on Ru!"

The entire field remained silent after everything that Tama had to say to her former Selector, wondering if it would at least be enough to knock some sense into her mind about what was happening with her. However, Ruko had seemingly remained unresponsive, her eyes having remained closed off from everyone around her. This was enough to tell them that she had no intention of listening to what they said, no matter what. Tama stared on in worry as Aichi slightly tensed up, beginning his turn as he did so.

"Stand up, my Avatar!" he called as the card he picked from his white deck was held high into the air before he placed it down on top of Marron's card. "Blaster Blade!"

The Little Sage vanished in a bright column of white light as the Swordsman of Light himself had descended into the space to finally join the battle. His green eyes opened up as he gazed towards Iona, his blade having been pointed right in her direction. Aichi then glanced over to Kai, who nodded in agreement having already anticipated what he planned to do next.

"I borrow two of Kai-kun's Ener to use Blaster Blade's skill!" he called "Pass final judgment on Drei=Capsule!"

"Understood!"

Blaster Blade held his weapon high into the air before striking it right into the floor of the space as a white shockwave erupted across the field until it reached Drei herself. Upon striking the Black SIGNI, she fell to the ground, vanishing from the battlefield as her card moved straight into Ruko's Trash Pile. The Selector remained unfazed by this sudden manuever, though Iona had glanced over towards the Swordsman of Light himself.

"The Swordsman of Light," she spoke "So the final one has shown up."

"So then... what Junos *****  said then was true," he muttered as he kept a sharp gaze upon the LRIG. "What do you want with me?"

"What do you mean?" asked Aichi.

"The three heroes of the Planet Cray," Iona interrupted "Dragonic Overlord, Blaster Dark and Blaster Blade who now stands before me... Once I have overcome the last of that triad, I am certain that my strength will finally be enough to overcome that of the girl of white."

"I see now..." Kai muttered "The reason you took so much interest in Dragonic Overlord in our last battle and according to Ren, why Blaster Dark was suspicious about you... You were seeking to defeat them along with Blaster Blade so you believed you would have the strength to overcome Tama."

"That is correct," the LRIG replied "Though this experience has proved to be beneficial for Ruko as well, given that I've fought those battles alongside her."

At this point, Ruko had finally opened her eyes to see the Swordsman of Light for the first time, standing in front of Aichi with their gazes directed towards her and Iona. After cringing for a brief moment in order to hold back Reverse once again, she gazed upon them.

"Sendou Aichi... Kai Toshiki... Tama and Blaster Blade," she spoke "No matter what you may do... you cannot change anything for me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Dragon Beast: Cosmo Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your White SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER


	35. Arc 2 - Ride 35: That Cursed Dominion II

**Photon's Lab**

Takuto looked up at one of the many screens that were hanging from the walls of the lab, now depicting the battle that had been taking place between Aichi, Kai and Ruko. Upon hearing everything that had been going on with the Selector involving Reverse, he could only silently pray that the two cardfighters would be able to bring her out of the catastrophe that she had ended up being a part of. He suddenly felt a jab to the back as the Cray being turned his head back a little to see that one of the two Radons that Photon and Mayu had assigned to watch over him had poked him in the back with the beam rifle it carried. In his struggle so far, Takuto had reluctantly agreed to aid in cooperating in the work on the completetion of Project: Locked Soul in exchange for the mastermind not dragging the remaining cardfighters on Aichi's Earth and the other units of the Planet Cray into her game. Or at least, that was what he hoped had happened.

"Subject; Tatsunagi Takuto, resume work immediately," the Radon on the left spoke as a whirring noise from its beam rifle sounded, indicating it was being charged up.

The Cray being reluctantly gritted his teeth as he turned his attention back to the console in front of him, which was in turn in front of the giant cylinder at the center of the room. As he did so, the noise from the beam rifle pointed at his back died down much to his hidden relief. As the Cyberoid lowered his firearm, Takuto turned his attention back down to the console that he was stationed in front of, taking note of the small screen in front of the controls and what it had displayed on it. It appeared to be the outline of a human like figure, with what appeared to look like 3 seperate pairs of wings sprouting from the head, the back and another separated into a separate wing for each of the figure's legs.

A red blip that was bleeping out over the top of the figure's head from the display, indicating where Photon and Mayu wanted his expertise in PSY Qualia in order to fix the problem they saw, unbeknowst to him was the reason that Umr was able to aid Aichi in his previous bout with Ulith which had remained unheard of to him. Upon looking further into the 'schematics' of Project: Locked Soul through the console, what he had found felt somewhat most disturbing to him. After fiddling around with a few buttons of the console's keyboard, he had discovered something that he could only describe as somehow impractical, even to certain denizens of the Planet Cray that he was already well familiar with.

Displayed in front of the figure that represented the intended end product of Project: Locked Soul, were the faces of two human like figures, each with a name labeled beneath the pictures showing them. The first one was Umr, evidenced by her bright blue eyes and dull blonde hair. The other person's face showed an aqua blue like shade of eye colour and her hair was a bright pink. The name displayed beneath the picture of this girl in particular was simply worded, 'Tawil'. Gazing back to the image representing said end product, Takuto could only stare in wonder, but mostly discomfort upon realizing what he had gotten himself into.

_They're intending for me to complete the creation of a fusion using these two girls?!_ he thought  _Just what is Mayu...?_

Upon glancing back for a brief moment, he quickly removed the images from the sight of the Radons that were keeping watch over him and began pressing various buttons, to indicate that he was resuming work for them immediately. Takuto could only grit his teeth as he briefly looked back at the monitor at the far side of the room, now displaying Blaster Blade charging towards Iona before returning his attention back to the console in front of him. All the while whilst Photon from the farthest podium kept his cold and calcuting gaze upon the Cray being.

_Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki... You must hurry! That girl you're battling isn't the only one in danger! Keep fighting for as long as you can until I can think of a way out!_

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Blaster Blade let out a loud battle cry as he swung his weapon at Iona who gracefully dodged as she manifested a small, but durable sword like weapon from the Reverse that she was commanding. She took ahold of the blade she created before striking blow for blow with the Swordsman of Light, keeping on even ground with him as she eventually brought down the clash between them to a stalemate. Everyone watching from the sidelines gazed closely towards the unit and the LRIG, curious as to what was going to unfold between them.

"I'm pleased your skills haven't disappointed me thus far," Iona spoke "I suppose the rumors I've heard about your weapon beforehand have now come to pass."

Blaster Blade said nothing in response as he kept his gaze trained upon the LRIG, looking to break their stalemate in the hopes of aiding Aichi and Kai in extending their current lead in the battle royale that he was now a part of. Pushing back against Iona's manifested blade with his own, he eventually overpowered the LRIG before thrusting forwards, grazing the left side of her outfit with his weapon as he did so. Suddenly, just like before with Blaster Dark when he struck her in a similar manner, Blaster Blade felt a strange sensation from the sudden hit. Over on the far side of the battlefield, Aichi who had signalled the attack several moments ago, glanced towards the Swordsman of Light in both curiousity and concern as he suddenly retreated back.

"Is something wrong, Blaster Blade?!" he called.

The Royal Paladin unit remained unresponsive for the moment, also bringing both Kai and Tama's attention towards his current state. His gaze was not directed towards any of them, as if he had something on his mind, greatly concerning everyone participating with the exception of Iona who had recovered from the blow by the Blaster Blade itself and Ruko who remained uninterested from what was going on with him. Nearly everyone that were watching on the sidelines were also primarily confused as to why this was.

"What's up with Blaster Blade?" Yuzuki murmured.

"You don't think Iona could have somehow have done something to him?" Naoki pondered. Ren didn't speak in response, but glanced towards Iona in curiousity, feeling that he had somehow figured it out as he believed that Leon would do so too. He glanced back to the Aqua Force user who simply nodded in agreement, much to the confusion of Hitoe.

_Now then, Blaster Blade..._ the Shadow Paladin user thought  _Let's see if you'll find a similar answer as my avatar._

As Aichi remained worried over what had happened, he looked over the SIGNI that he had summoned earlier on his turn. From left to right, he had Knight of Silence, Gallatin, Seeker, Loving Healer and Margal who were now taking up defensive stances to brace themselves for an oncoming onslaught. Finally, he could see Blaster Blade raise his head before glaring sharply towards Iona.

"I see now..." he spoke, grabbing the LRIG's attention towards him, a hint of curiousity on her face.

"The figure I now face... this person called Urazoe Iona..." Blaster Blade continued as he paused for a brief moment. "I can now see... that you're not the same person Junos was acqainted with on Cray!"

Everyone else turned their attention to the Swordsman of Light, confused about his sudden conclusion to the LRIG that he was now facing. The only ones that did not appear this way were Ren and Leon whilst Kai glanced over towards Iona herself, believing that an explanation as to why this could be would be coming their way. The LRIG herself seemed unfazed by all of this as she simply kept her eyes closed whilst Ruko glanced over towards Blaster Blade himself, curious as to why he decided to speak out this way.

"What do you mean?" asked Aichi. Blaster Blade at this point turned his head back to his Vanguard before briefly glancing over to Kai and Tama, who nodded in compliance in that they were willing to listen to what the Swordsman of Light had to say.

"I first knew of this complication not too long ago, from Junos or Blaster Dark as most of you know him as, back on the Planet Cray," he began.

**Flashback; Blaster Blade's POV**

_"I recieved word from Marron that he intended to meet me on the outer boundaries of the United Sanctuary."_

Several hours ago, all the way back on an open plain of the Planet Cray itself, the Swordsman of Light looked across towards the one that had requested to meet him. Blaster Dark eventually moved from where he was standing and took several step forwards towards Blaster Blade, whose expression remained sharp as he wondered as to why the Shadow Paladin had requested to meet him at this very spot.

_"From what I heard at that time, he said he needed my aid to confirm some suspicions that had recently arose."_

And indeed, this message that the Swordsman of Light had recieved through the Little Sage had proved to be correct. Blaster Dark had mostly spoken about his previous confrontation with Iona and Ruko, seemingly informing his former comrade about the power of Reverse now in the distant world that they would be drawn to in the battles that took place there. In response however, Blaster Blade also briefly shared information about his previous bout with the reversed Tama and Ulith, noting that it was now confirmed that the entire planet was now a part of this new calamity.

_"I soon learned that my aid to him was through a battle with a guest he had been hiding within the Shadow Paladins from the rest of the Sanctuary."_

Blaster Dark gazed back to the rocks behind him and nodded, as if he was signalling for someone to emerge and show themselves into the presence of the two Swordsmen. Blaster Blade tensed in partial shock as he watched a shadow emerge from behind the wall of rocks before the figure it belonged to eventually revealed itself, or rather, herself. First came an armored black boot, with a high heel embedded beneath the higher half. Then a piece of dark red fabric, matching the exact colour seen on the cloaks of the Revengers, that Blaster Dark himself had founded, appeared into view before the figure herself appeared into full view. All the way from her boots up to the top of her chest, the newcomer was clad in black armor in addition to the gloves that she wore and the full red cape flowing on her back. Resting on her back on top of the cloak was what appeared to be a spear like weapon with a large blade across a third of the length.

_"That was when I met, Urazoe Iona."_

And indeed, it seemingly was. The girl's head, eyes and facial expressions were almost completely identical to the opponent that Blaster Blade was facing at this very moment, only her hair was completely jet black and her gaze was not as sharp.

"Junos... who is this?" Blaster Blade asked.

"I am Urazoe Iona," she spoke, her tone seeming not as arrogant or smoothly as the other Iona back in that other world. "I suppose Junos has now told everything?"

"Indeed," the Swordsman of Light answered, taking up a brief stance to prepare himself for the clash that the 'Sword of Determination' had arranged for the two of them. As she brought out her spear from her back, Blaster Dark quickly leaped back out of the way, to give the two combatants space for their battle. When a brief breeze had whilsted across the plain, both Blaster Blade and Iona charged towards one another to begin their clash. Eventually, after several minutes of dealing blows to one another and trying to outmatch each other, the two were locked in a stalemate with both blade and spear being pushed against one another as the swordsman and girl were looking for one of them to make a mistake that would cost them the battle.

Eventually, Iona lost her concentration for a brief moment, leading Blaster Blade to knocking her off balance before slashing past the right side of her armour. When she fell to her knees, the Swordsman of Light glanced over her form for a brief moment, as if he was trying to sense something, evidenced by the bright white glow surrounding him and the weapon he carried. When he eventually saw that aside from a strange familiar presence he felt when he was previously battling Tama before she became fully reversed, most likely to do with the dark element he sensed during their clash, he could now see that there was nothing out of the ordinary. He turned towards Blaster Dark, who nodded in agreement to stop the battle there as he came to join him and Iona who got up from the ground.

"I did what you asked of," Blaster Blade spoke sternly "I sensed no presence of Reverse from within her. Now tell me, what was the purpose of this battle?"

"I... I can explain that, Ahmes," Iona interrupted, bringing his attention to her "Junos... he faced someone in my world that looked identical to me. He wanted me to battle you to determine if I was really telling him the truth."

"Then it would appear that I owe you an apology, Iona," Blaster Dark said before turning his gaze over to the Royal Paladin.

"Now that we are all aware of everything that has happened, I only have one piece of advice," he spoke as he turned his back to the Swordsman of Light "If you face her look-a-like, do not let your guard down. My Vanguard, a handful of my comrades along with myself only escaped unscathed because of a merciful act from her wielder."

Blaster Blade said nothing in response, but nodded in agreement with a grim expression which had Iona slightly concerned. Blaster Dark gazed to her and began walking back to the territory of the Shadow Paladins, signalling for her to come with him. Iona nodded in response and hurried after the 'Sword of Determination' as Blaster Blade looked on into the distance, wondering about what was to come. Part of him was still concerned for Aichi, given how Ulith had managed to get inside his head though he was still thankful for Umr's aid at the last second when it was needed. After remaining still for a few moments, he began his trek back to the Royal Paladins, where he knew that Alfred and the rest of his comrades would be waiting.

**Present**

"And that is why I'm convinced... that the opponent we now face is not the real Urazoe Iona," Blaster Blade concluded.

Everyone aside from the Swordsman of Light, Ruko and Ren whose expression seemed to give off an 'I told you so' impression to anyone who looked at him out of curiosity, could only stare at the LRIG in shock, wondering why this happened to be the case.

"But if that's not the real Iona..." Hitoe murmured "Then who is the LRIG that Ruko's had this entire time?!"

"I have a feeling that we're about to find out for ourselves," muttered Yuzuki.

"So the name of the Selector's body was Iona... then we get an LRIG whose not Iona, but looks like her... Damn, I'm still lost!" Naoki groaned, struggling to make sense of the situation.

"It would be most appropriate to assume that the two of them were acqainted at some point in the Selector Battles," Leon spoke, trying to make light of the scenario before them "Hence why both Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark have been acqainted with two identical figures. But how the real Iona made it to Cray is still a mystery in itself."

At first, all remained silent after the truth about the Iona that was standing before them in this very space where the battle would soon resume its course. Even Tama herself was somewhat shocked from this sudden turn of events. Now that Blaster Blade had seemingly figured out the truth behind this Iona doppelganger, it would make sense for Ruko to have some sense knocked into her about the whole scenario. However, she felt that something still felt rather odd. If this was not the real Iona, then who was it that she remembered encountering in her previous skirmish with Chaos Breaker Dragon and why did she know her real name? As Tama resumed her attention on the LRIG herself, she opened her eyes with a small smile.

"So you figured it out, huh," she mused "You are correct, Blaster Blade. I may bear the appearance of the real Urazoe Iona and was in possession of her body before becoming an LRIG once more, but as you have found out, the two of us are not one of the same. My real identity is Kuro, the girl of black."

"Girl of black?!" Tama exclaimed.

"Then she must be the other girl in Fumio's novel!" Aichi gasped.

"I see..." Kai muttered as he gazed upon the LRIG "From the moment you assumed Iona's identity as a Selector, you've been seeking to find a Selector who you wanted as a compatible match for your power, to become the strongest pair in the Selector Battles, even if it meant becoming an LRIG. I can only assume that Ruko was that perfect match."

"Even so..." Tama murmured "Is that what Kuro wanted?! For Ru to suffer the same way Tama suffered when Tama was with Ulith?!"

Kuro remained unfazed by both the Kagero user's deduction and the girl of white's question, not concerned with whatever they had to say towards her. Ruko looked over towards the LRIG, now having realized that this was not the exact same person that she thought that she was somewhat familiar with. As she winced a little in pain from another surge of Reverse having coursed through her veins, the Selector decided to speak out for herself.

"Is this true... Kuro?" she asked "That you're not really called Iona?"

"Indeed," the girl of black replied before gazing towards her. "I assume your opinion your situation has changed?"

"Even if I'm somewhat bewildered... This still changes nothing!" Ruko responded "I will continue this battle as it is, to make both Aichi and Kai turn back! Even if I have to hold back the power that's trying to control me... I need your strength to accomplish this!"

"Very good," Kuro spoke as she turned her attention back towards the two cardfighters along with Tama and Blaster Blade who both took defensive stances to prepare themselves for what was to come. As Ruko drew her cards to begin her turn, she reached out into her white deck before holding out one card with its back held out towards her opponents. As she did so, streams of dark red energy began pouring out of the card, causing her to wince in pain for a brief moment, much to the concern of Tama, Hitoe and Yuzuki. Whilst this was going on, three of the cards in her Ener Zone, including a Code Maze Triumph that Blaster Blade's previous attack had crushed moved over to her Trash Pile.

"Prideful darkness, swallow up all that oppose you and force them back!" she called as she placed the card down on top of the one that represented Kuro's Level 3 form. "Grow!"

_(Insert Song:[World's End, Girl's Rondo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjO0A5HUl54) by Kanon Wakeshima)_

A sudden vortex of black energy enveloped Kuro as the blackened wings she had doubled in both size and number, all whilst retaining a hint of dark red to indicate the tainted power of the Reverse flowing through the LRIG. She let out a brief smile beneath her current expression as she appeared in her Level 4 form, one that was all too familiar to both Kai and Tama.

"Iona... or rather Kuro, Full/Maiden!"

As soon as the dark aura had vanished from around Kuro, three more figures suddenly materialized around her. Kai immediately recognized those SIGNI to be another Drei=Capsule from the center and Code Anti Vimana.

The Royal Paladin user nodded before turning back to the battle, just in time to see Gallatin fall to his knees in a bright purple flash that was conjured up by Drei=Capsule. When the flash had faded, the unit had fallen into a deathly like state before vanishing from the battlefield, his card moving straight to Aichi's Ener Zone as a result of being banished.

"My first Vimana attacks Margal!" Ruko declared.

The Vimana to the right side of Drei began charging up energy for her attack before launching a devastating beam of black energy towards Margal. The attack hit the High Beast head on in a massive explosion, banishing it from the battle as the smoke from the impact vanished. The card then moved over to Aichi's Ener Zone.

"Then my other Vimana attacks Blaster Blade!" the Selector called.

"Quintet Wall!" Aichi called as he revealed Plume Wall Angel's card from his hand.

 

The top five cards of his deck revealed themselves to be two copies of Knight of Silence Gallatin, Axe, Large Breaker, Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon and Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn. When the five SIGNI along with Plume Wall Angel's combined might deflected Vimana's attack, Kuro took the opportunity to unleash a pitch black beam of energy, with a hint of dark red to it, right at Blaster Blade which struck him point blank in the chest. Before Aichi could ask the Swordsman of Light if he was alright out of concern, an all too familiar aura surrounded him as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, causing him to cry out loud. As he did so, his next Life Cloth revealed God Eater, Ultimate Sword.

"My... Vanguard!" called Blaster Blade as he struggled to stay on his feet.

 

"Aichi!" cried Hitoe.

"This is just what happened last time...!" growled Yuzuki.

"Stay strong, Aichi!" called Kai "Don't let that power consume you as it once happened to me!"

Aichi clenched his teeth as he eventually found the power within himself to ward off the Reverse from his well being, now suspecting how this had come to be.

"The seed fragment..." he muttered "Kai-kun warned me this would happen..."

 

Ruko said nothing, simply noting what had occured in front of her as a result of Kuro's attack just now. As far as the Selector knew, this only happened to Kai when she used Kuro's Ultima/Maiden form whilst everyone else that had faced her had not had this effect up to now. Sighing for a brief moment, she glanced over towards the Kagero user and Tama, signalling the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 9**

**Aichi and Kai vs Ruko**

**Hand - 1 : 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 6 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Blaster Blade : Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko : Iona, Full/Maiden**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Seeker, Loving Healer - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Anti Vimana : Drei=Capsule : Code Anti Vimana**

**Ener - 7 : 3 : 8**

Kai could only inwardly sigh in relief that Aichi had managed to ward off the Reverse from Kuro's attack resonating with the fragment of the Seed that remained embedded within him, for now at least. Although Tama wasn't showing it at the moment, she too could only feel relieved at the scenario. The Kagero user began his turn by drawing more cards and holding up a card from his White deck high into the air before placing it down on top of Tama's Level 2 form.

 

"Grow the LRIG!" he called "Tamayorihime, Sixteenth Night Miko!"

In a blinding white light that had engulfed the LRIG, Tama's appearance changed once more as her white hair gained an azure hint to it and gained two clean white feathery wings onto her back. In addition to that, she now held a spear with a large, sharp orange point at the far end and the wings on her boots had also grown in length, now about as long as the wings that she now possessed on her back. Her eye colour had also changed somewhat, also gaining an azure hint to it, much like her hair for the moment. Kai gazed on towards Ruko and Kuro as he continued on with his turn.

"Using her skill, I search for Arc Aura and add it to my hand!" he continued.

A file of light scanned through the main deck as the Spell card revealed itself to all before the Kagero user concealed it amongst the other card that were in his. Ruko glanced closely at him, having suspected this would happen.

"That card..." she muttered "So you're planning to end this quickly." Eyeing her deck closely, noting that at this very moment that there were only 8 cards left and that she had two Life Cloths remaining. "But with the way things are... that Spell is meaningless to you."

"Did you think I would use it prematurely?" he replied.

"I see your perceptiveness hasn't changed a bit, Kai Toshiki," Kuro mused as she then gazed over towards Tama who clutched her spear tightly in response, gritting her teeth as she did so. Kai briefly noticed this change in behavior as he quickly placed down Catapaul, Large Bow into the center SIGNI space.

"Catapaul's skill!" he called as he revealed the top card of his deck. The flipped card was revealed to be Hastall, Medium Spear. "Superior Call!"

The two White SIGNI appeared in front of and to the left of Tama, taking up battle stances in preparation for the Kagero user's command. To the LRIG's right appeared Yggdrasil, Maiden Elaine in a bright green flash of light that almost blinded her. Kai then glanced over to Aichi who nodded in response, as if he knew what he had planned next.

"I use five of Aichi's Ener to use Roccoco Boundary!" he declared as the ARTS revealed itself from his White deck. Two bright white beams erupted from the card and struck the Code Anti Vimanas head on, causing them to vanish from the battlefield. Ruko grimaced as the cards reappeared in her hand, meaning that Kai could break through her defences at this moment.

"Ru!"

The Selector turned her attention towards Tama who had called out to her at this very moment. The girl of white's expression seemed worried and riddled with concern but Ruko could also tell that there was still a hint of determination present. She knew that expression all too well, from all of the times that the two of them had battled together before the moment where everything fell apart between them.

"Tama doesn't want to lose Ru to Reverse!" the LRIG called. "And... Tama's sorry for what happened before..."

"If you came all this way to apologize..." the Selector replied "You're already too late! Because of you... I've had to leave the only family and friends I had to keep them safe..."

"Ruko-san..." Aichi murmured.

After the Selector had finished speaking, another surge of Reverse began coursing through her as she began breathing heavily and wincing in pain even more than she had done so before. Upon looking closely at her, Blaster Blade's eyes widened in horror as to what he was seeing.

"My Vanguard, look!" he called.

Aichi looked forwards towards Ruko and gasped in horror. This also prompted Kai and Tama to look onwards and the result was equal reactions to the Royal Paladin's own. The same could be said for those that were watching the battle over on the sidelines. From what they could all see, Ruko's skin was now beginning to flake, with tiny bits having already left the bottom of her left cheek and falling to the floor of the space from where her feet were. She lifted her head up towards both of the cardfighters as she pulled out a card from her White deck and revealed it to them.

"I use Dark Matter...!" she called as a dark black aura surrounded Kuro. "Each of us sends a SIGNI to our Trash Piles and then I recover 1 Life Cloth!"

The black LRIG smirked briefly before thrusting out her right arm with her open palm out wide. Three purple lightning bolts struck Loving Healer, Elaine and Drei=Capsule as they left the field after being struck down by the power of the ARTS. After that had happened, the top card of Ruko's deck moved over to her remaining Life Cloths, face-down in that manner. Kai glanced forwards towards Ruko, a serious glint present in his green eyes, but also with a hint of concern riddled within.

"Ruko!" he called "If you're wanting to save everyone involved in the Selector Battles like you said, then why are you not accepting our help to free you from Reverse?!"

"I wanted my friends and family safe from all of this..." the Selector replied "None of you would understand. I won't let you intervene! After all, if I don't save everyone from Mayu... Then who will?!"

"You don't have to do this alone!"

Ruko turned her attention towards Aichi who had suddenly called out to her.

"I understand how you feel!" he continued "When I was under the strain of Link Joker once before, I thought that there was nothing anyone could do to help me fix the problem. But, I learned that if I had just trusted the people I cared about, I could have sorted out the situation sooner. That's why... Kai-kun and I can't let the same thing happen to you!"

The Selector simply chose not to make any response to his explanation, remaining completely silent as she did so. Unbeknowst to her and everyone else within the field, Kuro had kept a smile hidden from them, as if she was somewhat expecting this reaction to be the case. Kai held out his hand over the field before downing Hastall's card immediately.

The White SIGNI along with Catapaul nodded in response to Kai's command and charged across the vast expanse of the field towards Kuro who had remained motionless as the blows from her attackers eventually struck her. Aside from the impact crushing two of Ruko's Life Cloths, the girl of black seemed hardly fazed by this turn of events at all. As the two White SIGNI retreated back to Kai's side of the field, Ruko's crushed Life Cloths revealed another Code Anti Vimana and Code Maze Skyju, the first card glowing to indicate its Life Burst going off.

"With the effect," the Selector spoke "I banish Hastall!"

As Hastall immediately vanished in a cloud of black mist with purple sparks raging throughout, Kai gritted his teeth as the card moved to his Ener Zone. Looking over towards Tama, the LRIG turned her head towards him, nodding for his approval.

"Tama attacks!" he declared as he held out his hand, downing Sixteenth Night Miko's card as he did so.

Tama took flight using the wings that she had acquired in this form to ascend high into the air before charging down towards Kuro head on. Letting out a loud battle cry and thrusting the spear she wielded forwards towards her opponent, Kuro remained simply motionless and smirked. Ruko however was more than prepared for this scenario as she threw down a card from her hand down onto the table in front of the LRIG's card.

"Perfect Guard!" she called.

Tama gasped in shock as Mac Lir suddenly appeared in front of Kuro, blocking her attack towards the girl of black. The Shadow Paladin unit grabbed ahold of the LRIG's right arm before tossing her spear aside and with a mighty throw sent her hurtling backwards through the air right back towards Kai's side of the field. Realizing that she was coming in right over the top from where he was standing, Kai quickly placed all the cards that he had in his hand face down at the base of the table in front before leaping backwards just in time to catch the LRIG in both of his arms. Tama although surprised from the action managed to catch her breath from the ordeal as the Kagero user helped her back to her feet. She then jumped over the table and back into the battle as he took his place at the table once more, much to the relief of Aichi.

"He didn't make it through!" groaned Naoki.

"If he succeeded, then not only would Ruko have been only able to get 1 draw out of her next turn," Yuzuki muttered "But they would only have just another 7 Life Cloths to worry about."

"I'm worried..." Hitoe murmured as she kept her hands together, worried about what was to come. Leon said nothing in response, but glanced over towards Ruko and Kuro, just in time to see another surge of Reverse course through the two of them. Kai made a simple 'TSK!' under his breath as he was forced to end the turn right there and then.

_(End Insert Song)_

"Pathetic."

"Huh?"

Tama's eyes blinked in response to the word that was directed towards her, Kai, Aichi and Blaster Blade. The Swordsman of Light and the Kagero user gazed sharply at Kuro, having heard that it had come from her.

"I expected more from the two of you," the girl of black spoke "But it seems that I was mistaken. I suppose that even under the command of the person who wielded Dragonic Overlord... the girl of white is now powerless before me!"

As the group on the sidelines were wondering what the LRIG was talking about, Ruko had already started her turn by drawing her two cards. The dark red aura of Reverse was still flowing through her as she turned her gaze towards her four opponents.

"Now that you've pushed me this far..." she spoke, her voice feeling strained from having to hold back the power that was within her "You leave me no choice!"

"Ru, don't do it!" cried Tama.

But the Selector's reaction from simply holding the back of one of the cards that she drew towards the LRIG and everyone else that was by her side in the battle, made it apparently clear that it was already too late. Kuro having somewhat sensed what Ruko had managed to obtain could only widen her smile, now that she had the chance to display the same terror that she had already displayed to Kai. As the Selector revealed the card to be a second copy of Swift Advance, Aichi gasped in shock.

"It's coming!" called Kai.

"The ultimate form of darkness, brought to its highest evolution from my pain, my sorrow and despair! Descend now and show all who oppose you that their efforts are meaningless! Superior Grow!" Ruko called as she held the card representing the all too familiar form high into the air before throwing it down on top of Kuro's Full/Maiden form.

A large aura of Reverse surrounded her and Kuro as this happened, the LRIG being enveloped within the power, her appearance changing as a result of the transformation and the all too familiar black ring from before materializing behind her back. Tama and everyone on the sidelines gasped in shock as they finally saw the result of the Grow through the full power of Reverse. Kuro's spear materialized in her right hand before she brought it down, pointing the tip in the direction towards Tama and Kai.

"Kuro... Ultima/Maiden!"

Blaster Blade took a defensive stance to brace himself for the worst to come whilst Aichi could only stare at Kuro's new form in shock, wondering how this had come to be and wondering how he and Kai were even going to overcome this obstacle in the hopes of saving Ruko from the power that was now constantly plaguing her. Ever since the LRIG underwent the transformation, the Reverse aura had remained flowing through the Selector as she strained her eyes to keep her foresight of the field in front of her into her vision. More skin began to flake from her cheek in her efforts to resist it as she gazed upon the two cardfighters.

"No way..." Yuzuki murmured "She brought that form out... already?!"

"Hang in there, everyone!" Naoki called "This is just like any other Reversed unit!"

"I can sense otherwise."

The Narukami user looked over towards Leon who had spoken out in response, but in a rather grim way. His attention was fixated on Kuro as was Ren's as the two gazed closely upon the girl of black, trying to make what little light they could of the situation.

"Leon's right," the Shadow Paladin user replied "Kai wasn't lying when he said this Reverse was different from the rest. Even from Dragonic Overlord "The Яe-birth"."

"Please don't give up..." Hitoe murmured nervously. "Aichi... Kai... Tama... Please save her."

Kai gritted his teeth as he looked towards Kuro and Ruko, now with the knowledge that he, Aichi and Tama that had sought to make things right for the Selector, were in for a long uphill struggle.


	36. Arc 2 - Ride 36: That Cursed Dominion III

**The White Room**

Mayu gazed out into the window in front of her, observing the battle that had been ongoing within the domain of Link Joker for some time now. Her attention was mainly focused towards Ruko as she continued to struggle onwards, resisting the mind controlling effects of Reverse for as long as she could possibly hold out on her own will whilst risking damage to her body in the same way. The mastermind had already expected this confrontation to be instigated because of Ruko's refusal for aid in her scenario from Aichi and Kai, although she never expected a Battle Royale with all three of them involved to be the case. She then switched her view of the battle towards Tama, Kuro and Blaster Blade, the sudden change in the image displayed before her now having attracted the attention of someone else.

"So he's finally appeared before the girl of black."

Photon leapt down from one of the higher windows of the White Room and landed on his feet beside Mayu's negative hued throne. He turned his attention towards the window that was displaying the battle he was now seeing. His eyes, if they were visible to anyone from beneath his opaque visor, remained trained on the Swordsman of Light like a cold stare. This in turn had gotten the attention of the mastermind of the Selector Battles over towards him as she turned her gaze upon him.

"I trust that Takuto has been cooperative?" she asked.

The Cyberoid glanced over to Mayu who had spoken out to him. She seemed intrigued at first glance, though he could tell there was somewhat a hint of impatience beneath her expression.

"Subject has remained cooperative thus far," he replied "Project: Locked Soul as of this moment is 75% complete."

"And what of the Reverse that has consumed Kominato Ruko?" she continued.

"Vital signs show that although her mind hasn't been influenced, her own will has been steadily decreasing from the strain," Photon responded.

"Excellent Photon. Perhaps my patience won't wear as thin after all."

Mayu got up from her throne and walked towards the window that was displaying the battle right in front of her. She glanced closely at the image displayed before looking back towards Photon, expecting the Cyberoid to quickly catch on to what she would ask of next.

"Assume command of the White Room and have Ulith watch over Takuto in my absence," she spoke "I must attend to both your superiors and my prize."

"As you wish," the Cyberoid answered.

The mastermind of the Selector Battles simply smiled in response before holding out her hand, opening out a portal in front of her to take her to the destination that she had in mind. When Mayu had stepped inside, she simply vanished along with the vortex that she had opened up. As the White Room remained seemingly silent once again, Photon merely stood still, awaiting the outcome of what was to come from the confrontation stemming out between the Selector and the two cardfighters. His sharp gaze, hidden from outside view because of his visor, trailed upon Blaster Blade and Tama once more, as if he was expecting something from them. What that could be though would be anyone's guess.

"So she's gone off."

The Cyberoid looked to the right to see Ulith had entered the vincinity of the White Room, sneering as she did so.

"Mayu has assigned you to watch over Takuto," he spoke.

"So I need to play guard duty to that 'prisoner' she's had locked up," she mused "Well then, can't say I can argue with that, can I. Then again, if he tries anything funny, I look forward to hearing him scream."

Photon said nothing more as the dual Selector/LRIG exited through one of the open windows in the White Room to carry out Mayu's orders. Unbeknowst to him, Ulith was smiling to herself the whole time, as if she had something sinister planned within the confines of her twisted mind.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Back on the battlefront, everyone with the exception of Ruko could only stare towards Kuro in her strongest and most dangerous form. Fueled by the Reverse that was continously seeping away at the Selector's willpower and damaging her body in her attempts to resist, the LRIG could only smile maliciously towards Tama, the expression in her eyes having seemingly been twisted by the power flowing through her. Whilst Tama herself could only look back in utter shock, Blaster Blade and Kai had sharpened their respective gaze towards the girl of black. Aichi however couldn't find the words to speak out for the scenario the four of them, or five if they were officially counting Ruko given her circumstances, had now been faced with.

Over on the sidelines, out of striking range from the two LRIGs and the Royal Paladin unit, Naoki, Hitoe and Yuzuki could only watch on in great concern, knowing at this point, there was nothing more they could do but hope that the two cardfighters in the Battle Royale could save Ruko from being bound to a terrible fate. A fate that even the Narukami user was more than acqainted with, even if it was only for a while. Leon and Ren simply remained still, watching over the confrontation unfolding out before them knowing at this point for an iron clad fact that things were not going to get any easier for Aichi, Kai, Blaster Blade and Tama in their efforts to save the Selector who was their opponent.

Kai gritted his teeth, knowing full well that from the current turn's standpoint, he and Tama were within striking range of Kuro's next attack and he had very little options on hand to fend for himself, knowing full well of what happened the last time he faced the girl of black like this.

"With Kuro's skill," Ruko spoke "From this point onwards, all of us can only have one SIGNI on the field at a time and we can only draw 1 card at the start of each of our turns."

 _Then that means Alfred's Legion skill will be useless here_ Kai muttered in his thoughts  _From the way this battle has now progressed, Aichi's strength of battling with a full formation has been sealed._

"Well then, Kai Toshiki, Shiro," Kuro mused as the dark aura of Reverse flowed fiercly through the palm of her free right hand. "Are you prepared to suffer for a second time?"

Both the Kagero user and the girl of white said nothing in response as Ruko placed down Code Anti Vimana's card into the left SIGNI space on her table as the black SIGNI itself materialized onto the field. She held out her palms towards Tama who could only brace herself for the worst to come as a black sphere of energy materialized in the SIGNI's hands. Aichi and Blaster Blade could only watch on anxiously as Vimana prepared to unleash her attack on the LRIG.

"Attack!"

As soon as the command was given by Ruko, Code Anti Vimana unleashed a large beam from the sphere she had created, striking Tama right in the stomach at point blank and knocking her over onto her back. She coughed loudly upon attempting to stand up from the impact of where the blast had hit her which greatly concerned Kai, Aichi and Blaster Blade who could only remain tensed up as they anticipated what was to come next. Kuro took flight into the air by flapping her stained black wings which summoned up a brief, but strong gale that swept across the entire field. She then dove down towards Tama as Kai quickly pulled out a card from his hand whilst doing his best to also shield his face from the gale that the girl of black's wings had caused.

"Guard!" he called.

As Kuro brought down her spear's tip towards the defenceless Tama, a blinding white light suddenly appeared in front of the LRIG, preventing the girl of black from advancing any further. She gritted her teeth in annoyance as the figure revealed itself to be Flash Shield, Iseult having already deployed a pratically impenetrable barrier from her large left gauntlet, just as the wind summoned up the from the LRIG's wings had eventually died down.

"So you avoid my vengeful wrath once again...!" Kuro muttered under her breath.

Her expression now gained a hint of annoyance as she turned her attention to Shiro who was panting from the last attack that she suffered from. Kai could only inwardly sigh in relief that managed to hold off the girl of black's onslaught for the moment, but he was still concerned for what lay ahead for Ruko. He knew that the longer the battle was drawn out, the closer Reverse would have to fully taking her over. The Kagero user turned over to Aichi who had drawn his single card for the start of his turn. Looking over what little options he had, he turned his attention over towards his white deck, before picking out a single card from amongst the selection that he had available. Taking a deep breath and going deep into thought for a brief moment, he held the card that he picked out high above him.

"Brilliant light, shine through the darkness before us and clear a path for us!" he called "Grow!"

As Blaster Blade vanished from the space, a brilliant light shone throughout, nearly blinding everyone that was present, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the battle. A figure's shape began to emerge from the source of the white glow, one that was even familiar to Kai as he struggled to see who exactly Aichi had been calling upon at this very moment. As the light eventually died down, his answer came to him as Aichi spoke out the name of that unit.

"Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei!"

The Royal Paladin unit that had entered the battle was not human like Blaster Blade, File or Alfred, but was an elf instead much like several other units from the clan. She wore a white dress etched with several turqoise lines to symbolize her allegiance with the clan that she was a part of and wore long white boots and gloves to compliment her complete outfit. Ashlei had long wavering light blonde hair, a golden shield with several white folds on the edges and a sword with a golden hilt attached to a long, gleaming white blade. It was thinner than that of most other blades from the Royal Paladins such as Alfred's, but it made it for its lack in size with grace and the skill of its user.

"She's... beautiful..." Hitoe murmured.

"For once when it comes to looks... I agree..." Yuzuki said in agreement.

"So Aichi's using Kourin's unit..." Ren murmured, having recalled seeing it from a previous fight between Kourin and Asaka.

Leon however was looking closely at the Royal Paladin user, having noticing his expression had gone a bit, no doubt from feeling some guilt about what had happened to the Ultra Rare member. Tama said nothing in response to the appearance of the Jewel Knight, her concerns still lying with Ruko and how the Selector was holding up, but even she couldn't help but somewhat admire the regal appearance of the Royal Paladin unit. She turned her head around to the cardfighter that had called her into battle, also noticing his expression much like Naoki at this very moment.

"Sendou Aichi... We meet once more."

"A... Ashlei-san," Aichi murmured.

"Although I wasn't brought into play the last time you went into battle, I could hear everything that had gone on," she spoke "I'm thankful that Umr, if I recalled hearing her name correctly, had broken you out of that state."

"Yes," he replied "Even so... the fact that Ulith is out there still scares me. I can't imagine to think what any Selector or LRIG could have gone through because of her."

"I understand," Ashlei answered "Also... what happened with Kourin wasn't your fault."

Kai and Tama looked over towards Aichi, noticing that his expression had been slightly dejected when the Jewel Knight had brought up the subject. Even Hitoe who had been watching on the sidelines could notice the guilt that was present in his eyes. She remembered being brought up to speed by Kourin's current state and even then, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The Selector then inwardly sighed in relief when she saw the cardfighter turn his attention back to the battle in front of him and to Ruko as he summoned Gallatin to join the Jewel Knight on the field.

"Gallatin attacks!" he declared.

The Knight of Silence nodded in response to Aichi's command as he clutched his sword tightly before charging across the space towards Kuro who remained perfectly motionless. The girl of black's smile did not leave her lips as Ruko then suddenly revealed a card out of her hand in response to the attack.

"Quintet Wall!" she called.

Gallatin took a mighty leap into the air raised her sword high above her before bringing it down right upon her intended target. However, Hellrage Revenger, Quesal suddenly appeared in front of her, alongside two Servant D2s and Drei=Capsule. The Knight of Silence could only clench his teeth as he could sense that he had no choice, but to retreat back to Aichi's side of the space as the Shadow Paladin units and the SIGNI vanished from the battlefield. As this had happened, the two copies of Inhaling Hole that were revealed were sent to Ruko's Trash Pile.

"Ashlei!" called Aichi.

"Mac Lir!"

The Shadow Paladin unit appeared in front of Kuro, deploying a shield by combining two of the larger pieces of armour on his shoulders together. Ashlei could only remain still, knowing that her efforts would not be enough to break through the barrier. After several moments had passed by, Mac Lir vanished from battlefield as Aichi could do nothing more than end his turn there. Ruko begun her turn by simply drawing the last card that was present on the deck space of her table. All of the cards that were present in her Trash Pile hovered up into the air and rearranged themselves before settling face down on the deck space. The final Life Cloth flipped face up, which was Hellrage Revenger, Quesal, and landed in the space where her Trash Pile formerly was.

"With this rule from the Battle Royale," she spoke "For this one time only, I regain the top 7 cards of deck as additional Life Cloths!"

And indeed, it happened. The top 7 cards then entered the zone where her last Life Cloth was present, face down in order from Ruko's right to her left. She then gazed upon Aichi as she immediately downed Vimana's card. The black SIGNI much like the last time held out her hands to charge up energy for her attack as a black sphere crackling with energy began to form within her palms. The beam from before then erupted from Vimana's hands and hit Ashlei head on, causing the Jewel Knight to scream loudly in pain as she fell to her knees.

"Kuro!" called Ruko.

The girl of black flapped her darkened wings as she took flight towards Ashlei who could only brace herself for the oncoming attack that was coming her way. She swung her blade towards the tip of Kuro's spear, leaving the two of them locked into a stalemate. The Jewel Knight could only stare into the eyes of the LRIG, shocked to see something she thought she would never have to see again. It was herself, but not the way that she remembered. Behind her back in the reflection, she could see a black ring with several incomprehensible red runes ingraved into it and that she had a transparent black visor covering over her eyes. Taking the opportunity she had from this distraction, Kuro pulled back her spear and then slashed down the front of Ashlei.

"Ashlei!" cried Aichi. Before he could think of anything else, an all too familiar aura suddenly surrounded him as he cried out loud in pain, trying to resist being taken over by that feeling.

"Aichi!" called Kai and Tama.

The Royal Paladin user groaned for a few more moments before his blue eyes suddenly flared up a bright pink, driving away the darkness of Reverse from his body. At least, for the moment. Looking over to his Ener Zone, he could see that Ruko's previous attacks had revealed both Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn and Knight of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes. No Life Bursts were revealed amongst them, making the situation rather dire for Aichi as he glanced over towards Ruko. The Selector herself, still covered with the aura of Reverse looked back towards him who could only remain concerned for her state.

"I don't understand Aichi..." she muttered.

"Huh?" the cardfighter pondered, blinking for a brief moment.

"Why do you side with them?" asked Ruko "You're not like Kai or Tama. From what I could see from the previous times we encountered each other, even the first time when you were with Hanayo, you were somewhat clueless to the Selector Battles and what they held, just as I once was before my final battle with Kuro and Ulith. You could have been the only one to understand everything about them and done something right about it."

"Ruko-san, going off on your own with Reverse isn't right!" he replied "I know you don't want your grandmother and brother endangered by it, but they're just as worried about it as your friends and Tama! Please believe me!"

At this moment, Kai then turned his head over to the Royal Paladin user, feeling that there was something more to what he was saying. Tama looked over towards him, having been trapped in the possession of Ulith when this had occurred.

"You've met them?" he asked.

"Yes," Aichi answered "On our way to your apartment yesterday, we ran into them and Hitoe introduced us to them. I didn't say anything to them about Ruko-san's involvement with the Selector Battles or the fact that I ran into her earlier that day to avoid raising a panic or making things worse for her."

Ruko silently gasped in response to this sudden revelation that was now brought before her. Part of her was angered that Aichi had ended up running into both Ayumu and her grandmother, but part of her couldn't help but wonder if what he said was true. Had he actually kept true to his word and kept everything about the Selector Battles and her current predicament from them? From the two encounters that both the Selector and Cardfighter had on the previous day and night, he did seem sincere whenever he tried to speak out to her. Kuro who had noticed Ruko's sudden change in mood seemed less than happy from everything that was unfolding.

"Nonsense!" she yelled as she then pointed her spear towards the Selector, causing everyone else to gasp in shock.

"Stop, Kuro!" cried Tama.

"I won't allow you to prolong your envitable defeat any further!" the girl of black replied "One more word of your 'advice' and I will not hesitate to force that full power onto Ruko."

"Will you just stop thinking about victory for once in this battle and listen to what we're saying!" Kai demanded fiercely "Right now, Ruko's very own life is being weakened by the power the two of you have been cursed with! Are you willing to overlook that fact just for a satisfactory conclusion to this battle?!"

The girl of black simply remained still, her stern gaze remaining unwavered by the Kagero user's words at this very moment. The tip of her spear was still pointed in the direction of Ruko, coursing with the power of Reverse much like the dark red aura that was surrounding both the Selector and the LRIG. The Selector was now cringing from her foresight being affected by the power again and now skin was even beginning to flake from her right cheek. But the cardfighters, Tama, Yuzuki and Hitoe knew that all of this didn't seem to matter to Kuro in the slightest, with her seeing this as nothing more than minor inconveniences for her and simply the means to an end for this battle.

"You are a fool..."

The girl of black then stared on in disbelief to see Ashlei struggling back onto her knees as she spoke those words. She panted heavily, the memories of 'that time' and the pain from the previous attack having an effect on her composure and her mood to an extent.

"I can see it in your eyes," she spoke as she looked back at the LRIG "You may hold a strong front with your own will, the Reverse coursing through your veins. But, I can sense a great deal of hurt behind that determination. Believe me when I say that I have known this firsthand, Kuro."

"It hardly changes anything," Kuro replied "Very soon, you, Tama and the whole of the Planet Cray will be beneath me and Ruko. Even now, there is not a force on this world or any world that can stop us and I intend to see that there never will be."

Whilst Ruko had struggled to regain her foresight after the brief surge of Reverse that had gone through her, she looked towards Kai as if she was expecting him to already begin his turn. Needless to say, the Kagero user already knew this beforehand as he drew his single card, looking amongst the options in his hand and making a decision. He placed Servant O into his Ener Zone and looked towards the Selector with something in mind that he wanted to say to her and more specifically, the LRIG she had.

"A double-edged sword that restricts all of us in an attempt to Lock me and Aichi out from advancing," he murmured before looking over to Kuro. "Kuro, this is what you had in your mind." The girl of black said nothing in response as Tama looked back to Kai. "But even so, I will advance!"

He then took a single card from his white deck after moving all the only card left in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile whilst two cards from Aichi's Ener Zone moved to his own Trash Pile. Kai then held up the card he had chosen high into the air as a brilliant white light radiated both from it and Tama as she looked down upon it. Kuro could only stare towards the card that the Kagero user held and the moment she could somehow recall the light emitting from it, she could only clench her teeth in partial shock and annoyance.

"A pure white glow that emits through everything before you," he spoke "Descend now and illuminate our path to victory! Grow... the... LRIG!"

As Kai spoke those words out aloud, he threw the chosen card right on top of the card representing Tama's Shooting Star Miko form as it shone brightly in a blinding white glow. The same effect happened to Tama as she closed her eyes, her body being completely enveloped in that same blinding white light, making it difficult for anyone, with the exception of the Kagero user to see what was going on. In a few short moments, the LRIG reappeared with several red additions to her dress, her gloves, between one of her hair ribbons and on the metal that was now coating her feathered wings.

"Tamayorihime... Vermillion Miko!"

Tama floated down onto the 'ground' that was present on the field, now with determination and resolute confidence brimming in her eyes amongst her now serious expression, her gaze directed towards Kuro who could only clench her teeth in response. Even Ruko, who had refused to listen to her former LRIG and the cardfighter that was using her now couldn't help, but somewhat look more closely at her as memories beginning to flood back to the Selector about the times that she had spent with her. Even with the dark grip of Reverse eating away at her willpower by the second, there was something about Tama at this very moment, something that she felt that she couldn't ignore.

"So you've finally surpassed the strength you had before you came to Ruko," Kuro muttered "Even so, your efforts remain futile."

"Is that so?" Kai replied as he looked over to Aichi who nodded in agreement. "By borrowing 1 of Aichi's Ener, I use Tama's skill to add Rococo Boundary back to my LRIG deck!"

The ARTS then lifted itself up from his LRIG Trash pile before setting itself face down back on the top of the pile where his remaining white backed cards were placed for the moment. A SIGNI by the name of Energe, Original Spear then appeared in front of Tama as she took up a stance to prepare for battle as it stared on into Code Anti Vimana. Kai then searched through the remaining white backed cards that he had before picking one of them, causing the Servant O card in his Ener Zone to move to his Trash Pile.

"And finally, I use One Rule, Two Birds!" he called, revealing the red ARTS to all. Unbeknowst to Kuro and Ruko and almost everyone on the sidelines, something seemed quite different about this card in particular.

"So now you've restricted the cards that Ruko can guard with," Kuro murmured "Even so, putting that kind of card into a deck around Tama seems impractical even for your knowledge."

A fiery aura then surrounded Tama as she could feel the warmth of the flames coursing through her veins as she looked on towards the girl of black. Kai then turned his attention towards Vimana as he downed Energe's card.

"Energe attacks Vimana!" he declared.

The white SIGNI nodded to his command as she let out a battle cry and charged towards Vimana who decided to take a different approach to using her attacks. She manifested two small black spheres in the palms of both of her seperate hands and began volleying multiple shots of that shape towards Energe. Energe however leapt from side to side, occasionally parrying off some of the shots before coming in close and slashing down the front of Vimana with her spear. The black SIGNI then vanished from the field as the card representing her then moved to Ruko's Ener Zone as she looked back towards Tama. The fiery aura around her suddenly began to take on a form of its own.

The flames grew even taller as their shape began to change, seemingly taking on the shape of someone or rather, something. Something that was all too familiar to anyone who knew well of Kai and what was well asscociated with him. Within the haze of flames, an astral like figure, representing a well known Flame Dragon appeared in the vicinity of everyone within and watching the battle. Its loud roar was more than enough to grab their attention and for them to recognize almost immediately as to who appeared at this very moment.

"What the...?!" Kuro gasped in disbelief "Why is Dragonic Overlord...?!"

"That's right," Kai replied as he showed the full image of the ARTS, now with Dragonic Overlord imprinted on it instead of a different figure. "This copy of One Rule, Two Birds that I played now, is infused with Overlord's own will and power. With this, Tama and I will break on through to Ruko, with the apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

"Amazing..." murmured Aichi as he looked on at the sight beside him.

"To think they could harness Overlord's power through a card like that," said Ashlei.

The Jewel Knight then looked on at Tama and the figure of Overlord that was present throughout the flames. Everyone else on the sidelines however had no words to describe what they were seeing before their eyes. The fact that Kai had made it possible for a unit's power to be infused into an ARTS almost sounded like an impossibility, but then again, with the strange possibilities that arose throughout the Selector system and battles, there was no doubt that such a thing was possible. Kai then held his hand over Tama's card.

"Tama attacks Kuro!" he declared.

Ruko said nothing in response after briefly looking through her hand, upon seeing that she didn't have the necessary cards that she wanted to defend herself with. Tama flapped her wings and took flight towards Kuro as the fiery aura of Dragonic Overlord trailed behind her. Staring on into the fiery inferno that was coming her way, Kuro could only clench her teeth as she held out her spear in front of her in attempt to defend herself. Then in an instant, Tama's right fist became enveloped in a haze of flames as she let out a loud cry before uppercutting the girl of black from the front, causing her to drop her spear. After being knocking up into the air, Kuro could only stare into the face of Dragonic Overlord as it let out a roar before unleashing a torrent of crimson flames right at her, engulfing the LRIG and Ruko in an instant.

The Selector cried out loud as she shielded her face and the cards in her hand from the intense heat and force from Overlord's Eternal Flame as more images suddenly began to seemingly appear before her. As she was knocked into the air from the force of the attack, she began to recollect the memories that she was seeing at this very moment. First was the memory she recalled earlier in the day of her mother leaving her in the care of her grandmother, the pain of that event now having returned to her. Then, she remembered the first time that she met Tama when she had no basic idea of the Selector Battles. Next, she recalled the first times that she had met both Hitoe and Yuzuki before coming to terms with the consequences of the Selector Battles and finally, the battle that she and Hitoe had, before she confronted both Kuro and Ulith on that same evening, where everything went wrong.

When the final image had passed, she had landed on her back and was now lying down on the 'floor' of the space, struggling to process the memories that had just flashed before her as Kuro fell to her knees. She growled under her breath as she glared back at Tama and Dragonic Overlord, who vanished from the field now that Kai's turn had come to an end, along with the effect of the ARTS.

**End of Turn 14**

**Aichi and Kai vs Ruko**

**Hand - 1 : 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei : Tamayorihime, Vermillion Miko : Iona, Ultima/Maiden**

**SIGNI : Knight of Silence, Gallatin - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Energe, Original Spear - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 0 : 9**

As Ruko finally stood up onto her feet and got back to the table, she saw that Tama's attack on the previous turn had crushed Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter and Servant D2, neither of which had any Life Bursts. She then looked over towards Kai and Tama, wincing a little in pain from Reverse that was still attempting to consume her.

"Is Ru alright?!" cried Tama.

"Tsk... damn it...!"

The girl of white was surprised to hear Kuro respond instead, as she struggled back onto her feet. The previous attack had burnt her entire outfit, leaving scorch marks present on several patches and her already pitch black wings had now gone into a charcoal like shade of that colour, with several small cinders still burning as a result of Dragonic Overlord's Eternal Flame. She looked over towards Tama, her expression now a mix between annoyance and fury.

"You always had to be Mayu's favourite back then, didn't you?!" she snapped.

"Mayu's... favourite...?" the girl of white pondered in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ruko asked, a hint of curiosity and suspicion having now arose from hearing about this. Aichi, Ashlei and Kai along with everyone on the sidelines simply looked towards the girl of black in curiousity, having also wanted answers to Tama's involvement with the Selector Battles. Kuro simply closed her eyes, now feeling that this was the time to bring everything that she knew about the girl of white from the beginning.

"Before we were LRIGs," she began "We're not human to begin with. Back then, before the Selector Battles, we were nothing more than figments of Mayu's imagination. As you have already figured out, we were originally known as 'the girl of black' and 'the girl of white'. One the instrument of destruction and the other the instrument of rebirth. However, Mayu at that time lacked the means to bring the Selector Battles and everything she could possibly imagine to life in her own image. In that case, in order to bring the two of us to life along with the original LRIGs and the system that she dreamt up of so that she could inflict despair on the world outside her domain, a deal had to made. And the force that she made deal with... was the Void."

The moment that name had been spoken out, Aichi, Kai, Naoki, Leon, Ren and Ashlei could only stare at Kuro in utter shock. They were indeed curious as to how Mayu was able to even create the Selector Battles the moment that each of them learnt about them on their own occasions, but the last thing that all of them were expecting or even thinking of was the Void itself having a hand in it.

"As the girl of black," Kuro continued "It was mine and Shiro's role to keep the system in balance in order to ensure everything was going according to Mayu's absolute will. At the time, both of us were essentially on the same side, but as I noticed that Shiro got even stronger from her experiences, I grew envious of the power she possessed and sought to claim it as my own. When I noticed Shiro's sense of right and wrong begin to waver as time went on, her belief in that what Mayu was doing was wrong, I saw an opportunity arise to overthrow her and that was by staging a conflict between her and Chaos Breaker Dragon. I fought her myself after 'The Clown' had weakened her, but I completely underestimated her willpower and our battle was evenly matched. Eventually when we clashed for the last time, Shiro suddenly vanished and although my plan to take her power had failed, I originally thought that I had finally surpassed her with my only goal left being to become the ultimate LRIG or Selector with the ultimate partner. Of course, that was until the day that I first met Kominato Ruko."

Everyone remained silent as the girl of black eventually finished her tale of how she and Tama had come up through everything in their lives up to this point. Each of them were deep within their own thoughts on the matter as they tried to comprehend everything that they had been told about. The fact that the Void itself had aided Mayu in the creation of the Selector Battles, as well as both Kuro and Tama themselves was already a very disturbing fact in itself and the fact that it had been going on for a long while already meant that whatever plans that it had for this world were already well into fruition. Aichi looked over towards the girl of black, his expression having become somewhat infuriated from everything that he had just been told.

"You mean to say... that all of this time... even with Ruko being hurt by Reverse... you still see her as nothing more than a tool?!" he exclaimed.

"Ruko is no tool," Kuro replied, taking the Royal Paladin user aback somewhat "I simply want her to fulfill the role that I wish for her to accomplish. The superior Selector and the supreme LRIG, ruling over this unbalanced world side by side, fulfilling our own desires for battling as nothing more than equals."

"So in the end... you only seek power to achieve your goal," Kai muttered "And Ruko because of her natural skill and talent in the game of Wixoss was your perfect candidate."

"That is correct," the LRIG replied as she turned around to Ruko who had her head held down throughout the entire conversation. "Now then Kominato Ruko, take up the mantle that you were meant to possess, defeat Kai Toshiki, Sendou Aichi and Tama along with anyone who opposes us and fulfill your destiny! This world of Selectors, LRIGs and wishes is ours for the taking!"

"... No..."

Everyone looked over in surprise to hear the Selector's answer to Kuro's speech. The girl of black simply stared at Ruko in disbelief, unsure of what to make of the response that she had made just now.

"What did you just say?!" the LRIG demanded, clencing her right fist as she did so.

"You heard me... Kuro..." replied Ruko as she finally lifted her head up. "This wasn't what we agreed on."

"Ru..." murmured Tama.

"I only agreed to battle so that I could find a way to remove the Reverse that was trying to control me and so I could get to Mayu to try and convince her to stop all of this," she continued "But now that I've heard everything... I can see that this is wrong and that... I was wrong about Tama."

Whilst Kuro's expression changed from surprise to utter shock, Aichi, Yuzuki and Hitoe's eyes widened in surprise to see the sudden change in Ruko at this very moment. Even Kai was somewhat surprised that the Selector's mood had suddenly changed now that the truth about everything that was going on had been dropped out to everyone, including herself. Part of him, like everyone else was starting to feel that maybe, she was finally beginning to listen to reason that they had been trying to talk to her about from the start.

"Tama..." murmured Ruko, getting the girl of white's attention over towards the Selector as she did so. "I wanted to say that... I'm sorry... for being selfish on my own right."

"But... isn't Tama the one that should be sorry... for not following Ru's wish?" Tama asked in confusion. Ruko shook her head in response to the LRIG's answer.

"No..." she replied "Because... to tell you all the truth... at the time I was battling Kuro... whilst my wish remained the same to free everyone from the cards... I only thought about myself and how I only saw to end everything the way I wanted. I never took the time to understand how you, Yuzuki and Hitoe were feeling about everything at that time and that... I was too stubborn, even up to now to take a loss. Now that I think about it... even if I did make it to Mayu on my own whilst you were in my body... my plan wouldn't have worked."

"Ruko-san..." murmured Aichi.

"Aichi, Kai," Ruko spoke "If I now remembered... you said that Reverse would leave me if I were to lose to you. Right?"

"That's correct," Kai replied.

The Selector then nodded in agreement with the Kagero user's answer, having come down to the conclusion that she finally narrowed down her options to. Whilst Tama could only look on in wonder as to what Ruko planned to do next, Kuro's eyes suddenly widened in horror, having realized what the Selector was intending to do at this very moment in order to remove Reverse from both of them.

"You wouldn't dare!" the girl of black called.

"Kuro... this ends now," the Selector replied "I'm going to throw the battle to get rid of Reverse and save you two!"

"Then go for it," said Aichi.

Ruko nodded in agreement as she raised her whole right hand towards the top of the deck. Before she could place her entire palm over the face down pile of cards that lay in that spot on her table, a sudden surge of pain rushed through her as she cried out loud in agony before falling to her knees. Her hands instantly clutched her head as all the cards she held before that point suddenly dropped to the 'floor' of the space. As this happened, a voice suddenly boomed throughout the entire space to make itself known to everyone.

"This... I CANNOT ALLOW!"

Upon hearing and recognizing who that voice had belonged to, both Leon and Yuzuki suddenly shuddered for a brief moment, having realized who had decided to enter the battlefield and interrupt Ruko's surrender at this very moment.

"That's...!" the Aqua Force user gasped.

"It's her!" the LRIG concluded.

Everyone else with the exception of Kuro suddenly gasped in horror as the Reverse aura, now stronger than ever, was covering Ruko from head to toe and flowing even more furiously throughout her entire body. She tried to stand back up onto her own two feet, but the force of the cursed power had already caused her legs to give up on her completely.

"Ruko-san!" cried Aichi.

"Ruko!" called Yuzuki and Hitoe.

"Ru!" Tama called in desperation.

"Don't give in to it!" yelled Kai "Ruko!"

As Reverse continued to overpower the Selector, she screamed out even louder in pain as she tried to resist being controlled by the very power that infested her since the night of her final battle with Kuro. Two red markings began flashing on Ruko's flaked cheeks, just beneath her eyelids as the pain was becoming even more unbearable for her to handle all at once. Eventually, as her screams died down, she dropped unconscious onto the space, the aura now covering her entire body completely as the two markings beneath her eyelids finally materialized. Then, before anyone else could react, another aura of the same colour suddenly appeared just behind Ruko as another figure suddenly appeared before them. After several long moments, it faded out to reveal who the new arrival to the battlefield was.

"Who are you?!" demanded Ashlei as she clutched her sword tightly.

The figure, now in her full appearance simply opened her eyes, allowing both Leon and Yuzuki along with Tama to confirm their worst fears as to who exactly she was.

"I am... Mayu."


	37. Arc 2 - Ride 37: That Cursed Dominion IV

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Aichi, Ashlei and Kai could only look on towards Mayu as she stood above Ruko's unconscious body. All the while, the two cardfighters now knew that from what little information that had previously learned about through the Selector Battles and Yuzuki, that this was the mastermind behind everything that had transpired in the world they now stood in. They were now certain that this was the person responsible for imprisoning Takuto which resulted in Kai's abrupt summon into this same world and had employed the evil that remained in Link Joker and the Void itself to aid in her creation and oversight of the Selector Battles along with the Selectors and LRIGs themselves to a large extent.

"So you're..." Aichi murmured.

"Mayu..." Kai muttered.

"That is correct," she spoke as she turned her gaze upon the Royal Paladin user. "Sendou Aichi and Kai Toshiki, along with everyone else that is present in this very space... for most of you, we finally meet."

"That's Mayu?" Naoki pondered.

"The one behind all of our problems to be more exact!" Yuzuki replied, a hint of anger present in her voice.

Hitoe and Ren could look upon Mayu herself in curiousity, but the Shadow Paladin much like Leon, knowing that she was the mastermind responsible for practically everything that had occurred throughout the lives of the Selectors and LRIGs up to this point, shared a hint of disgust and anger having known about this as nothing more than an iron clad fact. Tama who had been more concerned about Ruko throughout the entire battle could only look upon her, a hint of fear having somewhat crawled up her spine as she had recalled briefly meeting with her both during and after the Selector's final confrontation with Kuro. Although she had felt thankful for Takuto's aid back in her efforts to escape the White Room, she had a feeling that her luck in staying outside of the mastermind's malevolent gaze had just run out.

Kai and Ashlei remained closely on their guard, bracing themselves for anything that could be considered for the worst to come from Mayu herself, now that she had decided to appear before all of them. Their concerns much like everyone else were also focused on Ruko, seeing that the power of Reverse had eventually managed to get the better of the Selector herself and could only wonder in worry as to what was to happen next when she would awake, under the influence of the evil that remained within Link Joker. Kuro who had now faced the mastermind after seeing Reverse consume her Selector, briefly bowed in the presence of Mayu's appearance.

"I see that you have indeed succeeded in carrying out the simple task I gave you Kuro," the mastermind spoke as her gaze was brought upon her.

"With Shiro's lack of her previous memories, acquiring Ruko as my 'Selector' was much simpler than I originally anticipated," the LRIG spoke as she briefly looked down upon Ruko. "Now then, shall we discuss our plans for having Ruko and myself conquering this world?"

Mayu then took several steps forwards towards the Selector's currently unconscious body as she looked upon her, before turning her gaze back to Kuro.

"You've earned your reward Kuro, in wanting Ruko reversed," she spoke "Though I can't imagine why you would want a Selector and yourself ruling over a pile of dust."

"Dust?" the girl of black murmured in confusion. The sudden possible meaning of Mayu's statement suddenly rang through everyone else's ears, as if they somewhat already knew what the mastermind was planning to say next. None were more uncertain than Kai, Tama and Aichi who could only feel tensed up as they were prepared to listen to her explanation.

"Whilst it is true that Kominato Ruko has proven to be the strongest Selector," she continued "Wearing her down with Reverse as I have previously bestowed upon you was part of your mission all along. Now, with the power that I have taken from Tatsunagi Takuto, I will claim her body as my own to enter the outside world to summon the Void there and bring it and everything there to an end!"

"What?!" Kuro gasped, now in complete disbelief as to what she was hearing.

"Then this never was about enslaving Ruko to Reverse," Leon murmured.

"All this time... Mayu was just looking to use her weakened self as vessel to expand her reign to the outside world!" Yuzuki muttered.

"And she was willing to use Kuro's own desire to be with Ruko to do so," Ren concluded.

"I am somewhat pleased your perceptiveness has not preceded my expectations," Mayu spoke in response as the crowd from the sidelines suddenly turned their attention back towards her "However, I can assure you that your 'friends' and the 'traitor' will not stand in my way."

The mastermind held out one hand over Ruko's body as an all too familiar dark purple suddenly surrounded them both as the Selector's motionless body suddenly lifted into the air until it was hovering just beside her. That aura was one that even Leon knew that he had been well acqainted with, having used it before when he had lost his way, but even so, something just felt different about it. Kuro who had been watching everything unfold before her eyes at this very moment couldn't help but feel angered at what was going on. All of this to her, just felt wrong in every sense of the word and the scenario in front of her.

Then, on top of Mayu's forehead appeared a dark red version of the forehead symbol that Takuto had whenever he had called upon his own powers, indicating that she was now putting those stolen powers to her own use. Holding out her right hand over Ruko's forehead, both figures were suddenly engulfed in a blinding glow as everyone present on the battlefield could only shield their eyes as they struggled to make out what was going on.

"Ruko!" Hitoe and Yuzuki called out.

"Ru!" cried Tama as she tried to make out what little she could see throughout the brightness.

But everyone's cries towards the Selector in question had proven to no avail as the blinding light finally died down to reveal the body of the Selector standing in front of her table, the cards she had previously dropped now back in her left hand. The Reverse markings that were beneath her eyes appeared to be two sharp curves, jutting out from beneath the lower eyelids and on her forehead, appeared the dark red Takuto forehead marking that Mayu previously had, along with an addition dark red line on either side of said marking. Breathing could then be heard from Ruko's lips as Tama looked on nervously in worry.

"Ru...?" she murmured nervously.

"Right now, that's not Ruko," Kai interrupted as he looked onwards.

In precisely two seconds, everyone had gotten their answer as Ruko's eyes opened up to reveal that instead of their dark brown shade, a much lighter shade had instead taken their place. The voice that then spoke out, had all but confirmed their fears.

"Precisely," said Mayu, her voice now overlapping Ruko's as she spoke out through the Selector's lips.

* * *

**...**

Umr remained motionless with her eyes closed within the dreamscape that she inhabited, otherwise the domain that was known only to the Star-vaders, Mayu herself and to even fewer as Project: Locked Soul. She however was not alone within the empty existence that had surrounded her from head to toe. With her was the figure known as Tawil, evident by her pink hair and her clothing having somewhat polar opposite colours in contrast and with what appeared to be softer fabric rather than metal edges. All had remained silent as their bodies were covered in a strange white glow, presumably from some kind of strange effect from the machinery that was present inside Photon's lab.

From that alone, it would stand to reason that their actual physical bodies were actually contained inside of the giant cylinder that was in the center of that room. Suddenly, a familiar bright rainbow glow appeared inside of the empty existence, the sound of which had suddenly stirred Umr from her 'slumber' as she gazed into the direction of said glow. Then as it began to fade out, from within that same glow, emerged the figure of Tatsunagi Takuto as he looked upon both her and Tawil, who had also begun to stir from her 'sleep'. His striped forehead marking glowed a bright turqoise as his gold-yellow eyes held the rainbow aura of the power known only to him and some all too familiar cardfighters as PSY Qualia.

"Who... are you?" asked Umr.

"My name is Takuto," he answered "I don't know how long I will be able to stay in this space for, so I need you to listen carefully Umr. The same goes for you Tawil."

"You know my name...?" the pink haired girl murmured as she turned around to face him, her aqua blue eyes filled with both confusion and curiousity.

"That's right," Takuto replied "Right now, I'm communicating to you through my own PSY Qualia so the Star-vaders can't hear us, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep them fooled for. All I know for now is that Mayu and Photon has been trying to merge both of you into one being, completing Project: Locked Soul. For what purpose she intends to accomplish this way, I don't know."

Whilst Tawil could only remain confused as to why this was the apparent case for her and Umr, the other girl suddenly recalled something from his brief mention of his PSY Qualia, as if that had somehow rung a bell within her memory.

"Takuto..." she spoke "Do you know of... Sendou Aichi?"

"What...? How is it you know of him?" asked Takuto.

"His PSY Qualia..." Umr answered "That was how I met him..."

The Cray being was almost speechless in regards to her explanation, having not been aware of Aichi's previous confrontation with Ulith beforehand or of the events that had transpired in that conflict. Holding one hand to his chin to think over the current scenario and how little time that he had, he looked forward towards Umr, as did Tawil who had her own curiousity raised from this revealation.

"Please tell me everything that the two of you have been through and quickly," he spoke "Right now, I can sense the dark forces from where my physical self is are beginning to grow suspicious."

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Everyone could only look upon Mayu now that she had taken control of Ruko's body, her lips having pursed a somewhat malevolent smile as she gazed upon the Selector's current opponents that were standing in front of her. None were more shocked at this turn of events however than Ruko's own closest friends, Tama, Kai, Aichi, Ashlei and even Kuro. The girl of black's expression alone was enough for anyone to tell that this was not the way that she had intended or even wanted things to go and that she had no intention of standing for this any longer. Walking over to her spear that she had previously dropped from being hit by Tama and Dragonic Overlord's previous combined attack, she glared over towards the mastermind of the Selector Battles, having had enough with what had happened thus far.

"You... you lied to me!" she yelled.

Letting out a fierce battle cry, she clutched ahold of her weapon tightly and took flight with her singed black wings into the air. Before Tama or Ashlei even had a chance to warn the LRIG as they could only watch on, Mayu raised Ruko's right hand in response to the girl of black's attack, almost in a claw like motion. Then before Kuro had even realized in her fit of rage, her body had suddenly frozen in mid dive against her own will, the tip of her spear having only been a few inches away from Mayu herself.

"So it would seem my presumption from before was correct," the mastermind spoke as her body eminated a dark purple aura, indicating the presence of the Void's power. "I knew your own deception would soon follow suit from Shiro's actions to 'save' you back then."

"What are you talking about?!" Kuro demanded, being barely able to move her lips through the paralysis "I wanted to have a world where Ruko and I could battle forever to our hearts content, not destroy it and everyone on it! Reversing her was only supposed to increase her power, not turn her into your own personal vessel!"

"I'm simply referring to the time where you orchaestrated your little confrontation between Shiro and 'The Clown," Mayu answered "Of course, in regards to the events leading up to that, this isn't the first time that I took account of your own treachery."

Whilst the girl of black could only widen her eyes into the mastermind's own knowledge of the events leading up to that battle, both Aichi and Kai could only glance at Mayu, now curious about this 'treachery' that she was now speaking of.

"What do you mean?" the Royal Paladin user asked.

"I'm referring to how she had instigated Shiro's conflict with Chaos Breaker," the mastermind answered "Whilst the end result was the truth from which she spoke, the escalation between her and the girl of white was not as she had previously told you."

"H... How did you...?!" Kuro gasped.

"Did you think I was blind to not observe everything that had happened back then?" Mayu interrupted "I know a while before that 'incident' that you took something from Photon's lab, that something being a collected sample of a certain Abyss Dragon's malice that was taken from the Planet Cray in a previous skirmish, that you later donned as 'your own power' for your clash with Shiro which eventually resulted in her becoming Tama and your case, a complete monster. Albeit temporarily of course."

The girl of black suddenly froze up when those details had suddenly been brought to light, a hint of horror and shock having become present on her face as she could only stare on towards the eyes of the mastermind, now in the possession of Ruko's body. Tama who had been listening to every word of the conversation suddenly clutched her head in pain as everything started coming back to her. More memories began to flash before her eyes as she slowly began to recall every single detail that had occurred at 'that moment'.

**Flashback**

Tama, known as Shiro back then, panted as she clutched ahold of her trident tightly, staring into the malevolent gaze of Chaos Breaker Dragon. The Clown had clutched his scythe in its left claw and didn't seem to have even worn down by even one bit throughout their fight, having not even resorted to using the power of Lock at this point in time. Alongside him from a distance, Photon had been observing the clash between one of the commanders of the Star-vader armada and the girl of white as they battled onwards with neither giving an inch in their struggle.

"Giving up at this point would be most appropriate Shiro," Chaos Breaker spoke, his tone seeming somewhat playful at first. "It is clear that your heart has strayed in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Shiro won't give up!" she replied, panting for a brief moment. "Shiro thinks this is all wrong! Shiro thinks that hurting people isn't right!"

"Come now," the Clown replied "You are aware of the purpose that Mayu had assigned you with and you wouldn't even exist within the confines of reality, had it not been for my creation of your physical form. In a sense, if it had not been for me, you and Kuro would never have even been born."

The girl of white simply grimaced and bitterly clenched her teeth, having been well aware of that throughout her whole life as an LRIG that what Chaos Breaker said was indeed true and nothing more than simply an iron clad fact that she could not dismiss. Before she could make a move to resume the fight between them, she could suddenly hear footsteps from in front as she looked onwards to see Kuro coming into view from behind. She smiled as she looked up to the Clown after approaching the pair and Shiro.

"I appreciate the effort of trying to sway Shiro back to the right," she spoke "But I already know that she is simply beyond saving and that her role is best suited alongside my own from one being."

"What is the meaning of this Kuro?" Photon asked, leaping into view upon noticing her presence.

"I'm simply suggesting that our girl of white is beyond reason," the girl of black replied "And that it would be of my best interest to eliminate her personally. If you two wouldn't mind backing off, I would like to settle my final score with her."

The Clown and Photon simply exhanged somewhat confused glances with one another, uncertain of this turn of events and why Kuro had it her own agenda to 'settle the score' as she had bluntly put it. Eventually after much silence, the smaller Cyberoid then looked back to the girl of black.

"Very well then," he spoke "I shall grant permission for you to settle this debate, but we want Shiro back with Mayu alive. Is that to be understood?"

"But of course," Kuro replied "We wouldn't want to have any... unfortunate outcomes."

The Cyberoid along with Chaos Breaker Dragon then left the two LRIGs to themselves whilst Shiro could only watch on as Kuro suddenly drew out her spear, preparing for battle as she did so.

**Present**

The moment Tama had finally relived through more of those memories, she had finally opened her eyes, looking around all of her surroundings to regain her perception of reality. She turned around to see Kai whose expression showed a serious gaze upon her, part of which was mostly directed towards Mayu. Then the girl of white turned to see Aichi and Ashlei who seemed somewhat concerned with the way that she was holding up, the Royal Paladin seemingly more concerned from noticing her relive more of her memories earlier in the day and in his previous battle with Ulith.

"Are you alright Tama?!" he called.

"... Tama thinks so..." she replied as she looked back towards Kuro and Mayu, now prepared to resume the confrontation.

"So it would some Photon's assumptions were indeed correct about you Shiro," the mastermind spoke "You were meant to play the role of the 'good girl' in the Selector System and yet your heart strayed from that goal and sided with the outside world!"

"Tama never agreed with the Selector System!" the girl of white called "Tama believes in Tama's friends! They understand Tama and everything Ru has been through!" She then held out her hand backwards towards Kai and Aichi before moving it to the crowd on the sidelines to make her point clear to her opposition. The mere thought of hearing the LRIG's opinion was enough to warm both Yuzuki and Hitoe's hearts, having been more acqainted with her than the cardfighters around them.

"... Friends..." Kuro muttered bitterly as she gazed down to the 'floor' of the space.  _I've heard Ruko mutter that countless times. I always thought it was nothing more than a shackle, a poor excuse for a notable weakness. But... is that why Shiro was always stronger than me? Because she thought about what was right from her time in the outside world?_

"Now then..." Mayu spoke, interrupting the girl of black's thoughts and releasing her from her grip. "Now that I have taken Ruko's body as my own, I believe it is time that we finish this little game."

"Very well then," Kai replied "If Aichi and I continue onwards and win, you must release Ruko from your grip and Reverse altogether!"

"Mayu, our bonds will break through to our comrade!" Aichi called as he looked on towards the body of the Selector, feeling concerned for her well-being.  _Ruko-san, hang in there!_

The mastermind simply closed Ruko's eyes and let out a smile that seemed to be somewhere between the lines of banevolent and malicious as she held out her hand over Ruko's LRIG deck, materializing more cards that suddenly appeared face down in the pile, much to the shock of everyone else. She then opened her eyes and gazed back towards both Kai and Aichi, prepared to resume the battle by drawing a single card to begin her turn. Looking over the cards in her hand and her Ener Zone, she simply held out a hand towards the LRIG space.

"For the first round of our little game," she spoke "I think it's time that I showed to you the true form of the girl of black or in other words... the complete monster that lies within!"

Before Kuro could even reply somewhat in protest, a dark purplish aura suddenly mixed itself with the Reverse aura that had already been present ever since the battle had entered part of its earlier phases, when Ruko was still in control. She suddenly fell to her knees, clutching herself in pain as some of the veins in her arms suddenly bolded themselves out. The girl of black was starting to feel uneasy from not just her suspicions, but from within her own body as something felt rather off at this very point before the irises in her eyes shrunk by a significant amount, causing her to scream loudly in the result. Everyone else with the exception of Mayu gasped in horror as they saw what exactly was unfolding before her.

"W... What are you doing?!" Kuro cried as the gloves surrounding her fists suddenly ripped themselves apart as a result of the power from the addditional aura.

"I'm simply awakening the true form that you had donned upon yourself back then," Mayu answered "Only back then when it was beyond your control, this time with the restraint of the Void, you and it are under my complete control!"

"Stop Mayu!" Tama cried "Kuro never liked this when it happened before!"

The mastermind however ingnored the girl of white's pleas as she continued to force the power of the Void through Kuro, resulting in her screaming even louder as her wings suddenly fused to her back, changing their appearance from feathered and singed to more organic and from some perspectives, more fiendish. Then a giant dark black flame engulfed the girl of black resulting in her being completely obscured from sight as her cries slowly died out upon being covered up.

"The true heart of black with the unstable power that has now changed you," Mayu spoke "Show your true ugly self before the presence of everyone and swallow up their hopes and dreams in absolute despair and agony! Reveal the true malice within!"

At first, all seemed silent as the black flames near the mastermind's end of the battlefield simply grew even large to accomodate what was about to appear before them. Then, what had sounded next had practically all but confirmed their fears. An unnatural growl of some kind eminated from the dark fire, mortifying Tama as she stared at the shadow of what was within had begun to reveal itself. Then the flames from the outside, slowly revealing the outer edges of what had become of Kuro. First were the large organic crimson red wings that were spread out much like the original feathered wings. Next were what were supposed to be her arms, now completely changed into razor sharp claws with the nails adorned as a dull gold colour and the colour of the partially bulky arms being dark grey.

Then, the lower end of the black fire vanished to reveal the feet of the LRIG, indicating that her boots had been destroyed in the process and that they had grown in size, to the point where they could no longer be considered as human like feet, indicated by the fact that the nails had indeed becomes the actual toes. The flames moved upwards slowly to reveal the changed upper legs, the torso which seemed to indicate that the outfit there had changed into black armour of some kind. Then to the surprise of everyone else with the exception of Tama and Mayu, a long tail of some kind was appeared to be attached to the back of the lower body before the last of the flames disappeared to reveal the head and the rest of the upper body. To the horror of everyone but the mastermind, they could now see what she had meant when Kuro had once before became a monster for her apparent treachery from before as recently told.

The head had confirmed that for everyone to see that it was no longer 'human' or LRIG, but rather draconic from the small wings that had grown out from in front of the now pointy ears, it still retained Kuro's hair and single piece of cloth running through it, though it was now attached to a small and slended horn in the center. The eyes opened up to reveal that they were still the girl of black's but with the iris completely absent leaving them blank and her jaw had become much longer to accomodate the complete change to her body. The only unchanged feature was the black ring behind her back which then suddenly sprouted out dark red chains that wrapped around the arms, legs and the head to keep the changed girl of black restrained as it cried out fiercely.

"No way..." Yuzuki murmured upon looking at what she was now seeing.

"What the hell is that thing...?!" gasped Naoki.

"It's not what it is," Ren murmured "It's who it is."

Mayu gazed upon Kai and Aichi before looking over to the group on the sidelines, notifiying their horrified expressions as she proceeded to speak out the name of the 'thing' that stood before them.

"Яe-Birth Kuro... Berserk Draconis!"

Kuro, now completely changed could only let out a fierce roar in the direction of her opponents under the strain that she was put under from the transformation to the 'monster' that Mayu had described earlier. The force of the roar was strong enough to create a gale force wind that made everyone present, even those on the sidelines struggle to stay on their feet. Then before Tama and Kai knew it as they looked up, they could see Energe suddenly vanish from the battlefield in a dark black aura which then struck the girl of white head on with the force of the blast suddenly knocking one of the Kagero user's Life Cloths face up to reveal Hastall, Medium Spear as he could only clench his teeth.

"This is...!" he muttered.

Before Aichi could make a response, Kuro turned the attention of her gale force 'attack' his way as Gallatin suffered the same fate as Energe, vanishing from the field as a dark purple struck Ashlei head on, causing her to scream loudly in pain. Like Kai, the Royal Paladin user had one of his Life Cloths crushed too, this one being God Eater, Ultimate Sword however, with no Life Burst to aid him in this dire situation.

"Since I have brought out Berserk Draconis over the Ultima/Maiden form," Mayu interrupted "Every SIGNI on the field is banished and each player is dealt one damage for each SIGNI banished this way."

"Then we ended up being damaged because of Gallatin..." Ashlei murmured.

"Kai-kun, Tama, are you alright?!" cried Aichi.

"I'm alright..." he replied as he stood back firmly onto his feet, the earlier gale having now died down completely. Tama nodded as she managed to regain her footing with the help of her wings.

"Thanks to the extra restraints that I had placed on Kuro in this appearance," the mastermind continued "I'm not permitted to attack your LRIGs directly this turn because this effect went off. However, since Ultima/Maiden is no longer present, I can build up my defence. Observe!"

Mayu then proceeded to summon out Code Maze, Triumph to the center along with two Freezing Revengers to either side of the SIGNI. The units and the White SIGNI looked behind them towards Berserk Draconis and could only shiver in fear from having to fight alongside it in its presence. Tama could only stare towards the head of the 'monster' before her and also tremble slightly, also recalling a similar feeling from before at that time. She then looked forward to see Mayu turn her gaze upon her and Kai who could only brace himself for the worst. The mastermind then snapped her fingers for the signal to be given out.

"Kuro, attack Shiro and instill the fear she felt when she had faced you long ago!" she declared.

Suddenly, Kuro's eyes changed from a blank expression to a more primal appearance as she then roared out loudly before taking flight and swiftly charging forwards towards the girl of white. Tama upon noticing that the girl of white in her current state was coming straight for her turned around and tried to run away as fast as she could. Berserk Draconis' right knuckle began to gain a dark blackish aura as she reeled it back and prepared to strike.

"Now suffer for your own treachery to the Selector System and my ideal!" Mayu called out loud "Absolute Dark Slash!"

Flexing out her claws in her right knuckle for a brief moment, Kuro slashed downwards with her right arm which summoned up five vertical purple beams that swiftly came up towards Tama who looked back and gasped to see that there was no way that she could outrun them. The middle three beams came into contact and forcefully pushed her down the battlefield and straight towards where Kai was standing. The attack pushed the girl of white straight into the table as they eventually detonated in a large explosion that was enough to knock her and even the Kagero user high into the air as they cried out loud in pain. Whilst the LRIG landed on her front, Kai fell backwards and landed straight on his back, grimacing in pain.

"Kai-kun!" cried Aichi.

"Tama!" cried Hitoe and Yuzuki.

Kai winced as he struggled back onto his feet and over towards the table, just in time to see Tama get up onto her knees. He looked to his Ener Zone to see that Kuro's attack just now had crushed Arc Aura, the Life Burst being completely useless as she had already battled this turn and that the ability for the moment prevented Mayu's other SIGNI from waging direct attacks. He glared towards Mayu as her calm and somewhat sadistic smile remained on Ruko's lips.

"I think you two have suffered enough for now," she spoke, indicating the end of her turn as the chains attached to the black ring forcefully reeled Kuro back to her side of the field.

**End of Turn 15**

**Aichi and Kai vs Mayu**

**Hand - 1 : 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 3 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei : Tamayorihime, Vermillion Miko :** **Яe-birth Kuro, Berserk Draconis**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Freezing Revenger - Code Maze Triumph - Freezing Revenger**

**Ener - 3 : 3 : 9**

Aichi took several deep breaths to keep his composure under control, still somewhat amazed by the sheer power that Kuro had demonstrated after she had forcefully undergone this transformation against her will. Then as if his eyes were decieving him, he stared at the head of Berserk Draconis, noticing that the eyes had indeed reverted back to their original blank state and from them, he could see what appeared to be tears dropping out from them.

"Kuro's... crying..." he murmured.

"Sendou."

The Royal Paladin user then turned his attention towards Ashlei as did she to him. Her expression was enough to tell that she was serious in what she wanted to say to him.

"I understand how you see the situation," she spoke "But right now, unless we defeat Kuro, there is no stopping Mayu from entering the outside world in Ruko's body. You already know that and so would Blaster Blade."

"Yes," he replied as he looked forwards towards Mayu. Keeping his determined gaze upon the mastermind of the Selector Battles, he begun his turn by finally drawing two cards now that the limiting presence of Ultima/Maiden was no longer around to hinder him or Kai. Looking over his hand, he decided Ener Charging would not be worth it for the moment and held his hand over towards the LRIG space.

"The proud, prideful white wings! Give me the power I need to help the people I care about!" he called "Break Grow!"

Ashlei closed her eyes as her body radiated in a blinding bright white light, obscuring her as she vanished from the battlefield to make way for the new arrival to the battlefield. A loud "Neigh!" was heard as the light faded out to reveal a knight in gleaming silver armour riding on top of a pegasus that flapped its wings to allow them to land safely on the 'ground' of the space. He wore a helmet with a pegasus ornament of some kind on the top, bore three light bluish orbs on his chest armour with patterns of the same colour, wielded a long shining sword in his right hand as his left grasped ahold of the reigns and wore a black cape that was red underneath. The knight himself had dullish coloured hair and greyish eyes as he looked on towards the adversary he needed to face.

"Solitary Knight, Gancelot!"

"Gancelot?" Yuzuki murmured, having not seen this Royal Paladin unit before.

"It must be one of the units he got from Kai when we left Card Luck," Hitoe concluded.

"Take it to 'em Aichi!" Naoki called "We're right behind you!"

The Royal Paladin user nodded in agreement as he then turned forwards to face Mayu again.

"With Ashlei's Break Grow skill," he explained "Gancelot's Level becomes 4 and his Limit increases to 11. In addition, he gains Double Crush until the end of the turn."

"I must say, for such high effort I'm not the least bit impressed, Sendou Aichi," Mayu replied as she gazed over the cards in her hand briefly, seemingly unfazed by the situation.

The Royal Paladin user took no notice of her remark and immediately summoned both Axe, Large Breaker along with both God Eater, Ultimate Sword and Knight of the Explosive Flames, Palamedes, both of whom stood ready as they stared down towards the SIGNI and the Shadow Paladin units that lay before them, right in front of Kuro.

"Everyone, I need your help to defeat Mayu," he spoke "I believe we can save both Kuro and Ruko-san if we all do our best to help Kai and Tama in their struggle."

"You have my support, my Vanguard," Gancelot replied "Give us your command when you're ready."

"Right!" Aichi answered in acknowledgement. But before he could make a move, Mayu simply gazed towards her LRIG deck.

"I'll use another copy of Dark Matter that Ruko had generously left over," she spoke as she paid the cost and revealed the second copy of the ARTS to all.

Aichi could only clench his teeth as he knew that he had to pick a SIGNI to send to his Trash Pile before the mastermind could do the same for her side of the field, though part of him was thankful that her field wasn't empty for her to regain a Life Cloth. Sighing, he placed Axe's card into his Trash Pile, the SIGNI suddenly vanishing from his side of the field, much to her sudden confusion and shock as she immediately disappeared in a dark black aura. Mayu simply sent Code Maze Triumph to her Trash Pile, not concerned in the slightest as the Royal Paladin user then turned his attention back to her.

"Palamedes and God Eater attack your SIGNI!" he called.

The white SIGNI and the Royal Paladin unit nodded in agreement as they leaped into the air, the Swordsman of the Explosive Flames briefly powering up due to the high levels of both God Eater and Gancelot at this very moment. They slashed down both of the remaining Freezing Revengers as they vanished from the battlefield in the result as Gancelot prepared his pegasus to take flight.

"Gancelot!" Aichi declared.

"Mac Lir," Mayu responded as she revealed the Shadow Paladin unit from her hand.

As Gancelot's pegasus made a running start to soar across the space towards Berserk Draconis, Mac Lir appeared in front to intercept both the steed and its rider. The Solitary Knight slashed past the Shadow Paladin unit with little effort, but had to stop his pegasus immediately to avoid being slashed by Kuro's right claw as she roared loudly upon doing so. He gritted his teeth and retreated back to Aichi's side of the field. The Royal Paladin user then looked over towards Mayu.

"Mayu, what were you wanting to do with the Selector Battles?!" he asked "Why is it that you're not concerned that everyone involved is getting hurt?!"

"You haven't already figured it out?" she replied "It's because the outside world is an ugly place, where only lies and deceit lurk in the darkness. Just look at Kuro for example at this point in time. Right now, her appearance of this repulsive dragon represents the deceit that she intended to use upon me and the Selector Battles to fulfill her own selfish desires, much like how you humans use each other for your own gain. That's why I decided to base it around the concept of wishes in the first place."

"I find that rather hard to believe," Kai spoke out.

"What?" Mayu pondered in confusion.

"For someone who claims to have created these battles to torment those with dark desires," he continued "I can hardly see the right in your actions for consulting the Void and harming innocent people, whether you're even aware of that or not. Whilst it is true Kuro had become the way she was from her desire to surpass Tama, even Aichi was aware that she only did because she believed that you wanted a world where she could freely battle and not be concerned of the consequences. The girl of black may have been in the wrong before this turn of events, but even now, I can understand that her 'care' for Ruko was at least genuine to an extent."

Mayu simply huffed under her breath as she glared over towards the Kagero user.

"You have a bold way with words Toshiki," she spoke "But... I will personally see to it that they will be the downfall of you, Sendou Aichi and the whole of the outside world!"

As Ruko's body had the aura of the Void and Reverse flow through it even more, the two cardfighters, the girl of white and the Solitary Knight looked at one another and nodded in agreement, that they would all fight to the bitter end, to save the Selector they cared about along with the girl of black, to free her from the curse that she was placed under. Speaking of whom, Kuro under her Berserk Draconis influence roared loudly to signal the fact that the battle from here on in was going to get even rougher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Solitary Knight, Gancelot**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 2 White  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Royal Paladin  
> [Action] Pay 2 White: If you have a card named “Blaster Blade” beneath this card, you may pay the cost. If you do, this LRIG gains Double Crush until end of turn.
> 
>  **Revenger, Bloodmaster**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Demon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Black: Crush one of your Life Cloths, then draw 2 cards. You cannot activate any Life Bursts from a Life Cloth you crush with this effect.


	38. Arc 2 - Ride 38: That Cursed Dominion V

**_Nearly two weeks ago..._ **

Kuro and Shiro stood on opposite ends of the space, now prepared for battle as they clutched ahold of their weapons tightly whilst both Photon and Chaos Breaker Dragon had remained out of range, to observe what would unfold from this confrontation. When the long drawn out silence had eventually passed, the girls of white and black let out loud battle cries before charging at one another. The tip of their respective spear and trident clashed against one another the moment that both of the LRIGs had taken their first swing of their weapons at each other. Both of their determined expressions were enough to indicate that at this time, they were going all out to overpower the opponent in front of them. Kuro to prove her own superiority over the girl of white and Shiro in an effort to knock some sense into the girl of black.

The two of them continued to clash for many minutes, the unwavering gaze of both the Cyberoid and the Clown from the sidelines having not fazed either one of them in the slightest, though Shiro knew that she couldn't be complacent, having known that her opposing opinion of the matter of the Selector System had meant her also going into opposition against the Star-vaders themselves. Eventually, as the confrontation drew out for even longer, the two LRIGs were panting with several slash marks having gone across both Shiro's dress and Kuro's outfit in addition to the scratch markings that were notably present. Before Photon could move in to end the battle himself, he suddenly saw Kuro point her spear in his direction.

"Back off!" the girl of black called "This fight is mine to finish alone!"

The Cyberoid remained simply motionless in response before taking a step backwards for the battle to resume its course. Kuro gazed towards Shiro who had by then had regained both her breath and composure.

"Kuro doesn't need to fight!" the girl of white called "Shiro just wants to tell Kuro that what Shiro and Kuro are doing is..."

"Enough!" Kuro responded "You always had to be Mayu's favourite in the Selector Battles, even when you're about to commit treason to her ideal at this very moment! But on this very day, all of that will finally change!"

Shiro did not respond as she looked on at the girl of black as she threw her spear to the ground and reached out to behind her back before pulling out a strange object into the view of everyone. It appeared to be a rather large dull golden spike of some kind, the jagged bottom indicating that it was torn off of some kind of creature. Upon seeing the object in Kuro's hands, Photon's expression from his lips alone could only change to shock.

"When did you steal that from my lab?!" the Cyberoid demanded.

"I sincerely apologize for taking this without your permission, Photon," Kuro replied "But I can sense incredible power from this spike that I hold. I overheard that your forces had gotten this off an Abyss Dragon in a previous skirmish, but this alone still contains the dark power that it wielded."

Before Photon, Chaos Breaker or even Shiro could make a move or even respond to this sudden revealation, the girl of black immediately proceeded to crush the spike in her right hand, shattering it into dust and causing a black aura to spread across her body. Looking back at the girl of white, her expression suddenly darkened along with her smile as she felt the rush of dark energy coursing through her veins.

"Symbosis...!" Kuro called out loud "I can feel the malice of this power!"

"Kuro..." murmured Shiro as she stared on in shock.

"You are now beneath me, girl of white!" the girl of black continued as she walked forwards, the black aura now flowing furiously across her body "Now witness as I finally claim that which is rightfully..."

Before Kuro could finish her speech, she felt a sudden throb which caused her to fall to her knees and clutch her stomach in pain, a hint of agony now present in her eyes as she struggled to breathe. Shiro gasped and looked at the girl of black, noticing that her irises had shrunk significantally in response to this sudden turn of events whilst Chaos Breaker and Photon simply stared, remaining somewhat motionless as to what was happening to the LRIG by this point. Kuro looked down to her hands to see her gloves rip themselves apart as a result of the sudden surge of energy, her veins having become somewhat bolded out and the wings behind her fusing straight to her back.

"What... is this?!" she coughed out before screaming as the energy that had consumed her now obscured her from outside view completely.

At first, all remained silent as no one knew what to expect from what had happened to the girl of black at this time. Then, their answer came as an unnatural loud roar sounded out from the black flame in front of them, before Kuro in her now changed appearance, which would later be known in the present day as Berserk Draconis, leaped straight out of the fire towards both a horrified and startled Shiro as she immediately slashed down on the girl of white, knocking her backwards across the field onto her back and tearing up a bit of her dress in the result. The girl of black's appearance was roughly the same as it would later appear to be in the present, only there was a lack of a black ring with the additional chains, leaving no means of restraining her uncontrollable rampage and the fact that her eyes were already in a primal like state had already been an indicator of that fact.

* * *

_**Present Day** _

**Link Joker Fight Field**

And indeed, it was a fact that had remained to this day as Tama stared on towards Kuro and Mayu, having now realized that the mastermind was now capable of restraining the mutated girl of black, bending her otherwise uncontrollable state to her will so that she could not stand against her or do anything to free Ruko from her clutches. The girl of white could only look on at Aichi in worry, knowing that his previous turn hadn't done much to reduce her defences in getting through to both the Selector or her current LRIG. As Kai could clench his teeth, knowing the Royal Paladin user had to brace himself for the coming wave of attacks, Mayu begun her turn by drawing more cards and looking towards the pair of cardfighters.

"I somewhat commend you for your brave front, but your hope has finally faded," she spoke, her gaze turning upon Aichi "Now allow me to show you, that your bravery alone means nothing in my domain! Summon!"

Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter appeared to the left of Kuro before she then blew into her trumpeter, indicating that her skill was being used at this very moment as Freezing Revenger then appeared to the changed girl of black's far right. Then in the center of the SIGNI lineup, a new Revenger suddenly appeared onto the battlefield, one that even had Naoki and Leon somewhat perplexed whilst Yuzuki and Hitoe could only stare on in wonder as to what it was.

"Anyone know who that is?" the LRIG asked.

"Bloodmaster," Ren answered "And if we're looking at the remaining Life Cloths Ruko previously had as a result of the Battle Royale, there's only one reason as to why Mayu would summon him."

"With Bloodmaster's skill," Mayu spoke, bringing everyone's attention back to her "I deal 1 damage to Kuro and draw 2 cards. Unfortunately, I cannot use any Life Bursts that I crush through this effect."

And indeed, that was the case. As her next Life Cloth flipped up and revealed itself to be Code Maze Skyju which moved to her Ener Zone, she drew an additional two cards as a result. Then all of a sudden, an electrical current of some kind, presumably from Bloodmaster's skill being used, surged across the chains that were keeping Kuro restrained and shocked the girl of black as she screeched out loudly in pain before her eyes reverted back to their previous primal state and she roared loudly in the direction of Aichi and Gancelot who could only stare on in shock as to what was happening before them. Mayu, seemingly not concerned with what had been happening continued onwards with her turn.

"Girl of black who has become the hideous monstrousity before us," she spoke "Unleash your fury upon those before you and bring them down to their fate! Limit Break!"

A black Vanguard circle with the hint of dark red to it, indicating that the aura of Reverse was still present throughout Kuro, flashed in front of Berserk Draconis as she roared loudly again in response to the effect now going off. Mayu held out her hand over all of the SIGNI that were present on her field as she gazed upon the card representing Revenger, Bloodmaster, smiling briefly as she did so.

"I Lock Bloodmaster and send two SIGNI to my Trash Pile!" she called.

As a pair of black rings then encircled the Revenger before locking him, the card turning face down as this happened, a sudden flash appeared in Kuro's primal eyes as she raised up her claws before slashing down upon the remaining two Revengers on the field, causing them to vanish in deathly like states much to the shock and horror of Tama who could only shiver at this point. The mastermind of the Selector Battles seemed far from done as Aichi kept his attention focused towards her as did Kai who couldn't help but wonder as to why Mayu would go as far as this to achieve her own ambition.

"I draw the top two cards of my deck and for each black card I get with a different name," she spoke, as the top two cards of her deck hovered up towards her, one at a time "One of my opponent's SIGNI is excluded. In other words, it becomes removed from play."

"Removed from play...?" Hitoe murmured.

"Then that means... Aichi won't be able to revive them or put them back into the deck for Legion!" Naoki exclaimed.

"But... there's still a chance she could end up drawing two of the same..." Yuzuki replied "We just have to hope the situation doesn't end up as bad for him."

The moment that the LRIG had finished speaking out loud, the cards that Mayu had drawn through the Limit Break revealed themselves to be Healing Revenger and Code Anti Vimana. She simply smiled as she added the cards to her hand before pointing in the direction of Aichi and Gancelot, the unit of whom could only clench his teeth as he gripped the reins of his pegasus tightly to prepare himself for the worst to come.

"Vanish!" she spoke as she then snapped her fingers.

Upon hearing the signal, Kuro roared loudly before opening up her jaw and unleashing a large black flame from her mouth that instantly consumed Aichi's side of the field, causing Palamedes and God Eater to cry out loudly in pain before they vanished from the field in a vortex of purple flames that erupted amongst the fire that was already present. Before the Royal Paladin user could react, he saw the cards that represented both the white SIGNI and the Royal Paladin unit hover into the air before being sucked into the vortex out on the field in front of him, indicating to him that the two cards were now 'excluded' as Mayu had put it, the purple flamed hole closing up only a few moments afterwards.

"Furthermore," the mastermind continued "Since I cleared your field and had 2 black cards with different names, Kuro is permitted to battle either Gancelot or Shiro twice this turn."

Immediately after she spoke, she summoned Code Maze Skyju and Vimana to the field, the two SIGNI taking up stances and preparing to strike at Gancelot whose grim expression had remained unchanged from the dire situation that he and Aichi were now faced with at this very moment, knowing that she could also go after Kai and Tama at any time she wished. Skyju gained a bright white aura to her as her own skill powered her up from Vimana's presence. To make matters worse for Aichi, he had no cards in his hand and only two Life Cloths which also made him easy prey for Mayu, now that Berserk Draconis had cleared his entire field. She turned her attention to the Royal Paladin user himself as he could only stare back towards her in response.

"Your determination is something that has intrigued me since I saw your battle with Ulith," she spoke "However in this scenario, I can assure you that even Umr won't appear to save you this time."

Upon hearing the girl's name being mentioned again, Aichi realized that this was a subject that he and everyone else around him still had very little answers to and this was perhaps the opportunity he needed to learn more about her. Little did he know was that the cardfighter that was fighting to save Ruko and Kuro alongside him had the exact same thoughts as he looked over towards Mayu.

"Mayu!" Kai called "Just who is Umr?!"

"Umr was originally meant to be the basis for the girl of black," she answered "But her self-awareness had resulted in her changing her mind on how she saw things and as such, I kept her within my domain."

"Then... is there...?" murmured Tama.

"That's correct," the mastermind replied "With her, there was one other that was also meant to be the basis for the girl of white, Tawil. Both of whom are now being useful after the previous setbacks in the completion and creation of Project: Locked Soul. I don't know how Aichi ended up coming into contact with Umr the night that I personally allowed Soryu Leon and the rest of you into 'my' world, but you will no longer interfere in the completion of what I will have in store for the outside world."

The Royal Paladin user could only remain silent upon hearing everything that Mayu had just told him about in regards to the origins of Umr and Tawil, the other girl of whom he had not come across before. The fact that she had mentioned they were the original basis for the girls of white and black and were now being put to use elsewhere could only make him wonder in concern. What was this Project: Locked Soul that she had spoken of? Why did it involve the two girls that were originally planned for the roles that were taken up by Tama and Kuro respectively? Out of the group that had traveled to this world with him, why was he the only one to come in contact with Umr? Thinking back over that time, Aichi suddenly realized as to why this was.

"Wait a second..." he murmured "Back at the teleporter, I was the only one who broke out of the trance needed to keep it activated. That must have been why I came into contact with Umr... otherwise Leon, Ren or even Naoki would have had a similar vision."

Turning his attention back towards Mayu, the Royal Paladin user knew that if he could not outlast the two attacks that would come his way, then one of Kuro's two attacks gained from her Limit Break would be enough to bring an end to the battle, leaving Kai and Tama all alone to fend for themselves. He also knew that the power Reverse was still coursing furiously through the girl of black, despite her appearance as Berserk Draconis as of now and given that he had been pushed into a situation like this from before, he knew that if it came to that, he would have to fight down to his hardest to restrain it. The mastermind smiled before pointing her hand in the direction of him.

"Skyju and Vimana, attack Gancelot!" she declared.

The white and black SIGNI held out their arms in front of them before launching two seperate beams of black and white energy which struck both Gancelot and his pegasus head on as Aichi shielded his face from the impact of the attacks as he looked to his last two Life Cloths entering his Ener Zone. The first one was Seeker, Tranquil Unicorn whilst the second revealed itself to be Seeker, Loving Healer as the card glowed to indicate the Life Burst going off. The top card of his deck moved to his Life Cloth zone as he looked on towards Kuro whose primal glare had not left her eyes since Mayu had shocked her from using Bloodmaster's skill to intentionally damage the girl of black so that her Limit Break could become active. A low growl sounded from the jaws of Berserk Draconis as the mastermind prepared to signal her next attack upon both the unit and the Royal Paladin user.

"Now then Kuro, release all of your fury upon Sendou Aichi as a reminder that nothing will overcome my will of the Selector System!" she called "Attack Gancelot! Singularity Flame!"

Kuro let out a loud roar before unleashing a large burst of purple fire from her jaws that rocketed towards Gancelot and Aichi who could only stare on at the attack that was about to strike both of them dead on. The fireball connected with the Royal Paladin unit and his winged steed who both cried out loud in pain as the attack detonated the moment it made contact, the blast immediately expanding to consume the cardfighter within its radius as he too also screamed out loud in pain. Everyone else with the exception of Mayu looked on towards the smoke, fearing the worst of what could have befallen Aichi by this point.

"AICHI!" cried Hitoe.

"Aichi!" called Kai, Naoki and Tama.

Whilst everyone else on the sidelines simply remained agape to what they had just witnessed, the smoke eventually cleared to reveal that the blast had been enough to ground Gancelot's pegasus who was on its side whilst the unit himself was on his back, struggling to get back up onto his knees, scorch marks and small bits of smoke having begun leaking from his armour and clothing from the heat of the flame. Aichi however seemed to be in just as much of a state as smoke was also pouring from certain patches on his jacket and trousers as he breathed heavily to recover his composure, wincing as he struggled to hold back a portion of Reverse that had briefly triggered the Seed fragment within him. His very last Life Cloth revealed itself to be Margal, allowing him to draw into another card. His expression remained unchanged as he looked at what he had happened to pull, leading to collective doubts between everyone else on the field.

"It appears your fate has been sealed Sendou," Mayu spoke "Savour the taste of agony and despair before you."

Aichi slowly breathed, coughing briefly to exhale any smoke from the previous attack that had ended up in his lungs. Kai, Tama and Gancelot could only look on at the Royal Paladin user in worry, but no one else was more concerned than Naoki and Hitoe. The Selector of whom seemed concerned about the way that he was holding up after Kuro's attack had damaged him as well, whispering to herself in concern and attracting Yuzuki's attention for a brief moment, unbeknowst to her.

"Aichi-kun..."

"What are you waiting for?" Mayu continued "Fall to your knees and grovel! Say that you wish for this suffering to end!"

"No."

The mastermind's expression changed from a dominant confident smile to dumbfounded confusion as Aichi raised his head, showing that his determination had not wavered in the slightest, despite being caught in the blast from Kuro's previous attack on Gancelot. The girl of black's eyes briefly reverted back to their original blank state as she stared on towards the Royal Paladin user.

"I won't give up," he spoke "Kai-kun and I have already come this far to save Ruko-san and I'm not going to turn back now. I know that he feels the same way, that's why he's been fighting alongside Tama throughout this battle."

"Why...?" Mayu muttered as she clenched her fist "Why do you still persist?! You have no Life Cloths left and Kuro can attack you once more! It's over for you! VANISH!"

Kuro roared loudly as she flapped her wings and took flight towards Gancelot and Aichi whose expressions remained resolute as the changed girl of black charged at them. Before she could slash away with her right fist, Flash Shield, Iseult suddenly appeared in front of the unit and his pegasus, deploying a shield from her right gauntlet to block the attack. Kuro roared in fury as she repeatedly smashed away at the barrier to which it had no effect as the chains bound around her limbs forcefully reeled her back to Mayu's side of the field. The mastermind looked on in utter shock before looking to her left to find her answer, seeing that it was Kai who had stepped in to guard for Gancelot, in turn saving Aichi from elimination from the battle.

"You...!" she growled "You couldn't have just left Sendou to his own fate and continue onwards on your own stead, could you?!"

"Mayu," Kai spoke "You have already forgotten one thing already. Aichi and I aren't fighting this battle alone on our own terms. Both of us have a common goal, shared by the Selector whose body you've seized control over."

"Tama agrees!" Tama called "All of us wanted to save Ru, that's we agreed to her challenge of a Battle Royale! And Tama also agrees with Yuzuki and everyone else that what Mayu is doing isn't right!"

The mastermind of the Selector Battles glared fiercly at the Kagero user and the girl of white, having not been pleased by their response to her 'reasoning' for him to leave Aichi 'to his fate' and huffed for a brief moment. The Lock that was present on Bloodmaster wore off, signalling the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 17**

**Aichi and Kai vs Mayu**

**Hand - 1 : 3 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Solitary Knight, Gancelot : Tamayorihime, Vermillion Miko :** **Яe-birth Kuro, Berserk Draconis**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Maze Skyju - Revenger, Bloodmaster - Code Anti Vimana**

**Ener - 6 : 3 : 6**

"... Well that took a few years off my life," Naoki murmured, sighing in relief at the turn of events.

"But... the situation is still grim..." Yuzuki spoke "Both of their fields are empty and with Berserk Draconis' Limit Break, Mayu can just go after Aichi again next turn."

Everyone else on the sidelines remained silent as they looked over to Kai who had begun his turn by drawing more cards from his deck and looking towards Tama, who nodded in agreement as if she had already known what he was planning for this turn.

"With Tama's skill," he spoke "I Exceed 1 and superior call another Energe from my deck!"

With a bright light surrounding her, the girl of white slashed downwards with one of the blades that she had carried and from the arc that was created, another Energe emerged, taking up a stance on the field as her card was placed on the far left SIGNI space. Then to the right side of her, appeared Mitsurugi, Treasure Tool followed by another Level 4 SIGNI by the name of Ronmail, Helmet Armour. The Level 3 SIGNI gained a bright white aura to her as Kai then discarded another copy of Ronmail from his hand before a file of light scanned through his deck and pulled out another copy of Flash Shield, Iseult, the Kagero user revealing it to Mayu before concealing it amongst the other cards that he had held in his hand.

The mastermind could only scowl at this turn of events, intially believing now that he was intentionally searching for Guard SIGNI that he could use to shield Aichi whenever she tried to attack him during the next turn. Kai looked forwards towards Tama who smiled in response, showing that she was determined to try and get through to Kuro if it had meant saving both the girl of black and Ruko from Mayu's clutches.

"Finally, I activate No Gain!" he called as he revealed the Spell from his hand as one card from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile. "For this turn, Tama and all of my SIGNI are immune to your ARTS! This effect will last until the end of your next turn, meaning you can only remove my SIGNI through battle, Spell or Berserk Draconis' Limit Break!"

"You...!" Mayu growled as she saw sparks flying from her LRIG deck, indicating that very statement happened to be fact.

"My SIGNI will battle your entire formation!" the Kagero user declared.

The three SIGNI nodded in response to Kai's command as they charged across the space and easily overpowered each of their opponents that were directly in front of them, with Energe pulling back Mitsurugi just in time to avoid being slashed by surprise from Kuro, whose eyes had still remained in their primal like state. The white SIGNI all retreated back to the Kagero user's side of the field as Tama clutched her spear in preparation for the next attack.

"Tama attacks Kuro!" Kai called.

The girl of white nodded in response and took flight on her wings, letting out a loud battle cry in the result as she charged towards Mayu who could only stare on angrily towards her before looking down at her hand, seeing that she did not have a single Guard SIGNI on hand to block this attack. Tama flew towards Kuro and opened her hands, materializing two blades of solid light which gained a bright white glow to them before she proceeded to slash down the front, creating two large scores across the body of Berserk Draconis. After leaping backwards, Tama watched on as the scores detonated in a brilliant explosion of light that blinded almost everyone present on the battlefield as Mayu shielded her eyes to avoid losing her sight.

Streams of green energy poured out of her back, indicating that the girl of white's attack just now had forced her to lose some of the power that she had taken from Takuto after she had imprisoned him in the White Room. As this was happening, her next Life Cloth revealed itself as Servant D2, the card entering her Ener Zone face up as the brightness had eventually died down. Kuro struggled back onto her feet as her eyes opened back up to reveal that they seemed almost 'normal', given that they weren't blank or even primal at this very moment. Tama and Kai noticed this as they looked on towards the girl of black as she gazed back at them.

"Tama... Kai... Toshiki..."

"Kuro..." Kai murmured, now realizing that she was trying to speak out to them.

"Save Ruko..." she spoke "Right now... I..."

In response, Mayu clutched her left fist tightly as the power of Reverse and the Void flowed through her once more, shocking Kuro in the result and reverting her eyes back to their primal state as she screeched loudly. The chains rattled loudly as the girl of black lashed out towards Tama, only for the shackles to have kept her back at this very moment. Aichi and Gancelot, who had managed to get back onto his pegasus, stared on in shock, wondering if the mastermind was even showing any concern in the way that she was 'restraining' the changed LRIG. Kai simply gritted his teeth as he looked forwards towards her.

"Mayu, the world outside your White Room isn't as black and white as you believe!" he called "There may be people that are despicable as you have stated, but that's no reason to destroy everyone with the aid of the Void! You should understand that!"

"Shut up!" she replied "Nonsense! Your words mean nothing to me or my ideal! Take a look at reality before you! Aichi has remained wide open throughout the course of this battle and once I have dealt with him, I will see to it that you and the traitor will suffer the same fate!"

Mayu drew her cards immediately to start her turn before summoning Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter, paying 1 black card from her Ener Zone to superior call a Healing Revenger from her deck straight onto her side of the field, followed by Code Maze Triumph who appeared in the center space. She turned her attention towards Kai, his serious gaze remaining unwavering as she held out her hand in front of her.

"Limit Break!" she called as three more cards moved from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile.

Two black rings appeared around Code Maze Triumph before she was immediately locked in an instant, her card flipping face down to indicate that as sparks flew off of the backing. Kuro then slashed through Dark Bond Trumpeter and Healing Revenger, sending them straight to her Trash Pile. The top two cards of the deck revealed themselves as Servant D2 and Hellrage Revenger, Quesal, much to her annoyance as she pointed in the direction of Energe who was immediately consumed in a blaze of purple flames that Tama had to shield her face from. The girl of white could only sweat nervously as the mastermind of the Selector Battles pointed in her direction.

"Kuro, bring Kai Toshiki and Shiro to their knees!" she declared "Singularity Flame!"

Kuro let out another fierce loud roar as she unleashed another large purple fireball that came towards Tama who could only stand still in shock as it crashed straight into her and much from before, the impact of the blast this time had consumed Kai as he struggled to shield his face from the heat of the flames.

"Kai-kun!" cried Aichi.

The Kagero user breathed heavily as he struggled to stay up onto his feet, the attack having damaged him as well much more clearly than he had anticipated after seeing what it had done to Aichi firsthand. Then before he knew it, a familiar feeling crept up him again as he noticed the dark red aura of Reverse having surrounded him once again as he cried out loud in pain, trying to resist it once more. Everyone on the sidelines gasped in shock whilst Gancelot could only tense up at the sight of what was before him, wondering if the Royal Paladin user would have to fight his friend once again under the same circumstances from before. Mayu having regained her composure put on a calm smile as she looked on at Kai, who continued to struggle.

"Kai Toshiki, I'm already well aware that you've become more than acqainted with Reverse once before on your own terms," she spoke "Once this battle draws to a close, I will see to it you will follow down that path again!"

"... Never...!" he groaned "I won't make that mistake again...!"

Then after a few moments had passed, the aura of Reverse had finally faded from him, at least for the moment as he breathed heavily and stepped back towards his table to resume the battle. Aichi could only sigh in relief that the Kagero user had not fallen prey to that power once again like he did in his previous confrontation with Ruko when he didn't know what to expect when facing Kuro at that time. He looked towards Mayu, now ready to take on the offensive once again as the Lock that was in place over Code Maze Triumph wore off, signalling the end of the mastermind's turn. The Royal Paladin user drew his cards and briefly looked towards to Kai who by this point had finally recovered from his ordeal before looking towards Kuro.

"First, I will use Gancelot's skill to add Double Crush since Blaster Blade is stacked beneath him!" he called as he moved two of the six cards in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile. "Then I will use Arc Destruct so that for every two cards I Exceed this Attack Phase, Gancelot gains one additional attack!"

"So you're using the same tactic you had to defeat Ulith," Mayu murmured "But unlike her, I am not so easily unprepared."

Aichi said nothing in response as he looked towards Gancelot as the astral figures of File, Marron, Ashlei and Blaster Blade all appeared to aid the Solitary Knight in his struggle to break through to both Ruko and Kuro. They all nodded in agreement, prepared to fight on to the end.

"Gancelot attacks Kuro!" the Royal Paladin user declared.

With a neigh from his pegasus, Gancelot and his steed took flight as they soared towards the girl of black along with the astral figures of Aichi's previous Royal Paladins who prepared to launch their own attacks as well to help deal out the additional damage granted by the Solitary Knight's ability and the ARTS that the cardfighter had played on this turn. As they all let out mighty battle cries and prepared to strike, Mayu simply grabbed two cards from her hand and threw them down onto the table in front of where her SIGNI cards were placed as the Guard SIGNI suddenly appeared to stop them in their tracks.

"Guard!" she called "Two Servant D2!"

As Marron, File and Ashlei were blocked off by the two Colourless SIGNI, Blaster Blade and Gancelot slashed past them and continued onwards towards Kuro who lashed out at them with her claws. Gancelot halted his pegasus at the perfect timing before thrusting both himself and his blade forwards to slash past the long neck of Berserk Draconis, who shrieked out loudly in pain as a result. Mayu simply looked on in shock as Blaster Blade then leaped into the air and yelled loudly as he slashed down the front of the girl of black, creating another large score much Tama on the previous turn which detonated in a brilliant explosion. This time though, the Swordsman of Light's eyes widened in shock before the light vanished prompting him to leap back with Gancelot as the figures of File, Ashlei and Marron vanished into thin air.

Looking over towards Tama and then to his vanishing self by the second, thinking back to what he had sensed when he had managed to attack Kuro head on at this very moment, he made a decision and turned back to the girl of white.

"Take it!" he called. The Swordsman of Light then threw the Blaster Blade itself high into the air, much to the shock of everyone present on the battlefield before it landed near the LRIG's feet, much to both her and Kai's surprise. Before she could ask, Blaster Blade himself began to vanish from the battlefield.

"Everything is in your hands now," he spoke before he finally disappeared from sight.

Aichi seemed confused for a brief moment, before looking to both Tama and Kai and then to Mayu's table, seeing that his one successful attack did at least damage her to the point where she had only Life Cloth left. Recalling Blaster Blade's words, he finally understood what he had meant.

 _He's entrusted our hope of saving Ruko and Kuro to Kai-kun and Tama_ he thought  _You can count us, Blaster Blade._

* * *

**...**

Back in the strange dreamscape like plane, Takuto had still been somewhat bewildered, even by what Umr had explained to both him and Tawil about everything that had happened between her and Aichi up to this point in time. Despite this though, he could now finally understand as to what had happened and that he felt that she was at least had a conscious to know some of the basic difference between right and wrong, even if some of it was mostly instinct from fighting alongside Aichi and his Royal Paladins back in his previous battle with Ulith.

"I see..." he spoke "I think I understand everything now. Your desire for now is to meet with Aichi again, right?"

"That is correct..." she spoke "I want to understand the world that he is a part of... to be by his side once again."

"The outside world..." Tawil murmured "I wish to know more this as well..."

Before anyone else could speak, a greenish aura surrounded Takuto much to his surprise as he looked all over him before immediately getting a refreshing feeling of kind to follow up on it. Recognizing as to what it was, he suddenly realized as to why this was possible.

"My powers..." he murmured "Aichi and Kai... they must have somehow weakened Mayu." Snapping out of his daze for a brief moment, he turned back towards Umr and Tawil who remained somewhat confused as to what had happened.

"Please wait here!" he called "I will do everything I can to free you so that we may meet with Sendou Aichi once more!"

And with that, Takuto vanished from the plane in a bright flash of white, leaving both Umr and Tawil dazed and confused to an extent. They simply looked at one another, blinking for a brief moment before letting everything that the Cray being had told them sink into the back of their minds. They knew they would have to be patient and to cling on to whatever hope they had left in their current states, for them to escape the White Room and to meet with Aichi and the others once that had happened.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Regaining consciousness back in the lab, Takuto opened his eyes and stared at the console in front of him, realizing that if he was going to keep the Star-vaders fooled for any longer so that he could free the 'byproducts' of Project: Locked Soul, he was going to need more time and to hope Aichi and Kai's efforts would be enough to restore more of his power in the result. But before he knew it, he would not get the chance. Suddenly, he felt something prodded against his back followed by an electrical shock of some kind as dark red sparks surged across his body, causing the Cray being to scream out loud in pain as he dropped to his knees. Looking up, he could see that it wasn't the Radons that were keeping watch over him that had chosen to perform this action, but an all too familiar figure.

"I had a feeling that you would still try to be a rat in the wall, scum."

Takuto could only stare up to see that it was Ulith who had shocked him just now, sneering sinisterly as she shoved him to the side railing of the gantry before walking up to the console of where he had been stationed at. Before he could get up to try and stop her, several of the Radons and Neons that were on the gantry pointing their weapons straight at him, preventing him from moving as he glared back at the cruel demanored Selector.

"Just what are you hoping to accomplish by fusing them together?!" he demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ulith mused "It's to serve as the replacement to both Kuro and Shiro now that I've seen everything unfold in that battle. The endgame for Project: Locked Soul will only go by one name."

"What name would that be?" Takuto asked. The girl turned her head away from him, her smile having now become far more devious than he could imagine as she spoke the name of Project: Locked Soul in an eeriely cold tone.

"Ut'ulls."


	39. Arc 2 - Ride 39: That Cursed Dominion VI

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Everyone with the exception of Aichi and Kai could stare on towards the legendary sword, the Blaster Blade that lay in front of Tama's feet, wondering what the Swordsman of Light was planning on doing by handing it over to the LRIG. The girl of white could only stare on at the blade in wonder and curiousity as she knelt down to get a better look at the weapon, briefly running her finger down the right end of the blade. Her brief attention was broken by a screech from Kuro as she roared loudly to bring her attention back to the form that she remained in, known only as Berserk Draconis. Mayu gazed upon the LRIG and the two cardfighters that she was fighting alongside, now having had enough with the resistance that they were putting up.

"Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki," she spoke "I must say, you have proven to be much more resiliant than I first imagined. However, your efforts have proven to be in vain as I will now demonstrate before those that are obeserving."

"Mayu, this battle isn't over yet!" Aichi replied "I'm sure that Blaster Blade had his reasons to entrust his weapon to Tama and I believe that she and Kai-kun can still break through to Ruko-san!"

The mastermind said nothing in response, having already known that the Royal Paladin had done everything he could to push on through to the Selector whose body she was in control of and his efforts to finish her off the previous turn had seemingly come to nought. Then a few moments afterwards, she spoke out two all too familiar words to anyone who was familiar with them throughout their cardfighting lives and the few days they had spent in this world.

"Final Turn!"

Everyone else on the battlefield could only tense up as they knew that this was a sign that Mayu was planning to end the battle here and now. But at the same time, it also raised a hint of confusion within their minds. Why would she declare it so openly when Kai still had more Life Cloths than her and the fact that for the moment, she would only be able to attack Gancelot. From the way that the battle had played out since she took control over Ruko's body and transformed Kuro into Berserk Draconis, they all had a shared feeling of dread that they were about to find out at this very moment. Mayu began her 'Final Turn' by drawing two additional cards before smiling, pleased with what she had available for her to use, which could only keep both Aichi and Kai on edge as they looked on towards her.

"First I summon!" she called as Healing Revenger and Drei=Capsule appeared onto her side of the field. "Then my Limit Break!"

A black vanguard circle flashed briefly in front of Kuro as she roared loudly before she immediately slashed both the Shadow Paladin unit and black SIGNI causing them to vanish from Mayu's side of the battlefield, just as Code Maze Triumph was locked once again. The top two cards of her deck floated up to her and flipped over to reveal themselves before everyone else. Those cards happened be Dark Revenger, Mac Lir and another Drei=Capsule as she concealed them amongst the other cards in her hand.

"Now she can use Kuro to attack twice," Kai murmured "And because Aichi didn't summon anything last turn..."

"But Kai still has two Life Cloths," Tama interjected "Kai and Tama can hold out!"

"Is that so?"

The two of them blinked for a brief moment before looking over towards Mayu, seeing that she was far from finished at this point. Judging from her gentle, yet intimidating smile that was directed towards them in particular, that indeed was appearing to be the case.

"Ultimate Break!" she called as a larger, more reddish vanguard circle flashed in front of Kuro as she held out her hand towards the remaining cards in her Ener Zone. "By Locking all of the cards in my Ener Zone for the rest of this turn, all of Kai's Life Cloths are excluded from the battle and neither of you will be able to use Guard SIGNI whose levels are equal or lower to the number I exclude!"

As all of the remaining cards in her Ener Zone turned face down to indicate that they were being Locked by this effect, Kuro roared out loudly, sending a powerful shockwave across the battlefield. Kai and Tama braced themselves for the worst as the changed girl of black's primal gaze was directed right upon them, bringing about a hint of panic and worry from both Aichi and Gancelot. Everyone on the sidelines however was just as shocked from the events that had just transpired before them at this very moment.

"Kuro has an Ultimate Break too?" murmured Hitoe.

"She must be joking!" exclaimed Naoki.

"That means Kai and Tama are practically sitting ducks at this point!" Yuzuki muttered.

Kuro let out another loud roar as she opened up her jaw wide, allowing a sphere of black and red flames to materialize as it slowly, but surely increased in both size and power as Kai could only hold out his arms in front of his face to prepare himself for what was to come. Tama, looking back at the Blaster Blade decided to follow on instinct and ran out towards it, just as the changed girl of black unleashed her 'attack' from the effects of the Ultimate Break. The giant fireball rushed across the battlefield towards the girl of white who stopped as soon as she saw it coming her way as it crashed right into her and forced her backwards right into Kai's table before it detonated, engulfing her and the Kagero user in a massive inferno of black and red fire.

As they screamed out loud in pain, the sudden shockwave from the impact of the attack nearly caused Aichi to lose his balance as he struggled to keep his grip on the 'floor' of the space from being forced backwards. He kept his feet firmly on the 'ground' beneath him as he watched on at the devastation before him whilst Gancelot struggled to stay aloft on his pegasus.

"Kai-kun! Tama-san!" he cried.

"Now do you see Sendou?" Mayu interrupted, bringing the Royal Paladin user's attention back to her "Hope has finally abandoned all of you! The Selector System will continue now and forever until this world comes to an end and with Ruko available as my vessel to the outside world, everyone before me will finally know of my presence!"

Whilst Aichi said nothing in response, he quickly looked back to the flames which by then had died down significantally, revealing Tama and Kai lying on their backs. Both were badly hurt from the attack just now and all of the Kagero user's remaining Life Cloths had vanished, not being present in his Ener Zone to confirm that all of them had indeed been excluded, much like his two SIGNI from the first time Kuro's Limit Break had been used. The Royal Paladin user looked back towards Mayu and Kuro, preparing himself for the worst to come, knowing that he and Gancelot were still well within their firing range thanks to the two Limit Breaks that had forced both him and Kai into this most desperate of situations.

"It is over," the mastermind spoke "Now that Kai's remaining two Life Cloths have been excluded, neither of you will be able to use Level 2 or lower SIGNI to Guard any of my next attacks. Now then... who will be the first to fall?"

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Takuto could only stare on at the monitor that was displaying the battle from where he was keeping pinned down by the various Radons that had him surrounded. Their beam rifles were all pointed at him, allowing the Cray being to already assess that if he didn't think about what to do next, then both Umr and Tawil would be beyond saving from anyone's hands. He looked back to Ulith who had briefly stopped in her efforts to continue the process of fusing the two girls together to form 'Ut'ulls' so that she could watch the conclusion to the bout that was shown on the screen above their heads and needless to say, she was relishing in every second that had unfolded. He could tell that the cruel demanored Selector was enjoying seeing both Kai and Aichi suffer, the Royal Paladin user mostly because of her failing to defeat him after getting inside his head and previously breaking him down, only for Umr to save him at the last moment because of a blunder and now Mayu was finally giving him his 'comeuppance' as she saw it.

"Ulith..." he murmured.

Upon hearing him, Ulith turned around to face Takuto, her sinister glint having not left her pleased expression for even a minute. She walked over towards the Cray being and looked down upon him, the Cyberoids that were surrounding him having not taken their aim off of him.

"Is this what you really want?!" he demanded "Is destroying your own world really worth it just so the Selector Battles can continue and for you to relish in other people's misery?!"

"Yes," she replied blunty, not showing a hint of hesitation or falter in her speech.

"Then why...?!"

"Haven't you even realized it yet?" the Selector continued as she walked back to the console that she previously stood at "There is an endless existence beyond the world that I know, your world, the whole of the Planet Cray! As soon as Mayu has finished playing her game with one world, she'll simply move on to the next. And I'll be more than happy to relish in the endless pain and suffering that follows."

Takuto remained silent, having now understood exactly what Ulith was talking about. As long as other worlds existed within the universe they all lived in, no one was truely safe from Mayu, the Void and her vision of the battles that she had created that revolved around the concept of wishes, creating a false hope for anyone that was ensnared within her hands. No world, not even the Planet Cray, Aichi's own or anywhere else from beyond the dimension from which the White Room resided within was out of range from this calamity that had been ongoing for who knows how long. And to make matters more frightening, there was no telling how close Mayu herself was to fulfilling her endgame for the world that lay outside of where he was now.

The Cray being knew it was his own fault for being captured in the first place and for summoning Kai to that same world, but he knew for the moment, there was nothing he could do to save anyone, not even Umr and Tawil whom he had no idea of how they were holding up. The only thing he knew he could do was wait and see if Aichi and Kai could still overcome the mastermind of the Selector Battles whilst they still had an opportunity to save Ruko and Kuro from her clutches.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

The entire battlefield remained silent as everyone waited nervously to see what would happen next from the turn of events that they had just witnessed. Kai struggled back onto his feet and walked back towards the table, keeping hold of the cards in his hand tightly as he glared towards both Kuro and Mayu who had remained unanimously unfazed as they looked on towards the Kagero user. Upon seeing his resolve in making the effort to take a stand, Tama coughed for a brief moment before getting back onto her feet and looking out towards the Blaster Blade, seeing that it had been knocked backwards as well from the blast, albeit not as far as she had been. Everyone on the sidelines did not say a word as they looked on to the center of the battlefield, relieved to see that both cardfighter and LRIG had gotten back up and were now ready to continue the battle.

"Your struggle is pointless, Kai Toshiki," Mayu spoke "I saw what had happened to you the last time that you dared to stand up to the might of Kuro, whilst Ruko was still in control of her."

"I am aware of that..." he muttered "Being reversed once again, until Tama brought me back to my senses was something that I did not anticipate, nor was it something I wished to experience. But... I won't fall prey to that same power for a third time!"

"So be it," the mastermind replied "I will now see to it that bold declaration of yours will finally mean nothing to your current situation. For now though, you may look on as your friend will be the first to fall!"

The Kagero user clenched his teeth, having realized that Mayu was intending to go after Aichi first before finishing him and Tama off with Kuro thanks to the effect of her earlier Limit Break. She placed down another Healing Revenger and Revenger, Bloodmaster onto her table as the Shadow Paladin units onto the battlefield, stanced and prepared to strike on her command. Aichi having realized what he had to do in order to try and stop her at this instant looked to Kai who instinctively nodded before he then held out a hand to his LRIG deck.

"Pinch Defense!" he called as two cards from Kai's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile "I prevent Kuro and Bloodmaster from attacking this turn!"

At this moment, two clusters of golden shields suddenly surrounded the targets that the Royal Paladin user had chosen and imprisoned them within a veil of crackling white energy. Whilst Bloodmaster could only remain still, Kuro began thrashing about wildly as the properties of the white ARTS that had just been played struggled to contain the changed girl of black. However, Mayu could only smile in response to this sudden manuever, as if she had been expecting it from the moment that she had begun her 'Final Turn'.

"How foolish," she spoke as she then held out her left hand wide "At this moment, I activate another skill gained by Kuro's Ultimate Break!"

"What?!" Tama gasped.

"Another skill?!" Kai interjected.

"That's right!" she replied "Since I have 5 or more Locked cards, Kuro is unaffected by all your SIGNI, Spells and ARTS until the end of Kai's next turn!"

Upon the moment that the full effect had been explained, Kuro's primal eyes flashed brightly and rather intensely for a brief moment before she thrust out her head, wings, arms, tail and legs, breaking free of the seal created by Pinch Defense and sending the golden shields flying off in various directions across the field. Several went leeway right towards the group on the sidelines as they jumped clear to avoid most of them. Hitoe however tripped over, causing Yuzuki to gasp in horror as a shield went flying in her direction. Naoki having noticed this quickly leapt in front of the Selector and with all of his might, punched the oncoming shield as hard as he could. He cried out in pain as he was knocked backwards, but quickly beared with it as the shield fell to the ground.

"Ishida, are you alright?!" asked Yuzuki as she ran over to him whilst Hitoe got back onto her feet.

"Ngh... I've had worse," the Narukami user replied as he clasped his sore knuckles, briefly recalling the time that he had attempted to punch his way out of Serra's ice prison. He looked back towards the battle in front of him, knowing that things for both Aichi and Kai had now gone from bad to worse.

"Farewell, Sendou Aichi," Mayu spoke as she then snapped her fingers, giving Healing Revenger the signal to attack.

The Shadow Paladin unit reluctantly nodded in response to her command and held out her floating green orb, charging energy for the attack that she was about to perform at this very moment. Gancelot could only grit his teeth as he stared on towards certain doom with his pegasus, knowing there was nothing that he could to stop it at all. But he knew that there was only person who could possibly do anything at this most desperate of scenarios and that was the cardfighter at the table right behind him. Aichi simply looked on at Mayu before revealing a card from his hand, much to her shock as she had recognized what card it was. One more card moved from Kai's Ener Zone to his Trash Pile as Seeker, Plume Wall Angel appeared onto the battlefield.

The Royal Paladin unit landed in front of Gancelot and projected a shield around him, bringing around the appearance of Loving Healer, Ultimate Sword, Palamedes, Gallatin and Margal. Healing Revenger, upon seeing the number of units and SIGNI summoned by Plume Wall Angel, lowered her orb, knowing that her attack was indeed bound to end in failure as the six figures vanished from the field, leaving only a partially confused crowd on the sidelines and an infuriated Mayu.

"How is this possible?!" she exclaimed "Plume Wall Angel is Level 1, so Kuro's Ultimate Break should have sealed it!"

"It is very possible," Kai replied "Whilst it is true Kuro has restricted the SIGNI we can guard with, her ability only works on regular SIGNI with the regular Guard ability and not those with the Quintet Wall ability as they are of a different effect."

"Tsk!" she growled "In that case, Kuro! Finish off Sendou and Gancelot!"

Kuro roared loudly as she took flight into the air, the chains keeping her restrained to the black ring on Mayu's side of the battlefield rattling as she did so. Then she got both Aichi and Gancelot within sight of her primal eyes and charged down towards them, screeching at a loud and high pitch as she got closer towards the unit and the cardfighter who looked on. Aichi however remained unfazed and reached out for another card that he had in his hand.

"Mayu, no matter how many times you force us down, we won't give up until the very end!" he called before revealed Servant T3 from his hand "Guard!"

The colourless Guard SIGNI appeared in front of Gancelot and projected another barrier in front of the unit and his pegasus steed, causing the diving Kuro to 'bounce' right off of it and take flight into the air once again. Mayu growled in annoyance, seeing as two of her three attacks had now been shut down by Aichi, despite his earlier attempt with Pinch Defense only aiding him in sealing one of her SIGNI from attacking.

"How this is possible...?!" she muttered "Why won't you just give up...?!"

"Now I see..." Kai interrupted, bringing her attention over towards him. "Mayu, you may have your dominant will with the Void and the Selector Battles over dozens, perhaps hundreds or thousands of Selectors and LRIGs in your little game, promising them with the wish of their desire in exchange for victory and you have proven to be a difficult opponent. However, you lack one of the key vitals of any person, regardless of whether they are in Vanguard or Wixoss!"

"And just what do you have to say for that?!" Mayu asked, keeping her angered gaze upon the Kagero user.

"The one thing you lack in this battle... is composure!" he replied "Because your attacks are failing to break through, you've been resorting to repeatedly goading us into giving up hope and any chance we have of winning this battle. However, unlike others who have played along with your game, Aichi and I will not follow with that!"

"Tama agrees!" Tama called out "Right now, with the way Kai and Aichi are, there is no way either of them or Tama cannot save Ru and Kuro!"

The mastermind of the Selector Battles could only growl as she listened on to what both the Kagero user and the girl of white had to say to her at this very moment, but deep down, she knew for a fact that what they were saying was indeed true. Having had enough with the 'lecture' that they had just given her, she briefly looked back towards Aichi whose determined expression had remained unwavering in the face of the danger before them.

"Consider yourself spared for the moment Sendou! However, I will still make sure that Shiro and Kai will not even get a next turn to try and help you out!" she yelled before she pointed in the direction of Kai and Tama "Kuro, take flight and burn the traitor along with her otherworldy friend! SINGULARITY FLAME!"

Kuro roared out loudly as she briefly circled through the air above the ground of the battlefield and turned her primal gaze upon both Kai and Tama, who remained unfazed in the slightest as the giant dark purple fireball from several turns ago ingnited in her mouth before she unleashed it into the descending direction of the pair. The Kagero cardfighter however was more than prepared for this scenario as he revealed a card from his own hand.

"I'll use my own Servant T3!" he declared as he threw the card sideways onto the very front of his table.

The colourless Guard SIGNI appeared onto the field once again as Kuro's fireball got closer and closer towards them. Then she deployed a barrier around both the girl of white and Kai as the giant sphere of purple flames was deflected off of the shield and sent flying far into the distance. When Servant T3 vanished from the field, the fireball landed and detonated far behind Kai and Aichi, the force of the impact simply flying past their backs with them not fazed in the slightest. Mayu could only clench her fist and groan in frustration as the Locks on Code Maze Triumph and the cards in her Ener Zone wore off, signalling the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 21**

**Aichi and Kai vs Mayu**

**Hand - 1 : 2 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Solitary Knight, Gancelot : Tamayorihime, Vermillion Miko :** **Яe-birth Kuro, Berserk Draconis**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Energe, Original Spear - Mitsurugi, Treasured Instrument - Ronmail, Helmet Armour : Revenger, Bloodmaster - Code Maze Triumph - Healing Revenger**

**Ener - 5 : 3 : 5**

"They did it!" called Yuzuki.

"Thank goodness..." said Hitoe, sighing in relief.

"My, I never thought Mayu was one to lose it that easily," Ren mused "Maybe she should see Tetsu for some anger management."

"Ren, this isn't the time," Naoki muttered, still rubbing his sore knuckles.

"But, they aren't out of danger yet," Leon murmured "Mayu still has ARTS at her disposal and her hand contains two Guard SIGNI and a Quintet Wall."

The others remained silent for the moment, having known for an iron clad fact that was indeed the case. They all remembered well that it was because of Mayu using Kuro's Limit Break on the three turns that she had the girl of black transformed for under her command that she was able to assemble the defence that she had available to utilize and that Kai would presumably have a difficult time in trying to end the battle on this next turn. The Kagero user stood firm on his feet and looked over towards Tama, who now had a chance to look back at the Blaster Blade that was still in front of her.

"You know what Blaster Blade wanted you to do," he spoke.

"Tama understands," the girl of white replied as she approached the legendary sword, kneeling down to reach for it.

When her hands touched the hilt of the sword, she suddenly gasped as her entire body was enveloped in a bright white glow, as she picked up the Blaster Blade and got back up onto her knees. Everyone present could only look in wonder at the girl of white as another glow was suddenly emitting from Kai's LRIG deck as this was happening. Understanding what this had meant, the Kagero user looked over to Aichi, then to Gancelot, both of whom nodded in agreement before looking back towards Mayu herself, who could only stare on in shock from what was happening before her.

"Prepare yourself, Mayu," he spoke "This is my... No. This is our..."

"Final Turn!"

Everyone on the sidelines looked on in shock to hear that it wasn't just Kai who had spoken those two familiar words. This time, Aichi, Gancelot and Tama had all joined in on the declaration, showing that it would be through their combined efforts that the Kagero user would succeed in his efforts to defeat Mayu and rescue Ruko and Kuro from the trouble that they were in. The mastermind of the Selector Battles could only grit her teeth in annoyance as she knew for a fact that they would be looking to end the battle here and now whilst they still had a glimmer of hope left to take advantage of.

_(Insert Song:[Believe in my Existence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDAGFctn5Bo) by JAM Project)_

Kai drew his cards as the glow around Tama suddenly brightened to a blinding white light. Then to Aichi's surprise, Blaster Blade's card suddenly hovered out of his LRIG Trash Pile and flew into Kai's other hand as he caught it, seemingly without much effort.

"Stand up, the entrusted light of our avatar!" he called as he held out his hand towards the bright glow from his LRIG deck "Light of hope and pure white, join forces to shatter the despair before us and save our comrade! Grow the LRIG!"

He then threw Blaster Blade's card into the pile underneath the card representing Tamayorihime, Vermillion Miko as both the entire table and Tama herself were engulfed in a blinding white flash that no one, but Kai could see through as a new card representing her about to be acquired form materialized onto the top of the cards that were on the LRIG space. Then in a few moments, the light died to reveal Tama in what appeared to be her base Level 0 form, but with armour that seemed to resemble those worn by Blaster Blade and several of the Royal Paladins, evidenced by the neon turqoisish lines that were now etched into both her dress and the cladding that she now had. The girl of white's head was then shown, revealing that although her ribbons had gone back to normal, there was now a white headress with several turqoisish lines etched in as well. Held with her hands, the tip now pointing upwards in a diagonal direction towards Mayu and Kuro was the Blaster Blade itself, having remained unchanged since she picked it up.

"Shining Miko... Tamayorihime THE Blaster!"

"Amazing..." breathed Aichi.

"This must have been what Blaster Blade had been planning since Aichi's last turn," said Yuzuki.

"Tama... she looks amazing..." Hitoe murmured.

Everyone else didn't speak at this moment, having not found the correct words to describe the 'spectacle' that all of them were now seeing before them. Truth be told, all of them were amazed that Blaster Blade himself had seemingly planned to entrust his power to Tama, if it had meant finishing the battle whilst Kai still had a chance to do so. Meanwhile, Mayu was not amused at the situation that had unfolded before her and glared in the direction of the girl of white.

"Do you really think that gaining Ahmes' sword will really help you?!" she growled.

In response however, Tama let out a large yell and thrust the Blaster Blade into the ground, sending a shockwave across the field towards Code Maze Triumph who was struck by it. She was engulfed by a shower of bright white sparks that coursed through her body until she vanished from the battlefield, the card representing her immediately moving over to Mayu's Trash Pile as a result of this. Then from the sword itself, to the shock of everyone else, with the exception of Tama, Kai and Aichi, several light beams erupted and struck the chains that were keeping Kuro bound to her black ring, shattering each and every one that there was.

"Take the first step back to your freedom, Kuro!" the girl of white called.

At this moment, the once permanent primal glint that was within Kuro's eyes suddenly reverted back to their more 'human-like' state as she roared in an almost triumphant fashion and took flight into the air above her, looking down upon the opponents that were still in front of her.

"You fools!" Mayu growled "With Kuro unrestrained, there's no telling what fate may await all of you!"

"Our turn is not over yet," Aichi interrupted as he looked over to Kai who nodded in agreement.

"I activate another copy of No Gain to make my SIGNI immune to your ARTS once again!" he declared.

"But I still have plently of defences to fend you and Shiro off!" she replied "Your final effort was meaningless! You don't have anything else in your hand that can help you!"

"Have you forgotten?" Kai interrupted, bringing about a confused look from the mastermind of the Selector Battles. "If you were truely paying attention throughout this whole battle, even from when Ruko was in control, you would have remembered her seeing the card that will end this."

Upon realizing what card that was, Aichi could only nod in acknowledgement, as did Tama, Yuzuki, Hitoe and everyone else on the sidelines, having been present throughout the entire from the start and now all the way to its possible climax. When Mayu had eventually noticed the enlightened and positive expressions that now litttered across the group, she glared back towards Kai, wanting to demand an answer as to what he meant. Needless to say, she eventually got her answer, in the form of the white Spell card, Arc Aura which glowed to indicate that the Kagero user was activating at this very moment.

"That card is...!" she gasped in horror "That was originally Ruko's trump card!"

Kai said nothing in response, but looked over to Aichi who nodded in agreement as he held out his left hand towards the five cards that were sitting in his Ener Zone as a result of the previous Quintet Wall.

"My comrades, please lend your strength to Tama!" he called.

The five cards moved to his Trash Pile in an instant as a brilliant white aura surrounded the girl of white. She took up a stance, preparing to go toe to toe with Kuro who remained in the air as she gazed down upon her, her primal gaze having no longer become present within her eyes since the chains restraining her had been broken apart by the Blaster Blade.

"Now then, let's go!" called Kai "Misturugi attacks Berserk Draconis!"

Mitsurugi nodded in response to the Kagero user's command as she leaped forwards and dashed towards Kuro who remained in place, hovering in the air just in front of Mayu's table as she glanced down at her hand, looking at her various options available in her hand, now that her ARTS were useless to her during this entire turn. She still had 2 Guard SIGNI available alongside a Quintet Wall, but she only had 4 cards left in her deck and she could sense that such a tactic would not work as easily on Tama in her new form as of now.

"No guard!" she growled.

The white SIGNI then leaped right past Healing Revenger and Bloodmaster as they merely stood aside, allowing her to leap up into the air and slash down Kuro who remained still, crying out loud in pain as she flew down closer towards the ground. Misturugi then retreated immediately back to Kai's side of the field, joining Tama and the other two SIGNI that were present there. Mayu's very last Life Cloth flipped face up and revealed itself to be Freezing Revenger, a Life Burst having gone off as a result of this. Mayu growled under her breath as she drew an additional card, her scowl only deepening upon seeing what it was.

"With that, your Quintet Wall will no longer aid you as effectively!" Kai called as he looked on to Tama.

"Battle Kai!" she called triumphantly and enthusiastically.

The Kagero user said nothing in response as he looked to Aichi before the two of them looked back to Mayu, preparing to end the long and drawn out battle here and now at this very moment. The mastermind could only stare on in horror at Tama, realizing that even if she put up her defences, she would still fall short of just one attack, knowing that she only had three cards left in her deck for the Quintet Wall, not enough to even match the girl of white's current level.

"This... this can't be happening...!" she growled "Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki, I will not lose to the two of you, in my own game!"

"Mayu, it's over," Aichi spoke before looking over to Kai "Let's go, Kai-kun!"

"Yeah!" he replied as they both held out their open hands wide in front of them.

"Tama, advance forward to our hope and free Kuro and Ruko from their curse!" they called together "Attack Berserk Draconis!"

Tama let out a large battle cry and leaped high into the air, a pair of white wings materializing on the back of her dress to allow her to regain the ability of flight as she soared through the battlefield towards Berserk Draconis. Kuro in the form that she was in, now no longer controlled by her primal state simply closed her eyes and awaited the fate that was to befall her.

_Now I see... why I could never surpass you_ she mused within her thoughts  _You win, Shiro. Or rather... Tama._

As Tama continued to fly towards Kuro, a familiar voice began to ring through her ears at this very moment, almost making her lose her concentration through her ascent as she gripped ahold of the Blaster Blade tightly.

"My blade can cut through anything, even this curse that has caused this mutation. I'm certain because of this, we can get Kuro back to normal."

 

_Tama understands... Ahmes..._ the girl of white mentally replied.

She then opened her eyes and looked down upon the form of Berserk Draconis, holding the Blaster Blade high into the air above her head before yelling out loud and diving down towards her opponent, bringing the weapon down in a mighty swing as she did so.

 

A large white score was created down the front of Berserk Draconis as Kuro screeched out loudly in pain. The mark then erupted into a blinding white flash that consumed every square inch of the entire battlefield before a force from it began to sweep over Mayu as she cried out loudly. Before she knew it, power was seeping from out of her body in form of neon greenish streams of energy, indicating that Takuto's power was now leaving her. Then she suddenly began to feel her grip over Ruko's body slip away as she felt the Selector slowly, but surely regain control of her senses. A few moments later, Mayu in her actual appearance exited Ruko's body as she was thrown backwards high into the air as a result of the final attack that had successful on Kuro.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" she yelled before suddenly vanishing from the battlefield in a cloud of dark purple.

Blinding white light continued to fill the space of the battlefield, long after the mastermind of the Selector Battles had vanished from everyone's line of sight, until eventually after a few moments, it died down, allowing everyone present to regain their line of sight. The first to emerge was Tama, with the Blaster Blade laid down on the ground in front of her and within her arms, was the base form of Kuro, no longer in her Berserk Draconis form from previously. The girl of black was unconscious, presumably from the sudden change back to her normal self having taken a toll on her, combined with the suffering that she had to undergo from within that state. Then, everywhere else on the space was revealed out of the light, the group slowly regaining their vision of sight once more.

_(End Insert Song)_

"It's finally over..." Gancelot murmured as he got off from his pegasus and walked over to Tama.

The girl of white turned around to face the Solitary Knight as she gently lay down Kuro on the floor of the space around them before immediately picking up the Blaster Blade and handing it over to him. When Gancelot gently took the blade out of the LRIG's hands, her appearance reverted back to her normal base form with just her simple dress, boots and pinky and orange ribbons.

"Tama says thank you," she said.

"It is us that should be thanking you," he replied "If it had not been for you, there is a chance that both of us would have fallen victim to the same curse that those two have."

"Tama's worried about Ru though," the girl of white spoke, feeling somewhat disheartened for a moment. Suddenly remembering about her former Selector, she looked on to the other side of the battlefield to see that she was unconscious. Before she could run over, the space suddenly went dark, indicating that it now ceased to exist, with the battle having now come to an end.

* * *

**Daikichi Apartments: Rooftop**

When everyone regained consciousness, both in human form and their respective cards, they quickly looked on ahead just in time to see Ruko staggering around as Reverse was finally leaving her body, albeit in a rather violent manner. She screamed loudly as the aura eventually left her body completely, by shooting out in the form of destructive energy blasts that struck different portions of the rooftop whilst the final one suddenly struck a pole that was supporting some scaffolding with several building materials loaded onto the platform. The scaffolding platform then collapsed as a result of the sudden impact to the support pole, resulting in the large objects housed on it crashing right towards Ruko.

"Ruko!" cried Hitoe and Yuzuki whilst Tama gasped in horror.

"I'm on it!" replied Naoki as he quickly ran forwards and tackled the barely conscious Selector to the ground whilst everyone else jumped clear, just in time to avoid being hit by the construction materials that crashed into the edge and scattered across the rooftop.

"Ishida!" called Kai as he and other ran up to him and Ruko immediately after the chaos has passed over.

"Are you alright, Naoki-kun?!" Aichi asked in concern, before noticing his knuckles that were swollen from a later portion of the battle.

"I'm just fine Aichi," the Narukami user replied before looking down at Ruko, seeing that she wasn't awake for the moment. "But I think that being possessed by Mayu and Reverse must have really taken a lot out of Ruko."

"Now that she's no longer in danger, we can get her home safely," said Leon.

Everyone else nodded in agreement as Aichi quickly squatted down, allowing both Ren and Hitoe to haul Ruko's unconscious body onto his back which would in turn allow him to help the Selector whilst she was presumably unconscious. Kai quickly looked to the floor to see that she had dropped Kuro's LRIG card in the sudden chaos that had briefly unfolded on the rooftop at this very moment. He could see that the girl of black for the moment had remained unconscious since the end of the ordeal and that he could sense that the power of Reverse was no longer flowing through her veins, meaning that when the time was right, he knew that there was some questions he and the others would want to ask her in regards to Mayu, the Selector Battles and her involvement with the Void.

"Let's go," he spoke as he placed both hers and Tama's cards in his blazer pocket.

"Yes!" the rest of the group replied as Aichi took the lead off of the roof, gently carrying the seemingly unconscious Ruko on his back through the doorway as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story Original Cards:  
>  **Яe-birth Kuro, Berserk/Draconis**  
>  Level 5  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 3 Black  
> Limit: Infinite  
> LRIG Type: Iona, Яeverse  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Draw Phase] After you conduct your normal draw, if your current LRIG is “Iona, Ultima/Maiden”, you may Grow this LRIG ignoring the Grow cost. If you do, banish all SIGNI on the field and each player crushes one of their Life Cloths for each of their SIGNI banished this way. SIGNI you control cannot attack your opponent’s LRIG during the turn this effect is used, even if they have [Assassin].  
> [Action] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): Pay 3 Black and/or White, choose 2 SIGNI and send them to your Trash and choose 1 of your SIGNI and Lock it: Reveal two cards from the top of your deck and add them to your hand. For each black card revealed this way, Exclude one of your opponent’s SIGNI. If a SIGNI is excluded by this effect and your opponent controls no SIGNI, this LRIG can attack any player during this turn and gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Once per turn at the end of the battle this LRIG attacked, Up it.” If the cards revealed by this effect have the same name, you cannot Exclude any SIGNI. You can only use this effect once per turn.  
> [Action] Ultimate Break (This ability is active if you have 1 or fewer Life Cloths): Lock all cards in your Ener Zone (min. 3): Exclude all the Life Cloths of a player of your choice. For the rest of this turn, when this LRIG attacks, other players cannot Guard with SIGNI whose Levels are equal or lower than the number of Life Cloths excluded by this effect and this LRIG also gets “[Constant] Whilst you control 5 or more Locked cards, this LRIG is unaffected by your opponent’s non-LRIG card effects (excluding [Guard] and [Quintet Wall] effects) until the end of their next turn”. You can only use this effect once per turn.  
> [Constant]: If you have 4 Life Cloths and a card named “Iona, Ultima/Maiden” stacked beneath this LRIG, you can use this LRIG’s [Limit Break] ignoring the Life Cloth requirement.
> 
> **Shining Miko, Tamayorihime “The Blaster”**  
>  Level 5  
> Color: White  
> Grow Cost: 3 White  
> Limit: 12  
> LRIG Type: Tama, Royal Paladin  
> Effect:  
> : If you have a Level 4 or greater Tama LRIG, you may choose 1 card named “Blaster Blade” from your LRIG Deck or any player’s LRIG Trash and stack it beneath your current LRIG. If you do, this card’s Grow cost becomes 1 White.  
> [On-Play]: When you Grow this card, if you have a card named “Blaster Blade” stacked beneath this card, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI and send it to their Trash Pile.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there we have it! At last, the final battle of the second arc has drawn to a close! I hope you all have had a good time with the story so far and I'll see you next time with the conclusion to Arc 2 and the beginning of Arc 3! Until then!


	40. Arc 2 - Ride 40: That Desperate Escape

_**Several minutes ago...** _

**Vanguard World: Card Capital**

"See you around!"

The call came from a boy with spiked black hair and red eyes as he left the premises of the shop along with one taller boy beside him, just as the sun was setting over the horizon in the distance down the street. Kamui and Miwa had been going around their usual routine for the day when it came to visiting the shop, especially more often now that it was during their summer break. The two continued to brush up on their skills as cardfighters in their own respective fields whilst in turn with one other individual did the best they could to keep things under control, in regards to the absence of both Aichi and Kai at this time. A lilac haired girl with blue eyes, albeit in a much darker shade than Aichi's, stood outside of the front doors of Card Capital, having now closed up the store for the evening.

"Misakin!"

Misaki, now addressed as 'Misakin', turned around to the source of the voice just in time to see a dark skinned girl with purple hair, a small diamond shaped red marking on the center of her forehead and goldish yellow eyes run up to her, panting as she tried to catch her breath from running all the way to the front entrance of Card Capital. She wore a white dress with long sleeves with the collar, the ends of the sleeves and the bottom edge of the 'skirt' being coloured in a bright turquoise and was much shorter than Misaki, having only been either just as tall or a little higher than Kamui in height comparison.

"Ratie?" Misaki murmured "Is something wrong?"

"Misaki..." panted Ratie as she eventually caught her breath "... I need to talk with you."

Noting that the former Quatre Knight's tone seemed rather serious, given that she had rushed all the way to the front of Card Capital just to speak with her, Misaki looked over to the alleyway that was to the left of the store. She walked over with Rati to sit down on one of the benches there, so they could start their conversation without anyone else listening in.

"What is it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.

"It's about Aichi," Ratie answered "It's just that last night... I could have sworn I heard him screaming."

"You have?" Misaki pondered.

"Yes. I called Galliard and Neve about it and for some reason, they've had similar scenarios to mine," she replied "I was wondering if you had experienced something like that."

The Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user was almost surprised to say the least, given the circumstances that Ratie had just brought up at this moment. Now she knew for a fact that this was no conincidence that something like this would have happened at that time and that she was not the only one to have come across something like this from the previous night. This was indeed a concern that had been bothering her for some time as well and she knew for a fact that she wasn't the only one to have known about this subject.

"I see now," she spoke "I can say for myself that I and a few others heard the same thing as well."

"Misakin... I'm worried," Ratie murmured.

"I know..." Misaki replied "But for now, unless we are sure that Aichi is in any danger, we keep to his word and hope that he along with the others will return soon with Kai. If he doesn't return within the next 10 days like he said, we'll take action. All of us."

"Right..."

Their conversation did not go unnoticed however as from high on the rooftop above the alleyway on the building next door to Card Capital, a girl with long, wavy brown hair styled on left side tail that was seemingly cut short and what appeared to be bluish grey eyes observed the two cardfighters closely as they talked about what they had experienced within the previous night. If anyone from this world knew of the Selector Battles, they would have sworn that she looked familiar in some way. Remembering the full reason as to why she arrived here and what she had in mind, she continued to listen in on Misaki and Ratie's discussion as she gazed upon them, before speaking out under her breath as a breeze whistled over the rooftop in contrast to the setting sun.

"This has only just begun."

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

"Mayu... lost?!"

Ulith could only stare at the screen that had been displaying the earlier battle that had eventually concluded between Mayu, Kai and Aichi with the two cardfighters having emerged victorious, thanks to Tama wielding the Blaster Blade that the Swordsman of Light himself had temporarily entrusted to her. The cruel demanored Selector's expression had turned to utter shock the moment she saw the girl of white deliver the final blow to Kuro, freeing both her and Ruko from both Reverse and the mastermind's control over the both of them. The Radons that were standing guard over Takuto had immediately turned their attention to the monitor, upon hearing and seeing the overall outcome of the battle, remaining somewhat motionless as they did so.

Seeing that the Cyberoids had just now been distracted by this turn of events, the Cray being decided that now was his chance to take action in order to free both Umr and Tawil from their imprisonment before Ulith could properly merge them into the being that she named "Ut'ulls". Before he did so, a familiar green aura surrounded him as he suddenly felt a nourishing feeling seep through his veins. Thankfully for him, the glow wasn't bright enough to bring the attention of the Radons or Ulith back to him as he felt more of his strength returning back to him at last.

_I can sense more of my power leaving Mayu_ he thought  _It's not all of it, but it should be enough. Thank you Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki._

Moving closer to the console that was now only inches beside him, he slipped his left hand into his pocket to reach out for something that he felt could aid him, now that a majority of his power had come back to him. Just as Takuto was about to pull out the object in question, Ulith immediately turned around to face him, her gaze having fallen upon him once more. Before she had a chance to call out an order to the Radons beside her, his forehead marking suddenly emitted a blinding green glow that forced her to cover her eyes whilst the Radons that had turned around were unable to see through the chaos before them as a shadow rose up from the glow with the sound of blades being unsheathed to follow on.

Taking advantage of what few seconds that he had just bought himself, Takuto rushed to the console and hit a rather idented button. The result caused the cylinder at the center of the lab to open up as the Cray being ran over towards the raised platform. By that point, the blinding glow had disappeared and in front of Ulith and the Radons beside her, emerged a tall warrior clad in a mix of very light brown, white and black armour, mixed with what appeared to be a black undersuit of some kind that left his bare chest rather exposed. Mounted on his wrists and the helmet which had a single light brownish spike running up the center were several crescent like blades almost in the shape of scissors to be almost exact.

The warrior's long flowing hair and eye colours were pratically, if not almost completely identical to that of Takuto's own respective hair and eye colours and over his back, he wore a large flowing red cape. Speaking of whom, the Cray being had now jumped down from the cylinder's platform, carrying both the motionless bodies of Umr and Tawil over his shoulders as he turned to the being that he had summoned. He quickly placed back into his pocket what appeared to be a card which he had presumably used to summon this warrior to his aid.

"Ezel!" he called, bringing the warrior's attention down to him "Hold them off whilst I get Umr and Tawil to safety!"

The other being, now addressed as Ezel, nodded in response as Takuto hurried through the unguarded corridor, barely managing to dodge the shots of the Cyberoids that were still present within the lab as the doors immediately closed behind him. He then turned his attention towards Ulith who had seemingly remained mostly unfazed from the sudden appearance of the Gold Paladin unit that the Cray being had summoned in front of her to buy him as much time as he could get.

"The Swordsman of Light was rather informative about you, Ulith," he spoke, his tone seeming somewhat blunt "Given your previous acts of cruelty that you told him all about in your last bout, I won't forgive you for the psycological scars you've given to 'my Vanguard'!"

"So then, the power Takuto got back from Mayu was just enough to summon you here all the way from Cray," the cruel demanored Selector spat bemusedly "Given your impressive record in succeeding to drive out the Void from your home planet, only to run like a coward from the face of Glendios, you are hardly a threat, Salvation Lion."

As Ezel prepared himself for a possible clash to ensue between the two of them, the Radons that were surrounding them immediately turned their beam rifles upon him. However, Ulith raised a hand in response, prompting them to back away from the two.

"Don't touch him," she interrupted "The Cray scum is mine!"

* * *

_**Present day** _

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

Ruko's eyes fluttered open as she yawned for a moment. Even at this moment, she felt as if she could barely keep her eyes open, as if they were weighed down by something heavy. Gaining what little sight she could in the dark atmosphere around here, she suddenly made a small but quiet collective gasp, having realized that she was now resting on Aichi's back as he held on to her legs whilst her arms were over his shoulders. Looking all around her, she could see Kai and Hitoe, the Selector of whom was holding out Yuzuki's card, walking alongside the two to her left and to her right, her eyes came across Ren, Leon and Naoki. The Narukami user upon seeing her gave her a brief thumbs up in an attempt to reassure her that everything was alright. Bewildered for a brief moment from everything that had just happened, Ruko at first seemed puzzled as to the circumstances surrounding her current scenario.

Then it suddenly hit her. She immediately realized that she could no longer feel the power of Reverse or Mayu herself having a hold over her which could only have meant that Aichi and Kai had defeated her through their previous battle only minutes ago. Even though she had been possessed throughout the remainder of the ordeal, she could still see and hear everything that had gone on for the entire battle, unable to regain control of her own body until Tama and Blaster Blade's combined efforts had forced Mayu and Reverse out of not just her, but Kuro as well. Upon noticing that she was just barely awake, Aichi turned his head slightly to have his gaze meet the Selector's, noticing the tired glint within her brown eyes.

"Aichi…" she murmured.

"Are you alright, Ruko-san?" he asked in concern.

"Y… Yeah…" Ruko replied, yawning for a brief moment before looking down on the pavement that was passing by the cardfighter's feet with every step he took. "It's just… I'm sorry. I didn't think…"

"There is no need to apologize," Yuzuki spoke out from her card "The nightmare's long over now and neither Link Joker or Mayu will be coming after you again any time soon."

The Selector yawned drowsily in response to the LRIG's answer for a brief moment, but her current expression still held great worry which had only served to concern Aichi and the others as he continued onwards whilst carrying her on his back.

"But my family…" she said "They'll find out that something's…"

"Let us worry about that," replied Hitoe "We'll make sure that nothing get stirred up from your disappearance."

"The last thing any of us want to do is spread a panic," Ren interjected "Though I can't see them believing us about the Selector Battles, even if we do openly tell them."

"Ren-san..." Aichi murmured nervously.

He briefly sweatdropped for a single moment, as did almost everyone else around him, knowing that the Shadow Paladin user's attempt to lighten the mood had only served to make the situation a little more awkward than it needed to be. When the brief silence that followed had passed over, Ruko turned her attention over to Kai as he looked back to her in turn, knowing that there was much to be done in order to properly 'patch' things up between the two of them, along with Tama and Kuro.

"Kai… I'm..." she yawned "I'm sorry… for what happened in our last battle."

"That was not your own doing," he replied "Reverse is still an inner demon I must eventually come to conquer myself. Once that has happened, I am certain that I will have moved on from the person I was at that time."

"Kai-kun…" murmured Aichi.

"Right now, I can tell that you aren't in any condition to remain awake since Reverse must have been affecting your sleep," the Kagero user continued "In the meantime, your grandmother and brother must be wanting to question you about where you were and what was going on."

"Y… yeah…" Ruko replied "I don't see how you could fool them though…"

"We'll do our best to avoid mention of Reverse and the Selector Battles to Ayumu or your grandmother," Leon spoke "Right now, you need to rest."

"I see. Thank you, everyone…"

Ruko then yawned loudly as she went back to sleep on the Royal Paladin user's back, her drowsiness and tiredness both contributing to eventually getting the better of her. Eventually after a few more minutes of a long walk, the group eventually arrived back to the apartment block and started the long trek up the stairs to the Selector's apartment where hopefully she could finally settle back at her home, without the risk of endangering anyone there. Kai and Hitoe remained a step directly behind and below Aichi in the event of him somehow falling backwards from the extra weight that he now had on his back, not that he would comment for a fact that Ruko was heavy in any way as he knew for the most part, that wasn't true in the context.

Eventually, they made it to the floor where they all came across the doorway to the Selector's apartment, having previously remembered the room number from passing by it several times and in the case of everyone with the exception of Kai, their previous visit. Taking a deep breath, Hitoe stepped forward and knocked on the door, awaiting for the moment that they had all come down to. The door eventually opened, revealing Ayumu in the presence of everyone. As he looked upon the group, he suddenly gasped as he saw Ruko's sleeping form on Aichi's back.

"Y… You found Ruko?!" he exclaimed.

"Ssh!" replied Naoki in a quieter tone as he tried to hush the startled older brother "C… can't you see she's sleeping?!"

"I see…" said a voice from behind Ayumu.

Upon hearing who it was from, the Selector's older brother quickly stepped aside to allow their grandmother to enter the sight of the cardfighters, her eyes widening in shock and surprise. Indeed from the way that it had apeared to her, the group of boys along with Hitoe had indeed kept to their word, that they would find Ruko and bring her home to them, safe and sound. She could only look on at her granddaughter at this very moment as she was sleeping peacefully on Aichi's back and seemingly unhurt now that she was no longer within the clutches of Reverse and Mayu, not that she knew of it. After briefly hearing Naoki's earlier exclamation for Ayumu to hush down, she walked over to the Royal Paladin user.

"Is Ru-chan alright?" she asked softly.

"Mhm," said Aichi "Ruko-san is worn out and she'll need a good night's rest."

"That is a relief," the grandmother answered before she looked on up to Kai, having not met him beforehand. "And I assume correctly you are Kai that Hitoe and these boys mentioned?"

"That is correct, Ms. Kominato," he answered before looking over to Ruko herself. "As far as we know, Ruko has been through a lot and she will need some rest before she can recover."

"I see…" she murmured "And please call me Hatsu." She then turned her attention back to Aichi.

"Come with me," she spoke quietly "I'll help get Ru-chan settled in."

"I understand," he replied.

When the two of them, along with the sleeping Ruko had disappeared through one of the other doors in the living space that presumably led to the Selector's bedroom, Ayumu turned back to the group and looked over to Kai, now seeing him face to face for the first time. The Kagero user's serious expression had not unnerved him in the slightest, having been told of the way he acted beforehand by both Aichi and Hitoe during their previous visit.

"So you're Kai Toshiki," he spoke "I guess... it's nice to meet you. I owe my thanks and gratitude for you and your friends in bringing my sister back safely."

"I'm only thankful that we found Ruko sooner," Kai replied "Given the way she was, there was no telling what could have happened if we were too late."

"That, I can agree with," said Ayumu "Though I must ask, how were you able to find Ruko?"

"W... We found her at the top of Daikachi Apartments," Hitoe interjected "Ishida saved her from being crushed by some construction materials that fell off a platform before she fell unconscious."

"I see..." the older brother murmured "I'll have to ask her about this when she regains consciousness. But regardless, I once again give my regards to your kind efforts. I'm sure my grandmother would want you to stay for a bit once she finishes settling Ruko down for the night."

And with that, Ayumu turned away from the group and walked off towards a different door, leaving the Selector and the remaining cardfighters standing within the living space. Their expressions seemed concerned somewhat, wondering if he had somehow managed to figure them and the Selector Battles out here and there and that there was no telling what he could say next to Ruko when she regained consciousness.

"Did he already see through us?" Naoki pondered, tensing up for a moment.

"If he has... I fear the worst for Ruko," Hitoe murmured.

"Now then, we shouldn't panic for the moment," Ren interrupted "Ruko has yet to wake up after all."

"Not helping Ren," Yuzuki muttered under her breath.

Kai and Leon didn't say a word in response, having known that Naoki had indeed raised a rather profound point. Although Ayumu didn't seem to suspect anything in regards to Ruko's involvement with both Reverse and the Selector Battles, they knew that they couldn't be complacent at this point, especially now when they had managed to bring the Selector home safely. One slip up in any following conversations around him or Hatsu and they knew that both they and Ruko were essentially 'in for it'. The Kagero user turned his gaze to the door that Aichi and Hatsu entered through, presumably the one that led straight into the Selector's bedroom.

Needless to say, his assumption was correct in that regard as the Royal Paladin user took a seat from Ruko's desk and sat down whilst he watched the Selector's grandmother bring the covers of the bed over Ruko. Now seeing that her granddaughter was settling down to recover much better, not knowing the experiences that she had been through since she went missing, Hatsu turned over to Aichi who was still seated at Ruko's desk.

"I can't thank you enough for what you and your friends have done for me and Ayumu," she spoke gently "I could tell that you had a kind heart and that you meant everything when you wanted to help us find Ru-chan."

"I'm happy to hear," he replied "Though the credit should go to Hitoe-san and Kai-kun for finding Ruko and Naoki for preventing her from being injured on the rooftop. I just did what I could to try and help them get her back home safely."

Hatsu smiled warmly in response, feeling as if the Royal Paladin user's genuine kindness had done well to help bring Ruko back home. Initially, part of her felt somewhat hesitant to trust him after he had inadvertently stumbled across the Selector's old family photo from his previous visit, resulting in her revealing the basic outline of what happened in the past around Ruko's mother in the event that her disappearance happened to be something to do with that particular event. For the moment however, that did not appear to be the case and Hatsu was just happy to have her granddaughter back home safe and sound and she had both Hitoe and Aichi, along with all of the Royal Paladin user's friends to thank for that.

"Please stay for while if you can," she spoke "It's still early in the evening, so Ru-chan may recover later."

"Yes," Aichi replied "I'm sure Kai-kun and the others won't mind."

And with that, the two of them left the bedroom to give the Selector both the space and time that she would need to recover from her long rest.

* * *

**The White Room**

Back in the White Room, Mayu had reappeared in front of her negative hue coloured throne that was currently occupied by Photon, who had been observing the entire conflict from start to finish. The Cyberoid simply glanced at her through his opaque visor whilst she rose up to her knees, her expression currently seething in complete anger and with the way that the battle had ended, it was understandable as to why exactly she was feeling this way.

"Impossible..." she muttered "I lost... to the two of them?!"

"I already told you once before not to underestimate Kai Toshiki," Photon spoke "I believe it would be wise to learn from this loss should you wish to confront him or Sendou Aichi once more."

Mayu simply hissed under her breath as she rose up to her feet, with the dark purple aura of the Void surrounding her at this very moment before she let out a very loud scream of fury as all of the windows that were within her domain that were not covered up by any shut gates shattered in an instant from the volume of the noise. Suprisingly, Photon's visor had not shattered from the result of the loud scream and he did not seem the least bit fazed by this sudden turn of events. When the mastermind had finished her fit of anger, she turned back to the Cyberoid commander, her temper having not cooled down in the slightest.

"Has she been dispatched as I had requested?" she asked.

"Indeed," Photon replied calmly "Our other associate should be within their world by now. Her orders have remained clear and she shall begin her operation by tomorrow."

"No matter..." Mayu muttered as she tried to regain her composure "For now, I must turn my attention to the completion of Project: Locked Soul and..."

A loud noise suddenly sounded as the foundation of the White Room shook all of a sudden, throwing her right back down to the ground. Turning her attention to one of the windows that had not been shattered, as did Photon in turn, they could see that from the Cyberoid's lab, Ezel and Ulith were in the midst of fighting each other with the cruel demanored Selector having equipped a spear that she previously wielded during her time as Kuro's LRIG. The Salvation Lion bellowed a loud battle cry as his wrist 'scissor' blades came into contact with her weapon once more as the two of them leaped from portion to portion of the lab, their battle having damaged portions of the room as evident by the scratches and slashes on the walls and floor. Then looking closely in the center of the lab, Mayu gasped to see that the cylinder that previously contained Umr and Tawil had been opened and that Takuto was no longer present.

"How is this possible?!" she growled "Takuto shouldn't even have the power to call upon a unit from Cray here...! Unless..."  _Don't tell me!_

"It would seem when you lost to Kai and Shiro, you lost some of Tatsunagi Takuto's power which returned back to him," Photon interjected as he gazed upon Ezel.

"I shall deal with him myself," Mayu replied as she walked towards an empty gap in the White Room, to begin her pursuit of the Cray being with the purple aura of the Void still surrounding her. "In the meantime, speak to your superiors. I wasn't planning to do this until later, but alas, those two have forced my hand. For the remainder of the Selector Battles will now be an all out war."

Photon said nothing in response, having already acknowledged what the mastermind had already told him. The Cyberoid rose up from Mayu's seat and went into the direction of his lab, presumably to put a stop to the fight between Ulith and Ezel and contact his 'superiors' as she had put them.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

The cruel demanored Selector laughed as she continued to fight head on with the Salvation Lion who seemed to be on the offensive for the moment. So far, their clash without the need of any outside interference from the surrounding Cyberoids had seemed to have the two of them stuck in a stalemate in terms of force alone, despite the damage that had been done to the lab in the result of their fight so far. However, Ezel knew from Blaster Blade beforehand that he couldn't take Ulith lightly with what little the Swordsman of Light already knew about her, given both her previous exploits prior to and during her time in the Selector Battles, especially with the pyscological torture that she inflicted upon Aichi during their previous battle.

Their respective spear and blades came into contact with each other once again as the Salvation Lion desperately tried to overpower the Selector as she held out her spear's pole horizontally in front of her to block his attack. Whilst his guard was down, Ulith smirked at him before thrusting her spear upwards to knock him off balance and kicking the Gold Paladin unit right in his exposed chest with the heel of her boot. Ezel was knocked back several steps as he grunted in pain, having not anticipated her action just now to have as much force as it did as he tried to stave off of the pain he now felt in his ribs.

"I must say Cray scum, I'm somewhat disappointed," she spat "I only wish your comrades from Gold Paladin were here to see that your effort is meaningless."

"Takuto has had his reasons for summoning me here alone," he replied "Even if it's only temporary, I'll fight to the bitter end if it means aiding him in helping those two girls escape."

"Umr and Tawil, huh?" Ulith mused "So he's trying to get the byproducts of Project: Locked Soul to the outside world so they can be out of harm's way. If only he knew."

"What do you mean?" Ezel asked as he held out the blades that were on his right wrist to the cruel demanored Selector.

"Unless Takuto can find a gateway to the outside world from Mayu's White Room," she explained "He will never leave this place. And even if he does, who's to say that he'll not end up being an LRIG himself, just like all the others."

His eyes widening in horror, the Salvation Lion suddenly realized that the Cray being himself was rushing straight into a trap and Ulith had taken advantage of the fight that was meant to buy him time to escape and turned it into a means to keep him distracted from what would happen next. Deciding to abandon his fight with her to go and aid Takuto, Ezel rushed towards the entrance to the lab that the Cray being had exited through, only to be stopped by a pair of black rings that suddenly encircled him, preventing him from moving as he was brought up into the air. Looking down, he could see that it was Photon who had stopped him in his tracks as the Cyberoid entered the premises of the lab.

"Your resistance in my premises has been most... illogical," he spoke as he gazed upon the Salvation Lion.

* * *

**Apartment 802 "Kominato"**

Ruko slowly opened up her eyes as she gently rose from her bed, now seeing that she was back in her bedroom after Aichi had managed to carry her from the rooftop of the incomplete Daikachi Apartments back to her apartment. She yawned for a brief moment as she stretched her arms and tried to properly reorient herself now that neither Mayu nor Reverse had its dark and power grip over her and that she now had some time to rest properly after that ordeal. Noticing some light from the door leading to the living space from her bedroom, she walked over to the doorway and peeked out through the gap to see that Hitoe along with all five cardfighters were now present in the apartment with both her older brother Ayumu and her grandmother, Hatsu.

Looking over the group, she suddenly remembered from earlier that Leon mentioned that they would do all they could to cover up any trace of the Selector Battles or Reverse from surrounding her 'disappearance' from the family that she had left which meant she would have to do everything she could to do the same as well. Pushing the door open slightly, everyone looked over to the Selector, now seeing that she had finally woken up from her long slumber.

"Ruko, are you alright?" asked Ayumu.

"Yeah..." she murmured as she rubbed her eyes for a brief moment "How long have I fallen asleep for?"

"You've been asleep for about an hour since we last talked on the way back here," answered Kai.

"I see..." Ruko spoke as she came over to join them before looking over to Hatsu. "Grandmother, I..."

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ru-chan," she said warmly "Aichi told me about how they found you and whilst all of us have no idea as to how you went missing in the first place, I'm thankful to them and Hitoe for bringing you home safely."

"Right," the Selector murmured as she clutched her head, remembering to follow along with what Leon had told her earlier "If... if I only I could remember what had happened when I 'disappeared', I'd..."

"Are you saying you don't remember how you could have went missing?" Ayumu pondered.

Ruko nodded in response to her older brother's question, though she knew that response alone would not put her or any of the others in the clear just yet.

"I... I last remember heading into the city," she continued "And... Onii-chan, how long was I gone for?"

"You went missing around... five days ago," Hitoe answered.

"Five days...?!" Ruko gasped in shock as she knew for a fact, she had never kept track of how long she had ran away for.

"It's natural that this news comes as quite a shock," Leon murmured "That would account for the lack of sleep or nourishment that you had been getting in your absence."

"Your grandmother suggested to us that you might want to stay at home for the moment until things calm down," Aichi spoke "But she has said we're welcome to visit until they are sure it is safe for you to head outside again."

Ruko silently nodded in agreement, knowing that it was only natural for something like this to happen given her long absence from home and from the way things had played out recently, who could blame Hatsu for such a decision. Regardless though, she was glad that the ordeal she had been through had finally passed over, like an enormous weight being lifted from her shoulders. And she knew that she had both Hitoe and her new friends to thank for it. When the silence had passed over, Hatsu had stood up from her seat and looked over to Ayumu.

"Ayumu, if you would kindly help me with preparing dinner for Ruko," she spoke "She has much to catch up on."

"I understand," he replied.

As the two left to the kitchen area of the living space, the remainder of the group almost 'huddled' around each other so that they could discuss further about the current predicament that had finally passed over. Before they did so, Kai reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two familiar cards along with something else in his hand, that being the deck he had used to battle Ruko in their battle as of recently.

"I believe these belong to you," he spoke as he revealed the two seperate cards to be both Kuro and Tama's respective cards, both LRIGs having been sound and asleep since they arrived back at the apartment.

"Tama... Kuro..." she murmured "Thank you, Kai."

Aichi and Hitoe smiled warmly, knowing that the conflict that had previously drawn a wedge between all of them and Ruko herself was finally over and that the Selector could finally settle back into a normal lifestyle. But they, much like the remainder of the group knew that Mayu's game was not over yet. And little did they know was that their true fates still lay in wait for them, deep inside the darkness of the future before them.


	41. Arc 2 - Ride 41: This Fated Outcome

**Apartment Blocks**

"Thank you very much for staying over."

Ruko kindly offered her gratitude to both Hitoe and the group of cardfighters that were now outside the door to her apartment. Now that she was settling back into her normal life slowly, whilst being kept at home until both Ayumu and her grandmother were sure that it was safe for her to venture outside once again, for the moment she could finally put behind any previous doubts that had been previously quelling in her mind. All previous worries about Reverse plaguing her or Kuro and any memory of her previous 'grudge' that she had held against Tama for not conducting the oath until the previous battle having finally left her head, but more importantly, she could finally be amongst her family again with nothing to endanger them.

"Hey, it was no problem," Naoki replied "Glad we could help."

"Are you certain you will be alright?" asked Kai.

"Yeah," the Selector answered before looking behind her to check that no one else was listening in "When we meet up again on our own, we'll talk to Kuro. She might know more about what's going on."

"Then we wish you the best of luck in your recovery," Ren interjected cheerfully.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Ruko called as she waved to the departing group as she slowly closed the door to the apartment.

As Leon led the way up the stairs to the rented apartment, before Hitoe could go down the other set of stairs to exit the building itself, she looked over to Aichi who was just about to follow Kai and the remaining cardfighters that were still on the current floor.

"Aichi...?" she asked, pausing for a brief moment as she did so "Can we have a minute?"

Turning around to face the Selector upon hearing her request that was directed to him, the Royal Paladin user briefly looked back to Kai who nodded in compliance with before going up the stairs and back to the apartment. Seeing that the two of them were now alone, not counting Yuzuki whose card that she was still holding onto, Aichi walked over to meet Hitoe at the center of the floor that they were currently standing on, wondering about what it was she wanted to talk to him about.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, a hint of concern in his tone. Hitoe shook her head in response.

"I just wanted to say thank you... for you and Kai helping Ruko," she answered as she brought out Yuzuki's card into view "And... I didn't get a chance to say this last night with us being around my parents, but I wanted to thank you for your earlier advice."

"What Hitoe is trying to say is, we wouldn't have overcome Akira had it not been for you," the LRIG interjected "I mean aside from Kai's Kagero units giving us the power to win the battle… to see Hitoe standing up for herself and everyone else that Akira had hurt because of your little confidence boost, I only wish that you or even Midoriko could have been there to see what had happened. She really meant it when she said she wouldn't let Akira hurt you, even with that 'cute' self-reference she had for you."

Hitoe's felt her face heat up as cheeks flushed a bright red as she briefly looked to the ground, having suddenly recalled her previous moments from referring to the Royal Paladin user himself as 'Aichi-kun' on her own initiative, with one of the occasions having her only half aware that she had actually said that out aloud. For one reason or another, having Yuzuki bring up that mention felt somewhat... embarrassing to say the least. At least, from the Selector's own personal perspective, it sort of felt like that. Aichi just blinked for a brief moment as he looked at Hitoe, wondering if something was really troubling her at this moment judging from her current expression.

"Um... there's nothing wrong with calling you 'Aichi-kun'... ri...right?" she stuttered "If... if you want, I can drop it..."

"It's alright," he said with a gentle smile "Me and some of my friends can associate each other with honorifics as well so I don't see a problem with it. Don't be afraid to talk to any of us if there is a problem."

Feeling reassured and somewhat relieved from his answer, the Selector smiled warmly as her cheeks cooled down and reverted back to their normal colour. Thinking to the back of her head, she realized that her parents were more than likely to be expecting her back at her home by this point in time. Knowing that she would be more than happy to tell them the good news in regards to Ruko being brought back to her family safely, she walked over to the stairs leading down from the current floor of the building and looked back to Aichi one last time.

"Well then... I'll see you tomorrow..." she said.

"Mhm," he replied "Take care, Hitoe-san. You too, Yuzuki-san."

"Same to you, Aichi!" Yuzuki called as she waved farewell before her Selector went down the stairs to head back home.

Aichi waved goodbye to Hitoe as he eventually turned around and went back up the other set of stairs on the opposite side of the floor he was currently standing on so that he could reunite with Kai and the others back at his apartment.

* * *

**Mayu's Domain**

Takuto hurried through the dark dimension that he was running through as he carried the motionless Umr and Tawil over his shoulders, having known that Ezel would no doubt would have been doing everything in his power to prevent Ulith from pursuing him, not knowing that Photon had the Salvation Lion currently restrained back at his lab. The Cray being also knew that with Mayu's recent defeat to Aichi and Kai and with her no longer having possession over Ruko's body as her own physical being for the outside world, she would now be back within her domain and presumably would have also recieved knowledge of his escape, prompting her to pursue him and detain him once again for defying 'her will'.

As he approached the tall structure in front of him from what he could assume was the mastermind's White Room, Umr suddenly began to stir as she slowly opened her eyes to indicate that she was regaining consciousness. Takuto looked over to his shoulder to notice this before glancing behind his back to his left and jumping in the opposite direction just in time to dodge a dark purple energy based projectile that struck the floor from where he was previously running, creating a rather large mark in the ground.

"So she's caught up already...!" he muttered.

"You will not escape!" Mayu's voice bellowed as she flew across the dimension in pursuit of the Cray being, the dark purple aura of the Void surrounding her at this moment.

"Takuto... is that...?" Umr asked.

"It's Mayu!" he interrupted "We need to get to a window from her White Room if we're to get out of here! That's how Tama managed to escape to Kai before!"

The LRIG could only look towards Tawil who had still remained motionless in the midst of the chase that they were currently engaged in as Mayu continously fired more energy bolts at Takuto who could barely jump to the side to dodge them as the fact he was carrying both girls was already making it difficult for him to run even faster in the hopes of being out of range from the mastermind's attacks for some time. Eventually, he managed to run up to the front of the giant structure that contained the White Room as he along with Umr and Tawil vanished into a dark gap, just barely dodging two more energy blasts from Mayu in the result.

The mastermind gritted her teeth in annoyance before stopping in front of the gap that led inside to the White Room itself. She held out one hand and with the power of the Void that had been coursing through her, she closed up the gap with a set of doors and opened up a different gap within the wall in front of her as she promptly hovered inside with the lack of gravity around that portion of the area, taking a different route to that of the Cray Being.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Back inside the damaged lab, Ezel could only grunt as he tried desperately to break himself free of the Lock that he was now trapped inside of with the aid of his scissor like wrist blades and having very little success in doing so. Whilst he knew his tool was indeed effectively in breaking the Locks around him when he had enough strength to do so, using them to break himself out of a Lock was another challenge entirely, one that he wasn't sure that he would even be capable of accomplishing. The Salvation Lion could only watch on as Ulith came over to join him and Photon who had remained standing beside his prison, the Cyberoid commander remaining seemingly motionless.

"You certainly took your time, Photon," the Selector spat "Has Mayu been busy with her temper tantrum?"

"Ulith, you are aware that both the commanders of the Star-vaders and myself do not tolerate failure," he spoke in an almost monotone fashion "Your distraction has caused Takuto to begin his escape with the components of Project: Locked Soul."

"And what if that's the case?" she mused "I know the end product needs to have both Umr and Tawil merged together to form Ut'ulls to ensure that the system returns to its optimal state from the very beginning. Which is why I'm proposing... a change of plan."

"What do you mean?" asked Photon.

"Allow me to explain," Ulith continued "As you are already aware, this project has been set back with Umr already beginning to gain a conscious from meeting with that boy scum, Sendou Aichi. And now that I know where to make him crack... I believe that she will be beneficial to my aim whilst at the same time, contributing to a key factor in the completed development of Project: Locked Soul."

Ezel, upon listening carefully to the conversation that unfolded between both the cruel demanoured Selector and the Cyberoid was trying to piece together everything that he was hearing at this very moment. He didn't know exactly everything that was going on in this lab or the Selector Battles themselves, especially in regards to this Project: Locked Soul, having only recieved information about the second subject through Blaster Blade himself back on Cray, with neither of them knowing that the Star-vaders had been heavily involved with Mayu's plan to continue her game in the outside world for as long as possible, before she would allow the troops to run wild and destroy it before moving on to the next world she could come across.

Noticing a small wedge that had been carved into the sphere that he was imprisoned in, the Gold Paladin unit took several deep breaths before thrusting both of his blades into the tiny crack, causing it to expand slightly as he panted heavily from exerting that much strength. Then pulling back his wrists, he let out a loud yell which brought the attention of everyone else in the lab over towards him as he stabbed his blades with all of his strength into the one point that had been cracked. Sparks raged across Ezel as he continued to resist in his attempt to break himself free of the Lock. Eventually as several moments passed, the sphere broke apart as the two circling rings disappeared in the result, causing the Salvation Lion to fall onto his feet.

Upon seeing that he had freed himself, the Radons in the lab immediately turned their beam rifles upon him and opened fire immediately. Ezel leaped into the air and charged down towards a group of the Cyberoids. He slashed past them, causing them to fall to the ground with sparks flying out of the scores carved into their cybernetic bodies. With much less of the group firing at him, he felt as though he could make a second attempt to run for the exit in order to regroup with Takuto and warn him about what he could be potentially running into. The Salvation Lion took the opportunity to do so, briefly slashing away at some black rings that Photon had cast at him, before running through the doorway to find the Cray being on his own. Photon was about to pursue him when Ulith held a hand onto his shoulder.

"He's not worth our time," she spoke "Although it will be worth it to see him try to aid that Cray scum. After all, I believe you were here to contact 'The Clown' about Mayu's unfortunate setback?"

The Cyberoid gazed upon Ulith, noticing her all too calm expression had been present even in this most unexpected of scenarios that had been playing out before them. For some reason, he felt as if she was acting a little too collected, even from her usual cruel demanor and her earlier shock from witnessing Mayu lose to both Kai and Aichi at the end of their battle. Deciding not to ponder on the Selector for the moment, Photon went to the Cyberoids that had not been downed by Ezel and immediately ordered them to begin repairs on the lab so that he could establish communication with his 'superiors' as the mastermind herself had put it. All the while, no one else in the room noticed Ulith close her eyes, keeping a malicious smirk on her lips as she did so.

* * *

**The White Room**

Eventually, after a long climb to the main portion of Mayu's White Room, Takuto eventually came to a stop to quickly catch his breath as Umr, who had dismounted from his shoulder the moment they had entered the main structure and followed closely behind, joined him shortly afterwards. The two of them looked around to see that all of the windows that had not shattered as a result of the mastermind's earlier tantrum had been sealed behind the gate that had kept them locked up, preventing anyone or anything from entering or coming out from the outside world for the time being. Looking carefully amongst them, the Cray being eventually found one which displayed the view of an all too familiar cardfighter as he was walking up some stairs.

"Aichi..." murmured Umr.

Setting down Tawil from his shoulder gently onto the ground, Takuto's forehead marking eminated a dim greenish colour as he held out one hand towards the gates that sealed that particular window, hoping to pry them open so that the three of them could escape to the Royal Paladin user and his friends, together. Before he could do so, from the other side of the White Room, Mayu walked up to the group as the aura of the Void continued to swirl furiously around her, almost as if it was conveniently matching her temper at this very moment.

"Go ahead, pry the gate open and step forth," she spoke, as if she was somewhat attempting to goad Takuto "If that's what you really want."

"What are you saying?!" he demanded.

"If you want to step into the outside world as an LRIG where whatever power you have managed to regain will be useless to you or anyone, then by all means," the mastermind replied "Or you can hand back the components to Project: Locked Soul and stay in this very room to suffer for an eternity."

Her ear twitching for a brief moment, Umr stared at Takuto before looking back at Mayu, having only known through his explanation that the mastermind had attempted to merge both her and the sleeping Tawil into the being that Ulith had come to dub as 'Ut'ulls'. Having previously fought the Selector alongside Aichi and the Royal Paladins that he had brought into battle, she had previously relied on partial instinct and clarification from those around her to make her choices in how to proceed in any given situation. At the same time, having had no awareness or knowledge of her own existence until the first time she had met the Royal Paladin user under bizarre circumstances, she had longed to learn more about him and where exactly he had come from.

Now seeing that she was now face to face with her 'creator' as Takuto had previously described to both her and Tawil whilst they were still within the lab, she didn't know how to approach the dillema they were now faced with. On the one hand, she had questions that had been brewing within her mind, mainly as to Mayu's objectives and the purpose of the Selector Battles and what they had to do with her. However, she also had to take into account from what she had been told about how determined the mastermind was to see through the completion of Project: Locked Soul to the end along her own plans for the outside world, bringing around a maelstrom of despair to those who inhabited it so that eventually, the Star-vaders could invade and bring it to ruin, before moving on to whatever unfortunate world that the lead commanders had in mind next.

"Umr!" Mayu's voice called out, snapping the girl out from her trance like state as a purple aura surrounded her right hand, materializing a giant golden key within the palm. "I command you to apprehend Takuto and take Tawil back to the lab!"

Umr looked down at the key that she now wielded and then looked back at Takuto and the motionless Tawil. Although her outward expression still seemed bewildered and somewhat emotionless to a degree, deep down, she had simply frozen still with one question running through the back of her mind. What should she do? The answer to that question didn't seem anywhere in plain sight as Mayu's expression suddenly became less displeased, indicating that her patience was now beginning to run on a very thin line and that the slightest happening could cause her to snap again.

"What are you waiting for?!" she demanded "I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it!"

"Umr!" called Takuto, bringing the girl's attention back to him "If you do what she says, not only will our efforts be for nought, but you won't even get to see the outside world the way you wanted! You won't even see Aichi because of that!"

"Shut up!" Mayu interrupted as she hurled another purple energy bolt in the Cray being's direction.

He clenched his teeth as he knew if he were to jump out of the way, the mastermind's attempt at retaliation would result in her injuring the motionless Tawil and he did not want that to happen in the slightest. Closing his eyes in preparation to accept the inevitable outcome that soared closer to him, that was when Umr had finally made her decision. Jumping in front of Takuto, she swung her giant key into the energy bolt which sent it flying towards one of the gates in front of a window across the walls of the White Room, shattering it in an instant. Mayu's expression changed to shock as soon as she saw what had just happened, just as Takuto opened his eyes to see what had unfolded.

"I won't allow it..." Umr spoke, her tone monotonous but with a hint of defiance to it. "I won't allow you... to harm Aichi."

"You... you dare turn your back on your own creator?!" Mayu yelled "Yours and Tawil's original purpose was to be the girls of black and white before I found the defects within you! You will comply with that role once more, otherwise you have no purpose in your own existence!"

"I already have a purpose," the girl replied bluntly as she brought up her gaze to meet the mastermind's. "To protect Sendou Aichi... and to see the outside world for myself."

"Umr..." murmured Takuto.

He looked back to the window that had been displaying a view over Aichi as he eventually made it back to Kai's rented apartment back in the outside world. Before he could do anything else, a crash suddenly sounded throughout the White Room as Ezel burst through a portion of the wall and landed beside him and Umr as he looked forward to face Mayu, whose expression had not changed in the slightest as the Gold Paladin unit stood side by side alongside the 'defective' girl of black as she originally saw the girl as.

"Takuto, if you go out that window...!" the Salvation Lion began.

"I know!" he replied "But that's not my concern right now!"

The mastermind glared back at Takuto, seemingly not pleased with his efforts for a desperate escape and for convincing Umr to take his side in regards to everything that he had told her about.

"Don't tell me... you...!" she growled, an assumption having brewed in her head.

"This is the decision Umr has made for herself," Takuto interrupted "And I'm sure once Tawil recovers, she'll understand the terrible things you have been doing with the Void

As Ezel swung his blades outwards and took up a stance in preparation for battle, the Cray being held a hand on his right arm to say otherwise. The Salvation Lion looked down to see what issue it was that he had to raise to him.

"Right now, even Mayu with the full power of the Void can overpower you," Takuto interrupted as his forehead marking glowed again, causing a green aura to surround Ezel as he began fading from view. "I'm sending you back to Cray so that you can inform the United Sanctuary about what we've found out."

"Understood," he replied.

As the Gold Paladin unit eventually vanished from the White Room and out of sight from everyone else, Mayu turned her attention back towards Takuto who clutched his head for a brief moment, having exerted more energy than he anticipated just to send Ezel back to Cray and out of harm's way. Clenching her fist, she began to charge up energy she had from the Void for another attack to use as Umr braced herself to defend from the oncoming assault. Holding out his hand and focusing what little energy he had left onto a certain window of the White Room, Takuto pryed the gates blocking it open and in doing so, caused a gust of wind to start pulling up everything from the location towards it and knocking almost everyone off balance from the sudden gale.

Suddenly finding herself swept up from the floor, Umr briefly gasped as she was hurled through the air and towards the open window whose whirlwind was sucking her towards it. She grabbed onto the frame and struggled to keep her grip as she saw Takuto fly up towards her with a familiar pinkish glow within his golden yellowish eyes, having recognized it to be PSY Qualia from Aichi, not knowing the name of that power until the Cray being had informed her beforehand.

"Let go!" he called "You may get stuck as an LRIG like Mayu has said, but you'll make it to Aichi! Tell him everything I've told you about and fight with him so you'll both make back here together!"

Nodding in partial reluctance and understanding, but mostly bewilderment as to what was going on know, Umr closed her eyes and let go of the window frame, disappearing from the White Room in a bright white flash. All of that was done in addition to the pinkish glow of PSY Qualia, indicating that Takuto was sending her, albeit as an LRIG via the window's own properties to which he couldn't overwrite, to Aichi's present location. Before Takuto could attempt to safely lift up Tawil with the remainder of his power, he suddenly cried out in pain as he was shot right in the back by the gauntlet blaster of a Neon who had entered the premises of the White Room, causing the Cray being to fall to the ground and flat on his front.

Mayu slammed the window shut with the power of the Void before walking over to the unconscious Takuto and draining him of the remainder of his powers, to ensure that he would no longer interfere with whatever plans that she and the Star-vaders had in mind. She looked over to the Cyberoid who had shot the Cray being in the back, killing off any chance he now had of escaping on his own.

"Take Tawil back to the lab!" she called before gazing back at Takuto "There is much to be done before we move on with the final plan."

The Neon nodded emotionlessly without emitting a noise or any kind of vocal response before walking over to Tawil and picking her up, leaving in the direction of Photon's lab.

* * *

**Apartment Blocks**

As Aichi approached the front door of the apartment that he, Kai and the others were staying in, needless to say, he was in a most relieved and cheerful mood, considering what had unfolded before them earlier in the day. Ruko was finally home, safe and sound and once things had settled down calmly for her between her and Ayumu and Hatsu, they could resume their search for any further clues to the Selector Battles. Before he could open the door to join his friends, a bright glow suddenly emitted from his right pocket to catch his attention as he pulled out his deck case to find that the source of the light was glowing right from there. Just as he was about to investigate, the door swung open to reveal Kai and Naoki who had seen the light glowing through the outlines of the door, prompting them to investigate what it was.

"What the heck is that?!" the Narukami user exclaimed.

Looking much more closely, Aichi saw that the exact source of the light was coming from a single file within his deck case, or in this case to be more exact, a single card. Taking out all of the cards in his deck, he could see that everything had remained seemingly unchanged with the exception of one thing. The Royal Paladin user could now feel from holding the deck itself was that there was now an additional card amongst those that he had used to battle both Ruko and Mayu earlier in the evening, but the question that he was wondering was what it was? Checking through each card throughly, he eventually made it to the very back and saw that a card with a white backing was facing away from the rest.

Placing the rest of his deck back into the case before putting it right back into his pocket, he turned the card over and when the three of them saw what exactly it was, they were all shocked to say the least. None more so, than Aichi himself.

"This is..." Kai murmured.

"Umr...?!" he gasped.

Long and behold, the Royal Paladin user was indeed correct in what he was now holding in his hand. But this wasn't just a 'regular' Umr LRIG card that he was holding, not one that Yuzuki had considered like many others in the real game to almost be one of a kind for simple play value in friendly non-Selector battles, this was the real girl herself that he was now holding in his hand, now unconscious as a result of Takuto's valiant efforts to get her to him, not that he knew of it at this very moment.

"Wait a minute... the same LRIG that helped you defeat Ulith back then?" Naoki pondered as he glanced closely at the card.

"It has to be her," Aichi replied, hearing her quiet breathing as she remained unconscious "But... how did she get to me? I didn't use my PSY Qualia to contact her... if I knew how I did that."

"If that's the case, then there's other powers at play that we simply do not understand yet," Kai spoke, his tone seeming rather serious as he gazed upon Umr.

Turning around to the doorway, the three of them entered inside the apartment just in time to see both Leon and Ren approach them as they looked upon the LRIG that the Royal Paladin user had now held in their hands. Both of them looked on with intrigue as they could finally see Umr for the first time since her battle against Tama where she had saved Aichi from the brink of despair and restored his will to fight on.

"So she has returned to Sendou at last," the Aqua Force user murmured "But... the circumstances as to why, we do not yet know."

"True," Ren spoke "But... I'm sure we'll get a reason as to why when she wakes up eventually. Perhaps by tomorrow morning, we can find out more from her."

The others nodded in agreement, now seeing that it was rather late since they had left Ruko's apartment and decided to tuck in for the night, with Aichi and Kai having needed the rest more than anyone from the long battle that they had to endure through. When the Kagero user had entered his bedroom and turned out the lights for the living space, everyone else began to settle down in each of their futons for the night, each one falling asleep as they tucked themselves in. As Aichi did so, he looked down at Umr's card that he still held, seeing that she was still unconscious for the moment before giving a gentle smile, presumably directed towards her, as a sign to wish her a quick recovery, not knowing what she had been through for the moment.

"Good night, Umr-san," he whispered before settling into his futon and leaving the card beside the pillow as he eventually went to sleep.

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

Over from her bedroom, Ruko gazed upon the cards that contained both Tama and Kuro whilst keeping on only a dim light from the lamp that was on her desk. Both LRIGs still remained asleep since Aichi had carried her back to the apartment and Kai returned both the modified deck along with the cards containing them to her. The previous five days as Hitoe had previously confirmed to her had certainly been mostly eventful for her and just thinking back to everything that had happened during those same five days had her feeling rather unhappy.

On the one hand, she knew that her actions in running away from both her brother and her grandmother were somewhat justifiable, given that Reverse had been attempting to constantly consume her since the night of her final battle with Kuro, whilst she was in possession of Iona's body whilst the real one had been stranded on the Planet Cray, with almost no one knowing how she had even got there in the first place. At the same time though, the thought of how things could have gone involving the removal of that power from her and that if she put a little more faith in Hitoe or any of the cardfighters in finding the solution, perhaps she wouldn't have been possessed by Mayu midway through the battle.

"But... I can't change how things have gone..." she whispered to herself.

Sighing for a brief moment, Ruko turned her attention to the two LRIGs whose cards she still had on the desk that lay in front of her. As she gazed upon Tama who had been sleeping peacefully whilst almost murmuring a cat like noise under her breath, the Selector couldn't help but smile warmly. It seemed almost nostalgic to her, just like the first time she had seen this on the evening that she had returned home to tell her grandmother that she had made a new friend, 'Tama'. Naturally at the time, she like all of her friends, barring their LRIGs, knew very little about how the Selector Battles worked, seeing it as nothing more than a harmless quest they could choose to partake in, even though other Selectors could rope them into battle whether they liked it or not.

Once Yuzuki had discovered the truth behind the battles however, long after she came back into Hitoe's possession, everything had changed around her. Having previously no longer having a wish of her own to go by, Ruko resolved to free everyone from the cards that Mayu had trapped them in, hoping that would just be enough to set things straight, no matter the cost. However, she did not know that resolve was all that Kuro had needed to become her LRIG, in turn infecting her with Reverse shortly after coming into her possession. At that time, it had made her bitter towards Tama, singlehandedly blaming her for everything that had happened because she was afraid of the Selector turning into an LRIG instead.

During her second battle with Kai, this time when she had allowed Aichi to fight alongside him, she finally came to her senses, albeit a little too late by then to which Mayu had control of her body, until Tama had managed to break her free from both that and Reverse itself, in turn undoing the 'curse' that Kuro had been infected with, leading up to the point where they had all found themselves now. Looking over at Kuro's card, she could understand why the girl of black had been insistant in becoming stronger, regardless of what happened around her. Looking back, Ruko wanted to question the LRIG about her insistance on the subject, especially in wanting to surpass Tama and make them both the strongest of the Selector Battles.

But she knew that as long as she remained at home on close watch, until her grandmother said it was safe for her to go out on her own again, there was not much she could do to get more information without raising any suspicion. Yawning for a brief moment, she turned out the lamp on her desk, went over to her bed and tucked herself in for the night, knowing that there was much to do starting from tomorrow.

* * *

**...**

Meanwhile, outside of the apartment blocks, Ayumu gazed up into the night sky as the chilly cold air around him did not seem to bother the older brother of Ruko in the slightest. He had told Hatsu shortly before Ruko had turned herself in for the night that he had to get some 'fresh air' in order to cool himself off of something that had been bugging him. Whilst his grandmother did not mind at all from the sudden action, he knew that she was concerned in the way that he had been acting recently, especially in regards to the 'disappearance' of his sister and his initial reaction to the fact that Aichi and Kai had succeeded in where he had failed. He clenched his fist tightly, having no knowledge of the Selector Battles himself and wondering as to why Ruko had gone missing.

_Why did they have to be ones to find her...?!_ he growled within his thoughts  _I already worry about Ruko as much as her grandmother and Hitoe and yet... I couldn't do anything! Not to mention that she said she had no memory of what happened... Why does something feel off about that?_

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned around to reenter the apartment blocks and return back to Hatsu, not wanting to worry her for being outside for quite some time since Kai and the others had left the apartment. Before he did so...

"It has been some time, my boy."

His ear twitching and his eyes widening at the sound of the voice that he had just heard, Ayumu turned around to face a figure that was practically a little taller in height that he was. The voice that he heard was indeed female, belonging to a middle aged woman as evidenced by the similar height complex. She had been wearing a black coat with a rather large hood that had covered all view of the top half of her face from him, but what had shocked Ayumu more than just the voice familiarity was the brown hair that had draped out from both sides of her face. Taking a step backwards, he could only utter one word from underneath his breath, confirming who exactly had addressed him at this very moment.

"M... Mother?"


	42. Arc 3 - Ride 42: That Dark Truth I

**Ruko's Apartment**

A rather eventful evening had passed over since the 'incident' on the top of the incomplete Daikachi Apartments, where Mayu had been dangerously close to entering the outside world through means of the Reverse and the body of the 'strongest' Selector through her manipulation of a certain girl of black. One that had a certain Selector thankful in the end for both Hitoe and Yuzuki along with their new friends for their aid in that predicament and for restoring her trust in an LRIG she had once considered a traitor prior to those events. That same Selector at this moment yawned loudly as she woke up from her sleep and rubbed her eyes before gazing across her room, just to assure herself that she was indeed home safe and sound.

Ruko rose up from out of her bed and walked over to the desk to see that Tama and Kuro were still asleep at this very moment and given everything that the three of them had been through lately, no one could blame them for the way they were now. Shortly after she looked down at the two LRIGs however, they begun to stir as the girl of black was first from amongst them to reawaken. Rubbing her eyes for a brief moment, she could see from her card that her Selector was looking down at her with a hint of concern present in her expression. Recalling the events of the previous battle, Kuro was somewhat confused as to why Ruko was feeling this way towards her, even after everything that had happened between the two of them during and prior to those events.

"Ruko..." she breathed.

"Are you alright, Kuro?" the Selector asked.

"I'm... a little disoriented, but I'm fine," the girl of black answered, briefly looking down with a bit of guilt to her tone "Mayu's... no longer posessing you?"

Ruko nodded in reply to confirm the LRIG's suspicions, to which she then closed her eyes and let out a quiet, but noticable sigh of relief from underneath her breath. At this moment, they heard a yawn from the other card that had contained Tama to find that the girl of white had now been stirring up from her sleep, once again making a cat like noise as she stretched out her arms wide and slowly woke up. Ruko couldn't help but smile a little at this as Tama's sight eventually landed upon her Selector once again. The LRIG briefly rubbed her eyes for a moment, wanting to be absolutely sure that she wasn't dreaming at this moment.

"Tama's with Ru!" she cheered, albeit rather loudly for both Ruko and Kuro's tastes as the girl of black briefly shielded her ears in response. "Kai did it!"

"Mhm," Ruko replied "You, Kai and Aichi. For the first time since Kuro and I come out of this mess... I want to thank you, Tama."

Tama simply scratched the back of her head whilst holding a somewhat sheepish smile, knowing that it was thanks to the efforts of both Aichi and Kai, along with Blaster Blade that she was able to free Ruko and Kuro from both Reverse and Mayu's control over them. She then looked over to Kuro, noticing her somewhat disdained expression, though she could tell that it wasn't directed towards her and from the way that the battle had played out along with the events that transpired, the girl of white couldn't blame her 'counterpart' for feeling this way.

"Kuro..." she murmured.

"Shiro... no, Tama," the girl of black began "I too am humbly grateful for your efforts in our last battle. I didn't think things would go that far."

"It's all over now," said Ruko, trying her best to reassure Kuro "But we need some answers as to what's going on and I think Kai and Hitoe would want to hear about this as well."

"I'll do my best to give you as much as I can," Kuro replied "Not even I or Tama even with her full memories know everything that Mayu has planned for this world, the Planet Cray and possibly the entire universe."

The Selector nodded in agreement, having expected that might have been the case. Looking to her bedroom door for a brief moment, she knew that her grandmother or Ayumu could be waiting outside in the living space for her at this moment, given the time of morning that it currently was.

"I'll be back here as soon as I can," she spoke in almost a hushed tone "But with onii-chan and grandmother keeping watch until they are sure it is safe for me to head outside on my own again, talking with Hitoe, Kai and Aichi about this may be impossible right now."

"I understand," said Kuro "Be careful."

Ruko let out a gentle smile in response and left for the living space out through her bedroom door, leaving both of the LRIGs to themselves in complete silence as their cards remained on the desk. Eventually, after a few short moments had passed by, Kuro turned her attention back over to Tama who couldn't help but wonder what would happen between the Selector and her family, now that Aichi and Kai had returned her home after a five day absence due to her time being trapped in the clutches of Reverse.

"Tama," she spoke. The girl of white turned her attention back towards the LRIG. "Do you still remember everything?"

"Tama remembers a lot from our battle..." Tama replied "But... Tama still can't remember everything."

"I see..." the girl of black murmured "That 'incident' must have caused a more severe case of amnesia than I anticipated."

"Amnesia?" she pondered.

"It means 'loss of memory'," Kuro answered "Your original memories are slowly returning, but not enough to remember your whole past."

Now that she had brought up the subject, Tama looked down at the space inside her card and began to ponder about the memories that had already returned to her. It was true that she did not remember everything that had happened in her past, whilst she still went by the name Shiro back then, but now with the recent visions she had been getting of confronting both Kuro and Chaos Breaker Dragon at a certain day, before coming into the possession of Ruko, she was starting to wonder about what she had originally been doing as the girl of white prior to those confrontations that had led to her amnesia. Either way, she knew for a fact that as long as her Selector was kept under close watch for the time being, the time for answers would have to wait.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

Meanwhile, Aichi and the other cardfighters had already woken up for the morning with the Royal Paladin user himself having been seated at the table and reconstructing his deck with all of the cards laid out on the table for the moment. All the while as this was going on, Naoki was seated beside him to observe what was going on and had noticed that Umr's card was just outside of the laid out deck. He assumed that Aichi was currently also waiting for the strange LRIG to awaken after she had over into his possesion whilst unaware of the circumstances that had gone for this to happen and he wasn't the only one that was curious about her.

From the door leading to his bedroom, Kai along with Ren and Leon stood and observed everything that was happening in front of them. The three of them eyed Umr closely from where they were standing, they too being curious as to what would happen when the strange LRIG and one of the two byproducts of 'Project: Locked Soul' would eventually wake up from her long slumber since her arrival into this world.

"Are you still curious about 'her'?" Ren pondered. Kai nodded in response to his question.

"Whilst it is true Umr has aided Aichi before and we learned a little more about her in our last battle with Mayu," he spoke "Right now, I'm more curious as to how she possessed him in his last battle with Ulith and how she came here last night."

Before Leon could voice his opinion on the subject, they could hear a small and quiet groan coming over from one of the cards that was laid out on the table. As the three cardfighters walked over to join both Naoki and Aichi, the Royal Paladin user looked at the card that was in front of him, just in time to see that Umr was slowly regaining consciousness. The LRIG slowly opened up her bright blue eyes as her vision at first seemed rather blurry from the way she was. All around her from within her card, she could see only a window like view that was above her amongst the dark black and grey atmosphere that surrounded her. When her vision was finally much more clearer, she could finally see through that same window like view that Aichi from a larger perspective was looking down at her with wonder.

"A... Aichi..." she murmured.

"Umr..." he breathed "It's really you..."

Umr stood up onto her feet and attempted to reach out towards the open world that was in front of her, but the window like view that was in front of her prevented her hand or any part of her for that matter from exiting the card, indicating that Takuto's earlier words to her happened to be true. She had indeed made it to Aichi, as an LRIG, now trapped inside the card that he had recently recieved as a result of her travel to the outside world from where she was previously imprisoned. Noticing her curiosity from trying to reach outside of the card, the Royal Paladin user brought up his right index finger to the spot from where her hand was and as gently as he could, he lightly placed it on the card from where her hand currently was.

Suprisingly, whilst it did nothing to remove the 'barrier' that stood between them, both of them could still feel as if they had managed to make some sort of physical contact to a degree. After Aichi had removed his finger, Kai walked beside him and bent over to get a better look at the LRIG himself, as did everyone else with the exception of Naoki who was already seated beside the Royal Paladin user. Umr gazed up at Aichi's companions, taking note of their curious expressions as she studied each of them closely.

"So you're Umr," said Leon.

"That's right..." Umr answered "I can only assume that you are more of Aichi's companions."

"Of course we are!" Naoki interjected "You didn't think Aichi would have come this far if it hadn't been for us, right?!"

"Now then," Ren interrupted, placing a hand over the Narukami user's shoulder to calm him down "Aside from his Royal Paladins, Umr doesn't know anything else about Aichi. Am I right?" Umr merely nodded in reply to his question without uttering a word.

"Then what brings you to Aichi once more?" asked Kai, keeping a serious gaze amongst the LRIG.

"The boy named Tatsunagi Takuto," she replied in almost a blank like monotone.

Aichi gasped upon discovering that it was Takuto that had sent Umr over to him and the others, having known previously from Leon that he was trapped within Mayu's White Room with the mastermind having used a portion of his own power to possess Ruko in his and Kai's previous battle against the Selector.

"Then... is Takuto-kun alright?!" he asked.

"I do not know the answer to that..." the LRIG replied "He sent me out of a window from the White Room and I lost consciousness in my journey to you. Do you happen to have possession of girl named Tawil?"

The Royal Paladin user pondered on what Umr had asked of him, having known for a fact that he had no knowledge of the other half of 'Project: Locked Soul' herself let alone seen the LRIG on his own occasion. Looking to the others in the hope that they might have offhandedly seen her, they shook their heads to confirm his suspicions as he turned his attention back to the LRIG that he now had.

"I'm sorry Umr," he said with a hint of disappointment "I don't know anything about this Tawil."

"I see..." she murmured "She must not have made it."

"Regardless though, please share how Takuto got you to us," Leon spoke in request.

Umr nodded in reply and proceeded to tell the group of cardfighters about everything that had happened within the dimension of where both Mayu's White Room and Photon's laboratory lay, giving them some insight as to what was going on within the darkest corners of the Selector System. She explained how Takuto had told both her and Tawil everything he knew about the outside world and what Mayu and the Void had planned for it in addition to temporarily summoning Ezel from Cray to try and hold off Photon's forces whilst he made their escape in the midst of being pursued by the mastermind. Eventually, she came around to the portion of where she had been sent flying through the window to Aichi the previous night and that something must have happened to account for both Tawil and Takuto's absence, not knowing about what Mayu had planned for the both of them.

Everyone in the room was lost in their own thoughts from everything that Umr had brought them up to speed with in regards to what was essentially her life's story thus far. Whilst Aichi had been somewhat amazed by everything she had told them about, Kai however was seemingly disturbed by the fact that the surviving Star-vaders had formed an alliance with Mayu to account for her partnership with the Void. Knowing that was now the case, he couldn't begin to imagine what Photon had been doing to any of the 'less cooperative' LRIGs in the Selector Battles and knowing that he was commander of the faction he once allied himself with in his desire to get stronger as well as Kourin's 'Avatar of Sin' throughout the last ordeal they were involved with, he knew that things were much more dire than he originally anticipated when he first entered this world.

The other cardfighters in the room silently shared a somewhat equal opinion with the Kagero user in regards to everything that they had just learned about, though they could all agree that one thing was now certain at this point. They needed to find a way to the White Room as soon as they could, without having to play along the way that Mayu would want them to if they wished to save everyone, both Selector and LRIG alike from the fates that were to befall them and their home world if nothing was done to stop it. They had saved Ruko from the clutches of both the mastermind and the power of Reverse, but even so, they knew it would only be a matter of time before the Star-vaders would eventually make their move. But the questions that remained was when and how they would accomplish this.

"Anyway..." Aichi spoke to counteract the silence that had fallen in the apartment "Maybe we should go and see how Ruko-san's holding up. I know she's being kept under watch for the moment, but we should see if everything's okay with her."

"Ruko-san...?" Umr murmured in confusion.

"Oh right," he said "We haven't introduced you to our other friends yet. I'll take you with us so we can meet Ruko-san together."

And with that, the Royal Paladin user picked up the LRIG's card along with his reassembled deck up from the table and led the way to Ruko's apartment.

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

Ruko was looking out of the window across the view of the city that lay out in front of her. She seemed somewhat troubled at the moment despite being relieved to be living a somewhat normal life again after Kai and Aichi had brought her home safely but something however had her mood feeling somewhat down for the moment. Hatsu who had been sitting at the small table earlier looked on at her granddaughter and couldn't help but worry for her, having previously had suspicions form in her mind as to what could have happened without even knowing what really happened in the first place and what was happening now since she had come home safe and sound, thanks to the group of boys that had visited her two days ago. She stood up from the seat and walked over to join Ruko at the apartment balcony from where she was standing.

"You know that I believe you and what your new friends said last night, Ru-chan," she spoke gently.

"I know grandmother..." Ruko murmured as she turned to face Hatsu "It's just... I wish that I didn't have to make you and onii-chan worry so much... to the point where he's already left to 'blow off some steam as he's put it'."

Despite keeping her mouth shut above her involvement in the Selector Battles as well as Tama and Kuro's existence, there was some truth to the Selector's words just now. She had been concerned about how both Ayumu and her grandmother were feeling during her time in the grip of Reverse which resulted in her absence from home and couldn't bear to think about the thought of leaving them without a trace, for their own good no less.

"Ru-chan, I know for a fact that whatever happened over these last six days could not have been your fault," said Hatsu "But I must ask, is there anything you would like to tell me?"

At this point, Ruko's heart wrenched in the way that she never wanted it to. The Selector to a degree wanted to tell her grandmother about everything that had been going on since the start of her involvement with the Selector Battles, but she knew that even she could not see the LRIGs meaning that telling her everything would be rather moot and even if she did believe her, who was to say that Ayumu would not take drastic action in response to this revelation.

"Anything at all?" her grandmother asked in a gentle tone.

"Actually... there is one thing I want to ask..." said Ruko.

"Go on..."

"Grandmother... am I scary?"

Hatsu's expression became rather grim at this point. She knew for an iron clad fact that her granddaughter was referring back to the day that her mother had transferred care of her and Ayumu over to her and left them there just like, all because she claimed that she couldn't understand Ruko and she was 'scary' because of it. Whilst it was true that Ruko had become somewhat more open since the start of her involvement with the Selector Battles, unbeknowst to Hatsu, she never saw any qualities that would make her consider the Selector to be scary in any shape or form and that there was something off about her mother's claim, as she had originally suspected herself.

Their trail of thought was interrupted as a knock was heard at the front door, bringing their attention towards it. Ruko walked over to the door and opened it up to reveal Aichi along with Hitoe and the other cardfighters standing outside in the hallway.

"Are you holding up alright... Ruko?" asked Hitoe.

"Y... Yeah," she answered.

"Thank goodness..." breathed Aichi.

Ruko smiled warmly in response, acknowledging the concern from her friends and reassuring them at everything had been working out for her just fine, so far that was. She looked behind her to her grandmother who simply nodded with a gentle smile.

"I'm glad you could come by and visit again," she said "Given your reliability in keeping your earlier promise, if Ru-chan wishes to go out for the day, could you keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens to her? I am once again putting my full trust in you for this until I am certain it is safe for her to go out on her own again."

"You don't need to tell us that, if Ruko wishes to do so," Kai replied.

The Selector looked back at the group before looking back at Hatsu, now realizing she had been given the opportunity to talk things out with both Kuro and Tama without the risk of raising any suspicion to her grandmother or Ayumu, provided they did not run into him during their conversation during the whole day.

"I don't mind at all," she said "Just give me a minute to grab something from my room."

And with that, Ruko went back into her bedroom to gather up any possessions she wished to take outside with her for the day, including Tama and Kuro's LRIG cards so that they could have that conversation that she had mentioned in their previous discussion. Whilst she was doing that, Hatsu motioned for the group to enter the premises of the apartment and walked over to them, with a hint of concern within her expression.

"You seem troubled Hatsu," murmured Leon.

"I need to ask a request of all of you," she spoke.

"What is it?" asked Aichi.

"Please keep an eye on Ayumu if you see him," Hatsu requested "Ever since you brought Ru-chan back home, he's been acting rather strange. Last night, I noticed him directing hidden scowls in your direction and he went outside shortly after you left, albeit for a rather long time."

"Seriously?!" Naoki growled quietly under his breath "We all went through the trouble of finding her to get her home safely and the first thing we get from him is some hidden backlash?!"

"Either way, this does sound most troubling," Ren interjected "We better not take anything too lightly around him for the moment if what you're saying is true."

Kai said nothing in response, having suspected that something like this could have happened beforehand when they were not noticing. Whilst he had indeed met Ayumu for the first time the previous night when the rest of the group had already met him beforehand, there was something about him that seemed rather off to him when he was being 'grateful' to them for finding and bringing Ruko home safely, despite keeping their lips sealed about any details of the battle he and Aichi had gone through to save her or any of her previous exploits in the Selector Battles. Now that Hatsu had addressed such a suspicion, he knew this wasn't the time to be complacent around him due to recent events. By then, Ruko had exited her bedroom dressed in the black coat that she had worn during her seclusion in the Reverse and walked over to Hatsu.

"I promise we'll be back home soon," she said "Hitoe can call you if there's any problems."

"I understand. I'll let Ayumu know that you're still under watch with your friends when he returns," her grandmother said gently "I just hope that he is alright."

"I see..." she murmured before shaking her head clear of the piling doubts "I'll see you later, grandmother."

"Take care, Ru-chan."

And with that, the two Selectors along with the cardfighters exited the apartment and headed out into the city, where they would find a place to host their conversation to get as much information as they could from Kuro.

* * *

**Outside of Apartment Blocks...**

As Ruko, Hitoe, Aichi, Kai, Naoki, Leon and Ren exited the building from where their apartment complexes were housed, they began to walk out into the city streets to find a space where they would be sure that no one would listen in on their conversation in regards to the Selector Battles and everything within them. However, unbeknowst to the seven of them and their LRIGs, their every move was being watched. By whom, the answer would be one that they would least expect at this moment. Ayumu gazed from around a corner and observed the group's movements from where he was currently standing, a somewhat bafeful glare sent in their directions at this very moment.

He turned around and walked a few steps forward to come face to face with the black coated woman that he had met from last night, when he was mentally venting his frustrations on both Kai and Aichi for their involvement in the situation that had been ongoing for the duration of Ruko's absence. The same woman that he had simply called 'mother', no doubt referring to the same mother that he and Ruko once lived under, before she transferred care of them to Hatsu.

"You know what you must do," she spoke, an icy cold tone to her somewhat bitter voice.

"Kai Toshiki and the others will lead me to the truth behind everything," said Ayumu "As for Ruko, I won't forgive her for everything that has happened. Her involvement and for what happened all those years ago."

"If you wish to be called my son once more and have a chance of purging Ruko of being 'scary'," 'mother' continued "You must retrieve these 'LRIGs' and 'Units' that they hold for me. That way, she may be 'freed' from this acursed game and you'll know the full truth."

"Then I shall take them from Ruko and the others by force!" he declared.

"Do not underestimate them Ayumu," she interjected "As far as what you have told me last night, you still hold inexperience in the Wixoss card game alone and although I have given you the means to forcefully enter the Selector Battles themselves, I can sense that both her and her friends' skills will overpower your determination alone."

"Then I will observe as you have said, then defeat them, starting from their weakest link," he spoke.

"Do what you will," 'mother' replied "But do not fail me and Hatsu must know nothing about this."

And with that, she walked down the street and turned around a corner, disappearing from sight once more as Ayumu turned around and began to follow Ruko and friends from close behind, slowly so he would not be caught in the act.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Meanwhile inside of the repaired laboratory, Photon stood high above the working Cyberoids on the gantry near the edge of the room. He had been oversighting the repairs done to the lab as a result of Ulith's fight with Ezel during Takuto's desperate attempt to escape to the outside world with both Tawil and Umr in tow. Mayu had recaptured one of the two LRIGs and the Cray being due to the untimely aid of a Neon, this time sucking him completely dry of all of his remaining power and keeping him imprisoned in the darkest and deepest pit of her White Room, where those who had dared to defy her in the past had either been tossed into or suffered a fate far worse than they could possibly imagine. As he eyed the repaired canister, which now housed the motionless Tawil in a deep sleep, he heard the doors open behind him.

"You have finally arrived, Futase," he spoke "You're late."

"Photon, I want to talk with you."

And indeed, the Selector who had seemingly been addressed by the first portion of her pen name for her Wixoss novels, stepped through the corridor onto the gantry that led out towards the center of the lab. Her expression seemed uninterested by the events going on around her at first, but a closer gaze would allow one to tell that her only visible eye showed otherwise as she stopped in front of the Cyberoid who turned around to face her.

"Why did your soldiers have to involve Anne in all of this?!" she demanded "It's me and the true Fumio that Mayu wishes to sort out!"

"Because you weren't the first to gaze too deep into the true mechanisms of the Selector Battles," he calmly answered "You should already have figured out by now why Mayu had partnered you with Anne."

"Because I wasn't the first...?" she murmured.

"The Selector Battles will play out exactly to her cause," Photon continued "And any being that refuses to allow that to happen, will have to follow along more... persuasive methods. Anne is merely a partner in your role whilst your actions when the time comes will decide the true Fumio's fate."

"And that's why your soldiers 'operated' on her eye?"

Futase growled as she flipped up the portion of her hair that covered her left eye... or what was left of it in some regards and overall context. Whatever skin that had remained there had shown indicators of a scar to show that either Futase or the real Fumio had been involved in some kind of incident that was responsible for said scar whist the eyeball had remained mostly intact with several blood red lines running across, albeit not crossing over the iris. Covering the rest of that portion however was shiny white and silver metal along with a small red lens that had covered over the view of said eyeball.

"It's true Fumio had suffered from this scar a long time ago and I had the unfortunate viewing of witnessing it being dealt firsthand," she muttered "But... this is something even she wouldn't approve of."

"That is merely a trifle."

Fumio turned around just in time to see Ulith enter the lab with her trademarked sinister sneer which easily unnerved the Selector that had stormed in to confront Photon about the terms of their agreement and how Anne was involved in her scenario.

"Ulith..." she breathed "But that's impossible...! How is it that you..."

"Roam the hallways of the White Room freely without any trouble?" the cruel demanored Selector interrupted as walked into the lab. "Mayu has indeed been most generous towards my end of the bargain I have made with her, despite my intial setback with Shiro and Sendou Aichi, for the right price of an eternal servitude." She then gazed at Futase with her grin having not left her lips. "What was yours, Futase?"

The Selector, knowing what she had been talking about could feel all of her pent up anger and frustration from earlier become replaced by complete and utter guilt at this point as she looked down at the ground with shame present within her expression.

"What was your price for selling out your Selector? Your urge to learn the whole truth about the Selector Battles for a novel series that's now on hiatus? Disgusting, scum," Ulith remarked as she turned to Photon. "I trust work on Tawil has begun again?"

"Indeed," the Cyberoid replied nonchantly.

"Excellent," she spoke as she looked back to Futase "As for you, I reccommend not backing away from or worse angering your assigned 'commander'. He's had quite the reputation in ensnaring the three heroes of Cray for the Void before. So for now, I bid you and Anne adieu, to either your fate or pitiful demise."

And with that, she turned around and walked back through the doors that originally led into the lab, laughing maniacally as she did so whilst Futase begrudingly remained depressed from what the cruel demanored Selector had addressed earlier. Reluctantly, she gazed back at Photon whose expression had not changed within the midst of their conversation.

"Just get it over with," she muttered under her breath.

The Cyberoid simply said nothing as he pressed a button at the console that was housed at the far end of the gantry, causing one of the screens to change to pitch black with only two singular red eyes displayed amongst the darkness that had been displayed before him.

"Schwarzschild, you may begin," he spoke.

"As you may wish," the omnious voice replied.

There was no doubt that was indeed same voice that Futase had also previously addressed as Schwarzschild before, evidenced by the deepness and familiarity of the tone from before, when she conversed with him after Leon had fallen asleep at Fumio's apartment.

* * *

**City Park**

Unaware that Ayumu was monitoring their movements, the group of Selectors and cardfighters eventually arrived at the park where they could see that thankfully for them, it was seemingly completely deserted. On the way over, each of the cardfighters and Hitoe had reccounted each of their own adventures within this world for the duration of Ruko's absence, including their first arrivals and their interactions with the people they met, the battles that all of them had taken part in prior to the previous day, including both Hitoe's battle with Akira to win back Kai's stolen Kagero deck and Aichi's confrontation with Ulith, the full explanation of which had only served to horrify the Selector when she had heard the full details of what had happened during that battle along with the chain reaction of events that led up to it.

Heading over to the bench, the two Selectors sat down whilst the boys had remained standing on either side of that same bench, partially to make sure that this conversation was not to be interrupted once it would have begun unless it was absolutely necessary. Hitoe brought out Yuzuki's card whilst Ruko brought out both of the cards containing Kuro and Tama respectively. Before they could begin their search for answers from the girl of black, Aichi looked towards Ruko.

"Um... Ruko-san, there's someone that I think you'll want to meet," he said "She helped me to save Tama from Ulith when we last battled."

"Who is 'she'?" she asked.

Reaching into his other empty pocket, the Royal Paladin user pulled out and revealed Umr's card to the group and in the case of the Selector in front of him, this was the first time that she had met or even seen Umr. Even so, her appearance was enough for her to recognize the LRIG, with Yuzuki having described her to the Selector and Hitoe before. Speaking of whom, Yuzuki could only gasp when she saw Umr once again.

"You found Umr?!" she exclaimed.

"Umr!" Tama called out loud.

"To be honest... it's more like she found me, thanks to Takuto-kun," he answered.

"So... the prototype girl of black has come into your possession, Sendou Aichi," murmured Kuro.

"He already knows, Kuro..." Umr spoke "Tatsunagi Takuto told me everything about my creation and... my original purpose given to me by Mayu. That was to merge with Tawil and become the being that she dubs Ut'ulls... so she could unleash devastation upon this outside world."

Ruko remained silent in response to this revelation, having not known that Umr had actually existed as an LRIG, let alone as the 'prototype girl of black' as Kuro had apparently known her as. Looking down to the 'real' girl of black, she had suddenly realized that their conversation was yet to start and although they learned a few new things about Aichi's LRIG, it hardly helped in progression to the answers that they sought.

"I see..." she murmured "Anyway... Kuro, you were going to give us an explanation about Mayu and the Selector Battles?"

"I'll do the best I can," the LRIG replied "I can't guarantee that I know all of the details myself, but I'll tell you everything that I know."

"Then begin if you may," Kai spoke. Kuro nodded in response and closed her eyes as she began to recall everything that she intended to tell the group at this very moment.


	43. Arc 3 - Ride 43: That Dark Truth II

**Flashback; Kuro's POV/Narration**

" _Mayu was once alone... without knowing what alone actually meant..._ "

Deep within what appeared to be a rather large bedroom, a girl lay down under the covers with a mostly blank expression to both her eyes and face. Tall red fabric draped down from the very top of the bedroom all the way down to either side of the bed near the end where the pillows were laid out. With the exception of her hair colour, which appeared to be dark brown along with the lack of her earrings, this girl from her eyes alone was more than enough for almost anyone to potentially recognize as the real Mayu, before she had become the enigmatic and short-tempered mastermind behind the Selector Battles and recieved her power from the Void to do so.

" _Every so often, something did and something came to her. But,_  s _he didn't know anything. Who she was or why she was here... That lonely room was entire world, her entire everything._ "

Despite her seemingly blank outward appearance, the girl's expression still showed hints of confusion and wonder. Wonder for the world that lay just beyond the door to her bedroom and the large skylight at the very top of the roof. Turning to her right, she slowly but rather weakly reached out for a book that was on one of the two small desks to either side of her bed. That same desk the book in question laid on also had what appeared to be a small stuffed rabbit toy, an additional book beneath the one that she was picking up and a small ball with some string attached to it. On the other bedside desk lay a small themometer with a glass container that held some clear purplish liquid substance along with two white bags, one of which had the word medicine in plain english written on it.

" _It was then that she eventually noticed that things were being placed around her._ "

Unlike the book which was simply titled 'Friends', Mayu had seemingly took no notice from the objects on the other desk as she opened up the book that had what appeared to be the image of a middle school girl as evidenced by her uniform along with a single word as the title. Friends.

" _Periodically, someone would come by her room, only to just deliver more things to her. Perhaps it was merely out of pity towards Mayu herself._ "

A woman that was dressed in the clothing of what appeared to be that of a house maid, briefly stopped by the doorway to Mayu's bedroom before leaving down a box that contained more toys and other objects inside of it and leaving the room immediately afterwards. Mayu herself the for the moment however, took no notice of this at all. Her expression had changed to complete wonder as two of the pages within the book that she was reading showed an illustration of a large, but rather peaceful countryside town.

"What... is... this...?" she asked to herself, before slowly turning to the next two pages of the book and looking up to the skylight above her bedroom.

" _She then found out. Beyond that window, there's a world outside that she's not aware of. That there were many girls outside that look like her. At least, to a degree._ "

Within the two pages of the book that Mayu had opened up, she looked back to see on the page to the left, there were several girls, all in white dresses but with different hairstyles to differentiate all of them from one another, further evidenced by the fact that some of them wore different kinds of hats. One of the girls from having her hair tied up in small pigtails on either side of her head, seemed familiar to the point where her appearance was almost completely identical to that of a certain LRIG in the present day. On the page to the right, the kanji there simply read out "... a lot of friends...".

"Frie... nd..." she read out "Their wish... came true... and everyone... lived happily ever after..."

She murmured the closing narration of the book, once again in a slow tone as on one of the next pages, she could see an illustration of those same girls with linked arms going in a circle around a certain patch of grass in the meadow they were depicted in.

"Wish..."

" _Then one day..._ "

On one fateful day indeed, amongst the objects that were present within her bedroom, Mayu could see on her desk what was the box that contained a deck belonging to the Wixoss card game. The deck that was title White Hope, to be more exact.

" _She understood that it was some sort of plaything and that it could not be played by herself._ "

The girl had already finished opening up the box that contained both the cards that made up the full deck and began to lay them out, trying to make sense of why she couldn't play the game by herself, compared to the other toys that she had recieved from the household maid, without even noticing the woman to begin with.

" _She then... imaged it. And..._ "

One night, Mayu sat up on her bed with the two playmats that had been included with the deck that she had recieved placed in front of her to their sides, so it would appear that it was set up for two players to interact with one another whilst the girl herself would observe. Then, imaging it within her mind, two glows emerged from the blank cards that were placed on the LRIG zones of both mats. One took on the form of Tama, when back in the earliest stages of the Selector Battles and at this point in time, she was named Shiro, after the colour white itself. The one glow took on what appeared to be the LRIG form of Ulith, when Kuro was a Selector to the cruel demanored girl only some time ago. However, the LRIG itself was far from being Ulith herself. This was in fact, the original true appearance of the girl of black herself, now seemingly brought to life for the first time. Mayu simply smiled, pleased with what she had seemingly accomplished at this very moment.

" _... created friends._ "

* * *

"Whoa, hold it there!" Naoki's voice called out in interruption.

"What is it, Ishida?" Kuro asked, almost huffing under her breath.

"So let me see if I've got this right... You and Tama... were Mayu's imaginary friends..." the Narukami user said, attempting to make light of what he had just heard.

"You are correct," the girl of black replied "Those imaginary friends at that time, were only images that she had manifested within her mind and were ones that only she could see. Now then, if I may continue?"

"Yes," said Ruko as Kuro immediately resumed the story from where she had stopped.

* * *

"You are the Girl of White, the good girl, Shiro," Mayu spoke, giving the respective original names to the two imaginary girls who would later become Ruko's current LRIGs "And you are the Girl of Black, the bad girl, Kuro. We're friends from tonight."

"Yeah, nice to meet you," said Shiro, not speaking in the third person as she would later do so as an actual LRIG.

"Sure, I'll be your friend," replied Kuro, in a much softer tone compared to the 'person' she was now.

And indeed, the 'three' friends were as Mayu eventually laid back on her bed and went to sleep with a smile on her face, not even noticing the moonlight's glow from the skylight covering over her at this very moment and the fact that Shiro and Kuro had vanished, now that the girl who had imagined them was currently asleep. Unbeknowst to the young girl or any of her imaginary friends, from a shadow of the bed that was cast by the moonlight at this very moment, a pair of 'eyes' seemingly materialized, if only for a brief moment before disappearing into the darkness once more, as if almost on a whim. On the very next day...

"Shiro's going to summon Tlet. Attack."

"That won't work, Shiro."

A Wixoss game was appearing to be well into effect as evidenced from the familiar name of the White SIGNI that was attacking at this very moment. Shiro had attempted to attack with Tlet, Gauntlet with Mayu telling her that the Girl of White's attack would seemingly have no effect. As this was going on, the maid that normally delivered objects to Mayu whenever she passed by was simply staring at what she was seeing. Mayu was seemingly playing the game to herself, whilst not being able to hear the voices of Shiro and Kuro within her imagination out aloud. The maid, who did nothing more, simply left the room with the girl inside her bedroom once again paying no mind as to what had just happened as she continued the 'game' as it was.

"I'll stop that with Vimana," Kuro spoke.

"Aah... no..." Shiro's voice echoed, seemingly with no emotion to it. Mayu simply giggled warmly.

"Now it's Kuro turn next..." she spoke.

"Here I go... attack."

"Yikes. She got me..."

" _That was when... she started a certain game..._ "

"Outside world...?" asked Shiro.

The girl of white asked that question on that night of the same day, where Mayu had finally begun to put together the pieces of what she desired as her ideal image for the Selector Battles, prior to its implementation with the aid of the Star-vaders. The young girl turned her head across the bed to the pillow of where the imaginary Shiro lay down and smiled.

"Yes," she answered "Shiro and Kuro are going to bring girls from the outside world here. You tell them that if they win the game, their wish comes true.

"Then what?" asked Kuro.

"Shiro and Kuro are going to play Wixoss and whoever wins will be granted the wish of the girl they brought."

"Then... what will happen to that girl?" Shiro pondered.

"She will be sealed away in the world of cards," Mayu replied "For her to escape from there, she'll have to bring another girl."

"What about the girl that loses?" Kuro asked once more.

"Her wish won't come true," the enigmatic girl answered before pausing for a brief moment. "No, that's not all. Her wish will be reversed."

The large dark bedroom remained silent for a moment as each of the first two LRIGs in existence took the time to go deep into their own personal thoughts on the subject matter. Even though they were nothing more than mere figments of Mayu's imagination at this point in time, the fact that they had sentience of their own to a small extent was enough for them to ponder on the subject for a while. Eventually, Shiro was the first to speak out her thoughts on the matter.

"But... isn't that mean?" she asked.

"Why?" Mayu replied "The girls can choose whether or not they wish to participate. They don't have to play if they don't wish to."

"Hmm. Sounds like fun," Kuro said, almost musingly in response.

"Right? Let's do this."

"Yup. Shiro will do it too."

* * *

**City Park: Present Day**

"No way..." Ruko breathed.

"Then this means... Mayu's image of the Selector Battles was never influenced by the Void or Link Joker in the first place," Aichi murmured.

"They simply aided her in the construction of bringing them to life, by her own will," Kai concluded, grimacing on the last portion of his sentence.  _Just as I had recieved power to overcome Aichi and Ren back then, under similar circumstances. Could Mayu have even been aware of what she was thinking back then? Even so... what is her reason for wanting to destroy the outside world as she declared in our last battle?_

Kuro simply kept her eyes closed as she continued the story from there.

* * *

**Flashback; Kuro's POV/Narration**

" _And so... after imaging how the battles would play out the way, her world eventually began to bear bright colours._ "

As the days passed on, Mayu continued to use her imagination to manipulate the way the Selector Battles would work under her baleful glare. Using said imagination, she rigged up a 'test' battle with Shiro and Kuro by imagining two Selectors, each with a different wish of their own. One who wielded Shiro who wished to become a florist, as evidenced by the single flower tied within her hair whilst the Selector who wielded Kuro wished to become a princess. The battle went back and forth for many minutes, until eventually, Kuro's Selector was the one to emerge victorious from the bout. In the result, as the system had not been completely finalized as it was in the present day, in an instant, the losing Selector had her wish to becoming a florist tainted as the flower in her hair withered away along with her sense of sight and smell in relation to any plants nearby her. The victorious Selector however, ended up being trapped inside the card that Kuro was a part of and the girl of black inhabitated her body.

" _Within this imaginary world, the girls' laughter, their cries, their screams and their agony continued to resonated again and again._ "

Continuing to image more scenarios before her, Mayu eventually learned of the other colours that were presently available in Wixoss at the time, barring Yellow as that colour for the moment had only appeared when Naoki would eventually appear in this world with his Narukami units. At the same time though, as more of these 'tests' continued to go on, to the view of Shiro who had been distracted in one of her battles for a brief moment, she could have sworn that she had seen Mayu's physical state growing weaker with every passing day.

" _But... the more her imaginary world grew in size... the more she learned about the cruel meaning of reality... and where she really was. A world of truth where there are no colours or voices._ "

One day, Mayu weakly lay back on her bed, her physical state seeming much worse for wear than the last time Shiro had distracted herself from one of the girl's imaginary battles. The girls of black and white looked down upon her seemingly sickly state, concern plastered all over their expressions. The young girl could barely keep her eyes open and her voice was beginning to weaken.

"Say... Shiro, Kuro..." she spoke "Isn't it strange? You're all my friends, but I'm the only one here. Not only can't I wish... I can't even see what a florist looks like."

"Say Mayu... What is Mayu's wish?" asked Shiro, finally speaking in third person for the first time.

"Shiro and Kuro... will fulfill Mayu's wish," Kuro replied.

"Really...?" Mayu coughed "You're both so kind... My... wish..."

She reached out towards the skylight of the bedroom that was far above her, showing the bright blue sky in the distance above, respresenting what little she would actually see out of the outside world. Then, before she knew it, Shiro and Kuro faded from view as her vision began to blur and her breathing began to become ragged. Before Mayu had lost complete consciousness, her remaining vision though blurred, was enough to depict a dark purple cloud manifesting in front of her before she blacked out.

**...**

Kuro and Shiro eventually woke up in the location that was revealed to be the White Room, as evidenced by the many gates and windows that had surrounded them at this very moment. Looking at one another, they suddenly realized that they had actual consciousness flowing through them and that they actually had physical being without the need for Mayu's own imagination. But the question that remained was how was that possible? Little did the two LRIGs know was that the answer they were about to recieve was the answer that they would be looking for. Mayu, as she now appeared in the present day, appeared behind the two of them.

"It's been too long."

The girls of black and white turned around to face the mastermind of the Selector Battles whose enigmatic smile had not left her lips since she arrived in the area. Looking forwards, both Kuro and Shiro could see that the three of them were not alone in this 'White Room' A large figure, bigger than even the three of them combined, towered over the trio, its white armor and black rings along with the scythe it carried had made the figure all too familiar to recognize.

"Mayu... what is it that?" asked Shiro.

"'That'... is one of many who have finally brought my wish into reality," Mayu spoke "The Clown from another reality... or rather... Chaos Breaker Dragon!"

"Chaos... Breaker..." breathed Kuro.

"Most magnificent," 'the Clown' spoke "Unlike the two 'rejects', my newest creations, the two of you brought to life directly from Mayu's imagination, have proven to be most... successful."

" _It was because of Chaos Breaker, that the two of us had finally gained physical being and proper sentience. Sendou Aichi, I'm already certain you know as to who the two rejects were that he was talking about. He revealed to us that he had also created at least 48 other original LRIGs, all of which were still in testing whilst the two of us were his first, successful creations. Once his work was finished and Photon's forces had assumed command for him in his temporary leave, the true Selector Battles could finally begin._ "

* * *

**City Park: Present Day**

Back in the park, everyone was practically speechless with shock. None moreso than Ruko herself, having been curious as to how both Tama and Kuro had come to be involved with the Selector Battles in the first place. Originally, when she had learned of the Selector System from Yuzuki after she had become an LRIG and on the seperate occasions after that when she had both Tama and Kuro seperately, she had wondered as to what kind of girls the two of them could have existed as before becoming Selectors. That is, if they were actually ones in the first place to begin with prior to this revelation that the girl of black had given to the whole group.

With this new information now in hand that Kuro and Tama were originally figments of Mayu's imagination, brought into physical being by one of the Star-vaders' most powerful and cunning commanders, no one knew what to say next in regards to that. The girl of white, who had been brought about with amnesia as a result of a previous clash against Kuro, when she had gone berserk as a result of a certain hideous transformation beyond her control, couldn't believe that she had just went about in agreement with all of this, even before the Selector Battles had been properly developed to the point where they now physically existed. Unbeknowst to the entire group, Ayumu who had followed them to the park earlier, had been listening in on every single word of their conversation at this very moment.

"No way..." breathed Hitoe.

"You tell me..." murmured Yuzuki.

"Well... this certainly complicates things," said Ren.

"The ability to transcend her image into reality... Just how much more about Mayu do we not know?" Leon pondered.

"Transcend...?" Naoki murmured in confusion, trying to get the meaning of what the Aqua Force user was implying.

"If Mayu can manifest her imagination through the means of the limitations of what the Star-vaders can create for her," he spoke "There may be no stopping her the way that we are now."

Whilst neither Aichi nor Umr had any words to try and describe anything they had just heard from Kuro at this very moment, Kai could only stare at the ground with many thoughts racing through his head. The one that was predominant though was the fact that everything around them happening in the battles only they had proper knowledge of and could properly participate in, was all the result of one enigmatic girl and a unit that he once wielded alongside a certain clan for the sake of power, without any care in his world of whatever happened around him. Aichi noticed this and turned to him.

"Kai-kun..." he said "I know you once wielded Chaos Breaker as your own... but that was a long time ago now. You don't have to feel responsible for this."

"Perhaps," the Kagero user replied "But... this doesn't change the fact that this entire world has been in more danger than we could have imagined for quite some time, even before my arrival here."

"Reject..." Umr murmured under her breath, bringing Aichi's attention down to her. "... Just what was wrong with me... for 'him' and Mayu to call me that?"

"Umr... I think you're fine the way you are," Aichi spoke, trying to reassure her "Even if you are called a 'reject' by Mayu and Chaos Breaker, you still did so much to help me. I wouldn't have overcome Ulith or saved Tama from her if we never met one another that night. To me... you're another friend."

"Friend..." she spoke before attempting to smile warmly, just as she did at the end of 'that' previous battle "It sounds... nice..."

Aichi smiled warmly in response, seeing that his effort to try and lift Umr's spirits after hearing that she had been originally a 'reject' as he had so discovered prior to and during the story that Kuro had just explained to the group, in regards to how the Selector Battles had been created. Getting up from the park bench, Ruko walked up to the Royal Paladin user alongside Hitoe to see the LRIG up close for themselves, whilst also holding out their own respective cards, each containing Tama, Kuro and Yuzuki respectively.

"So you're the real Umr," said Ruko "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise..." she replied before she then paused, trying to think of something to say next.

"I wouldn't worry for the moment," said Yuzuki "You'll eventually get the hang of conversations with enough practice, just like Hitoe at some point when Aichi gets the chance to teach her."

"Y... Yeah," her Selector replied as she looked at Aichi, smiling warmly as she did so.

"Tama likes Umr!" Tama called out before noticing the horms on either side of the LRIG's head. "Are... Umr's horns real?"

Tapping the horns on either side of her head before attempting to move them, cringing briefly as a result of this, the mysterious LRIG nodded in reply, confirming that the horns were indeed an actual part of her and not an accessory, like Anne's headress for example. The others briefly sweatdropped for a moment, making the scenario somewhat awkward between them. Then, before they could say anything else...

"Hello again!"

The group turned their heads to see Chiyori emerge from the entrance to the park and run up to them in an instant, her excited expression being present alongside her usual overly happy, but mostly cheerful smile as she joined the five cardfighters and two Selectors in the center of the park.

"Chiyori, Eldora!" called Naoki.

"It's certainly been a while," the aforementioned LRIG replied "Chiyori was more than eager to meet up with you again, given the circumstances of what happened last time."

"You no longer need to be concerned if you're talking about my injury and the fact that Tama is now in safe hands," said Kai.

"That reminds me..." Chiyori pondered as she looked to Ruko "We haven't been properly introduced before, haven't we Ruko?"

"Yeah..." Ruko answered, still somewhat caught off guard by the younger Selector's eccentricness. "We met when I was running away and I bumped into you... sorry about back then."

"No biggie!" she replied before shaking her hand up and down in an excited fashion, briefly embarrassing Ruko for a brief moment as evidenced by her expression. Chiyori then turned her attention over towards Kai.

"That reminds me..." she said before holding out Eldora's card towards him "You haven't forgotten our deal, have you?"

Kai simply closed his eyes and nodded, having remembered back to their casaul battle in the shop Card Luck, where he had somewhat reluctantly agreed to later comply to her terms of a rematch as a Selector Battle, if only so she could experience battling his Kagero units for real, up close and personal. Aichi and Ruko briefly turned to the Kagero user, having not been told about any of this beforehand.

"Kai-kun..." he murmured.

"I haven't forgotten," Kai spoke as he reached into his pocket.

As he did so, a rustle came from a pair of nearby bushes, which caused only Ruko to turn her head in that direction whilst everyone else remained seemingly oblivious to the very noise that she had just heard at this very moment. Kuro and Tama simply stared at the bushes, wondering what was within them to cause their Selector to become concerned for their safety at this very moment. Could it have been Akira stalking the group again, attempting to land another physical attack much like when she did to Kai only two days ago? For the moment, they could only keep their ears and eyes on guard, waiting for whatever was hiding to make their move.

"Yes!" Chiyori's voice called out, bringing Ruko's attention back to the group. "And before you ask 'Have I lost any more times?', I can assure you that the answer is no! I'm really looking forward to it."

"Very well then," Kai replied as he pulled out Dragonic Overlord's card from his pocket "But regardless of what happens to your wish, remember this well. You have brought this upon yourself."

Before either of them could declare the signal "Open!" to open up the battlefield to begin the battle, a sound suddenly burst from out of the bushes as Ruko turned around and gasped.

"Look out!" she called as she quickly shoved Chiyori to the side as a metal object with a red gem embedded in it which was thrown at them, presumably aiming for the smaller Selector of the group, latched straight onto her wrist, almost locking itself into place. The red and black cable that was attached to the 'cuff' that had been locked onto her wrist, suddenly reeled back at little, enough to drag the Selector forwards by a little margin.

"Ruko-san!" called Aichi as he tried to fiddle with the cable.

"Are you alright?!" asked Kai.

"What... is this?!" she groaned as she tried to pull her wrist back.

"Not what I intended... but it will do."

Everyone in the area with the exception of Umr gasped as they looked on in the direction of the bushes to which the trail of the reeled cable led towards. As the source of the voice and the figure that it belonged to emerged from the bushes, the cable reeled backwards until the source of where it had fired from had finally been revealed, along with the person who had launched it at the group in the first place. The device from which he had launched the cable from, was coloured white and mounted onto his left wrist, with a large empty pocket that looked like it should contain something to house that compartment. That compartment however was not the one that the cable had launched from, evidenced by the reel that was built into the top plate above the 'empty' casing.

"O... Onii-chan?!" gasped Ruko.

"So... I've finally tracked down your little secret," he spoke, a hint of disdain present in his voice, his gaze becoming a fierce glare.

"Ayumu-san... just what's going on?" Hitoe asked nervously.

"Eh? Who is this supposed to be?" Chiyori murmured before bringing up Eldora's card and saying in a whisper "You don't think he's another 'Boy Selector' from their world, right?"

"No," Eldora replied "From the sound of things, he's Ruko's older brother."

"Very perceptive, Eldora."

The LRIG gasped, having known that it should not have been possible for Ayumu of all people to be able to hear the voices of the LRIGs, especially since the only boys who should be able to even do so would be the cardfighters from another world that were standing around them.

"Oi Ayumu!" called Naoki, bringing the older brother's attention over to him "What's with the glares from last night that Hatsu told us about?! I get you're concerned about Ruko, but we went out of our way to try and bring her..."

"That is something you should have not done!"

The Narukami user's eyes widened in disbelief, seemingly shocked as to the blunt reply that Ayumu had given him at this very moment. From his reply, it sounded as if he never wanted them to find Ruko and bring her home safely in the first place.

"What are you saying?!" Yuzuki demanded, now knowing from his addressing of Eldora that he could hear her as well.

"Now that I know the truth from all those years ago," he spoke "Ruko should have been left alone to whatever fate she had, to suffer for what she did back then!"

"W... What are you talking about, onii chan?" asked Ruko "If it's about the Selector Battles, we can talk about it now."

"It seems you really have forgotten," Ayumu muttered, causing his sister to gasp in confusion "Not that it matters."

"Ayumu, what it with this cuff?!" Kuro demanded as she looked at the cuff that was locked to Ruko's left arm.

"Thanks to this anchor," he explained "Neither of us can move away from one another until a Selector Battle between us is completed."

Almost everyone else present in the park gasped, each of them pondering in thought as to how Ayumu managed to gain information about the Selector Battles without any of their knowledge. Even Ruko was shocked by this turn of events, wondering if she had already known how her older brother had managed to gain said information from them without theme even realizing it or noticing it at first.

"Then... you were overhearing my conversation with Tama and Kuro earlier this morning..." she murmured "And just now... you were following us."

"Of course, Ru," Ayumu answered, with a hint of venom to his voice "That is what Tama calls you, if I have not misheard."

"But... you need to have an 'alive' LRIG or units from the Planet Cray to enter a Selector Battle," Chiyori pointed out "Just how are you going to open the battlefield?"

"Then I'll show you, in a matter of moments," he bluntly replied as he took out a deck of Wixoss cards, 40 black and 10 white along with one strange card that had a dark grey backing to it and shoved them all into the empty slot of his wrist device, causing it to whir loudly and the red sections of the cable that was attached to Ruko's arm to illuminate brightly, catching everyone's attention.

"Ruko, let Tama fight!" Ruko looked down to the girl of white, as did Kuro towards her. "Tama wants to help Ru's 'onii-chan' understand!"

"I see..." the Selector murmured before looking over to her friends who seemed concerned whilst Chiyori seemed more intrigued than worried. "I understand Tama. Let's do this."

"Ruko-san..." Aichi murmured in worry.

"Be careful," said Kai, to which the Ruko nodded in agreement.

"For the warmth you took away from me all those years ago..." Ayumu muttered in anger before looking up and forward, his eyes now showing nothing but discontent for the Selector and her friends. "Are you ready for your repentance?!"

Ruko simply clenched her teeth as she held out Tama's card towards him and the older brother pulled back on his jumper sleeve to reveal the whole device that was attached to his left wrist as he pressed a button that was embedded at the very back.

"OPEN!" they both declared as the cable between them glowed a blinding bright red, bringing everyone within its radius and the two people latched on either end of it, to the battlefield that awaited all of them.


	44. Arc 3 - Ride 44: This Warped Rage

**Selector Battlefield**

When Ruko eventually regained conciousness on the battlefield, she could see that Tama had taken up center stage on the LRIG space of her table whilst Kuro had remained standing beside her deck to observe the oncoming battle from there. Looking across towards the opposite side of the space, she could see that the background was a greyish-silver like colour and that her brother, Ayumu, was seated on the table at that end. On the LRIG space of his table stood a tall female like figure, both her body, hair and costume covered in all dark grey whilst her eyes had remained a blank dark red. The older brother's gaze had remained angered since their confrontation only moments earlier, when he declared that he would make her ready for her 'repentance'.

"Onii-chan... who is that...?" asked Ruko as she stared at the strange 'LRIG' that Ayumu had in his possession.

"A kind provision by the one I'm fighting for," he replied, the earlier hint of distaste still being present in his tone. "This figure isn't exactly an LRIG, but I can use it to take the form of one for any Selector Battle I choose to participate in. That of course depends on the deck that I use."

"So then... he can use that 'thing' to copy whatever LRIG is advantageous over us...!" Kuro muttered as she looked up to Ruko "You and Tama must not let down your guard! There's something strange about whatever's in his possession!"

"Tama understands!" Tama replied.

Ruko nodded in response to confirm that she understood what the girl of black was trying to warn her about. Part of her thoughts were still lingering towards Ayumu and what he said to her earlier before conducting the battle that was about to begin. She didn't know about what he meant when he said from 'all those years ago', but the Selector knew that if that was the reason he was taking out his anger on her, then this battle would be the only way to uncover the truth about his strange behavior as of late.

"Let's go, onii-chan!" she called as she looked back at her brother, who simply closed his eyes whilst making no change in his expression.

"The LRIG type, or rather... the clan of Cray I'll have my puppet duplicate... is this!" he called as he held out his hand towards the 'LRIG' on his table.

"Changing appearance," the figure emotionlessly spoke, 'her' voice almost sounding somewhat mechanical to the ear.

At this moment, the 'clone puppet's' red eyes began to emit a somewhat blinding glow as its body radiated with a bright aura until its very shape began to change form. That new form represented a large blue armoured mechanical figure with patches of yellow, red and white also littered across both the body and armour. Adorned on the front of the hexagonal chest panel was the number 1 and in its left and right arms respectively, it wielded a shield with red colours within the top folds along with a green gem in the center and a large blade with a yellowish hilt. The figure's head was mostly blue with a white faceplate and a winged crest of the same colour adorned with a red gem on the forehead, but its eyes were the exact same colour as those possessed by the 'clone puppet', compared to those depicted on the card that it now hovered above on the LRIG space.

"Huh?" Tama pondered as she, Ruko and Kuro stared over at the changed figure, now seeing the form that Ayumu's 'clone' had taken for itself.

"How did he know about Cray?" the Selector murmured, previously assuming he only knew about the planet from Chiyori's brief 'explanation'.

Up from the top of the tower that lay in the background of dark buildings at the center of the battlefield, everyone else who had been brought into the battlefield, Selector, cardfighter and LRIG alike couldn't help but express some surprise at what they had just witnessed on Ayumu's table. None were more shocked however than the five boys amongst the group whilst the LRIGs could not believe at what they were seeing before their eyes, especially with the kind of form that Ayumu's 'LRIG' had taken the form of at this very moment.

"What in the world... is that?!" Yuzuki asked in shock.

"He's copied... Dimension Police?!" Naoki exclaimed.

"Dimension... Police..." Umr murmured, having not been familiar with the name of that clan.

"Ooo... That's the clan he's copied?" Chiyori pondered in wonder as she gazed at the unit's copied form.

"Yeah," Ren replied "But that unit that he's copied... I'm wondering if he's managed to duplicate his deck."

"Whose exactly?" asked Eldora.

"The leader of Team Ceasar, one of our opponents in both the National Tournament and the Asia Circuit," Kai answered "Mitsusada Kenji, otherwise known as 'Koutei'."

"If that is really the same deck..." Leon murmured as he and the others looked down towards where Ruko was seated.

"Does Ruko even have a chance against this 'Koutei's' deck?" Hitoe asked nervously.

"Perhaps," the Aqua Force user replied "But I'm certain that this will not be an easy battle for her."

 _Ruko-san, please be careful..._ Aichi whispered within his thoughts.

His expression was more than enough to show that like everyone else around him, he was also worried for the Selector's safety, having known about the uphill struggle that she was about to face at this very moment from previous experience facing the Dimension Police clan against Mitsusada, Jun and Neve on his own occasions. Back down on the field, a creaking sound was heard to show that the roulette to choose who would determine which amongst them could take the first turn, the slots adorned with the colours of silver and white. Eventually, the giant wheel above both Ruko and Ayumu's heads came to a stop, the wheel having stopped on a white colour, much to the older brother's annoyance as evidenced by a hiss under his breath.

The Selector inwardly breathed in relief as she took the time to anaylze the situation before her. She hadn't heard anything about the Dimension Police clan from any of the cardfighters in her group beforehand and even if her older brother's 'LRIG' was copying their appearance, she knew that she couldn't take the situation lightly, especially with the foul and angry mood that he was in. Eventually after a few short moments, Ruko had eventually made a decision as she looked back towards Ayumu.

"I'll go first!" she called as she drew her single card "Tama, grow!"

A series of hexagonal flashes rose up around Tama as the girl of white's current appearance did not change by much as she gained a small piece of silver armour to the top half of her dress and the ribbons in her hair growing larger as a result of the transformation. In the center SIGNI space, Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine appeared and took a defensive stance, having known that Ruko could not declare an attack on the first turn of a Wixoss battle. Seeing that she was done for now, the Selector motioned to signal the end of her turn.

"Finally, after all of those years... justice will be served," Ayumu muttered under his breath as he drew his two cards to begin the turn before holding out his hand wide.

"Grow! Karenroid, Daisy!"

As the form of the Dimension Police unit he currently had reverted back to the 'clone LRIG' for a brief moment, sparks flew out of its red eyes before Ayumu suddenly cringed in pain for a brief moment as said 'LRIG' then in another bright flash of red took on yet another form. This time, it was the form of Karenroid, Daisy. The unit's appearance of a purple armoured figure had two blades built into its lower arms and stood several inches taller than Tama herself. The pink eyes that were depicted on the card's artwork, much like before with the previous unit that the 'clone LRIG' took the form of, were replaced with those same blank red eyes that stared onimously towards the girl of white and her Selector.

"Summon!" Ayumu called as he revealed two more SIGNI cards from his hand and threw them into his left and right SIGNI zones "Dimensional Robo, Daibattles and Dimensional Robo, Daicrane!"

In the left SIGNI zone, a vehicle like machine with four armoured 'tread'-like attachments in addition to sporting red, white, yellow and blue colours along with a number materialized and hovered just above the ground. In the other zone, a yellow armoured robot like figure around the same height as Karenroid, Daisy's form appeared into that spot. A crane arm extended from its left shoulder plate and in the place of where its right hand would be was a large variety of tools. Keeping his baleful glare upon Ruko, Ayumu held out his arm wide in front of him.

"Attack!" he declared fiercely.

Daibattles in an instant immediately soared across the battlefield towards Tama, catching the girl of white by surprise as the 'vehicle' Dimensional Robo rammed straight into her, knocking her upwards. In the air, Daicrane immediately leaped above her and brought down its left fist upon the LRIG, knocking her straight back down to the ground. As she groaned in pain, Ruko's first two Life Cloths revealed themselves to be Round, Small Shield and Energe, Original Spear, the second card glowing to indicate a Life Burst.

"I add Arc Aura to my hand!" the Selector called as a file of light scanned through her deck and pulled out the white Spell, revealing it before she concealed it amongst the remaining 5 cards in her hand.

"So I've given you your 'trump card'," Ayumu murmured "But... that has no meaning to me! Daisy attacks!"

"Iseult!"

As Daisy dashed across the battlefield towards the downed Tama before leaping at the LRIG with both blades out, Flash Shield, Iseult appeared in a flash of light in front of her. The Royal Paladin unit deployed a barrier in front of the girl of white, just in time to deflect the strikes of Daisy's blades as the copied Dimension Police unit retreated back to Ayumu's side of the field, but not before Iseult vanished shortly afterwards. Ayumu's expression remained unchanged as was his glare towards his younger sister as he silently motioned the end of his turn.

**End of Turn 2**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko : Karenroid, Daisy**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine - EMPTY : Dimensional Robo, Daibattles - EMPTY - Dimensional Robo, Daicrane**

**Ener - 2 : 0**

"Dimensional Robo..." Kuro murmured "I see now!"

"What is it Kuro?" asked Ruko.

"When I had stolen the spike that accounted for my first transformation into 'Berserk Draconis'," the girl of black spoke "I took the opportunity to look through one of the computers in Photon's Lab. That was how I learned of the three heroes of Cray and all of the clans on the planet. Your brother's somehow duplicated the Dimension Police clan through that strange 'LRIG'!"

"Took you long enough, girl of black."

Kuro looked over towards Ayumu who had immediately addressed her by that 'title', having known from overhearing her story to the group earlier that he knew of her true identity.

"Onii-chan!" called Ruko, bringing his attention back to her "Why did you try to rope Chiyori into a battle earlier?! And what do you mean by 'all those years ago'?!"

"I had my reasons," he replied bluntly "I simply saw her as the weakest link of your group, intending to defeat all of you one by one. I did not account for you stepping in to take her place. If you really have forgotten about what had happened... then continue this battle!"

The Selector simply tensed up, knowing that with the way that her brother was at the moment, trying to talk some sense into him wasn't going to do her or her friends any good in the long run. She drew her cards to begin her turn before looking over to Tama who looked back and nodded in agreement. Ruko held out her hand forward as Energe's card moved from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile.

"Tama, grow!" she called.

Another series of flashes rose up around the girl of white, changing her appearance once more by adding armour to the bottom portion of her dress, altering the appearance of her ribbons to look more feather like and granting her the same blade that she had wielded in this form, indicating that this was the form known as Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko. Two more SIGNI entered the battlefield on the SIGNI spaces beside Elaine. One which was known as Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking and the other being another copy of Round, Small Shield which had previously been crushed by Daibattles' previous attack. All the SIGNI and the Royal Paladin unit gained a white aura to them as they powered up from Tama's current ability.

**Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking: 1000 - 2000**

**Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine: 1000 - 2000**

**Round, Small Shield: 2000 - 3000**

"Haniel and Round attack!" Ruko declared.

The two white SIGNI nodded in response to the Selector's command and rushed across the battlefield to meet the two Dimensional Robos head on. Daibattles rushed towards Round who used her shield to not only block the counterattack, but to also send the unit flying into the air before crash landing back onto the ground of the field, banishing it in the process. Haniel opened her eyes before unleashing several solid beams of light that knocked over Daicrane, also banishing the unit in the process whilst Elaine unleashed a bright green beam that struck 'Daisy' in the chest, sending the copied unit stumbling backwards and causing the copied form to fade out for a brief moment, revealing the 'clone LRIG' in the result.

"Tama attacks!"

Tama nodded in agreement and let out a loud battle cry before soaring through the air with the aid of the wings that were on her boots before using her swords to slash down the front of 'Daisy', causing it to fumble about more before regaining its foothold. Ayumu's second Life Cloth, which joined Dimensional Robo, Daidragon that was crushed from Elaine's attack, revealed itself as Dimensional Robo, Gorescue. Much like before with Ruko's second Life Cloth, this unit also had a Life Burst that immediately triggered, moving the top card of his deck face-down into the line where his other five Life Cloths were stationed. Tama could only groan at this before retreating back to Ruko's table, the Selector of whom could only feel uneasy in that she had not reduced the lead by much.

"Focus, Ruko." She then looked down to see that it was Kuro who had just spoken out to her. "Right now, we know that Ayumu must have another 3 Gorescues to recover his Life Cloths. If you can crush them all early or if the rest are stuck in his deck, you just need to focus on pressing the attacks with Tama."

"I understand, Kuro," she replied "But... I'm more worried about finding out why my brother is angry at me. Until I can find out, I can't get through to him." The Selector then looked back towards her brother.

"Turn end!"

**End of Turn 3**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Tamayorihime, Shooting Star Miko : Karenroid, Daisy**

**SIGNI : Haniel, Thoughts of Seeking - Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine - Round, Small Shield : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 4**

"5 to 6... Ruko's having a tough time," Yuzuki murmured.

"So cool!" Chiyori called out "It may be a copy, but seeing this Dimension Police in action is amazing!"

"And she's forgotten about the meaning of the conflict just like that," Eldora offhandly muttered, having directed that statement towards her LRIG, earning a sweatdrop from everyone else with the exception of Umr, who just held a confused look on her expression.

"If Ruko wishes to overcome this however, she must survive what is to come," Kai spoke.

"Yeah," Naoki replied "If he's really using the same deck as Mitsusada, he must have 'that' unit's appearance saved for that strange 'LRIG'."

Everyone else with the exception of Hitoe nodded in agreement, having been more than well acqainted with the Dimensional Robos from both past experience in previous cardfights against Mitsusada and from watching him in action as well. They knew that if Ruko was going to try and understand the meaning behind her brother's anger, she would have to overcome some of his strongest units in their copied forms.

* * *

**The White Room**

From her throne in the White Room, Mayu was observing the conflict from the very beginning, having been intrigued in the way that things had been progressing in the clash between both the strange 'LRIG' that was mimicking the Dimension Police units and Tama herself. She then turned her head to see that Futase who had kept her single visible eye closed was walking up to the enigmatic mastermind with the metal plate and red lens covering the scarred eye being slightly visible beneath the strands of hair covering the upper left portion of her face. She opened her visible eye just in time to see on the window in front of her the strange 'LRIG' changing into the form of Dimensional Robo, Daifighter.

"Huh?" she pondered in confusion as she stared at Ruko's older brother who briefly cringed in what appeared to be a small bit of agony as he immediately ignored it. "How did he...?"

"Relax," the mastermind's voice softly interrupted, bringing the Selector's attention over to her. "He's of no concern to the Selector System itself. I or rather 'we' have ensured to take that measure when considering his 'role' in this... 'personal matter'."

"What do you mean?" asked Futase.

"This will be a perfect opportunity to 'test' the capabilities of the 'clone LRIG' that Miyako has provided him with," Mayu continued "It's certainly true that the deck Ayumu possesses now is merely counterfeit, manufactured from data and previous observations of Mitsusada and Neve's fights, therefore meaning that we cannot summon the real Dimensional Police to our world to fight for him. But with the clone LRIG possessing the ability to take their appearance, she also has a portion of the real units' original abilities as well as their brute strength. Although, seeing as said clone is taking on the appearance of a clan rather than an existing LRIG, it will require... a strong heart from him to manifest their forms."

"Then of what use is Ruko's older brother to you?"

"Rest assured," Mayu concluded as she stepped down from her throne to join Futase. "Ayumu will in time earn his keep, one way or another."

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Back to the battle, Ayumu's venomous glance remained trained on Ruko and Tama as he summoned even more SIGNI back to the battlefield, a trickle of sweat having gone down the side of his cheek as a result of using the clone LRIG to take on the form of Daifighter. From his left to right in those respective SIGNI zones on the table, appeared two Dimensional Robo, Daimariners and Twin Order. The Selector having noticed the earlier pain, now saw the pattern that had occurred from growing the LRIG from the first Dimension Police unit it took the form of to when it changed to Karenroid, Daisy and to the unit it was now mimicking.

"Just a little more..." he muttered, quietly enough so that she could not hear him.

"Onii-chan!" called Ruko "Are you alright?! You seemed to be in pain there!"

"It's a small price to pay," he replied, somewhat catching his sister off-guard "My SIGNI will attack!"

With little effort, Twin Order along with the Daimariner in the center column managed to eliminate their opposing SIGNI and unit. Twin Order simply punched Haniel right in the gut whilst the Dimensional Robo rammed straight into Elaine, banishing both of them from the field. Finally, the other Daimariner charged across the battlefield towards Round in an attempt to run over or ram into the White SIGNI. However, to Ayumu's shock, Round gained a white aura to her as the shield that she held out in front was more than enough to stop the Dimensional Robo in its tracks, only pushing her back a few inches before the unit retreated back to his table.

"What?!" he exclaimed.

"It seems you miscalculated," Kuro spoke out.

"Round's original power during the opponent's turn becomes 5000," Ruko explained.

"Tsk!" Ayumu growled "Daifighter!"

The blank red eyes of the copied Dimensional Robo flashed for a brief moment as it raised its left arm and whirred the drill that was attached to it before charging across the field and ramming it straight into Tama, knocking the girl of white onto her back as Ruko's next Life Cloth revealed itself as another copy of Haniel. Ruko looked down at Tama in worry as 'Daifighter' retreated back to Ayumu's table. The Selector then looked over towards her older brother, now deciding that this was time for answers, having thought long and hard over the subject that he was seemingly hinting at. She then began her turn by drawing two more cards and then moving two of the cards in her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile.

"Tama, grow!" she called once more.

This time, a blinding white flash surrounded Tama as she gained feathered white wings onto her back whilst her ribbons in their current state gained even more feathers to them. In place of the sword from her previous form, was a spear with a similiar design to Kuro's, only it possessed a blue gem on the tip and the colours were mostly pinkish with traces of gold littered on the point. Another card from Ruko's Ener Zone entered her Trash Pile as she discarded another copy of Elaine and summoned out Valkyrie, Unforgettable Fantasy whom she had added to the hand from her deck due to this ability. Then to the left of Valkyrie appeared Knight of Truth, Gordon, another Royal Paladin unit. Seeing the formation Ruko had managed to assemble, Ayumu gazed upon his LRIG deck.

"I'll use Doping!" he declared fiercly as the colourless ARTS revealed itself, casting a brilliant glow over the Daimariner on his right. "I'll increase one of my Daimariner's power by 3000 until the end of the turn!"

**Dimensional Robo, Daimariner: 2000 - 5000**

"Valkyrie attacks the other Daimariner!" Ruko called.

Valkyrie nodded in response to the Selector's command and swung her staff, causing a beam of white lightning to hit the center Daimariner on Ayumu's table, banishing it from the field as the card moved to his Ener Zone.

"Tama!"

"Tama's got it!" the girl of white cried in reply as she charged towards Daifighter. This time however, Ayumu was more than prepared to counter this offence.

"Daishield!" he declared as the Dimensional Robo appeared in the center of the battlefield to intercept the girl of white's attack, much to her annoyance as she immediately retreated back to Ruko's table, the Selector having to end her turn right there.

**End of Turn 5**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 4 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Tama, Silver Screen Miko : Dimensional Robo, Daifighter**

**SIGNI : Knight of Truth, Gordon - Valkyrie, Unforgettable Fantasy - Round, Small Shield : Dimensional Robo, Daimariner - EMPTY - Twin Order**

**Ener - 4 : 4**

"Onii-chan," she spoke "I've been thinking about something since this battle started..."

"And what would that be?" he asked, a hint of venom to his voice.

"When you said 'all those years ago'," she continued "I didn't think it would be about 'that', but I think I understand what you're wanting me to recall. Ayumu... is this about mother?"

At first, the battlefield remained silent with both Tama and Kuro looking over to Ruko, having not heard about any previous information about Ruko's mother beforehand, even in all of her involvement within the Selector Battles up to this very point in time. Everyone else in the tower, with the exception of Aichi, could only look down at the Selector, wondering what it was about her mother that she was talking about at this very moment. That silence was then broken by the sound of clapping as everyone turned to see Ayumu slowly clapping, in somewhat mock praise for his younger sister in seemingly finding out the answer to their current dillema.

"Huh?" Tama pondered.

"It seems you've finally remembered," he spoke disdainfully "But... you have yet to understand the reason why my anger is brought upon you."

"What do you mean, onii-chan?" asked Ruko.

"It's because... you're the reason mother left us!"

The Selector gasped in shock, now hearing from her brother firsthand about why he was angry with her at this very moment. All this time, it appeared that he had held resentment towards her for believing that she was responsible for their mother leaving them in the care of their grandmother, Hatsu. Up in the tower, everyone else was shocked to hear that this was the reason that Ayumu had been acting hostile towards his sister, but none more so than Aichi who could only stare down upon him from his view of the battlefield.

"What is he talking about?!" Yuzuki demanded, wanting to know as much as she could into the situation.

"R... Ruko never said anything about her mother," Hitoe murmured.

"I think I know..." Aichi murmured, bringing everyone's attention to him "On our first visit to Ruko's apartment, when she was still under the strain of Reverse, I... accidentally found out about her mother from Hatsu. She said that she had Ruko and Ayumu in her care because their mother thought Ruko was scary."

"No way..." Yuzuki breathed "But if that's the case... why hasn't he been angry with Ruko about this until now?"

"Perhaps that answer will come shortly," said Ren as he kept a sharp eye on Ayumu "I did overhear Aichi-kun's conversation with Hatsu at that time and she also said that she had her doubts to the scenario. Even so, I wonder what's causing that to be the driving force of Ayumu's rage."

Everyone else remained silent in agreement with the exception of Chiyori who had not been paying attention to their conversation, partially from being far too overexcited in watching the Dimensional Robos in action, even if they were only copies of the physical units. Down on the battlefield, Ruko could only stare on at Ayumu in shock, unable to shake the welling feeling in her heart that Ayumu was outright blaming her everything that had happened all those years ago, when she had absolutely no idea as to how she was even 'scary' in the first place.

"Onii-chan..." she stuttered "I..."

"That's right," he interrupted, with fury rising in his voice by the second "You were the reason we... no, I had lost the love of my mother as well! And yet, you ignored the pain of it all, as if the whole thing meant nothing to you at all! But just last night, after Kai and Aichi foolishly decided to 'save' you... I finally found her again."

The Selector remained frozen in both utter surprise and shock, having felt hurt by her older brother's words at this very moment, wondering if what he said about her in regards to their mother was really true. Tama and Kuro could only stare up at her, with their own expressions of concern being plastered on their faces. Ayumu closed his eyes as he began to recount everything that had happened between him and their mother from last night.

"She told me everything about your involvement with the Selector Battles and the LRIGs that live amongst us," he continued "It was then that I finally discovered the reason why you were scary in the first place. Just like every other Selector, LRIG or cardfighter as you call those boys watching us, you're pure evil! It was then I decided, to regain the motherly love I lost growing up from you, that I would defeat all of you, take your LRIGs and units away for her and humiliate you for all you've done!"

"W... wait onii-chan!" Ruko called, trying to interject her view on the matter "I don't know how I'm...!"

"Shut up!" he roared in response "All that matters now is to defeat you and claim back what you had taken away from me! MY... TURN!"

His bold and loud declaration of the start of his turn was in a tone of pure anger as he drew his two cards from the top of his deck, sending a brief shockwave across the battlefield that nerved the Selector, Tama and Kuro as they stared across towards Ayumu whose breathing had become ragged as he saw the cards that he had drawn and placed into the remaining cards in his left hand before revealing Servant D2 from his hand and throwing it into his Ener Zone.

"GROW!" he declared loudly.

Daimariner and Daidragon from his Ener Zone moved over to his Trash Pile as 'Daifighter' ended up glowing a bright red, revealing the true figure of the 'clone LRIG' for a brief moment before a giant red column shone across the LRIG space as red sparks flew across Ayumu, causing him to groan loudly in pain as a giant shadow began to manifest within the same column that was now in front of him, emitting shockwaves as it did so.

"GGH!" he groaned, trying to surpress the pain from using his willpower to have the 'clone LRIG' manifest the unit he was attempting to grow it into "Prideful warrior... show your righteous form before us... NGH! ... and make all before you bow in your presence...! GROW... AGH!"

Ayumu continued to bear through the pain and shockwaves of using up more of his willpower to fully manifest the copied form that his 'LRIG' was trying to take on its own as the chair he sat on began to crack under the strain of the shockwaves impacting Ruko's older brother. Eventually, he bore through the rest of it as the giant red column began to disappear and reveal the presence of what he had managed to manifest.

"Super Dimensional Robo... DAI... KAI... SER!"

The voice that roared out of the 'copied' Daikaiser in tandem with Ayumu's declaration, sounded to be the same from whenever Mitsusada would ride the real unit into battle, only that it also sounded far more corrupted as evidenced by the emotionless voice of the clone LRIG echoing out those same words at the exact same moment. The form of the giant Dimensional Robo, despite being merely the form that said clone LRIG had taken on, it was enough for its height to dwarf that of even 10 LRIGs standing on top of one another. It was mostly grey and silver with a giant green gem in the center of its chest with a gold outline along with plates of red, blue and goldish yellow armour, some of which was embedded with green gems. The head of the mimicked Daikaiser had the same lifeless red eyes as the 'clone LRIG's' true appearance in the place of the green eyes that were depicted on the card.

Tama could only stare on in shock at the towering form of Daikaiser as the giant Dimensional Robo's shadow loomed right over Ruko's table. Even if it was only the shape and size of the unit that was being mimicked, the physical pain she felt from the copied forms of Karenroid, Daisy and Dimensional Robo, Daifighter were enough to tell her that the copy's attacks would still prove to be physically devastating if Ruko wasn't careful in her defenses. The Selector stared up at the face of 'Daikaiser' before looking back to her brother, whose expression had not exactly changed in the slightest, even if using his willpower for the 'clone LRIG' to copy the Dimensional Robo's form was any indicator.

"Do you want to know why I chose for my 'LRIG' to duplicate Dimension Police?" he asked in a somewhat rhetorical sense as the Selector could tell from his tone "It's because mother kindly informed me that this clan was Cray's perfect embodiment of justice. So it would only be fitting if I 'borrowed' that image to finally deal justice to you for what happened back then! But first...!" Ayumu then looked over to his LRIG deck and held out his hand as Servant D2 moved from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile.

"One Rule, Two Birds!" he declared "Daikaiser gains Double Crush and you cannot use Level 1 SIGNI with the Guard ability against any of his attacks this turn! And summon!"

In the center space of his table, another Dimension Police unit appeared in the center as Kuro could only grit her teeth upon seeing what it was. Up in the tower, Aichi and Naoki gasped whilst Kai and Leon could only stare in shock, knowing exactly what was going to come next.

"What is that?" asked Chiyori, confused by their expressions.

"Commander Laurel," Ren answered "And given the power bonus he's given to his mimicked Daikaiser, Ruko won't find escaping this easy."

"Yeah," Kai murmured "Commander Laurel in our world allows a fighter to restand their Dimension Police Vanguard when its attack hits by resting any four rear-guards that they have. But since Wixoss only allows room for up to three summoned SIGNI, we don't know how much of its ability may have changed."

"Then... by restricting Ruko's Guard SIGNI... does this mean Ayumu's confident that his attack will go through?" asked Hitoe.

"Indeed..." Umr murmured as a breeze from one of the earlier shockwaves passed over the tower windowsill. "But with his rage being so great... there is no telling what may happen..."

Back down on the battlefield, Ayumu held out his open hand wide in the direction of Ruko, a sign to show that he was now willing to go all in to deal as much damage as he could possibly do, knowing that he could not do the finishing blow for the moment.

"GO, DAIKAISER!" he bellowed as the Super Dimensional Robo pulled back its giant left fist, now covered in flames due to the effect of the ARTS, One Rule, Two Birds.

Ruko could only cringe for a moment, seeing that she didn't have any of the necessary cards in her hand to block the mimicked Daikaiser's attack that was coming towards Tama. 'Daikaiser' then thrust its fiery left fist right into the ground just in front of the table, sending a maelstrom of flames and shockwaves that covered over the entire table and everyone that was there, causing Tama to scream loudly in pain whilst Kuro shielded her eyes from some of the flames. Ruko was knocked right into the back of her chair from the force of the impact as the fire eventually began to disappear, allowing her to see the baleful glare of her brother directed upon her once again as her next two Life Cloths revealed Get Index and Bow, Shooting Bow.

"Bow's Life Burst...!" she groaned as she sat back up and reached out for the top card of her deck "I draw 1 card!"

"Commander Laurel's skill!" Ayumu declared "Paying 1 Silver, I down all of my SIGNI and... Daikaiser stands back up!"

"It can stand back up?!" Tama exclaimed.

"Here it comes!" Kuro muttered.

Daikaiser's towering form now loomed directly above Ruko's table as the empty red eyes from the copied form glared down upon her, causing her to put her head down as Ayumu simply kept his glare upon her.

"Are you ready for your repentance?!" he barked once more.

This time though, Ruko did not make a single response to her brother's anger at this moment, contemplating everything that she had just heard and thinking about everything she had been through up to this very point. The silence that was present however was something that greatly concerned both Tama and Kuro as they looked over to their Selector.

"Nothing to say, hmph," he muttered "As to be expected, from someone who willingly tossed aside their respect for mother. No wonder you and your friends are the exact definition of evil." The end of his sentence was enough for both Tama and Kuro along with everyone in the tower, minus Chiyori who was once again not paying attention, to glare at him in both disgust at his offence towards them, but mostly for their friend as he then clenched his fist, preparing to give the command to strike once again.

"DAIKAISER! SECOND BURNING KNUCKLE!"

Daikaiser let out a prideful roar, overlapped by the 'clone LRIG's' mechanical shriek as this time, the giant form reeled back its right fist which was immediately covered in flames due to the effect of the ARTS that Ayumu had used. As this was going on, Tama looked back at Ruko in response, hoping that she had managed to get a counter to this attack from the previous Life Burst she had triggered. At first, this didn't seem to be the case as she gasped to see what appeared to be tears dropping onto the table's surface, just behind the LRIG space.

"Onii-chan..." the Selector spoke, trying her utmost best not to cry at this very moment "I can understand why you're angry with me... I don't remember or even know why I caused mother to think I was scary and even then, I still think about what happened then. But..."

The Selector then opened her eyes and immediately threw to the the front of her table from her hand sideways, the card that represented Servant T3 as the Guard SIGNI materialized in front of Tama and deployed a large barrier in front of the girl of white. The barrier was large and strong enough to fully deflect the large fist from the mimicked Daikaiser's attack as the shield almost cracked under the strain and the flames on the fist expired from the failed attack. Ayumu hissed under his breath upon seeing that his second attack with the copy of the Dimensional Robo had been deflected with almost little effort before looking forwards to see Ruko bring up her upset gaze to meet his.

"I won't stand for you talking about my friends that way!" she cried "They have nothing to do with this!"

"If they choose to aid you in whatever schemes are brewing in your head by the second, they deserve every last punishment that I will inflict upon you, Kuro and Tama!" he responded "I end my turn!"

**End of Turn 6**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Tama, Silver Screen Miko : Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser**

**SIGNI : Knight of Truth, Gordon - Valkyrie, Unforgettable Fantasy - Round, Small Shield : Dimensional Robo, Daimariner - Commander Laurel - Twin Order**

**Ener - 6 : 1**

"Ru..." Tama murmured in worry.

"I'm alright Tama..." the Selector sniffed, wiping away the remaining tears in her eyes as she drew her cards to begin her turn "I understand my brother is angry with me, even if I don't know what happened back then. But... that's no excuse for him to take it out on you, Kuro or my friends!"

"Ruko..." Kuro breathed, having not seen the Selector willing to speak out for the two of them along with everyone else observing the battle from the tower.

Ruko looked amongst the cards in her hand and then to her Ener Zone. Thinking over her options carefully and the way that Ayumu had played out the battle so far, this was the decision that she had managed to come down to.

"I Ener Charge!" she called as she moved Servant O from her hand to her Ener Zone, briefly confusing her two LRIGs "And choose not to grow this turn!"

"So you have lost the will?!" Ayumu muttered "I expected more from you and that error will cost you!"

"You're wrong..."

The older brother then stared at his sister in confusion, now seeing her determined gaze bear right into his eyes as he could only look on towards her. Suddenly, he felt himself freeze up in response to this, unable to mutter a response.

 _W... What is this?!_ he raged within his mind  _Is this... is this what mother told me about... when she was scary?!_

"Here I come... onii-chan!" Ruko called.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Dimensional Robo, Goyusha**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 0 Silver  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Dimension Police  
> [Action] Send this LRIG from underneath your current LRIG to your LRIG Trash, then choose 3 cards from your SIGNI Zones with “Dimensional Robo” in their card names and place them in your Ener Zone: If you have a Level 2 or greater LRIG with “Dimensional Robo” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Level 3 LRIG with “Dimensional Robo” in its card name and if you do, Grow it ignoring the Grow cost.
> 
>  **Karenroid, Daisy**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 0 Silver  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Dimension Police
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daifighter**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 1 Silver  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Dimension Police
> 
>  **Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 2 Silver  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Dimension Police  
> Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) Pay 1 Silver: When your Dimension Police LRIG grows from this LRIG, until end of turn, it gains Double Crush, +10000 power if it has a [Constant] effect that provides that LRIG with a power value and “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG attacks, if your opponent activates the effect of one or more SIGNI with Guard or [Quintet Wall] during that battle, reveal the top two cards of your deck. For each Level 3 or greater SIGNI revealed through this effect, add that card to your hand and negate the effect of one of those Guard SIGNI or send 1 of the SIGNI revealed through that Quintet Wall to your opponent’s Trash Pile before resolving that card’s effect. Send any other revealed cards from the top of your deck through this effect to the bottom in any order.” If the LRIG that grows from this card is not Level 4 when this effect activates, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field.  
> [Constant]: Lord
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daibattles**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Dimension Police only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Send this card from your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile: Choose one of your Silver SIGNI, it gains 3000 power until end of turn.  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your Silver SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daicrane**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Gorescue**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Bursts at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daishield**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Silver LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Dailander**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Dimension Police only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Silver: Choose 1 of your Silver SIGNI with “Dimensional Robo” in its card name and that SIGNI gains 4000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daimariner**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Send this card from your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile: Choose one of your Silver SIGNI, it gains 3000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Commander Laurel**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Dimension Police only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver and Down this card along with 2 other Silver SIGNI you control: When your Silver LRIG’s attack hits, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up that LRIG and it can attack again.
> 
>  **Dimensional Robo, Daidragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Dimension Police only  
> Power: 6000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Dimensional Robo” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Twin Order**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 7000


	45. Arc 3 - Ride 45: That Overwhelming Pressure

**Selector Battlefield**

Ruko kept her determined gaze upon Ayumu who seemed to suddenly freeze up in response to this turn of events. Although her older brother had not shown it on his angered expression at this very moment, he was cursing at himself for suddenly hesitating in front of the presumed 'reason' of the truth his mother had broken out to him earlier in the day and the night before. What was even more strange was the Selector's decision to not Grow during that turn which had left both Kuro and Tama confused and somewhat concerned, wondering if she was still feeling rattled from Ayumu's words last turn, especially given her decision to place a Guard SIGNI in her Ener Zone at the start of this turn.

"First, I activate Arc Aura!" she called as five of the seven cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile.

A white aura surrounded Tama as she recieved the effect of the white Spell card, the girl of white feeling somewhat refreshed as a result of this. Kuro however was still not as convinced, given the current circumstances that were surrounding their Selector.

 _She's activating Arc Aura for holding back a Level?_ she murmured within her thoughts whilst she looked back to the Ener Zone on the table  _Then the reason she Ener Charged Servant O just now must be..._

"Next, I use my own One Rule, Two Birds!" she called as she revealed the red ARTS from her LRIG deck, the same copy that Kai had used in his previous battle against her as evidenced by both Dragonic Overlord's image on the artwork and the presence of the Kagero unit surrounding Tama in a blaze of flames.

"A chain attack of Double Crush hits, huh?" Ayumu murmured as he looked over his remaining six Life Cloths and the cards in his hand, keeping his disgusted gaze upon his sister "That means nothing to me. That is, if you're willing to give up your entire SIGNI line for the four attacks you need to win."

Ruko said nothing in response as she looked down at her table, running the scenario through her mind once more. Tama had Double Crush along with a Guard Restriction from the ARTS she had played this turn and thanks to her Arc Aura spell, the girl of white could attack four times by trashing one SIGNI for every additional attack that she wanted to make. But at the same time, she knew that something was up with Ayumu at this very moment and that it wasn't because of his anger directed upon her, her LRIGs and her friends, but the fact that he seemed unfazed in regard to the situation he found himself in.

"Round and Valkyrie attack!" she called.

The two White SIGNI nodded and charged across the battlefield towards their respective opponents, Daimariner and Commander Laurel. Ayumu simply closed his eyes as the two Dimension Police units were immediately banished from the battlefield and their respective cards moved over to his Ener Zone. Tama then clutched her spear tightly as she took flight towards the towering form of Daikaiser, mimicked by the clone LRIG that Ayumu had in his possession. She slashed down the front of the 'Dimensional Robo' leaving a fiery score on its chest as a result of the ARTS. The next two Life Cloths that were crushed revealed both Dimensional Robo, Gorescue, the Life Burst of which was useless as Ayumu still had more Life Cloths, and Metalborg, Bryknuckle, the second card of which caught everyone's attention from up in the tower, but none were more shocked than two certain cardfighters.

"No way!" Naoki exclaimed.

"He has Neve's units as well?!" Aichi gasped.

"What do you mean?" asked Chiyori.

"Take a look at the second Life Cloth Ruko just crushed," Leon murmured, causing the younger Selector to glance closely at the table.

"Oh, I see!" she called "That Metalborg card!"

"If that's the case..." Yuzuki muttered "Then Ayumu must be able to copy both Mitsusada and Neve's strongest units!"

"Ruko..." Hitoe murmured in worry.

Kai, Eldora, Ren and Umr simply gazed upon the Selector down on the battlefield, wondering what she was intending to do for the moment as they too could also tell that despite his situation, Ayumu was still not concerned about the predicament that he found himself in from the effect of the One Rule, Two Birds ARTS. Ruko looked to Tama who nodded in agreement for what to do next.

"Let's go, Ru!" the girl of white called, to which the Selector nodded in response.

"With Arc Aura," she spoke "I send Round to my Trash to have Tama attack again!"

Her older brother simply kept his eyes closed, not uttering a response to her sudden action at this very moment as Tama took flight once again, just as Round vanished from one of the SIGNI zones on the table. The LRIG slashed down the front of 'Daikaiser' once again as the copied voice of the Dimension Police unit and the clone LRIG roared out in tandem in response to the hit that it had taken. Ayumu's next two Life Cloths revealed two copies of Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat, both of which were Level 3 and had no Life Bursts of their own.

"One more!" Ruko called as Valkyrie vanished from her table, the card moving over to her Trash Pile as a result of this.

Tama let out a loud and mighty battle cry as she created another fiery score down the chest panel of 'Daikaiser', slightly cracking the green gem present there as Ayumu's final two Life Cloths revealed Metalborg, Sandstorm and Dimensional Robo, Daicrane, the final Life Cloth allowing him to draw 1 card per the effect of the Life Burst. It was at this moment that he had finally decided to open his eyes, still retaining his disgusted gaze upon Ruko as she almost flinched in response.

"Well 'Ru'," he spat "You have 1 attack left to finish this! So what will you do?!"

 _He's acting confident..._ Ruko murmured within her thoughts  _He wouldn't have taken such a risk of losing six Life Cloths and goading me into that last attack, unless..._

"Turn end!" she called as the fiery aura and the white glow from around Tama faded.

**End of Turn 7**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Tama, Silver Screen Miko : Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser**

**SIGNI : Knight of Truth, Gordon - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY : EMPTY : Twin Order**

**Ener - 1 : 7**

"Why didn't she finish it?!" Chiyori moaned "Her spell would have allowed her to deal the final attack to finish this!"

"I wouldn't be certain," Eldora murmured as she looked down on the field, causing her Selector to ponder in confusion.

"Eldora's right," Yuzuki interjected "One Rule, Two Birds may have restricted Ayumu of guarding without Level 1 SIGNI, but that may not be the reason why he purposely took all of those hits."

"Um... why not?"

"Daikaiser..." Umr murmured "Even if you say that form is a copy of that unit... I can still sense an incredible aura."

Back down on the battlefield, Ruko stared across towards Ayumu, still in thought about what happened during her turn just now when he allowed himself to be put at such a disadvantage. But she knew that wasn't her main concern at the moment as she was about to voice out to him at this very moment. Even Kuro was somewhat puzzled as to the turn of events that had occurred only mere moments ago.

"Onii-chan, I have a question," she spoke.

"And what would that be?" he hissed.

"I just want to know..." the Selector replied "Why am I scary? What did I do wrong?"

The entire field, including those that were watching from high up in the tower amongst the shadowed buildings in the background, went silent knowing that this was the moment that Ayumu would finally his reasoning as to why he and Ruko's mother believed that the Selector herself was 'scary' in regard. The older brother simply kept his baleful glare upon Ruko herself and began to speak.

"The thing that you did wrong was to drive our mother away!" he barked "Mother says that what you did was so 'cruel' not even she can recall everything that you did! And because of that, to have to advance further in life on my own to the point where I now have to continue through university, without her loving gaze being there to support me... YOU WOULD HAVE NO IDEA OF THAT BECAUSE YOU KEEP SECRETS TO YOURSELF!"

"But that's what I want to know!" Ruko replied "I want to know what I did wrong... so that I can try and make things ri..."

"You had your chance," Ayumu interrupted, shocking his younger sister "You had many chances, over six years to be more precise! For forcing her away for so long, you didn't even pay any mind as to what happened. For that alone... I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

And with that, he immediately began his turn by drawing two more cards and upon seeing what exactly they were, he turned his baleful gaze upon Ruko and her LRIGs once again, nerving them in the result as they looked back at him. Two more cards moved from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile as another red flash consumed the form of Daikaiser and more red sparks flew across Ayumu as he once again endured the pain needed to copy the form of the unit that he was attempting to grow the clone LRIG into now.

"Steel lion of justice... bring your wrath upon those unsightly in your supreme presence!" he called as he slapped down the card on top of Daikaiser's on the LRIG space "Break Grow!"

The column began to disperse as the form of a new unit that seemed just as tall as Daikaiser, maybe even taller in some regard from the sheer shape and size alone as more details about this unit began to reveal themselves. The armour was mostly black with several plates of silver and grey littered all over the body in addition to several additional colours of red and yellow. The unit had two armoured black wings on its back with several shades of red on the far edges and a bit of yellow hanging from the bottom of each wing. The chest of the giant robot seemed to be shaped to resemble the head of a lion, complete with a jaw and yellow 'eyes'. The head of the unit comprised of the same colours that were littered on its armour and had the clone LRIG's red eyes in place of the green eyes depicted on the card. In its right hand was a giant black and grey blade with several plates of yellow armouring on it. The unit's form revealed itself in all of its unforeseen glory as Ayumu called the name of it out loud.

"Metalborg... SIN BUSTER!"

The red eyes of the copied 'Sin Buster' flashed for a brief moment, showing that the process of mimicking it had finally been completed. A card from Ayumu's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile as a dark red aura surrounded the colossal form of the Metalborg unit.

"Daikaiser's Break Grow Skill!" he declared "Sin Buster gains +1 Level, +3 Limit, Double Crush and... +10000 power!"

"Huh?!" Tama gasped.

"Eh?!" Yuzuki exclaimed "LRIGs don't have power values and even then, Dragonic Overlord's Eternal Flame only grants that when attacking through that skill!"

"I'm not surprised," Ren murmured, bringing the LRIG's attention up to him.

"What do you mean?" asked Hitoe.

"Dimension Police usually focuses their strategem on powering up their center line so that their Vanguard's attacks can break through more often in additional to granting additional skills when a certain power has been obtained," Kai explained "And even now, he's now managed to create a combination through the mimicking of Mitsusada and Neve's strongest units."

"And with what Sin Buster is capable of with Daikaiser's Break Ride skill..." Aichi murmured, his tone showing his utmost concern for Ruko and Tama in the situation they now found themselves in. Whilst this happened, Ayumu summoned another Commander Laurel to the field.

"With Sin Buster's continous skill," he explained "Whilst it is my turn, it gains a base power of 8000 to keep as its own, with an extra 10000 this turn from the Break Grow skill and any abilities or effects that would power up my Silver SIGNI can be applied to him and someone else I would like you to meet."

"I'm guessing that's not all," Ruko murmured.

"That's right" the older brother replied "Sin Buster until end of turn, as part of another skill gained by Daikaiser recieves Twin Drive! Or at least, some variant of it for this particular skill. Whenever Sin Buster attacks this turn, if I reveal a Level 3 or greater SIGNI from the top two cards of my deck through this way, I can add it to my hand and negate the effect of one Guard SIGNI or reduce the number of SIGNI called through a Quintet Wall by one, simply by sending one of the called SIGNI to the Trash Pile. Any other SIGNI I reveal through this 'Twin Drive' goes to the bottom of the deck."

"Twin Drive...?" Tama pondered.

"Did you think I wasn't aware that the LRIGs and SIGNI belonging to your friends from outside this world actually came from another planet, let alone another game entirely?" Ayumu spat in respnse before gazing at Ruko once more "The only way to fully block Sin Buster's attack is to use 3 cards to defend. Judging from your expression, you don't have enough Guards in your hand for a 'Perfect Guard formation' and when his attack successfully hits Tama, not only can I draw a card but I also can use Laurel's skill to rest my SIGNI and have my 'LRIG' stand up again. And that's not all...!"

"There's more?" Ruko murmured as she watched her brother hold out his hand towards the LRIG space.

"Seek mate!"

'Sin Buster' raised its sword high into the air as a golden aura surrounded it at this very moment. Four cards from the Trash Pile, 3 of which were Level 3 SIGNI returned back to Ayumu's deck as a file of light began scanning through the deck for the appropriate Legion Mate. Before he could call out the name of that Legion Mate, he suddenly clenched his chest in pain as more red sparks flew across him, causing Ruko to gasp in shock.

"Onii-chan!" she cried.

"Shut up!" he struggled to call out over the strain of the sparks.

 _This Legion..._  he muttered in his thoughts  _Having that clone LRIG mimic it along with the Break Grow requires me to use up a portion of my life to maintain the forms of those units...! But... this pain will be worth it, soon enough! Watch closely... mother!_

"From beyond the horizon, become the light that illuminates the earth! Rise up, Metalborg, Ur Buster!" he called that same file of light brought the card from the deck straight to his hand before he threw it out to the LRIG space alongside Sin Buster's card. "LEGION!"

As the Legion symbol appeared to all, a Metalborg unit whose height was marginally smaller than Sin Buster's appeared to the unit's right. Ur Buster like the Legion Leader wielded a blade of his own, only both it along with the unit's armour in comparison had much less of the brighter yellow and red colours that were present across Sin Buster's armour. Shortly after this happened, a purple armoured unit with wings mounted on its back and a gatling gun mounted as its lower right arm appeared.

"Metalborg, Mist Ghost's skill!" Ayumu called as yet another card from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile "Both Sin Buster and Ur Buster recieve 4000 power!"

**Metalborg, Sin Buster: 18000 - 22000**

**Metalborg, Ur Buster: 5000 - 9000**

"So not only did he Legion..." Kuro muttered "But he also chose to power up the pair instead of his SIGNI. What is he planning?"

"This is the end!" Ayumu called "Sin Buster, Ur Buster, bring Tama to her knees and show Ruko what 'true pain' really feels like!"

The red eyes of the copied Sin Buster flashed as both it and Ur Buster charged across the battlefield towards Tama who could only gasp both in awe and fear at the same time from the sheer size of the two Dimension Police units. Ruko stared over at the Legion Pair as they charged across the battlefield towards the girl of white before looking back at her hand, gasping as some of the cards present there began leaking sparks.

"Legion Skill!" Ayumu called "Since the combined power of Sin Buster and Ur Buster totals over 30000, you cannot use any Quintet Walls or SIGNI with the Guard ability whose Level is 2 or greater! And with the Twin Drive variant from Daikaiser's skill, there's nothing you can do! It's over!"

"Nothing I can do..." she murmured nervously.

"Ruko! You have to try and defend!"

The Selector suddenly snapped out of her daze as she looked over to Kuro who had called out to her at this very moment.

"Even if your chances are slim, you need to try and block this attack no matter what!" the girl of black called "If it succeeds, Commander Laurel will stand up Sin Buster for the next attack to finish you and Tama!"

"But... Daikaiser's Twin Drive will reduce the cards Ru can guard with...!" Tama interrupted "And Sin Buster's skill has already locked her out from using Quintet Walls!"

"Don't tell me you've given up hope as well Tama!" Kuro replied "I know that you and Ruko have been through much worse than this, even before I became her LRIG! If Ayumu's Twin Drive won't grant him the SIGNI he needs, then her glimmer of hope will save you both!"

Ruko however had held her head down, trying to think of a possible solution to get out of the mess that she had gotten herself into from giving Ayumu the Ener he needed to perform the Break Grow and Legion, a strong combination of the skills of both Daikaiser and Sin Buster, two of Mitsusada and Neve's strongest units making the scenario almost hopeless to escape from. For the moment, it seemed that what her brother said was coming true, that there was nothing she could do.

 _Nothing I can do...?_ she murmured, thinking back over the course of the battle and then suddenly realizing something  _That's it! I see now!_

"No guard!" she called.

"Huh?!" gasped Tama.

"Ruko!" Kuro exclaimed.

"Please trust me!" the Selector replied "I know it might not sound like the right thing to do, but I've remembered something from earlier in the battle! Something that can help us!"

Whilst Kuro simply closed her eyes in frustration, unsure of whether Ruko was thinking straight for the moment or not, Tama could only turn around as the towering forms of Sin Buster and Ur Buster loomed above the table as they prepared to strike her down. Ayumu who had overheard both the declaration of not guarding against this attack and Ruko's brief 'argument' with her LRIGs, seemed somewhat confused by this.

"So you chose not to even try and defend yourself," he muttered "Have it your way then as you taste the wrath of Sin Buster firsthand. FATAL COLD STEE...!"

"Daikaiser's skill," Ruko interrupted in a soft and yet, somewhat calmer tone, causing her older brother to raise an eyebrow "You have to conduct a Twin Drive variant, don't you?"

"T... That's right!" he replied, having been caught off guard for the moment "Twin Drive!"

Revealing the first card from the top of his deck, his first 'check' revealed Metalborg, Sandstorm which he immediately added to his hand. Then the second card he revealed was Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat, yet another Level 3 SIGNI. He remained unfazed at this point, just as Sin Buster and Ur Buster lashed down their giant swords onto the floor of the battlefield, sending a shockwave of smoke and debris that crashed right into Tama, Kuro and Ruko, knocking them backwards and in the case of the two LRIGs, onto their backs in pain. As the Selector struggled to sit up, Tama and Kuro gazed up at her with one thought on their minds, about what she was thinking at this time, as evidenced by her strangely calmer tone moments ago.

"What was she thinking?!" gasped Yuzuki "Now Laurel will up Sin Buster again for another attack!"

"She's not concerned..."

Everyone up in the tower turned to Kai in response to the comment that he had made at this very moment, with the LRIGs and Selectors amongst them, even Aichi and Naoki being confused by what he had mentioned at this very moment.

"What are you gettin' at?!" asked Naoki.

"Think about it," he replied "Ruko knew full well that if Ayumu was going to return as many Level 3 or greater SIGNI from his Trash Pile to the deck for Legion, that would ensure a stronger chance of Daikaiser's skill going off. By allowing the attack to go through, she's given herself a chance that on his second attack from Laurel's skill, the Twin Drive won't provide as many Level 3 SIGNI needed to break any guards she had."

"I see now!" Chiyori exclaimed "That way, she has a stronger chance of providing a gamble on survivng Sin Buster's second attack!"

"But, if Ayumu still manages to draw the SIGNI needed to break her guards," Hitoe murmured "Sin Buster's second attack from the earlier Double Crush wiping out Ruko's Life Cloths will finish her off."

"That may be," Leon spoke "But there is one other possibility."

"One other?" Aichi murmured.

"Indeed," Ren replied "Now we have to see if Ruko has uncovered it."

Everyone then looked down to the battlefield, just in time to see the smoke clearing up from Ruko's table as the cards in her Ener Zone came into view. In addition to the only Ener she had left over from the previous turn, the next two Life Cloths that were crushed and moved over to there revealed themselves, one after another. First was Michael, Voice of Reconcilation, a Level 2 SIGNI that didn't have a Life Burst to help out the Selector or her LRIGs in the dire time of need. For the moment, the other card remained hidden amongst the smoke as Ruko, Tama and Kuro came back into view as Ayumu closed his eyes.

"It seems hope has finally abandoned you," he spat "Are you ready for repentance?"

"Not yet!"

He suddenly opened his eyes in response to the Selector's cry just now as a blinding green glow from Ruko's table cleared away the last of the smoke, revealing that her second crushed Life Cloth was another Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine, causing in him to gasp in shock.

"WHAT THE?!"

"I recover one Life Cloth," Ruko spoke.

The top card of her deck moved face down to where her previous two Life Cloths were whilst a bright green aura surrounded Tama, replenishing some of her strength and allowing her to stand up on her knees once more. Kuro meanwhile could only stare up at Ruko, shocked by the sudden turn of events.

 _Why was she so calm throughout that whole ordeal?_  she murmured in her thoughts _There's no way she would have known that Life Burst would be Elaine, unless... when she searched her deck with Energe, she knew and somehow remembered all of the cards that had become her Life Cloths?!_

"Tsk... I can't finish you this turn...!" Ayumu growled "But, thanks to Commander Laurel, I Down my SIGNI lineup and have Sin Buster attack again!"

The copied Sin Buster's eyes flashed an ominous dark red once again as it and Ur Buster raised their swords in preparation for another attack on Tama. This time though, with the reassurance that she and Ruko would not lose this turn, regardless of whether or not the attack would hit successfully, she immediately braced herself for the impact of the Legion attack once again as she looked back at her Selector and nodded in reply.

"No guard!" Ruko called "And because of Daikaiser, you must Twin Drive again!"

Ayumu simply hissed as he conducted another 'Twin Drive', this time with the revealed cards being Dimensional Robo, Daishield and Servant T3, the Guard SIGNI of which went to his hand whilst the Dimension Police unit as it was not at least Level 3 went to the bottom of his deck immediately. Sin Buster and Ur Buster brought down their swords to the ground with mighty impact, the shockwave impacting the table once more as the LRIGs and Ruko stood their ground in response as the new Life Cloth revealed itself as another copy of Round, Small Shield. Ayumu clenched his teeth, having known that his efforts to finish off his sister this turn had come to nought thanks to Elaine. He suddenly clutched his chest in pain as another surge of sparks went off across his body as a cost for maintaining the forms of the Legion and mimicking the Break Grow skill of Daikaiser.

"... Turn end..." he muttered, trying to mask away the pain in his voice "Since I have nine cards in my hand during the end phase, I must discard three."

**End of Turn 8**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 5 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Tama, Silver Screen Miko : Metalborg, Sin Buster (Legioned with Metalborg, Ur Buster)**

**SIGNI : Knight of Truth, Gordon - EMPTY : EMPTY : Metalborg, Mist Ghost : Commander Laurel : Twin Order**

**Ener - 4 : 3**

"She just survived..." Yuzuki sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness..." breathed Hitoe.

"Dimension Police... a clan that revolves around their Vanguard being powered up for stronger attacks," Umr murmured "But investing into that much power for a single attack can also have its drawbacks."

"But, Ayumu still has six cards in his hand," Eldora interjected "There's no telling if he's hiding any Quintet Walls or extra defences amongst them."

Everyone else in the tower remained silent, having known about that for a fact that Ayumu still had a greater advantage in the number of cards that he held and that Ruko herself still had a complete wall of SIGNi to get through to try and hit Sin Buster, especially since there were still two open spaces on the SIGNI zones on her table. The Selector took a deep breath to calm herself from the recent ordeal as she looked over to Tama.

"Tama, thank you for believing in me," she spoke as she then looked over to Kuro "You too Kuro."

"Good grief..." the girl of black muttered "I can't tell whether you had a worse habit of taking risks whilst you were in or out of Reverse. But regardless, this is your last chance to try and finish off Ayumu."

The Selector nodded in response, having known that for a fact as she turned her attention back to Ayumu, drawing two cards to begin her turn as she did so.

"Onii chan..." Ruko spoke "Do you really want to know how I entered the Selector Battles?"

"How then?!" he barked, his angered demanor having returned back to him.

"Do you remember the night that you gave me my first Wixoss deck?" she asked to which he nodded "You said that it would help me find my friends from amongst the game's playerbase. And as it turned out from the following day, even during the period that I went missing because of Reverse, I did find my friends. Friends that were in trouble from the Selector Battles darker images and friends from another world who were looking out for me, because they knew of the dangerous power that was around me and Kuro. And also, the deck you gave me on that night... was the one that contained the real Tama."

At first, all remained silent as everyone else with the exception of the Selector herself were seemingly surprised that it was Ayumu who had given Ruko the deck that contained Tama, which had led to the beginning of her journey into the Selector Battles and the darker mysteries that lay beneath the 'urban myth' that had surrounded them. At first, it seemed that her words had seemingly had an effect on her brother with this new information now brought to light. However, what had followed was nothing more than laughter, albeit slightly crazed, from the other side of the battlefield before the angered demanor returned immediately afterwards.

"So you're meaning to tell me that I was responsible for all of your evils years ago, even going as far as giving you that LRIG?!" he barked "Don't screw with me! Unless you defeat me this turn, you're just making excuses at this point. Ruko, I will not accept a surrender!"

"Who said I was surrending?" she replied.

"What?"

"First, I Ener Charge!" she called as she threw one card from her hand to her Ener Zone "Then my ARTS, Rococo Boundary!"

As all five of the cards in her Ener Zone moved over to her Trash Pile, the white ARTS card revealed themselves to everyone as Ayumu suddenly gasped in horror as to what this meant.

"That can't be...!" he exclaimed.

Two white beams shot out of the card as they struck both Commander Laurel and Metalborg, Mist Ghost respectively as the two units vanished from the field and their respective cards reappeared in the older brother's hand as he could only stare upon the situation he was in as Ruko put on her determined gaze towards him once again, causing him to freeze up in his outward appearance once again.

 _This is...!_ he gasped within his thoughts  _I see what may be scary about her now! It's... her determination!_

"Summon!" Ruko called as another Knight of Truth, Gordon and Square, Medium Shield appeared in her open SIGNI spaces. "Tama, you can rest now. You've already been through enough now."

"Tama understands," Tama replied with a happy smile "Battle Ru!"

The Selector nodded as she looked back towards her brother who could only cringe upon looking at what he had in his hand other than the two returned SIGNI. Those were Metalborg, Bryknuckle, Dimensional Robo, Daibattles, Servant T3, Twin Order, Metalborg, Sandstorm and Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat.

 _This... this cannot be!_ he raged within his mind  _Even if I use Bryknuckle now... I can't stop her other attack! Forgive me... mother!_

"Let's go, onii-chan!" Ruko called out loud "Gordon, attack Metalborg, Sin Buster!"

The Gordon on the left SIGNI space on her table nodded in response to her command and ran across the battlefield towards his opponent. Ur Buster rushed out in response and attempted to bring its giant blade down upon the Royal Paladin unit. However, Gordon immediately paused in his run and slid right past the blade and the legs of the Metalborg before continuing his run towards his target. Sin Buster like his Legion Mate swung down his blade upon the Royal Paladin, but this time, he jumped up onto and ran across the length of the weapon. Leaping off the wrist of the giant robot, Gordon gave a loud battle cry before thrusting his sword through the copied form of Sin Buster, causing the form to fade out to reveal that he slashed the clone LRIG across the side as she let out a loud mechanical shriek in the result. It fell down to the table as Ayumu could only stare down at it, wondering what had gone wrong as the battlefield began to darken, now that the result had been decided.

* * *

**City Park**

As everyone regained their sense of reality, the cuff that was attached to Ruko's arm unlocked and came of her arm as it forcefully reeled itself back to Ayumu's wrist device as he stumbled backwards in a weakened state because of the battle, causing all of the deck, but the clone LRIG's card to fall out of the holster and spill out onto the ground. The Selector rubbed her wrist for a brief moment, having not expected the cuff to have been tighter than she anticipated, it having not been on her wrist throughout the course of the battle.

"Are you alright, Ruko-san?!" asked Aichi.

"I'm fine..." Ruko replied as she eventually lowered her wrist as she looked over towards her brother, who struggled back onto his feet.

"Damn you...!" he growled.

"Alright then!" Naoki called as he cracked his knuckles and stepped forwards "You're gonna tell us everything that's going on between Ruko and her mom!"

Ayumu clenched his teeth and stepped backwards in response to the Narukami user's declaration as a voice suddenly echoed from his device.

"Retreat immediately!"

As everyone pondered as to who it was that was speaking to him at this very moment, Ruko suddenly gasped in shock, having somehow recognized both the familiarity of the tone of this particular voice.

"But...!" Ayumu replied.

"You've already caused enough of a scene by going against my orders," the voice coldly replied "Leave the park now and ensure no one follows!"

"Tsk!" he growled as he looked back at the group "This isn't over! You will suffer your repentance soon enough!"

He then pressed another button on his device that was located next to the one that he had used to forcefully open the battlefield, causing him to vanish from the park in a blinding dark red glow. When everyone regained their line of sight, Ayumu was no longer present before them, leaving only the scattered cards of the Dimension Police deck that he had used, minus the clone LRIG whose card remained inside of the slot of his device. Whilst Kai and Leon inspected the cards, Ruko could only remain still in shock as to what she had just heard at this very moment.

"What's wrong, Ruko?!" Yuzuki called, snapping the Selector out of her daze.

"That voice..." she stammered "I... I think that was... my mother."

Whilst everyone had gasped in response to this new revelation, a sudden noise caught their attention back to the ground as the cards that formed the 'counterfeit' Dimension Police deck began to vanish in small dark red embers, the same way that a card depicting a reversed unit would vanish if the cardighter holding them would have lost a cardfight to a non reversed cardfighter. Whilst everyone else pondered on the subject as to why this was, they turned their attention back to Ruko who still remained still from shock of what she had heard only moments ago.

"What will you do?" asked Kuro. Sighing under her breath, Ruko held her head down.

"Everyone..." she spoke "I know you won't like it... but with my brother knowing about the Selector Battles... I..."

"What exactly?" asked Naoki.

"I... I have to tell grandmother everything," the Selector murmured nervously "If she hears his side of the story before mine, then..."

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, tears began to drop out of her eyelids as she stared down to the floor of the park in front of her. Tama simply looked up to her in worry whilst Chiyori simply stared at her, having paid no actual attention to the dillema at hand.

"Why the glum face?" she asked "You won, didn't you?"

"That's not the point!" Yuzuki interrupted "Right now, Ruko and Hitoe's involvement as Selectors in somewhat secret has been comprimised! There's no telling what could happen to all of us now!"

"Right..." the younger Selector murmured "Well in that case then, I'll best be seeing you around then!"

And with that, she immediately exited the park as the others simply looked over to Ruko, knowing exactly how she felt about the dillema that she was now in. None were more concerned however than the two LRIGs that she carried, Hitoe, Yuzuki, Aichi and Naoki. Walking over to the Selector, Kai looked down upon her before placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Do you intend to tell Hatsu about where we come from?" he asked.

"I... I think..." Ruko sniffed "I think can still cover for you guys. But I'm more worried about what could happen to Hitoe and our LRIGs."

"Ruko..." Hitoe murmured.

"Ruko-san, no matter what anyone says to you, we'll still support you through to the end," said Aichi "That's a promise between all of us."

"Thanks Aichi," the Selector replied as she wiped away the tears in her eyes "We should hurry back home and quickly."

The others nodded in agreement as they quickly ran out of the park and straight back to the apartment blocks, in the hopes that Ayumu had not already gotten back to Hatsu and told her his perspective on the Selector Battles before they could have a chance to tell their side of the story.

* * *

**The White Room**

"Well... I suppose that was somewhat impressive."

That comment had been made by Futase who had just finished watching a replay from the very end of the earlier battle, alongside both Ulith and Mayu as the three of them turned to each other to discuss the overall results of their 'test' of the clone LRIG's properties. Needless to say, despite the results seeming somewhat promising to the cause of the Selector Battles and Ayumu's role in what they had planned for him, the cruel demanored Selector seemed somewhat annoyed from the way things had played out, having seen through another window the destruction of the counterfeit deck that he was provided with.

"And I went through all that trouble to manufacture those duplicates..." she muttered "Not that it matters."

"This was only but the first step in Ayumu's role," Mayu spoke "He will have other opportunities to make himself useful to us yet, soon enough."

And with that, she turned around and left the two that were bound to her servitude on their own, so that the enigmatic mastermind herself could attend to whatever matter was on her mind at this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Metalborg, Sin Buster**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 2 Silver  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Dimension Police  
> [Legion] “Metalborg, Ur Buster” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card, and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 11.)  
> [Constant] Whilst you have only Silver cards in your Ener Zone (excluding Colorless), this LRIG has a base power of 8000 during your turn only. If an effect would increase the power of one of your Silver SIGNI, you can have that effect apply to this LRIG’s and/or Legion Mate’s power instead.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG attacks whilst in [Legion], if the combined power of this LRIG and your Legion Mate totals 30000 or more, your opponent cannot use [Quintet Wall] SIGNI or Level 2 or higher SIGNI with [Guard] in their ability text from their hand in response to this attack.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG’s attack hits, if the power of this LRIG or both your LRIG and Legion Mate totals 20000 or more, draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Metalborg, Mist Ghost**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 2000  
> [On-Play] Pay 1 Silver: Choose up to two of your Silver SIGNI and those SIGNI gain +4000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Metalborg, Bryknuckle**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 2000  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Metalborg, Ur Buster**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Dimension Police only  
> Power: 5000  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] When your LRIG performs Legion, until end of turn, it gains 4000 power and “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver: When this LRIG’s attack hits, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI and banish it”.
> 
>  **Metalborg, Sandstorm**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Power: 8000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver or Exceed 1: When this SIGNI attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until end of turn.
> 
>  **Electro-star Combination, Cosmogreat**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> [On-Play] Pay 2 Silver: Choose 1 of your Silver SIGNI and that SIGNI gains 4000 power until end of turn.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you have at it! The next batch concludes with the end to Arc 2 and the first battle of the Arc 3! I understand that my interpretation of Ruko's mother (Miyako Kominato) in Stand Up, the LRIG!'s continuity may be controversial to those reading and vastly different from the canon interpretation (with what little we know of her there), but I hope that it doesn't dampen the overall quality of the story. That aside, tune in next time as the next batch will bring us the first cardfight of the fic! Until then.


	46. Arc 3 - Ride 46: This Cold Premonition

**Vanguard World: City Streets**

Miwa meandered across the streets, heading on his way over to Card Capital to find out from his 'mates' if they had learned anything more as to what had happened as of late involving the subject around Kai's disappearance and Aichi's travel to that 'other' world that Leon had told him about. Whilst he had been insistant on joining the Royal Paladin and Aqua Force users along with Naoki and Ren on their journey upon learning about this, Aichi's reassurance in that he wasn't going alone was enough to make him see the point that he did not want to end up losing anyone within the other world, let alone accidentally leave anyone behind on the return trip.

 _However, I'm just as worried about Kai as you are..._ he murmured within his thoughts as he came to a stop.  _I know we need to keep things under control until you get back with him... but even Kamui's urge to skip the countdown we agreed on is starting to get the better of me. Not to mention having to keep up the rent of Kai's apartment because of his absence might take its toll on me soon._

Sighing for a brief moment, Miwa looked up at the blue midday sky to try and clear his head of the many doubts that were piling on by the second. Reluctantly, he forced on a smile to try and not let himself feel stressed about everything that was going on. After all, he was relying on the word of the fighter that saved the world from the darkness of Reverse and pulled Kai out of it when he was at his lowest.

"You seem pretty distracted."

Hearing that familiar voice, Miwa turned around to see a familiar cardfighter that had just addressed him at this very moment. He had very dark purple hair and eyes along with a short sleeved shirt of the exact same colour that he wore beneath a long sleeveless white coat. This person also had a pair of long blue armbands that wrapped around his lower arms. From here, Kai's friend could easily recognize that it was the one who held the title 'The King of Underground Fights' that was talking to him at this very moment.

"Jun..." he murmured.

"It appears that you have been rather absent minded as of late," said Jun "I'm guessing it's because of him."

"You've got that right," Miwa replied before looking back at the open blue sky "I know that I'm doing the part of keeping everything calm, but..."

"You want to do more."

He looked back at Jun, knowing that he had just read both his thoughts and doubts like an open book. Then again, with the anxiety being present in his tone in the midst of their conversation at this moment, this shouldn't have come as much of a surprise to him.

"Regardless though," the King of Underground Fights continued, this time with a sense of apprehensiveness to his voice "That isn't why I've come here to talk to you now."

"Oh?" Miwa pondered, now intrigued with what he had to say.

Jun simply nodded in almost a grim fashion, almost nerving Kai's friend for a brief moment as he decided to take the opportunity to listen to what he had to say to him at this very moment.

* * *

**City Park**

_Phew! That was almost too close..._

Kamui panted as he came to a stop from his current run and wiped his forehead clean of sweat from rushing over to the empty park, where a small amphitheater area of some kind with a small table in the center stage below two rows of steps leading there was present before him. Looking over his surroundings that was devoid of people for the time being, he glanced around from where he was standing before sighing in relief, having known the full reason as to why he had fled here at this very moment.

 _Nagisa..._ he muttered within his thoughts  _Why do you have to be the bane of the road to my 'goddess'?_

Shaking his head for a brief moment, wanting clear the thought of his mad rush away from Nagisa that happened just moments earlier, he looked up to the midday sky having now been distracted by other thoughts that were present on his mind. Ever since Aichi and Naoki had left with Leon and Ren for this 'other world' that they had learned about with little knowledge at the time, he couldn't help but feel anxious about how they were getting on over there whilst he had remained behind to keep things under control with Misaki, Shingo and Miwa. Even though it had only been two days since the four cardfighters had departed on their journey to find Kai and bring him back to their world, Kamui couldn't help but remain somewhat eager for the 'countdown' they had agreed to follow on to expire, in the event that they did not return within the next nine days from now so they could take action.

At the same time though, from just thinking over the subject, the Nova Grappler user also couldn't help but feel somewhat troubled from the time that had passed, especially given that much like Misaki and the remaining three Quatre Knights, he too had seemingly heard Aichi's screams from two nights ago, unbeknowst to him was seemingly caused by his previous Selector Battle with Ulith, when she used his PSY Qualia to invade his head. Deciding to clear the disturbing thought from his mind, he took out his deck and looked at the frontmost card, Ultimate Raizer Mega-flare.

 _I know you can find Kai, Aichi onii-san!_ he thought  _If there's anything I can do, I'll be there! You can count on it!_

Kamui's trail of thoughts were then suddenly interrupted as a rather strong breeze blew right over him, prompting him to immediately slide his deck back into the case to avoid having any of his cards blown away by the sudden gust of wind with what appeared to be several white spots from within. But what was strange to the Nova Grappler user at this very moment wasn't the speed of the wind that was blowing all around him at this very moment, but rather how it felt in that regard.

"What the...?" he murmured "Icy wind… in the middle of summer?"

Looking all around him to try and figure out where the wind had been coming from, he suddenly saw someone standing at the table in the center of the stage in front of him. It was a girl, the exact same one that had been observing both Misaki and Ratie the previous evening, shortly after Card Capital had closed up unbeknowst to both him and Miwa. She remained motionless amongst the breeze, her expression having not wavered a bit, even as her brown hair moved around in the icy cold wind that blew around her and Kamui. Keeping her eyes closed, the breeze eventually stopped as if almost on cue as the Nova Grappler user stared at her, growing somewhat suspicious as to what he had just felt and witnessed at this very moment, knowing that he was the only other person in the park.

"Hey!" he called "Do you know something about that chill just now?!"

The girl then opened her bluish grey eyes and turned her gaze upon Kamui, her expression seeming somewhat uninterested with what he had to say at this very moment.

"And what if I do… Katsuragi?" she spoke, her tone seeming somewhat monotoned.

"H... How do you know who I am?!" he demanded, seemingly surprised by this sudden answer, especially given that he had never met this girl before in his whole life. Shaking his head, he quickly regained his composure. "Now that I think about it... who are you?!"

"My name..." the girl replied "Well then, I suppose... you can call me Kiyoi."

She then immediately looked back to the table that was in front of her, noticing the 'mat' and the various circles that were littered on it, six for each side and a wide green circle in the center. The most noticable markings that she had seen were the red and blue Vanguard circles that were present on each side of the mat, presumably to indicate the different sides that two cardfighters would take up over the course of the game. Reaching into her pocket, she brought out a deck of cards that were suited to this kind of game, evidenced by the Cardfight Vanguard logo and mural on the back of the topmost card of her deck.

"Vanguard, huh?" she spoke as she placed that topmost card face down on the red Vanguard circle and placed her deck on the deck zone on the table "So that's the game that governs this world…"

"Governs…?" Kamui murmured, not quite understanding the meaning of what Kiyoi had been talking about. The girl turned her head back towards to him, not saying a word more as if she was expecting him to make an action at this very moment.

"I don't know what you're getting at," the Nova Grappler user spoke as he brought out his deck case and ran over to the other side of the table, preparing himself to start as he placed a card face down on the blue Vanguard circle and prepared his starting hand "But I won't back down from a fight!"

"Very well then," Kiyoi spoke as she too drew the cards for her opening hand "I hope you are prepared... for your misfortune."

Kamui simply ignored the last part of her comment, simply believing at first that she had just said it to him in an attempt to shake his confidence as both he and the girl reached out for the cards that lay on the Vanguard circles of their respective sides of the field.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" they called as they flipped their cards face up.

As with all cardfights within this world, both cardfighters would initially picture themselves as astral spirits on an area of the Planet Cray, where they would have access to two unique powers in those 'forms'. The first would be to ride their Vanguard every turn by at least one Grade, increasing the strength of a player's avatar and granting them access to unique abilities. The second of these 'powers' would be to call allies to any of the five circles surrounding their Vanguard known as the rear-guard, as well as guardians that would serve to protect the Vanguard from any harm over the course of the game. A Vanguard would be indestructible throughout the course of a fight, provided that a fighter did not take 6 damage from successful attacks or run out of cards from their deck at any point.

"Energyraizer!"

**Energyraizer/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 5000/SLD: 10000/Nova Grappler/Star Gate/Battleroid**

Imaging it around him, Kamui's voice announced the name of his starting Vanguard, the Grade 0 Nova Grappler unit that was simply called Energyraizer. The purple armoured Battleroid stood high and mighty over the much smaller astral 'form' of Kiyoi, who had not yet revealed the form of her starting Vanguard. Both of them were within what appeared to be an industrial area with several cables sprawled over the enclosed space, indicating that they were imaging the battle to take place within the Star Gate nation. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Kiyoi smiled under her lips before speaking the name of the unit or rather the name of who she was beginning the fight with.

"Remember, Star-Reading Miko."

 **Remember, Star-Reading Miko/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 5000/SLD: 10000/'?'/** **Magallanica** **/Human;LRIG**

A bright flash surrounded Kiyoi's astral appearance as in the place of that, a girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes appeared before the towering form of Energyraizer. She wore a purple ribbon in her hair, tied in a knot at the center whilst the ribbon itself acted like a hairband of some kind whilst the rest of her head had a clearish material to form the headdress. Remember also wore a purple bra and had a white skirt with long coattails around the back of it. She simply gazed up at the giant Nova Grappler unit, keeping a somewhat innocent smile present on her face. Back in reality, Kamui could only stare at Remember's card, not because of the fact he hadn't seen it before, but from what he had noticed on it.

"What is that unit…?" he murmured to himself "Its clan box shows that it's from Magallanica, but… it has no clan name! Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Ride, Remember Morni," Kiyoi's voice interrupted as she placed a Grade 1 card over Remember's Grade 0 form. The card depicted Remember with very little changes to her. Aside from the power and Grade increase, the only visual difference was her holding a crystal ball in the palm of her left hand. "With this, as long as Star-Reading remains in the soul, Remember's power remains at 8000 and I trigger another skill."

Looking to her deck, she picked up the top seven cards and fanned them out, keeping them concealed from Kamui's line of sight before she picked out a card from amongst them, this time being a Grade 2 card that depicted Remember holding 9000 power. She shuffled the remaining cards back into her deck before silently gesturing for the Nova Grappler user to begin his turn. He simply drew the top card of his deck before looking over his hand and then placing the card he drew onto the Vanguard circle.

"Here we go!" he called "The great Kamui rides Cannonraizer!"

Shortly after he did that, he took Energyraizer's card from the soul, the stack of cards beneath a Vanguard, and placed it on the rear-guard circle that was directly behind Tankraizer. Immediately, he then turned both of the cards sideways to their rest state.

"With a boost from Energyraizer, Cannonraizer attacks!" Kamui declared.

Kiyoi simply shrugged to indicate a 'no guard', showing that she was willing to let his first attack go through so easily. The Nova Grappler user then reached out to the top card of his deck.

"Drive check!" he called as he flipped it over, revealing Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare.

He smiled for a brief moment before adding the card straight to his hand. He didn't pull a trigger on the first attack, but at least he had managed to get one of his ace cards into his hand for later. On the imaged space, Cannonraizer 'knelt' slightly to aim its cannons down towards the spot that Remember was standing in before firing off both of the shoulder cannons, leaving a trail of blasts that exploded alongside the girl, engulfing her in a cloud of smoke. Back to reality, the first card in Kiyoi's damage zone revealed Code Art RPG, another Grade 2 unit like the other form of Remember that she had added to her hand last turn. Kamui stared at the card once again, noticing a similar detail.

 _Another one?!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _What's with these units I haven't seen...?! They don't specify a clan... so what exactly are they?!_

Looking back across his field, the Nova Grappler user could see that with all of his current units at rest, he could no longer wage any attacks for the rest of the turn. He looked back to Kiyoi, whose calm smile from the start of the fight had not left her lips, seemingly unnerving him for some reason.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kamui vs 'Kiyoi'**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Soul - 0 : 1**

**Damage - 0 : 1**

**Front Rows: EMPTY - Cannonraizer (Vanguard) - EMPTY : EMPTY - Remember Morni, Star-Reading Miko (Vanguard) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows: EMPTY - Energyraizer - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

The girl then drew her single card and placed it straight into her current hand before choosing a different card, one that Kamui could easily tell was the one that she had added the previous turn.

"Ride, Remember Noon," she spoke as she placed down the card on top of Remember's Grade 1 form. "And call."

 **Remember Noon, Reading Star Miko/Grade 2/Intercept/POW: 9000/SLD: 5000/'?'/** **Magallanica** **/Human;LRIG**

**POW: 9000 - 10000**

Within the imaged space, Remember's form had barely changed in terms of appearance whilst to the left behind her, presumably on the rear-guard circle in that same position, a figure otherwise known in the 'other' world as a blue SIGNI by the name of Code Art TV appeared. On the actual table, Kamui could see that this new 'unit' was in fact a Draw Trigger with 4000 power, evidenced by the reddish coloured symbol in the top right corner of the card. He didn't have time to press a question about what else he had noticed before Kiyoi pointed down towards his field.

"Freeze!"

Before he could utter a response, all of a sudden, ice seemingly began to form around Energyraizer's card at an alarming rate before the entire card was completely covered by it. At the same time, back on the imaged field, a symbol representing a power icon that hovered above TV's head flashed a blinding green glow before ice immediately covered all of Energyraizer, preventing it from moving as the lights in its eyes dimmed out. Kamui could only stare at the 'frozen' card in shock, having seen nothing like it before.

"What the...?!" he gasped.

"Freeze…" Kiyoi interrupted "With this, Energyraizer is unable to stand at the start of your next turn. In addition, if a frozen rear-guard is in either the left or right column, it cannot move up or down that same column."

"Megacolony's Paralyze with an extra sting, huh," Kamui replied, having quickly regained his composure with a confident smile "But Nova Grappler's speciality focuses on standing my rear-guards. Your Freeze won't work on me!"

The girl simply closed her eyes and kept her calm smile as it was, the appearance of it being enough to unnerve the Nova Grappler user once again as he heard something emit from her lips, though it was rather quiet for him to hear.

"What's so funny?!" he snapped.

"If you think you've encountered the only terror of Remember, you're sadly mistaken," she replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow in response "Call!"

She then immediately placed another Grade 2 unit onto the rear-guard circle that was in front of Code Art TV. This time, the 'unit' was another blue SIGNI that went by the name of Code Art JV. Shortly after she did that, she immediately held two of her fingers over Remember's card before immediately turning it to the rest state.

"Remember attacks your Vanguard."

"Minimum Raizer guards!" Kamui called as he placed the card down on the guardian circle.

On the imaged battlefield, as Remember materialized an orb of light within her hands, a much smaller Raizer unit appeared in front of Cannonraizer to protect it from harm. With the 10000 shield value and the fact that Remember was only attacking for 10000 on her own, it was more than enough to ensure that even a trigger would not allow her attack to go through. Kiyoi remained unfazed as she revealed the top card of her deck, Jet-ski Rider which briefly glowed for a moment. However, that wasn't the reason that Kamui's expression had suddenly changed to shock.

"An Aqua Force unit?!" he gasped.

"Critical Trigger. I give all the effects to JV," she spoke before immediately resting both the aforementioned rear-guard and Code Art TV that was behind it "Attack."

The black and grey coloured blue SIGNI soared towards and landed a hard kick onto the cockpit area of Cannonraizer, causing it to fall onto its back and bringing up a cloud of smoke and dust from the impact. The first two cards that landed in Kamui's damage zone were Phoenixraizer, Drill Wing and Tankraizer, neither of which had any trigger effects to help him out at the moment. But that was the least of his concerns at the moment as he looked back at Kiyoi, who remained motionless to his shock at this very moment.

"Hey, how exactly did you get your hands on that Aqua Force unit!" he called "And more importantly, how did the trigger go off when Remember and those units have no clan name?!"

"So you wish to know the truth, Katsuragi Kamui," she calmly spoke as she kept her eyes closed "I was told you were rather persistant, but very well then."

The Nova Grappler user simply remained silent as he kept a firm gaze upon Kiyoi, intending to absorb as much information from what she was about to tell him as he could. If it could give him an answer to who she was and why she had those 'units', especially any Aqua Force units given that he knew that Leon, Jillian and Charlene at the moment were the only fighters to ever be in possession of that clan, especially since the leader of Team Dreadnought had stated his intention to rebuild the Soryu legend from the ground up. The girl closed her eyes as she began to give her explanation to Kamui.

"Neither Remember, these SIGNI nor I... are from this world," she spoke "Where all of us come from, there is an urban myth that is a reality to only a chosen few. And fewer still understand the true nature of what lies within that 'myth'."

"Myth?" Kamui murmured.

"That's right," Kiyoi continued "All that is common knowledge to the players within the game of that myth is that it can be the very thing that can make their wish come true or taint it to the point of being pushed to the brink of absolute despair. This urban myth, known as the Selector Battles, are a way to determine who is worthy enough to become the form that is ideal to granting their wish. An Eternal Girl."

"And what does this have to do with me?" he asked.

"Tell me, Katsuragi," she spoke "You've known about this for some time, haven't you? That noticable absence."

Thinking hard on everything that Kiyoi had told him about so far and everything that had gone on since the day that Kai had vanished from his world, Kamui suddenly realized that the answer to her question was right in front of him.

"Don't tell me...!" he muttered "That Kai...!"

"Correct," she replied "Due to 'certain' circumstances, Kai Toshiki was summoned to my world and as a result of that 'summoning', he's now a participant within the Selector Battles, along with those that have gone there after him."

"Then Aichi onii-san's been caught up in the same scenario as he is?" Kamui pondered before shaking his head to get back to the conversation at hand "Th... that still doesn't explain how you managed to get some Aqua Force units! Jillian and Charlene should be the only two that have the clan know from what Leon said!"

"Aqua Force..." Kiyoi murmured as she looked at the cards in her hand "You should thank Soryu for being generous enough to enter my world, so my superior could hand me several copies of the cards that he used before I left for this world. As for why they interacted with Remember, you could thank 'her' original properties from my world, allowing the cards to interact with her as if her preferred colour she was of would interact with the same nation. But perhaps I have said too much for now. It is your turn now, is it not?"

**End of Turn 3**

**Kamui vs 'Kiyoi'**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Soul - 0 : 2**

**Damage - 2 : 1**

**Front Rows: EMPTY - Cannonraizer (Vanguard) - EMPTY : Code Art JV - Remember Noon, Star Reading Miko (Vanguard) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows: EMPTY - Energyraizer (Frozen) - EMPTY : Code Art TV - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Kamui then stood up all of the units that he had on the table, barring the frozen Energyraizer, before drawing his single card and looking over the options that he had in his hand. He then took ahold of one card and revealed it to Kiyoi.

"Kamui the great rides Wingraizer!" he called as he placed down the unit on top of Cannonraizer's card.

On the imaged field, Cannonraizer vanished in a white glow as a larger Battleroid sporting armour in shades of black, dark red and somewhat dull gold appeared in its place. Several green gems were embedded on the arms, legs and the front of the torso of the new Raizer as its eyes immediately flashed the same colour before a bright aura surrounded the unit, powering it up as the same aura enveloped the ice that was keeping Energyraizer imprisoned.

**Wingraizer/POW: 9000 - 11000**

Immediately afterwards, three more units appeared within Kamui's rear-guard, taking up stances for battle as each of them appeared in certain spots of the field. The first one to the right of Wingraizer was Phoenixraizer, Flame-wing, a Battleroid that possessed four feathered like metallic wings on its back and a pair of fiery coloured whip like weapons that were mounted on each of its lower arms. The second unit that appeared on Kamui's top left rear-guard circle was Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare, a Raizer that sported blue colours along with a large shield mounted on its right arm and a large blaster that was held in its left hand. Behind it appeared a smaller red armoured Battleroid that went by the name Battleraizer.

Back in reality, Kiyoi simply eyed the formation that Kamui had managed to assemble on just his second turn, knowing that he was aiming to deal as much damage as he could whilst only one of his units was still frozen for the time being. She looked back at him, taking note of the determined expression he had on his face at this very moment.

"'The great' huh...?" she murmured, almost in a dry tone.

"Even without Energyraizer's boost, I can still hit you head on!" he called "Flame-wing attacks Remember!"

"Intercept," Kiyoi spoke as she moved JV's card from the left rear-guard circle that was beside Remember's card to the guardian circle.

"Wingraizer attacks!" Kamui declared as he rested the unit that was his Vanguard.

"I guard with Jet-ski Rider."

The Nova Grappler user could only mildly cringe as he saw the Aqua Force Critical Trigger placed down on the guardian circle. He then reached out for the top card of his deck before flipping it over to reveal what he had pulled from this drive check. His mood immediately brightened when he found out what he had just pulled at this moment. It was another copy of Battleraizer, the card briefly glowing to indicate that he had managed to get a trigger effect, evidenced by the symbol and its colour on the top right corner of the card.

"Alright! I got a Stand Trigger!" he called "I give the power to Dual-flare and stand Flame-wing!"

**Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare/POW: 9000 - 14000**

Wingraizer charged at Jet-ski Rider, immediately knocking it aside as it continued on its course towards Remember who simply opened her eyes and held up one finger that touched the right fist of the oncoming Battleroid. A distorted ripple then suddenly erupted from her fingertips, sending the Raizer flying backwards towards Kamui's side of the field where it regained its footing upon landing.

"I don't know what you're getting at with whatever Kai and Aichi onii-san have gotten themselves into, but I'll just have to force it out of you!" the Nova Grappler user's voice sounded out.

Immediately afterwards, Phoenixraizer, Flame-wing leaped at Remember who simply closed her eyes as one of the fiery whips slammed down upon her, knocking the girl backwards and engulfing her in a cloud of smoke as debris rained everywhere on the field. Back to reality, Kiyoi's damage check had revealed another copy of Remember's Grade 2 form, showing that she did not get a trigger from this attack.

"Go, Dual-flare!" Kamui called as he rested the unit along with Battleraizer.

The girl simply revealed the top card of her deck in response to taking damage to the fourth attack, this time revealing a trigger of her own. The card was another Aqua Force unit, this one being Ice Floe Angel.

"Heal Trigger," she spoke as she placed the card into her damage zone and took the second copy of Remember Morni from there, moving it to her drop zone "I recover one damage."

"Damn it...!" he groaned as he then shuffled the Battleraizer on his field back into his deck. After he did so, the ice that had formed on Energyraizer's card faded away, now that his turn had come to an end.

**End of Turn 4**

**Kamui vs 'Kiyoi'**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Soul - 1 : 2**

**Damage - 2 : 2**

**Front Rows: Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare - Wingraizer (Vanguard) - Phoenixraizer, Flame Wing : EMPTY - Remember Noon, Star-Reading Miko (Vanguard) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows: EMPTY - Energyraizer - EMPTY : Code Art TV - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Kiyoi simply drew her next card to begin her turn after standing all of the units that she currently had present on her side of the field. Upon seeing what unit she had drawn, her calm smile had only served to unnerve Kamui even further as he felt more on edge than he had been earlier. She raised the card high into the air as another cold breeze suddenly blew around the two of them.

"Embodiment of foresight, dictate the future and bring misfortune to those before you. Appear, my true self!"

"True self...?" Kamui pondered, confused by the meaning of what she was talking about.

"Ride," Kiyoi spoke as she placed down the new card over the top of Remember Noon. "Remember Dawn."

Not much of Remember's appearance changed on the imaged space in terms of physical appearance. However, she had managed to regain her crystal ball from her Grade 1 form as well as a strange dark blue aura with several tiny white sparkles of light that shimmered from within. Upon opening her eyes, her innocent smile remained as it was for a brief moment, the expression in her bright blue eyes having not changed for a second.

 **Remember Dawn, Star-Reading Miko/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 10000/SLD: 0/'?'/** **Magallanica** **/Human;LRIG**

**POW: 10000 - 11000**

Over on Kamui's field, the same aura that was currently eminating around Remember suddenly enveloped Phoenixraizer, Flame-wing as much like before with Energyraizer on Kiyoi's previous turn, it was suddenly trapped within a large formation of ice that imprisoned the Battleroid in an instant. The Nova Grappler user could only stare down at the table as another formation of ice had already formed around the card that represented the unit, indicating that Kiyoi had frozen it again, this time through a skill from Remember as evidenced by one of the two cards in her damage zone having turned face down when this occurred.

She then placed down the Grade 2 Aqua Force unit known as Tidal Assault in the rear-guard circle where Code Art JV previously was before placing down another copy of Code Art TV on top of the one she already had in play, retiring the first Code Art TV. Kiyoi kept her calm smile on her lips as Energyraizer's card was encased in a small cover of ice again, indicating that she had just frozen it again, much to Kamui's irritation as evidenced by his groan. Finally, she revealed the last card in her hand to be a Grade 3 unit that went by the name of Code Art SMP, possessing similar properties to Remember's cards and the Code Art series that she ran in the deck.

"SMP's skill," Kiyoi spoke "Counterblast and..."

Her eyes flashed a bright blue for a brief moment as Kamui stared on for a moment before a strange blue aura surrounded his right arm. Then before he realized it, he could feel it being pulled upwards with his hand being turned to reveal the cards that he had been holding, much to his sudden shock and surprise.

"W... What the heck is this?!" he exclaimed as he struggled in vain to fight back against the strange force controlling his left arm.

"With SMP's skill, if I call her whilst you have a frozen rear-guard," she interrupted "I can look at your hand and force you to discard a Grade 1 or lower unit."

"WHAT?!"

Looking over the cards that Kamui has revealed to her, she could see that he held Battleraizer, Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare and Twin Blader. Pointing the card on the far right, another sudden icy gust of wind blew Twin Blader right out of his hand and immediately subsided, causing it to fall perfectly into his drop zone on top of the pile of cards that were already there. The Nova Grappler user eventually brought his arm back into control, now that the aura around it had finally vanished.

"As compensation for this skill however," Kiyoi continued "You do get to draw an extra card."

Kamui simply growled before drawing an additional card and concealing it amongst the other two cards that he had leftover in his hand.

 _That was nasty..._  he muttered within his thoughts  _The size of my hand hasn't changed, but I'm down a Perfect Guard. Then again..._

"SMP attacks Dual-flare!" Kiyoi's voice sounded out, bringing his attention back to the fight.

"I... Intercept!" he replied as he moved the frozen Flame-wing's card to the guardian circle, the ice immediately vanishing from it once the action had been conducted.

"Remember attacks," she spoke.

Kamui could only clench his teeth, knowing that even if he had managed to hold onto Twin Blader by any chance, there was still a chance that he wouldn't have been able to guard as effectively as he would have liked to have done so this turn from the low number he already had in his hand to start with.

"No guard!" he called.

Kiyoi simply remained silent for a brief moment before looking down to her deck, preparing to conduct a Twin Drive now that her Vanguard had reached Grade 3 at this point of the game. She flipped over the first card, revealing another Code Art unit with the Draw Trigger marking in the top right corner, but it was different from the one that she had on the field. This time, the card she had unveiled was Code Art KEY.

"Draw Trigger," she spoke "I give the power to Tidal Assault and draw. Second check..."

After drawing her single card per the effect of the trigger, she picked up the next card from the top of her deck as a result of the Twin Drive. Upon picking it up, she closed her eyes, keeping her calm and collected expression which only served to unnerve Kamui even further.

 _What did she pull?!_ he muttered, eager to know what she had gotten.

Little did he know was that the answer was about to come his way right at this very moment. As Kiyoi turned over the card for the front of it to face him, all that the Nova Grappler user saw was a bright white light that immediately forced him to shield his eyes to avoid being blinded. For some reason, he could of sworn that the light had engulfed the entire park as he eventually lost track of his surroundings completely. When he seemingl re-opened his eyes, Kamui's vision at this point was still somewhat blurred.

However, he could see from his perspective what appeared to be the large metal hands and the red armour of one of his units below him, as if he was somehow being able to actually see from that unit's perspective. A noise caught his attention from out in front as the vision began to clear enough for him to look ahead, just in time to see Remember wielding a sceptre of some kind with her crystal ball from her previous forms mounted on the top. She held it out in front of her, causing a blinding glow to appear on the orb before everything went completely white in an instant.

At that point, Kamui finally regained his sense of reality as another copy of Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare dropped into his damage zone as a result of the damage check from that attack. Looking back in front of him, he suddenly gasped as he stared at the unit revealed from the second check of Kiyoi's Twin Drive that he was now seeing. The card appeared to depict Remember in her exact same appearance the vision that he had moments ago as well as showing most of the common properties from the other Remember cards, only this one had a base power of 13000 and there was one element that had caught his undivided attention.

"T... That's... a Grade 4?!" he exclaimed.

"That's right," Kiyoi replied as she concealed the card in her hand "This is my final pinnacle. More importantly... it seems that you were able to see it."

"See what?" Kamui questioned.

"The future that will determine this fight's outcome," she spoke "And the same future that will bring about... your misfortune."

Kamui simply kept his bewildered gaze upon Kiyoi, knowing that from here on in for the rest of the fight, he would have to play very carefully if he wanted to overcome whatever she had planned with the Grade 4 form of Remember that she held and get some answers as to Kai and Aichi's involvement in the Selector Battles. But first, he knew that if he was going to do so, he would have to find a way to overcome his predicted misfortune.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Remember, Star-Reading Miko**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have “Remember” in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RG).  
> [AUTO](Soul): When a Grade 1 card with “Remember” in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with “Remember” in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.  
> [CONT]: This card is always treated as a card/unit with “Piruluk” in its card name.
> 
>  **Remember Morni, Star-Reading Miko**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 7000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named “Remember, Star-Reading Miko” in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [AUTO](RG): [Choose a Grade 3 or greater card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 or greater card with “Remember” in its card name, reveal it to your opponent and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.  
> [CONT]: This card is always treated as a card/unit with “Piruluk” in its card name.
> 
>  **Remember Noon, Star-Reading Miko**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a Grade 1 card in your soul with “Remember” in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [CONT]: This card is always treated as a card/unit with “Piruluk” in its card name.
> 
>  **Remember Dawn, Star-Reading Miko**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO](VG): [Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (VG), if you have two or more cards in your soul with “Remember” in their card names with different grades, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent’s rear-guards and freeze it. _(The frozen unit cannot move up or down a column and it cannot stand during your opponent’s next stand phase. It becomes unfrozen during their next end phase)_  
>  [CONT](VG): If you have a Grade 2 card with “Remember” in its card name in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [CONT]: This card is always treated as a card/unit with “Piruluk” in its card name.
> 
>  **Code Art TV**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 4000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Trigger: Draw  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Trigger Unit  
> [AUTO]: When this unit is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name, choose 1 of your opponent’s Grade 1 or lower rear-guards and freeze it. _(The frozen unit cannot move up or down a column and it cannot stand during your opponent’s next stand phase. It becomes unfrozen during their next end phase)_
> 
>  **Code Art KEY**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 4000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Trigger: Draw  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Trigger Unit  
> [ACT](RG): [[Rest] this unit] If you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name, choose 1 of your opponent’s rear-guards and freeze it. _(The frozen unit cannot move up or down a column and it cannot stand during your opponent’s next stand phase. It becomes unfrozen during their next end phase)_
> 
>  **Code Art JV**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Power: 10000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit
> 
>  **Code Art RPG**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Power: 9000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](RG): During your turn, whilst your opponent has a frozen rear-guard, if you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+5000.
> 
>  **Code Art SMP**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!!  
> Power: 9000  
> Shield: 0  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: [Counter Blast (1)] When this unit is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name and your opponent has a frozen rear-guard, you may pay the cost. If you do, look at your opponent’s hand and discard 1 Grade 1 or lower card they have (if any). Then if they discarded a card, they draw 1 card.


	47. Arc 3 - Ride 47: That Distorted Fortune

**Jun's Arena**

"Pain Laser Dragon attacks!"

In a small enclosed space with only a wired fence around them, Miwa and Jun had been busy with a cardfight of their own shortly after their conversation on a certain topic. The King of Underground Fights simply kept his eyes closed as Miwa had launched the final attack on his Vanguard, Galactic Beast, Zeal. Reaching out for the top card of his deck, he flipped it over to reveal Shock Monster, Vipple before placing the card straight into his damage zone. This had brought the total damage that he had to six cards, meaning that he had just lost the cardfight he was involved with at this very moment.

"As strong as always," he mused as he opened his eyes "I can see your will hasn't wavered, even with Kai's absence."

"I suppose," Miwa murmured as he scratched the back of his head before his expression went back to one of curiousity "Still though, I'm still curious as to what you meant when this 'Kiyoi' said she would bring judgment in the name of her superior."

"I wish I knew what she was talking about after our fight," Jun replied "There was something off about her, like she was holding back something for some reason with this 'Remember' unit. She said her words to us yesterday were a warning, for what was to come for all cardfighters across the world. Then, she just vanished."

"Warning?" he asked.

"I still don't understand what she could be getting at," the King of Underground Fights continued "But, I will advise you to be careful. If what Kiyoi said is true, then we are all targets for her 'superior'."

Miwa nodded grimly in agreement to Jun's statement before gathering up his cards and turning around to leave the arena. The blond cardfighter felt somewhat more anxious than before, especially with this new information being brought to light at this very moment. Feeling it was important to his friends though, he felt that it was best to hurry over to Card Capital and inform them immediately of this news.

* * *

**City Park**

Back in the park, a quiet breeze blew over the small 'amphitheater' area as Kamui assessed the current situation of the fight, now that Kiyoi's turn had come to an end. He was sitting at four damage, with the fourth damage being a Draw Trigger, Raizer Crew, that he had checked from Tidal Assault's first attack before later using the Battleraizer in his hand to block the second attack from the Aqua Force unit that was directed at Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare. He grimaced for a moment, knowing that wasting a 10000 shield on his rear-guard would be considered foolish, especially since he only needed 5000 to guard it. But in this case, he knew that it was necessary if he was going to have a chance of winning this fight.

Then there was Kiyoi herself, who had only served to create more questions than answers. On the surface, he had discovered that the 'units' she had wielded were not from the same world that he lived in or Cray for that manner, otherwise he would have presumably seen some of her strange 'Code ART' SIGNI as she had called them in the hands of other cardfighters by now. In addition, there was also the fact that she had knowledge of Kai's whereabouts in that 'other' world along with confirmation that Aichi had successfully made it there to find him, only that they were now caught up in these 'Selector Battles' as she had called them. In addition, he couldn't help but ponder over both the vision he had of his supposed future that would lead to his 'misfortune' as well as the strange force that briefly controlled his arm when Kiyoi had used the skill of Code ART SMP to discard Twin Blader from his hand.

He wasn't sure about all of what he had just heard and witnessed so far, but he knew that unless he could defeat her, he might not get all of the answers that he was looking for. Standing up all of his units aside from the frozen Energyraizer, he drew his single card before taking ahold of the one card he knew could help him out at this very moment.

"A flash of light that pierces the darkness of space!" he called before placing down the chosen card on top of Wingraizer. "The great Kamui rides Ultimate Raizer Mega-flare!"

Back on the imaged battlefield, Wingraizer vanished from the area in a bright flash of light as a much larger Raizer unit appeared in its place. Mega-flare sported mostly red armour with several pieces of gold plating, including a long spike of the same colour protuding from the head as well as fins on the wings and green armouring in several places as well as glass of the same colour covering over the cockpit area of the giant unit. It towered in height over both Kiyoi's rear-guards and Remember herself, the mysterious girl seeming somewhat unfazed with her somewhat innocent smile having not left her lips.

**Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 11000/SLD: 0/Nova Grappler/Star Gate/Battleroid**

Kamui then held out his hand wide over Mega-flare's card, preparing to conduct an action that he was sure would guarantee an advantage in the coming attacks for this turn.

"Seek mate!" he declared.

"Legion, huh?" Kiyoi murmured as she watched the Nova Grappler user shuffle all four of the cards in his drop zone back into his deck before taking out a single card and holding it up high above.

"Dark crimson magma lying deep underground and blue sky surrounding this planet in the heavens! Now awaken and line up to protect the home planet! The great Kamui's Legion!"

Kamui placed the card that was another copy of Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare onto the Vanguard circle to the left of Mega-flare's card, completing the Legion. Dual-flare itself appeared alongside Mega-flare on the imaged battlefield as a golden aura surrounded the two Raizer units before they pointed their cannons straight at Remember who didn't even flinch in the presence of the two Nova Grapplers now fighting together as one. As the Nova Grappler user was about to prepare to continue his turn after calling Tankraizer and Phoenixraizer, Drill-wing to his rear-guard, Kiyoi seemingly remained unfazed in the face of what was staring her down at this very moment.

"You say that my future's been set in stone," Kamui spoke "But I'm gonna decide my own future and overcome that 'misfortune' you keep talking about!"

"Then by all means... go ahead," Kiyoi replied calmly.

"Let's go then!" he called as he rested Dual-flare's card "Dual-flare attacks Tidal Assault!"

Kiyoi simply moved the attacked Aqua Force unit from the front left rear-guard circle on her field to the drop zone, indicating that it had been successfully hit by the rear-guard Dual-flare.

"Next, Drill-wing attacks Remember!"

On the imaged battlefield, Phoenixraizer, Drill-wing revved up the drills as they whirled to great speeds with green energy crackling out of them as the large black and orange armoured Raizer unit charged towards Remember. She cried for a brief moment as she was thrown backwards into the air before landing back on the ground. An afterimage of the card Remember Dawn, Reading Star Miko briefly appeared, indicating that Kiyoi did not recieve a trigger as a result of the attack that had befallen her. Back to reality, Kamui immediately rested both Mega-flare and Dual-flare's cards on the Vanguard circle.

"Let's go!" he called "Mega-flare and Dual-flare, unite your power and force our way through! Legion attack!"

As their eyes flashed briefly, Mega-flare and Dual-flare began charging up power in the large barrels of the weapons that the two Raizers carried in both their respective left and right arm before pointing it right at Remember who had gotten up after taking such a hit from Drill-wing's previous attack. The rear-guard Dual-flare on Kamui's field then suddenly whirred back to life as its eyes briefly flashed before taking aim at the mysterious girl as well.

"Legion Skill!" the cardfighter's voice sounded out "Mega-flare gains an extra critical! In addition, my rear-guard Dual-flare stands with an extra 5000 power!"

**Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare (RG)/POW: 9000 - 14000**

"I see..." Kiyoi murmured "So your effort to guard my attacks against Dual-flare was for this. But..."

She then placed down a card onto the guardian circle which was the Aqua Force unit known as Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon before turning over the only unflipped card in her damage zone face down.

"Quintet Wall!" she called as she swept her hand over the top of her deck, causing the top five cards to fly to her left and flip face up before landing on the guardian circle both in front of and alongside the Aqua Force sentinel unit. The five units that were revealed were Code Art SMP, Light Signals Penguin Soldier, Code Art RFR, Remember Morni, Tidal Assault. On the imaged battlefield, the six units appeared in front of the Vanguard Remember to shield her from harm as a barrier created by Icefall Dragon was more than powerful enough to fully deflect the attack. Kamui could only groan upon realizing that the 20000 shield that had been summoned from Icefall was enough to ensure that even a double trigger wouldn't make his Legion's power enough break through.

"Damn it... Twin drive!" he called as he reached out for his deck. His first check revealed another copy of Mega-flare whilst the second card revealed something that had slightly lifted his spirits, Raizer Girl, Katie. "Yes, Heal Trigger! I recover 1 damage and give the power to my rear-guard Dual-flare!"

After moving Raizer Crew from his damage zone to his drop zone, Kiyoi calmly moved each of the cards she had called from the deck through Icefall Dragon to her drop zone, one card at a time in a calm manner before eventually moving the Aqua Force sentinel there herself. Kamui then immediately turned both Tankraizer and his rear-guard Dual-flare's cards to their rest state for his last attack of the turn.

"Dual-flare attacks!" he called.

Kiyoi simply moved the top card of her deck, Code Art KEY to her damage zone, showing that his efforts to deal her fourth damage had set off another Draw Trigger. She placed the card in her damage zone before drawing her single card to add to the two that she still held.

 _I only got her to four damage, but at least I got Tidal Assault out of the way_ Kamui murmured within his thoughts  _As long as I can keep up these attacks and not worry about her freezing my units, I should be fine._

"Turn end," he spoke as the ice around Energyraizer's card eventually 'thawed' in an instant.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kamui vs 'Kiyoi'**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Soul - 2 : 3**

**Damage - 3 : 4**

**Front Rows: Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare - Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare (Legioned with Ultimate Raizer, Dual Flare) (Vanguard) - Phoenixraizer, Drill-wing : EMPTY - Remember Dawn, Star-Reading Miko (Vanguard) - Code Art SMP**

**Back Rows: Tankraizer - Energyraizer - EMPTY : Code Art TV - EMPTY - EMPTY**

As Kiyoi stood all of her units back up and drew her single card, she gazed over towards Kamui whose expression was one that was still filled with determination and from what she had told him thus far, she could easily tell as to why this was. He demanded answers about Aichi and Kai at this very moment with whatever knowledge she had of their current situation and she wasn't willing to give all of those answers away with simple ease, the mere thought on this subject seeming somewhat amusing in the very back of her mind at this very moment.

"I see why my superior found you amongst some of this world intriguing," she spoke "After all, it's not often that one with such raw energy and passion is involved with such events."

"Events?" Kamui pondered.

"You should already know," she continued "The battle for Cray in the Asia Circuit, Link Joker's invasion of this world and... your efforts against the Quatre Knights."

"W... Wait a minute!" he called "How do you know about all of that?!"

"'She' has her ways, but right now, that is of no concern to me," Kiyoi concluded "Right now, the time has finally arrived... for you misfortune."

Kamui gritted his teeth as she picked out the one card in her hand that she had been saving since the last turn before closing her eyes to speak out aloud at this very moment.

"Cold premonition, bring forth the dark meaning of reality and set it in stone for those that oppose you!" she called before placing down that card onto the Vanguard circle "Ride!"

Back on the imaged battlefield, a bright white glow enveloped Remember, obscuring her from the sight of Mega-flare and Dual-flare as well as the remaining rear-guards on Kamui's field for several moments before dying down to reveal the girl in her new appearance. She now wielded her crystal ball on the end of a long staff, resembling a sceptre of some kind and her headdress along with the back folds of her skirt had gotten longer in length as she gleefully gazed upon the two Vanguards that now stood tall in front of her as Kiyoi's voice sounded out the name of this form.

"Remember Night... Star-Reading Miko!"

**Remember Night, Star-Reading Miko/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/POW: 13000/SLD: 0/'?'/** **Magallanica** **/Human;LRIG**

"This is... Grade 4..." Kamui murmured as he looked up at Kiyoi who then gazed right towards him.

"Remember's skill. I Freeze Drill-wing!"

As she spoke those words out, her eyes suddenly flashed a bright blue for a brief moment as Kamui stared on back at her before suddenly gasping for a brief moment. For some reason, as if he was seeing things or not, he gasped as he could suddenly see what appeared to be Remember, in her Grade 0 form standing in the place of Kiyoi, continuing the fight as if nothing had seemingly happened out of the ordinary. He looked back at the table just in time to see ice from the Freeze effect cover over Phoenixraizer, Drill-wing, preventing him from standing it at the start of his next turn or moving it to the back row during said next turn, before looking back at what he assumed was Remember, now seeing Kiyoi in her place, placing down the blue SIGNI Code Art WTC on the rear-guard circle that was previously occupied by Tidal Assault.

"What the... heck...?" he murmured.

"WTC's counterblast," she spoke as her eyes flashed blue again and just like before, Kamui could have sworn that he was now seeing Remember in her place again. "Again, I Freeze Energyraizer!"

As Energyraizer's card was frozen for the third time running throughout this entire fight, the Nova Grappler was almost too surprised by what he was seemingly seeing before him to even notice what had happened to his starting Vanguard at this very moment.

_What's going on?! Why am I seeing that unit instead of Kiyoi?!_

As his vision of Remember vanished to reveal Kiyoi once again as she placed down Code Art SC and Light Signals Penguin Soldier onto the remaining open rear-guard circles that she had on her side of the field. Two cards slipped out from underneath Remember Night and moved to the drop zone as she drew yet another card.

"Code Art SMP attacks Dual-flare," she spoke as she rested both it and Light Signals Penguin Soldier.

"G... Guard!" Kamui called as he placed down Raizer Girl, Katie on the guardian circle, the shield being just enough to completely block the attack.

"Remember attacks Mega-flare," Kiyoi continued.

The Nova Grappler user looked at his hand before looking back to his damage zone, seeing that he was still at three damage for the moment. Given the current circumstances that he was currently in, especially as Remember was currently attacking for 21000, he knew there was only one option that he could do at this moment.

"No guard!" he called.

Kiyoi's calm smile remained still as it was for the moment before she suddenly increased it slightly, somewhat nerving the Nova Grappler user to a degree.

"Twin Drive..." she spoke as she revealed the first card which was Ice Floe Angel. "Heal Trigger. Power to WTC." One of the four face down cards moved over from her damage zone to her drop zone before she reached out for the second card, this time revealing Jet-ski Rider.

"Double Trigger?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"I give Remember an extra Critical."

On the imaged field, Remember spun her sceptre around as the crystal ball mounted on the top began to gain a bright blue glow to it before pointing it upwards as a blue beam shot right out of it and struck the ceiling of the battlefield, causing bits of the roof to suddenly crash down upon the Legion Mate Dual-flare, knocking it to the ground. Remember then smirked and point her staff towards Mega-flare, shooting another beam, this time of a white colour at the larger of the two Raizer units, causing an explosion that damaged its knees, causing it to fall forwards. The next two cards from Kamui's damage check revealed Shieldraizer and Minimum Raizer, showing that he had hit a damage trigger at this very moment.

"Critical Trigger!" he called as he looked over what he had present on the field and taking into account from the power increases of Kiyoi's double trigger "I give all the effects to Mega-flare!"

"WTC attacks Mega-flare," she spoke.

"Perfect Guard!" he called as he placed down Twin Blader on the guardian circle before discarding the other Mega-flare that he had held in his hand. Kiyoi simply shrugged in response as she ended her turn right there.

**End of Turn 7**

**Kamui vs 'Kiyoi'**

**Hand - 0 : 3**

**Soul - 2 : 2**

**Damage - 5 : 3**

**Front Rows: Ultimate Raizer, Dual-flare - Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare (Legioned with Ultimate Raizer, Dual Flare) (Vanguard) - Phoenixraizer, Drill-wing (Frozen) : Code Art WTC - Remember Night, Star-Reading Miko (Vanguard) - Code Art SMP**

**Back Rows: Tankraizer - Energyraizer (Frozen) - EMPTY : Code Art TV - Code Art SC - Light Signals Penguin Soldier**

Kamui panted as he stood up the units that were not encased in ice per the Freeze effect before reaching out from his deck to draw the single card to begin his turn. When he did and looked at what it was, he could only groan as he looked back over his field.

"It seems your misfortune has finally arrived," Kiyoi spoke "How unfortunate."

"Not yet!" he called as he placed down another card on top of Energyraizer "I retire my frozen Energyraizer and call Reserveraizer!"

After the ice around Energyraizer's card shattered, Kamui moved the Grade 0 unit over to his drop zone, now having a unit available to boost his Legion attack on Remember for this turn. Kiyoi seemed hardly unfazed by this at all, even after she had intended to cut off the boost to his Legion attack again on the previous turn thanks to WTC.

"Go, Mega-flare!" he called as he rested both his Legion and the Reserveraizer that he had now called behind it.

"Perfect Guard," she spoke as she placed down Emerald Shield, Paschal on the guardian circle before discarding Jet-ski Rider from her hand.

"Not yet!" Kamui replied as he conducted his Twin Drive, the first card revealed being Battleraizer. "Stand Trigger! I stand Drill-wing and give the power to Dual-flare!" The ice around Drill-wing's card immediately shattered as Kamui immediately stood the once frozen unit back up in preparation for the next attack that he would conduct with it. Then, he performed the second check by revealing the next card which was another Cannonraizer, much to his slight annoyance.

On the imaged battlefield, Paschal deployed a barrier in front of Remember to block the Legion attack from both Mega-flare and the Legion Mate Dual-flare by deflecting the blasts from their respective weapons off in different directions around the girl whose once innocent smile had gotten slightly darker since the end of the previous turn. She gazed upon the two units once more before yawning for a brief moment, as if she was somewhat bored from the seemingly one-sided battle that this cardfight had turned into.

"Take this!" Kamui's voice yelled out loud as both Dual-flare and Drill-wing immediately charged down at her with their respective attacks, the girl easily bearing through the pain without even as much flinching throughout the whole ordeal. After standing back on her feet with ease, the two rear-guards that had just attacked her had immediately retreated back to the Nova Grappler user's field, standing alongside the Legion Pair. Back to reality, Kamui's annoyed expression hadn't changed as he saw that the best he was able to do was knock Kiyoi up to five damage with her two damage checks having revealed both another Emerald Shield, Paschal and Code Art SC.

"Turn... end..." he muttered.

"Are you prepared?" Kiyoi asked in a somewhat calm and yet unnerving tone which caused him to groan under his breath for a brief moment.

"Final Turn!"

She then drew her single card before opening up her eyes towards Kamui, the same strange blue aura from earlier in her previous turn when she was freezing his rear-guards appeared once more as to the Nova Grappler himself, he could once again see Remember right in front of him, only this time as some sort of afterimage that was covering over Kiyoi herself as he could still see all of the features of the strange girl as normal this time around.

"Image it," she spoke "The final blow, that will deal you your misfortune."

Kamui suddenly gasped as all vision of Kiyoi, the table in front of him and the cards he held seemed to just vanish as in its place, his foresight was suddenly that of the battlefield that he and the girl had imaged throughout the whole fight in their minds. Attempting to look down, he could see that he was looking around from the exact perspective of Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare as evidenced by the red armoured arms that were in front. A familiar noise suddenly sounded as he looked forward to see Remember pointing her sceptre in his direction.

"T... This is...!" he gasped.

"That's right," Kiyoi's voice sounded out as the crystal ball on Remember's staff began to glow a blinding white "This is the exact future I showed you two turns ago, the one that will dictate your fate. You lose, Katsuragi Kamui."

At this moment, everything went completely white for Kamui as he lost all sight around him before he suddenly screamed as he felt the strength in his legs, or rather Mega-flare's legs give out as the unit fell down to the ground flat on its front whilst at the same time in reality around him, he regained his foresight as he fell forwards onto the table in front of him, dropping the remaining cards that he held before looking to his damage zone to see that his sixth damage was Wingraizer. He closed his eyes in frustration, now knowing that the future that Kiyoi had shown him earlier had come true as a result of their cardfight and his loss.

"And now..."

He got up immediately just in time to see the girl pull out what appeared to be a card from the Wixoss card game that had not changed from entering this world, much to his sudden confusion as he had no knowledge about the card game that the Selector Battles had revolved around in the first place. She turned the card around to reveal that it was completely blank, no image or stats being printed on the card.

"What the...?" he breathed before a glow emitted from all of his cards as he suddenly gasped upon looking at them. They appeared to be losing all of their colour as the images on the cards began to fade out to black and white at first before leaving behind nothing but an empty blank image on them. Looking back at Kiyoi, he could now see that the single blank card had transformed into an entire deck suited for the Wixoss card game, the front card being his Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare as an LRIG card, still retaining the Legion symbol much like Alfred Exiv and Big Bang Knuckle Dragon when their cards were readapted to suit the Selector Battles.

"M… My deck!" he yelled "What did you do to my Raizer deck?!"

As he attempt to run up and grab the newly formed deck from Kiyoi, she simply stepped to the side to avoid being tackled by the cardfighter, but not before she tripped him over, causing him to fall face first onto the ground.

"Katsuragi Kamui, I will be taking the Raizers back to 'her' domain," she spoke "You are only the first of many that my 'superior' has taken an interest in stripping of their Vanguards for her ideal."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded as he turned around to face her.

"That is something that this world and the one I come from will find out in due time," she continued "And as a precaution..."

Kiyoi then pointed her fingers at Kamui as a strange blue aura surrounded his right hand before a snowflake like marking materialized over the top of his right hand, causing him to cry out in pain as if it was being carved into his very flesh and blood at this very moment.

"In case you were thinking of trying to oppose us with spare Raizers, it will do you no good," she explained as he gazed upon the marking that was engraved on his right hand "Any cards you have lost to me along with any that belong to the same series as them, will instantly turn blank the moment you touch them."

"Even so... my Raizers aren't my only Nova Grapplers!" Kamui replied "Kiyoi, I will defeat you and get back my stolen units! And I'll somehow make it to that other world to find Aichi onii-san!"

"You really are that eager to meet him," Kiyoi murmured as she slipped the newly formed deck into one of her pockets before bringing out yet another Wixoss card from her pocket, much to his confusion. This time, the card wasn't blank, but was an LRIG card that housed no alive LRIG, much like the one that Ulith used to travel between both her world and the White Room.

"In that case... why don't I just give you your one way trip there?"

Kamui blinked for a moment before Kiyoi suddenly revealed the front of the card to him and her eyes gained a bright blue aura to them once again.

"Open!" she called.

Then before the Nova Grappler user could utter a reply, he gasped as everything around him went completely white, forcing him to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness as both he and Kiyoi began to vanish from the park, with no one around to witness what had happened just mere moments ago and what was happening now. Well, almost nobody that was. Just as the two began to fade from sight, Miwa entered the park just in time to see both Kamui and Kiyoi for only a few seconds as he was being teleported away from the cardfighting stage.

"Kamui!" he called as he ran towards the Nova Grappler user, just as he vanished along with Kiyoi as well as the bright white glow that had enveloped them there.

Miwa could only stare at the ground in front of him, unable to believe about what he had just witnessed before him. Kamui along with a girl that he did not recognize had seemingly vanished into thin air just as he entered the park. Seeing that the two were standing beside the cardfighting table on the stage, he looked over to see that Kamui's now blank cards had still remained as they were when Kiyoi had conducted her 'misfortune' upon him the moment that he lost their cardfight between them.

"What happened here...?" he murmured as he looked over the blank cards before checking the remaining cards in the Nova Grappler user's 'former' Raizer deck to see that they were also blank.

A sudden breeze caused him to look in front just in time to see something land on the Vanguard circle in front of him. Looking closely, Miwa could see a single card that he had not noticed earlier had flown onto the other half in front of him, presumably as a result of the sudden gale that had been stirred up from Kiyoi's 'vanishing act'. Picking it up, he could see that it was a Grade 0 unit that had depicted Remember, only the card was different from the one that she had started the fight with, evidenced by the name being shortened to just Remember and having 6000 power by itself.

"This unit..." he murmured, looking closely at the name, now recognizing that the kanji spelled out 'Remember' "Don't tell me, that was Kiyoi right now?!"

Gathering up Kamui's blank cards to hold on for safekeeping until he somehow found the Nova Grappler user and holding onto the new unit that represented Remember, Miwa hurried on towards Card Capital, realizing that whatever Jun had told him about was now serious and that one of his friends along with several units that he wielded had now vanished from this world completely, unaware of Kamui's destination and when he would arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Remember**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 6000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit
> 
>  **Remember Night, Star-Reading Miko**  
>  Grade 4  
> Ability: Twin Drive!!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 13000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT]: If you do not have a Grade 3 Vanguard with “Remember” or “Piruluk” in its card name, you cannot Ride this unit.  
> [AUTO]: When this unit is placed on (VG), choose one of your opponent’s rear-guards and freeze it. _(The frozen unit cannot move up or down a column and it cannot stand during your opponent’s next stand phase. It becomes unfrozen during their next end phase)_  
>  [ACT](VG): [Counter Blast (2) and choose a card from your hand and discard it] Choose one of your opponent’s rear-guards and freeze it.  
> [ACT](VG): [Rest this unit] Choose one of your opponent’s rear-guards that has been frozen and retire it. If you do, during your end phase, draw 2 cards.  
> [CONT](VG): The cost of your opponent’s Vanguard’s [ACT] abilities are increased by Counter Blast (1).  
> [CONT]: This card is always treated as a card/unit with “Piruluk” in its card name.
> 
>  **Code Art SC**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 8000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit
> 
>  **Code Art RFR**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 5000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: [Choose a card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Code Art WTC**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Power: 9000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Race: Electric Machine  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: [Counter Blast (1) - (Electric Machine)] When this unit is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with “Piruluk” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent’s Grade 2 or lower rear-guards and freeze it. _(The frozen unit cannot move up or down a column and it cannot stand during your opponent’s next stand phase. It becomes unfrozen during their next end phase)_
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
>  **Author's Note:** In the story, all the clans boxes of re-adapted SIGNI and LRIGs show no clan names. In the card debut lists as shown here and in the previous chapter, the clan sections have the nation name to coincide with a ruling shared by the Zeroth Dragons. Much like them, all of Remember's cards along with the respective SIGNI can be thrown into any deck that has one Magallanica clan and only one of those clans for Clan Fight regulations. In Extreme Fight formats however, they much like the Zeroths can otherwise be thrown into any deck.


	48. Arc 3 - Ride 48: This Uneasy Tribulation

**Wixoss World:** **Apartment Blocks**

Hatsu looked out over the view of the city that was out in front of the edge of Ruko's apartment. From a normal point of view, it seemed that nothing was out of the ordinary for the moment, even with the ever darknening clouds that were slowly lingering over the apartment blocks from where she was standing. Her expression however seemed to tell otherwise. From what one would be able to make out from that alone was that she was deeply concerned, for both her grandaughter and her grandson especially given what had happened over recent events, some of which she was still completely unaware of. Her trail of thought came to a halt when she heard the door swing open from behind her.

Turning around, Hatsu could see that Ruko had indeed managed to return back to the apartment safely with nothing more to endanger her. But that had done very little to lift her spirits, especially when she noticed the somewhat saddened and nervous expression that her granddaughter had on her face as she was currently looking down on the floor.

"Ru-chan, is something the matter?" she asked.

"Grandmother..." the Selector spoke before gulping for a brief moment "I... need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" Hatsu pondered "Where are Hitoe and the others?"

"They're outside..." Ruko replied as she looked up to face her grandmother "Something happened between us and onii-chan... He believes that whatever I did in the past to cause us to live here along with what I'm about to tell you is entirely my fault."

Hatsu suddenly froze in response, raising a concerned look from the Selector, wondering in panic if she had already arrived too late or if she had said something wrong to derail their conversation immediately.

"You mean... what happened six years ago..." she breathed "He's suddenly putting all of the blame on you?"

"Y... Yes," said Ruko "He told us that he met mother last night and that she revealed the whole truth to him. I tried to get him to explain what he meant, but he wouldn't listen."

Seeing that her granddaughter was almost on the verge of tears from bringing up an abbrieviated summary of the recent confrontation between her and Ayumu, barring any details of the Selector Battles or the strange LRIG that her mother had given him, Hatsu quickly came up to Ruko and gently embraced her as she sniffed for a brief moment. The Selector hugged back in a gentle manner as well, feeling a small waver of relief from being in the warm comfort of her kind grandmother's arms as the tears rolling out from her eyes had immediately dried out within the next minute or so. As this was going on, a single thought of anger had flared off in Hatsu's mind, something that was even rare for her to have come across in recent years.

_Miyako... what have you done?!_

Eventually, the two family memebers broke apart from the hug and faced each other once more. Ruko briefly rubbed her eyes to check if any more tears had leaked out over the course of their embrace, to which she was able to confirm that there were none.

"There's also something I need to come clean about..." Ruko murmured "I asked Kai and the others to withold it last night to avoid a panic, but with the way onii-chan is now... and the fact that what I want to tell you may be impossible to believe..."

"I understand, Ru-chan," Hatsu replied as the Selector was in the middle of her sentence "Just like I said this morning, if there is anything that you wish to tell me, then I am willing to listen."

Ruko breathed for a moment in partial surprise, having not expected her grandmother to be so willing to listen to her side of the story about her involvement with the Selector Battles, Reverse and the cardfighters from another world. Feeling somewhat reassured from the 'confirmation' that she had needed, she turned around and went back to the door leading to outside the apartment, where she opened it up immediately. Then one by one, Hitoe, Aichi, Kai, Naoki, Leon and Ren entered the living space of the apartment as Hatsu looked over each of them, noticing some of the discomforted expressions on some of them whilst the Kagero, Shadow Paladin and Aqua Force users did their best to maintain a calm demanor in this most tense of scenarios.

"From what Ruko has told me, all of us have much to discuss if I'm correct?" she asked.

"That's correct," Kai replied "It's time for all of us to tell you the truth, for Ruko's sake and so we can find out what really happened six years ago."

"Very well then."

And with that, the group of six along with Ruko each took up a place at the table beside the kitchen space as Hatsu picked up the original family photo that Aichi had accidentally stumbled across on his first visit, when the Selector herself was still absent for good reason.

* * *

**City Park**

Amika hummed to herself as she strolled through the park on her own accord. She seemed to be in a rather good mood from what she had managed to achieve today, at least from her own perspective in her life. She had managed to obtain victory in yet another Selector Battle with the aid of her LRIG Piruluk, still unaware of all of the details that were involved in both sides of the victories and losses that both LRIGs and Selectors would experience on either on or on some occasions, both sides of that spectrum. Curious as to how the blue LRIG herself had been holding up since the previous battle, she dug into the pocket of her shorts and pulled out the single card that contained her.

Piruluk herself seemed to be within her realm of uninterest from what the Selector could tell from her seemingly deadpanned expression. Amika however had gotten used to seeing such a 'usual' look from her LRIG, knowing that she seemed more 'closed off' compared to other LRIGs that she had encountered in her adventures throughout the Selector Battles, including Eldora and Yuzuki whom she had briefly met on the occasions that she had met both Kai and Chiyori.

"Lighten up Piruluk," the Selector said in a cheerful manner "We've managed to get another win that's needed to obtain my wish."

"And yet, that only marks your third win in total to the one we lost to Chiyori," the LRIG spoke in her usual uninterested tone "However, I admit that you have been able to make progress from your last battle with Kai."

"Alright, I get it," Amika replied "Still, you could sympathize with me here a bit when I'm learning from my losses, both in and outside of the Selector Battles. I am the kind that does better when she is praised."

"... Amazing, you are a genius."

"Why the monotone?!" she exclaimed with a sweatdrop to follow on from her outburst.

Then before the Selector could even think of what could happen next, she was immediately greeted by a blinding white light from in front of her. Unable to see properly from both the intense brightness and her right arm being held in front of her face, Amika could barely make out what had just appeared in front of her before the shadow and cry of a figure came out from where she was standing. Raising her arm to try and regain her foresight, Amika looked ahead just in time to see Kamui falling right towards her as both of their heads immediately collided with each other, causing them to fall to the ground and the Selector to drop the card that contained Piruluk to the park floor, just as the bright light faded into nothingness once more.

"Ow..." they muttered as they rubbed the back of their heads, the impact of the Nova Grappler user's landing being much more painful than either of them had anticipated.

Being the first to stand up on her knees, Amika quickly picked up Piruluk's card from the floor before looking over to Kamui to see that he had landed whole on the front side of his body right into the dirt after their heads had briefly collided. Struggling up onto his knees, he turned his head just in time to see the Selector offer out one hand to which he kindly accepted.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Ngh... I've had worse..." he groaned as he stood back up onto his feet "Sorry about your head now."

"Relax, in the end, there's no harm done right?" the Selector said in a somewhat museful tone "Though it's not every day you bump heads with someone that's fallen out of light, in a literal sense of the word."

Both Amika and Kamui immediately then shared both a somewhat awkward laugh and smile as they scratched the backs of their heads. When they had finished, the Nova Grappler user immediately looked to her right hand which held Piruluk's card, immediately recognizing the style of the backing from before as evidenced by the white background and the Wixoss logo printed on it.

_That card..._ he murmured in his thoughts  _It's the same kind that Kiyoi held. Don't tell me..._

"Is something wrong?" Amika asked, noticing his attention directed towards the card she held.

"I've seen that backing before," Kamui replied "Though I've never heard of this... Wi-xoss."

"Wixoss, pronounced wi-cross," the Selector kindly corrected for him "It's a card game that I'm heavily involved with for reasons of my own. By the way, who are you?"

"I'm Katsuragi Kamui!" he answered happily "Though you can call me 'the great Kamui' as well!"

Amika almost sweatdropped for a brief moment upon hearing that he could also be referred to as 'the great Kamui', unsure of how to feel if she were to ever regard to him as that. Regardless of that though, he did seem rather content with her just referring to him by just his regular name. Piruluk however seemed to take no notice of the conversation as her card was currently facing away from him, though she mentally made a reminder of his name if only for the sole fact that he mysteriously appeared out of a bright light, unaware of the circumstances that brought him before her and her Selector.

"Well then, I'm Amika. Hashimoto Amika," Amika greeted "Nice to meet you, Kamui. And this is Piruluk."

She then turned around the LRIG card to face the Nova Grappler user, expecting him to see the card much like any other non-alive LRIG card that non-Selectors would simply see as a simple Level 0 LRIG. Kamui observed the card closely to see that Piruluk had her back turned away from him. Then feeling as if she was somewhat being observed by the cardfighter, the blue LRIG slowly turned around until her frontmost gaze had fallen upon him immediately. What followed next however was a reaction that she had somewhat expected.

"W... What the?!" Kamui gasped after he had witnessed what happened in front of him "T... That girl moved inside that card?!"

"Eh? You can see her?" Amika asked.

"Please tell me my linesight hasn't been messed up from that rough landing!" he exclaimed, still in somewhat of a state of disbelief to what he saw at this very moment.

"'Linesight'?" the Selector pondered.

"I believe he meant to say 'eyesight'," Piruluk interjected with a rather blunt tone "This boy seems to have trouble with various bits of basic grammar."

"Hey! I'm working on it!" Kamui replied as he eventually calmed down from his sudden surprise. "Anyway, you're Piruluk, right?"

The blue LRIG simply gazed up at the Nova Grappler user, still displaying a look of disinterest towards him which led to a somewhat awkward silence between the three of them with only the sound of a breeze and Chiyori excitedly going down the street behind and passing them by briefly to accompany it, not noticing any of them at this very moment. After around half a minute though, Kamui was almost beginning to lose his patience with the lack of a reply from Piruluk who simply gazed to the side, as if she was somewhat ignoring him at this moment. Not wanting anything ugly to erupt between the two of them, Amika looked back at him.

"Don't worry about Piruluk," she said "She's just not exactly the most sociable LRIG you'll find."

"LRIG?" Kamui pondered.

"An LRIG is your avatar in a Wixoss battle," Amika replied "But you will need a whole deck with SIGNI, ARTS and preferably with a few Spells, though I have run into players who just have a full SIGNI deck."

"I got it," he replied, showing that he at least understood her explanation so far. "I'm more experienced in the game of Vanguard, but I guess learning something new couldn't hurt." He then reached into his right pocket to reveal a second deck case that he had on hand this entire time. "Look, see ri... WHAT?!"

Gasping in shock as to what he had pulled out of the deck case, he could see that the frontmost card, Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme, had transformed into an LRIG card presumably as a result of his arrival into this very world, much like the other five cardfighters' units on their own respective arrivals. Fanning out his deck, he could see that additional ARTS had been added to the deck, his 'starting Vanguard' for this deck had been replaced with Beast Deity, White Tiger and aside from three other units, the rest of his Beast Deity cards had been turned into SIGNI bearing the Silver colour, much like the copied units from Ayumu's counterfeit Dimension Police deck.

"W... What the heck happened to my other Nova Grappler deck?!" he cried before he turned around the cards, revealing that they now also bore the black and white backings to define the two seperate 'decks' they would be split into over the course of a battle.

"Nova Grappler...?" Amika murmured in confusion as she stared at the cards, as did Piruluk from the view available to her from the blue LRIG's card. "I've never seen these before."

"O... Of course...!" Kamui replied, still in a state of panic "These were still supposed to be Vanguard cards before I ended up here!"  _Did Kiyoi do something to my Beast Deities before sending me off here?!_

"Easy there! I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this!" the Selector called, trying her utmost best to calm down the young cardfighter.

Eventually, after taking several deep breaths, Kamui calmed down from his sudden panic, his expression showing that he was still in a state of shock and disbelief.

"I didn't think something like that would happen..." he muttered as he put the cards back into the second deck case that he carried.

"Well, we know that these 'Vanguard' cards you carried had apparently turned into Wixoss cards," said Amika before an idea suddenly popped into her head. "Say, I'm heading over to the local card shop in the city to try and rebuild my deck. Wanna tag along and find a way to work with the 'changes' that happened to that deck of yours?"

"Well, I suppose visiting couldn't hurt if it means I can wrap my head around this 'Wixoss' thing," he said before raising his fist with energy, instantly feeling refreshed after his earlier reactions to the sudden cosmetic changes that happened to his Beast Deity deck "Let's go then!"

"Yeah!"

Leading the way over to the shop, the Selector ran out ahead just a little in front of Kamui to make sure that he wouldn't end up lost within the busy streets they would have to walk through on their journey. Whilst they were doing so, the Nova Grappler user couldn't help but ponder over the situation that he had now found himself in since the cardfight he had with Kiyoi and its rather unfortunate outcome.

_If this really is that other world, I'll hopefully find Aichi onii-san in no time!_ he muttered in his thoughts before briefly looking to the snowflake marking that was still engraved over the top of his right hand  _Just you wait Kiyoi! This isn't over between us!_

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

A few minutes had passed by since the entire group had gathered at the table within the apartment's living space as Hatsu slowly took into account everything about the Selector Battles that Ruko had told her about so far. Whilst it was easily noticable that her expression had shown some hint of worry from what her granddaughter and her friends had been caught up in, even she found it somewhat hard to believe on her own. The fact that Ruko had explained that only she, her friends and any other Selectors could see the LRIGs around them had only made her feel even more skeptical in regards to what she was hearing so far. However, that in turn had brought her trail of thought back to the night where the Selector had recieved the deck that had contained Tama from Ayumu himself.

Hatsu recalled on that night that Ruko had suddenly fallen on her back in sudden surprise and shock, to which she did not know why, but she had clearly remembered that her granddaughter tried to ask her if she could hear Tama crying at that point, to which she did not. That alone was enough for her to believe some of the credibility that came from the Selector's explanation of her involvement thus far, but she felt that she needed to hear more of the story, particuarly from Kai and the others if she wanted to fully understand about what was happening. Firstly, she requested for more information about the cardfighters in the room, to which each of the boys in turn explained more about themselves, the world that they came from, the units from the game of Vanguard that they carried within their decks and how each of them came to be involved in the Selector Battles themselves.

When Hatsu had listened closely as to what the boys were telling her, just like before with the beginning of Ruko's explanation of how she came to be involved in the Selector Battles, she initially had a hard time believing the legitimacy of their respective backgrounds, until they showed her the cards that represented the units they spoke of. One by one, each of them revealed Blaster Blade, Dragonic Overlord, Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Dragon, Blaster Dark Revenger and Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon out on the table in front of them to which she then inspected the cards herself, now convinced that what they were telling her so far was indeed the truth, given that she never saw these 'LRIGs' or rather units before in her entire experience of Wixoss card game.

After Ruko had explained how she had met both Hitoe and Yuzuki for the first time along with her brief mention of Akira and Ulith. leaving her grandmother feeling somewhat uncomfortable from what she had now been informed about, her aforementioned friend then decided to speak out from her perspective of her own involvement with the Selector Battles when she originally held onto the green LRIG, Midoriko, up to their third loss and what had led to her wish being tainted at that time.

"I see..." Hatsu murmured "From what you are saying... the reason that you remained shut in your home until the day that Ru-chan had found you again..."

"Yes..." Hitoe replied "I was scared... that anything I touched, even related remotely to my friends would just hurt me in some way. It wasn't until Yuzuki became my new LRIG that I tried to do something to remember everything. The day that I was finally able to reconcile with Ruko at that time though... also had the evening that she ran away."

"And from what you are all saying, this was apparently for good reason?"

Ruko nodded grimly in response to her grandmother's answer, knowing that her reason for running away from home was now about to be openly disclosed to her. She looked over to Aichi and Kai who nodded in agreement, showing that they were willing to let her continue in her explanation.

"Shortly after I had gotten Kuro as my new LRIG, I was in a complete state," she began "I felt crushed that everything that me and Tama had worked for to try and save everyone had gone to waste, simply because she didn't want to risk me being turned into an LRIG. At that time, not just because of Reverse suddenly infecting me, I felt angered, believing that she intended to decieve me from the beginning just in order to reverse me. After being caught up in a Selector Battle, even though I didn't have the necessary cards around Kuro back then, I was still able to emerge victorious, with her reversed form."

"But that means...!" Aichi gasped, prompting the Selector to shake her head in response.

"If I had not thought to restrain that power within both Kuro's card and myself then, my first opponent with her along with her LRIG would have been reversed," Ruko answered before looking back to her grandmother "It was only through a few of Kuro's words then along with the stress of what I was plagued with that I made my decision to run away from home, so that I wouldn't end up endangering you and onii-chan. And... I'm the not the only one to have known about Reverse."

Hatsu listened carefully to each of her granddaughter's words carefully so that she could try and fully understand of what she was now explaining to her now. From what she could make out, on the night of her 'disappearance', it was an intentional action that had been made so that the Selector herself could keep her family safe from this 'Reverse' that she had now brought up into the discussion. She then looked over to Kai, having now realized that he had known about this from the beginning and still kept quiet about the whole incident until this very moment.

"Kai, is it true that you have previously known about this Reverse?" she asked.

"It's true," he answered "From where I, Aichi and the others have come from, we've all been acqainted with it in one way or another. They fought against that power whilst I at the time, had accepted it as my own. It wasn't until Aichi had faced me directly that I was able to let go of it and move on. My understanding of what had happened before was more than enough reason for me to ensure that power was removed from Ruko. If we had not defeated Mayu then, then she would have been lost to her clutches forever."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi murmured, worried if bringing up his previous involvement in the Link Joker invasion of their home world would affect Hatsu's trust with him.

"I see..." she murmured as she stood up to look over the group "Naturally, I am initially saddened that deception had to be employed in our previous meetings."

"Darn it..." Naoki groaned to himself  _Have we already messed up our one chance to try and calm things down?!_

"But," Hatsu continued "After hearing everything from all of you, especially Ruko herself, I understand why you did so and as Kai and Aichi still managed to save her through a long struggle, there is no point to me blaming or venting frustration on any of you unlike Ayumu at this very moment." She then looked down towards the LRIG cards on the table, knowing that whilst she could not see or hear them, they however could see and hear her instead. "Kuro, I cannot tell you how disappointed I am with the way you intended to use Ruko after becoming her LRIG. However, things then did not go the way you anticipated, even beyond your control from what I have been told and the fact that you helped my granddaughter in her battle with Ayumu has shown me some reassurance. For that reason, if you can hear me, know that I am willing to give you another chance, just as she has."

Ruko and Hitoe could only let out a sigh of relief, as did Tama, Yuzuki, Aichi and Naoki with the knowledge that the Selector's grandmother did not seem as upset with them about the reveal of everything that had been going on as they originally anticipated. Even Kuro who had normally remained neutral in her expression couldn't help but sympathsize with Hatsu, knowing that a majority of Ruko's time in Reverse was her own fault and yet, the Selector's elder was still willing to forgive her, just like her friends. Whilst Kai's expression had remained somewhat neutral in regards to the scenario with Ren having a more cheerful smile on his face, Leon turned his attention over towards Hatsu.

"Now that you know of the truth," he spoke "The question that remains is what you will do with Ruko and Hitoe now."

"The truth is, like any worried parent," she replied "I would naturally want to remove Ruko by force from the Selector Battles if only so that I could keep her safe. However, if what you say is true and that the world is really in danger, then it would make little sense for me to keep her locked away in her room when she simply wants to help all of you, her friends. That would make me no better than 'her'." She then turned to face Hitoe. "Hitoe."

"Yes?"

"I understand that you're worried about your parents panicking over what all of you have told me today," Hatsu continued "Until we can find a calm and reasonable way to disclose all of this, I will keep quiet about your involvement in this mess until then."

"Y... You're really too kind," the Selector replied, partially out of surprise "But thank you."

Over from her card, even Yuzuki was surprised that Ruko's grandmother had kindly gone out of their way to help keep quiet about her involvement in the Selector Battles from her parents, presumably in the event that Ayumu had somehow encountered them already. She let out of a sigh of relief of her own, happy that things did not turn out badly for neither her Selector or Ruko herself. Once the atmosphere in the room had finally calmed down, Ruko got up from where she was standing and faced her grandmother once more.

"Grandmother," she spoke, bringing her attention back to her "Now that we've explained everything, I have to ask something. Do you know what really happened... six years ago?"

Hatsu's expression immediately went grim as she looked down to the floor of the living space, having known that they were about to touch upon this subject once again. She looked back up to face Ruko, feeling a sense of dread in the air around all of them.

"The truth is..." she began "Aside from the 'alleged' reason why your mother transferred care of you and Ayumu to me, I don't know anything about what actually transpired to cause what happened to happen. However, what I did know until then was that your mother, my daughter, Kominato Miyako, was not the caring parent that Ayumu has now percieved her to be. In the past, she had previously neglected you for reasons unknown to even me, but throughout her life, even as an early teenager, there was a common factor that had she always desired to exhibit around other people."

"Common factor?" Ren pondered.

"And that common factor I believe that she desired to exihibit," Hatsu concluded "... was her ideal, of control. But as for control over who or what, remains a mystery to even me."

"I see..." the Selector murmured, feeling slightly disheartened with knowledge that not even her grandmother knew about the truth from all of those years ago.

That alone had also led to shared looks of concern from Hitoe, Aichi and Naoki as well as the LRIGs from their cards present in the room, aside from Umr who didn't quite have the right expression available to show that she fully understood what was going on. Kai gazed up at Ruko, now taking this new information about her past into account and thinking back to what Ayumu had been raging at her about throughout the previous battle earlier in the day. In turn however, this had led to even more questions that no one, not even Hatsu any idea of how to answer.

_Kominato Ayumu..._ he murmured within his thoughts  _Certainly, I could sense a hint of displeasure in our first meeting after we had saved Ruko, but before our confrontation today, it seemed rather mild in comparison to now. But that still doesn't explain about that 'clone' LRIG that he recieved from Miyako. Just how did she obtain that in the first place? And why did she give it to him?_

"Now then," Hatsu spoke, her tone indicated that she had now calmed down from the earlier tensity of the earlier conversations "If you boys wouldn't mind staying over for a while longer, I would be intrigued to face these 'clans of Cray' as you have called them."

"Oh, so you play Wixoss on a casual basis as well?" Ren murmured "Very well then. Perhaps there is something all of us could learn from this experience."

"Indeed," she replied as she looked to her granddaughter "Ruko, if you could kindly set us up?"

"Yes," the Selector replied as she went into her bedroom to find the necessary playmats needed to set up their 'casual battles'.

All whilst she was doing so, she couldn't help but feel somewhat nostalgic about all of this as evident by her recovered smile. Even though Ayumu wasn't amongst them, she was finally involving herself within the game of Wixoss for the fun of it, just like before prior to the discovery of Hitoe's tainted wish. At the same time, she also couldn't help but wonder what Leon and Naoki had to show off to her, given that she had not seen them battle beforehand. Either way, with her worst fears put back to ease, for now at least, she could finally take the opportunity the enjoy the game of Wixoss as she had wanted to all those weeks ago, with both friends and family with nothing bad to come between them.

* * *

**Card Luck**

"So... you can play SIGNI with equal or less Level to an LRIG, but not when their Levels go over a limit...? SIGNI cannot attack if an LRIG has already attacked... Gah, I'm still lost on all of this!"

Kamui groaned whilst he was seated at an empty table as he tried to make sense of the rules of Wixoss as evidenced by his complete and utter frustration in reading the rule booklet and trying to apply whatever was laid out to his current situation. Amika simply sweatdropped as she watched the cardfighter quietly rant to himself for not immediately adjusting to the rules of this 'new' game for him, especially if he wanted to keep fighting alongside his Beast Deities in the state that they were in. Even Piruluk who had remained uninterested throughout this whole debacle couldn't help but keep a somewhat deadpan expression on her face as she observed the Nova Grappler in his efforts to memorize and understand the rules of Wixoss.

"You seem rather reluctant."

"What was that?!" Kamui huffed as he glared at the blue LRIG.

"You mentioned that you once possessed this deck in the game of 'Vanguard'," she spoke in her usual monotone "Right now, that appears to be hindering your attempts to understand the changes as they are now."

The Nova Grappler user simply sighed, putting down his head on the hard flat surface of the table immediately. Going deep into thought over everything thus far, including the rules of Wixoss in that regard which he was trying so desperately to understand, he suddenly found the answer as to why at the very back of his mind, now causing him to feel like kicking himself for not realizing it sooner.

_As much as I hate to admit it, Piruluk's right_ he muttered within his thoughts  _Right now, I'm too worried about not getting to grips with my units in their changed states to even understand the rules of the game._

"Say, Kamui?" Amika spoke, bringing his attention up to her "Maybe I should teach you the rules over the course of a game. It might help you to find the flow with your cards again."

"I see," he replied with a confident grin back on his face "It'll just be like working off a blank state, just like the first time I used this deck."

"I believe you meant 'blank slate'."

Kamui simply took no notice of Piruluk's monotoned reply to his incorrect grammar once again and waited for Amika to take her place at the other end of the table, setting herself up with both her Life Cloths and her opening hand. Seeing that her white and black backed cards were seperated from each other, he immediately did the same before instinctively shuffling his main deck and putting it down on the deck zone of the mat he and the Selector had previously been provided with.

"Good to see you've remembered that part," Amika said in reassurance "Now, set up a Level 0 LRIG face down on the LRIG zone and place the top seven cards of your deck face down in your Life Cloth zone without looking at what they are."

"Got it," he replied as he set up his Life Cloths and placed Beast Deity, White Tiger face down on his LRIG zone before drawing his five cards to form his opening hand.

"Right, now you're ready," she spoke.

"Let's go then!" Kamui called as they reached out for their starting LRIGs.

"Open!"


	49. Arc 3 - Ride 49: These Forged Bonds

**Ruko's Apartment**

"King of striking who cuts through the air at a high speed! Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster! Legion!"

Naoki performed the action with intense energy as he placed Big Bang Slash's card beside Big Bang Knuckle Buster on the LRIG space over on the LRIG space of his side of the playmat, bringing the Level 4 Narukami unit into Legion. Hatsu calmly observed the situation that she was currently in after surviving this long for a majority of the game so far. She had Midoriko, Fourth Girl as her LRIG in use, along with a complete formation of SIGNI comprised of two Seiryu, Phantom Beasts whilst her middle SIGNI space was open thanks to a Spark Crash ARTS that the Narukami user had played the previous turn. In addition, the two of them were both tied at two Life Cloths each. From the sidelines, Hitoe who had been watching the bout with everyone else couldn't help but feel somewhat sad when the battle had begun, knowing that it was Midoriko herself she had wielded in her first run of the Selector Battles and everyone present knew how badly it had ended for them back then.

Nonetheless though, she had quickly gotten over her brief depression as the game went on, mostly from knowing that Yuzuki, Ruko and Aichi could give her some reassurance if she were to doubt herself over that particular topic again. Kai, Leon and Ren simply observed the battle as it was, just as Naoki was summoning more units to his two remaining SIGNI Zones on his side of the field. Those were quickly filled up by Brawler, Wildclock Dragon and Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon to join Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon which was already present.

"My, he's really throwing everything at her," the Shadow Paladin user said musingly, having noted that both of his newly summoned units were weaker than her SIGNI.

"Midoriko's speciality is similar to that of Genesis and Dark Irregulars, building up Ener to use for more powerful effects whilst also powering up," Kai murmured "Over the course of this battle, we've seen Hatsu take great advantage of powering up for the Lancer effect to deal additional damage to Ishida whilst mowing down his forces with each attack."

"He knows he doesn't have many defensive options after taking so many hits from the Lancer effects early on," Leon spoke "Therefore, he's gambling everything on 'that' skill again."

"Legion skill!" Naoki called as he moved Toshu's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile. "I put Big Bang Knuckle Dragon from my LRIG deck under Knuckle Buster and attack all of your SIGNI and Midoriko in one battle! In addition, my SIGNI can attack immediately afterwards."

"Attacking everything at once again along with Midoriko?" Hatsu murmured with a gentle smile "I must say, that is a rather scary skill to encounter."

The Narukami user kept a confident smile on his face as he immediately downed both Big Bang Knuckle Buster and Big Bang Slash Buster's cards on the LRIG space.

"I'm not gonna let you get another one up on me with that annoying ability," he declared "That's why I'm gonna knock everything out at once! Great Gatling Punch!"

On a battlefield from one of the Planet Cray's rocky plains imaged within Naoki's mind, Big Bang Knuckle Buster and Big Bang Slash Buster rushed across the length of the plain towards both of Hatsu's Seiryu SIGNI and Midoriko, who could only clench her teeth at the situation she now found herself in. As the giant shadows of the two Narukami Thunder Dragons loomed over the top of her, Hatsu's voice suddenly sounded out from within Naoki's image.

"Big Bang Knuckle... a unit that benefits from making multiple attacks at the same time," she spoke "I must say Ishida, you certainly surprised me the first time I saw you use that. But now..."

Before the two dragons could immediately strike, two Servant Os immediately appeared in front of both Seiryu, Phantom Beasts, shielding them both from the multiple attacks that the Legioned pair could inflict upon them, this immediately catching Naoki by surprise as evidenced by his suprised gasp.

"And... no guard for the attack on Midoriko."

The imaged Midoriko simply dug the heel of her right boot into the ground as Big Bang Knuckle Buster's right fist struck the ground in front of the green LRIG, knocking her right into the air as Big Bang Slash Buster's let out a giant left hook that sent her hurtling across the battlefield by a few meters. Looking back in front of her, Skyhowl Dragon let out a mighty roar that forced her to her knees after shielding her ears from the intense loudness that came from it. Back to reality, Hatsu's final crushed Life Cloth revealed Hyakko, Phantom Beast whilst the previous one had been Pandan, Phantom Beast whose Life Burst had helped her to draw an extra card. Naoki had taken the lead, but his opponent's SIGNI had remained unscathed and with only two Ener and Life Cloths available, he knew there wasn't much he could do to try and survive the next turn.

 _Calm down..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _I_ _already know from Legioning now that I've got a Heal Life Burst somewhere amongst those last two Life Cloths. If I can get it and use Toshu, it'll be over next turn._

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 8**

**Naoki vs Hatsu**

**Hand - 3 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Brawler, Big Bang Knuckle Buster (Legioned with Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster) : Midoriko, Fourth Girl**

**SIGNI : Brawler, Wildclock Dragon - Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon - Brawler, Big Bang Slash Dragon : Seiryu, Phantom Beast - EMPTY - Seiryu, Phantom Beast**

**Ener - 2 : 6**

"Naoki-kun's attack hit Midoriko..." Aichi murmured "But..."

"Hatsu's SIGNI are far too powerful for any of his remaining units to overcome," Yuzuki interjected "Even if their power was greater, without a Lancer or Assassin effect, Midoriko would not take any more damage this turn. And that's saying something since Hatsu doesn't have any Quintet Walls."

Hitoe and Ruko along with the remaining cardfighters that were watching from beside the small table remained silent, but they all had a feeling that they knew what was about to come next, after taking note of what Midoriko's playstyle was capable of, even in a situation such as this. Hatsu kept a gentle smile as she began her turn before immediately summoning a SIGNI known as Shienko, Phantom Beast.

"With Shienko's ability," she spoke as she moved two of the cards in her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile "For this turn, the power of my SIGNI including herself are doubled."

"Doubled?!" gasped Naoki "Then..."

"That's right," she replied "With this, both of my Seiryu's abilities become active again in addition to gaining Lancer for this turn."

**Seiryu, Phantom Beast x2: 12000 - 24000 + Lancer**

**Sheinko, Phantom Beast: 8000 - 16000**

The Narukami user could sweat for a brief moment, having only managed to escape Seiryu's abilty twice from the Spark Crash ARTS he had used during Hatsu's previous turn, but now he didn't have enough Ener to pay the cost for a second copy to help him out of this situation.

"My first Seiryu attacks," Hatsu spoke as she downed the Level 4 SIGNI "With her skill, I banish Skyhowl Dragon."

"Darn it," Naoki groaned as he took a card out of his hand, revealing it to be Hardship Brawler, Toshu "Quintet Wall!"

After revealing the top five cards of his deck, all of which were SIGNI cards revealed to be Servant O2, Eradicator, Wyvern Guard Guld, Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle, Brawler, Skyhowl Dragon and Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster, he placed them in his Ener Zone confirming that he managed to successfully block the attack with no problem. However, even he knew that he was far from being out of danger just yet. Hatsu kept her kind and gentle smile as she downed her other Seiryu, her same effect forcing Naoki to banish Wildclock Dragon that was protected by the Quintet Wall and just like the first one, this one had the Lancer effect as well. The Narukami user revealed the first of his last two Life Cloths to be Brawler, Green Gem Carbuncle.

"Yes, Heal Life Burst!" he called "I'll... Ah!"

"What's wrong Ishida?" asked Ruko.

"Look," Kuro interjected as everyone else beside him looked back at the table to see exactly why Naoki had panicked at this very moment. He had gotten the Life Burst he wanted, but at the wrong timing as Hatsu still had no Life Cloths to his very last one.

"Tama sees!" Tama called.

"Ishida cannot recover a Life Cloth..." Umr murmured "He was banking on the timing and the Quintet Wall to save him... But..."

"Now then, shall we bring this to a close?" Hatsu asked bemusingly in a gentle tone to which Naoki could only remain tense. "Sheinko attacks."

He flipped up his last Life Cloth to be another Brawler, Big Bang Slash Buster which he immediately placed in his Ener Zone, meaning he no longer had any Life Cloths left to survive the final attack of the battle. As Hatsu downed Midoriko's card, on the imaged field within the Narukami user's imagination, the green LRIG took a mighty leap into the air before performing a large uppercut across the front of Big Bang Knuckle Buster, the force being strong enough to knock it over onto its back after it had been weakened as a result of the previous attacks in the turn. Back to reality, Naoki was hunched over in disbelief that not only had he been defeated by Hatsu, Ruko's grandmother of all people, but the fact that she had calmly anticipated his last ditch effort to finish the game was enough to surprise him.

"I lost, huh..." he murmured before putting up a smile and looking back at Hatsu "Ruko wasn't kidding when she said you were strong."

"The same could be said for you, Ishida," she replied "You certainly had several things I wasn't expecting myself."

"Well, she did warn you about Hatsu's capabilities," Ren mused "Probably the reason Mayu never bothered to make her a Selector."

"You're one to talk Ren," Naoki muttered "You lost to her just 1 match ago."

The Shadow Paladin user simply shrugged with almost a hint of a pouting motion in his current expression, showing that he didn't want to be teased in return about what had happened during the previous game, to which almost everyone else in the room with the exception of Kai, Leon, Umr and Kuro along with Hatsu herself could only sweatdrop.

"Grandmother does constantly change her decks though..." Ruko murmured under her breath, to which Aichi and Yuzuki could only laugh nervously in agreement.

Shortly after her granddaughter had made her point though, Hatsu then looked over to the boy, causing the Royal Paladin user to immediately assume that she was now expecting him to be her next opponent immediately. As he was bringing out the case that contained his deck, Ruko's grandmother put away her Midoriko deck after gathering up all of the cards that made it up. She walked up to the shelf where she opened up a container that had another deck of cards that had seemingly been untouched for quite some time. She gave the container to Aichi who gazed at it in confusion. Looking back at Hatsu who simply gave a kind nod in response, he pulled out the deck contained within and turned the cards around, bringing a collected gasp from him as well as Yuzuki from over in her card.

"You've got to be kidding me...!" the LRIG exclaimed as she stared at the frontmost card, upon recognizing the very design on it.

"Umr...?" he breathed as Hitoe looked over his shoulder to get a closer look at the card.

"I thought it would be interesting for you to face a proper deck around Umr, given the circumstances of what happened from your battle against this Ulith," Hatsu spoke "I recieved the cards from Ayumu a few hours before we had learned that Ruko had 'disappeared' with the intention of showing her later, making the timing rather inconvenient."

"I see..." Ruko murmured as both she and Aichi looked down at Umr herself, whose card was laid just outside of the mat on the small table, but not before the Royal Paladin user handed the deck back to Hatsu. The strange LRIG simply gazed back at the pair, unsure of how to properly emote to this sudden revelation, especially given that Aichi would now face her 'supposed' true strength in person for the first time. As the cardfighter and the Selector's grandmother prepared themselves for battle, Aichi briefly looked down at Umr's LRIG card that he kept to the side of the playmat before looking back to Hatsu who seemed content for the moment, seemingly understanding how he was feeling about this whole situation for the moment as both of them reached for their starting LRIGs.

"Open!" they called as they flipped up both Advance Party Seeker, File and Umr=Noll, Wielder of the Key of Creation respectively to begin the battle.

* * *

**Card Luck**

Over in Card Luck, Kamui was already having a hard time in his own battle, or rather his very first Wixoss battle, against Amika as the sixth turn had eventually come to an end. Despite getting his head wrapped around the basics of Wixoss at last throughout the course of the battle, Piruluk's Freeze abilities had prevented him from fully utilizing Nova Grappler's speciality of restanding their rear-guards, or in this case, his SIGNI. In addition to that, Amika's earlier Peeping Analyze had also emptied his entire hand of all but two cards, the third one he had used to Guard Piruluk's most recent attack, leaving him with two Frozen SIGNI, both of which were Desert Gator and Hatred Chaos, an empty SIGNI zone and two Life Cloths with his Ener Zone being stuck at six cards.

 _So Piruluk uses the same tactics as that Remember unit..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _Some of those SIGNI are even the same ones that Kiyoi's used... Nasty as I remember them._

As he continued to mutter away within his head, Amika noticed his hardened expression as he gazed over the cards that she had in play, unaware of the events that had transpired in his last cardfight with Kiyoi before arriving in this world. That was when she eventually took notice of the snowflake like marking that had been engraved over the top of his right hand, now curious to know how he ended up getting something like that.

"By the way Kamui..." the Selector spoke "What's with that snowflake like mark on your right hand?"

"Oh, this?" he murmured as he looked at the mark "It's kind of a long story that has to do with me bumping heads with you."

The Nova Grappler user then went on to explain how he had encountered Kiyoi in the park back in his own world which had raised some intrigue from Amika whilst Piruluk herself from her own card nonchantly listened closely. Whilst the blue LRIG didn't seem that bothered by what Kamui had been telling them so far, in actuality, she had been rather intrigued from what the cardfighter had been talking about in regards to his encounter with her. He also spoke about how Amika's Code Art SIGNI were also units that he had faced off against in the previous cardfight against Kiyoi and that her 'Vanguard' was a strange looking girl that went by the name Remember before speaking with how his loss had resulted in her taking away his Raizers and engraving that mark on his hand to prevent him from using any copies of the cards she had taken away from him, less they turned blank from just a single touch.

"And after that," he concluded "Kiyoi used a blank card to somehow send me off here. I'm guessing that's how my Beast Deities ended up changing. If she's really going after my friends back home, I need to find a way to stop her."

Whilst Amika simply stared at Kamui in wonder, seemingly amazed by what she had just been told, Piruluk had finally opened her eyes with her hardened gaze now staring at the ground of the space within her card. Then, unbeknowst to either her Selector or the Nova Grappler user, she suddenly clenched her right fist.

 _You... Was 'she' simply not enough for you?!_ she growled within her thoughts.

"The great Kamui ups and draws!"

The blue LRIG did not have time to ponder on this for long however as she looked back to see that Kamui drew his next two cards to begin his turn right off the bat. Looking over his hand, he placed Beast Deity, Death Stinger in his Ener Zone before picking out a card from his LRIG deck.

"Go! Burning Fire! Roaring Thunder!" he called out aloud "The great Kamui Crossbreak Grows the furious, Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme!"

As he placed down the card on top of his current 'LRIG', on the battlefield imaged within his mind, the orange and white armoured unit that was called Beast Deity, Ethics Buster was enveloped in a bright neon green glow as several features of its current appearance began to change. When the light that covered over the unit died down, it now had a neon green coloured gem embedded in the center of its chest, additional plates of armour with the newly adorned colour now added onto the shoulders, body, the palms of its hands and the center of four hovering devices that remained behind the newly changed Nova Grappler. This was the evolved Ethics Buster in all of its glory, depicted on the card that Kamui had now grown into.

"Hang on... what's a Crossbreak?!" Amika exclaimed, having not come across the readapted term of a Crossbreak Ride.

"That's my previous Ethics Buster's speciality, a Break Ride or in this case, a Break Grow bonus," the Nova Grappler user replied "Any LRIG that grows from it whilst I have three or fewer Life Cloths gains an additional skill for this turn only. Then if the LRIG I grew was Level 3 or lower, it gains another Level and its Limit is increased by 3!"

"However, Ethics Buster Extreme is Level 4, meaning you only acquire the additional skill this way," Piruluk bluntly stated, much to the Nova Grappler user's brief annoyance by her tone. He looked over the field as it was, taking note of his frozen SIGNI before taking the remaining cards from his hand and summoning them immediately, his frozen Beast Deity, Desert Gator being moved to his Trash Pile as a result of being replaced to make room for another attack. The two SIGNI he summoned were Beast Deity, Brainy Papio and Beast Deity, Max Beat

"With Ethics Buster Extreme's Cross Grow bonus, my SIGNI power up!" he called "And with two Doping ARTS, Max Beat and Papio power up again!"

**Beast Deity, Brainy Papio: 5000 - 7000 - 10000**

**Beast Deity, Max Beat: 2000 - 5000 - 8000**

**Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos: 6000 - 8000**

"So you're gonna go for it," Amika spoke looking over field. She had a whole lineup of SIGNI consisting of Code Art DEF, Code Art GLK and Code Art WTC from her left to her right whilst Piruluk remained at Level 3 for the moment. Her Ener however was limited to just one card meaning that there would be little point to trying to use an ARTS in this scenario. The Selector then looked back at Kamui with a confident smile. "Bring it on!"

"You got it!" he replied with his own confident smile "Max Beat and Brainy Papio attack your SIGNI!"

Piruluk simply kept her sharp gaze upon the Nova Grappler user as Amika moved her banished SIGNI over to her Ener Zone, seemingly remaining motionless as she did so.

"Ethics Buster Extreme attacks!" Kamui called.

"Servant D2!" Amika called as she discarded the colourless Guard SIGNI right away. "Looks like I'm escaping this turn with no damage again!"

"Is that so?"

The Selector suddenly gained an expression of confusion as Kamui's smile remained right as it was whilst Piruluk's expression had not even changed a bit in regards to what the Nova Grappler user had planned next.

"Let me show you, what Nova Grappler is truely capable of!" he boldly declared "Ethics Buster Extreme's Limit Break! Twin Drive!"

"What are you saying?!" exclaimed Amika.

"I reveal the top two cards of my deck," Kamui spoke "For each Beast Deity I reveal that does not have a Life Burst, I add it to my hand, Up a SIGNI and I can conduct my SIGNI attack step again!"

"Seriously?!"

Piruluk looked over to the Nova Grappler user's side of the field, having taken the opportunity to read each of his cards as they were put into play and as such, the blue LRIG could already tell that she knew full well of what he was planning to get at this very moment.

"First check!" Kamui called as he revealed Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake. "Max Beat stands! And when Max Beat stands due to a card effect, I can pay a Beast Deity from my Ener Zone to stand another SIGNI!" He then sent another copy of Max Beat from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile and immediately upped Brainy Papio's card. He then revealed the next card to be Beast Deity, Desert Gator and upped his Frozen Hatred Chaos as Amika could only begin sweating nervously.

"Now he's got another three attacks," she murmured "But... I still have five Life Cloths..."

"Let's go!" the Nova Grappler user declared as he begun his second wave of SIGNI attacks.

On the battlefield imaged in his mind, Hatred Chaos made quick work of banishing Code Art WTC whilst Max Beat immediately charged towards Piruluk and slashed down the front of her with its spear. Amika's next Life Cloth revealed Code Art JV, no Life Burst being present to help her out at this moment. She looked over to Kamui to see that his confident grin had not faded in the slightest.

"I should probably let you know that I'm gonna knock you for a loop," he said "When Brainy Papio's attack hits your LRIG, I can pay a Beast Deity from my Ener Zone to stand a different SIGNI back up."

"And with Max Beat being there..." she breathed before suddenly realizing what he was getting at "No way... You mean to say, with Max Beat and Brainy Papio, you can wipe out my remaining Life Cloths?!"

"You got that right!" Kamui called as he downed Brainy Papio's card immediately.

Back on the imaged field, Piruluk remained motionless as she endured through continued strikes from Max Beat's spear and relentless waves of missiles of Brainy Papio that struck and exploded all around her. Much like the LRIG that was only imaged in a part of Kamui's imagination, the real Piruluk had kept her eyes closed as she listened on throughout the remainder of the battle. Over on the table, Amika's four crushed Life Cloths revealed Code Art WTC, Code Art DEF, Servant D2 and Code Art KEY, the two Life Bursts having increased the Selector's hand size by another two cards, much to the Nova Grappler user's annoyance.

"Well that bites," he sighed "I was only one Ener short from ending it this turn."

 _You tell me...!_ Amika muttered in her thoughts along with a sweatdrop to follow on that.

"Is that all...?"

Kamui's ear twitched as he gazed towards Piruluk herself from the card that she resided in, noticing that her gaze had fallen upon him again.

"What are you getting at?" he asked.

"Certainly, I can acknowledge that you are a rather passionate individual and that outcome from you last fight has not affected your confidence," the LRIG replied in a monotone "However... if feelings are all that you rely on... you will never survive within this world."

"You...!" he growled, clearly annoyed by her comment towards him.

"Easy Piruluk!" Amika replied, trying to calm the tension between the two "Besides, he's done really well to get to grips with Wixoss, especially with that Nova Grappler thing he has from this Vanguard game. Vanguard..."

She suddenly paused in ponder, causing Kamui to briefly raise an eyebrow in response as he looked over to the Selector as she suddenly remembered something from the back of her mind, now tying it up to the Nova Grappler user's story of how he had bumped into her.

"Wait a minute... are you from the same place that Kai Toshiki comes from?!" she exclaimed, causing Kamui's eyes to widen in shock.

"You've found him?!" he replied in utter surprise.

"Found?" Amika pondered.

"Kai's went missing from where I've come from and a few friends left to look for him," the Nova Grappler user answered "You haven't seen him with a boy with blue hair, right?"

"I have," she replied "I think his name was Aichi..."

Kamui having now realized that this Selector had come face to face with both Kai and 'Aichi onii-san' could now confirm his suspicions that he was now closer to finding the two cardfighters and he was indeed within the same world that they were now stuck in.

"Do you know where I can find them?!" he cried.

"We have no knowledge of their whereabouts," Piruluk replied in her usual monotone "However, they appear to remain in this particular city, just like most Selectors that we have encountered."

"Darn it..." he groaned, clenching his right fist over the table, knowing that it would presumably take forever for him to search the entire city just to find both Aichi and Kai, having no knowledge of where they along with Leon, Ren and Naoki were staying. As he looked back up, he knew that there wasn't much point to sulking over his dillema and decided that it would least be worth it to finish the battle first.

"Turn end," he spoke.

Amika nodded in reply and drew her two cards to begin her turn. As she was about to move three cards in her Ener to her Trash Pile, she suddenly felt a vibration go off in the pocket of her shorts, prompting her to immediately answer her mobile phone by pulling it out.

"Hello?" she asked before hearing a reply, causing her expression to sadden somewhat "I see... I'll be there right away!"

Immediately after she had put her phone away, she immediately began gathering up her cards in a hurry, causing Kamui to raise an eyebrow in confusion whilst Piruluk had simply closed her eyes in response, knowing exactly how Amika was feeling in regards to this particular scenario. The Selector brought up her bag and placed her deck back inside before picking up Piruluk's card.

"I'm sorry we can't finish..." she said, her tone no longer feeling as upbeat as it usually was "There's something I need to do for my family."

"I see..." Kamui replied, now understanding why she had to cancel their battle as it was. "Good luck with that."

Amika let out a sad smile in response, feeling somewhat better that the Nova Grappler user had at least taken the time to understand about why she was feeling the way that she was now. Piruluk meanwhile had kept her eyes closed since the abrupt end to the battle and began to open up her lips to speak.

"Katsuragi Kamui, I will only warn you and Amika once," she spoke "For the sake of your wish and safety... do not involve yourselves with Mizushima Kiyoi. That is all."

"What do you mean?" asked Kamui, confused as to why she didn't want him to go after Kiyoi. But before he could get an answer, Amika had already turned around.

"I'll see you around!" she called as she exited the shop immediately, waving goodbye as she disappeared out of sight from the top floor.

Kamui simply stared at the staircase leading to the bottom entrance of Card Luck, now pondering over everything that had happened for him since his arrival into this world. Truth be told, he wanted to follow Amika on the off chance that he would run into either Kai or Aichi so that he could hopefully get a better understanding on what the two of them had ended up getting themselves into. His thoughts suddenly delved back into brief anger as he recalled everything that Piruluk said to him, from her assessment of both his attitude and the way that he battled to her blunt warning on not to go after the mysterious girl, Mizushima Kiyoi who still had a grip on his Raizer units.

 _That LRIG's attitude..._  he muttered in his thoughts _She reminds me of the way 'he' used to act. There's something about her that ticks me off, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Doesn't matter now, I've just gotta find Aichi onii-san and we can get to the bottom of this whole thing._

With grim resolve, Kamui gathered up his cards and left the top floor of the shop, preparing to step into the unknown once again.

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

Several hours had passed over since Aichi and Hatsu's battle had concluded with Ruko's grandmother having emerged victorious over him after a long struggle between both the Royal Paladins and Umr. The Royal Paladin user needless to say was amazed by how much the LRIG could accomplish when the proper cards around her were brought into play, leading him to only question about how much strength and potential that the real Umr held from the single card that he now held onto. In the midst of his pondering, Leon and Kai later partook in battles against Hatsu, this time having much better luck than him, Ren or Naoki for that matter as they were able to win their games eventually, albeit only just.

When Kai's match had concluded with the finishing blow from Dragonic Overlord the End, everyone turned to see that Ruko was staring out of the window at the far end of the apartment, looking over the late afternoon sky as it rolled over the city's horizon. Her expression was not one filled with joy, nor was it one that was filled with despair, but one that held concern and the others present knew exactly what it was that she was concerned about as they walked up to her."It's about Ayumu, isn't it?"

The Selector turned around to see that it was the Kagero user that had asked her that question, to which she then nodded in response.

"We can help him understand... can't we?" she murmured.

"Right now, you cannot lose faith in what you believe in," Leon spoke "Regardless of whether that relates to your wish or if there is a way to talk some sense into your brother."

"Leon-san's right," Aichi interjected "We don't know everything that's been going on in your past, but I'm sure once we find out, we can help him to understand what's going on."

"I see..." Ruko replied as she looked over the rest of the group as Hitoe and Yuzuki shared collective warm smiles in return, now seeing that their friend wasn't as depressed as she was earlier "Thank you."

The others nodded in reply, including the other LRIGs that were present in the room as Hatsu then approached Aichi with something held in her hands. He turned around to see that it was the Umr deck that she defeated him with earlier in the afternoon.

"Given how important Umr is to you at this moment," she spoke "I think this deck is better off in your hands."

"R... Really?" he asked as she handed it over to him.

"I know how much your Royal Paladins mean to you, especially that Blaster Blade that Kai gave you," Hatsu replied "But if you ever need 'her' strength to help all of you, this should be my way of contributing to your efforts."

"T... Thank you, Hatsu-san," said Aichi as he looked down to Umr who simply nodded in response before looking back to the group of cardfighters and Selectors.

"Right now, even though Mayu has been defeated once before, the battle to free everyone involved has only truely begun," Kai spoke "We are all aware of the risks and the dangers that are now involved, especially given that the remnants of the Star-vaders are assisting her in her efforts to oppose us. If anyone wishes to back down from the struggle ahead, I will respect your decision and fight on alone. But first I must ask, who is willing to stand up to the Selector Battles and Mayu herself?"

"I will, Kai-kun," the Royal Paladin user replied with resolute determination as he held one hand to the center of the group.

"I... I'll help too...!" Hitoe replied as she followed with the same action, the palm of her hand resting on top of Aichi's.

"You can count it!" Naoki called as he followed suit.

"Fine with me," Ren replied bemusingly as he too held his right hand to the center.

"I will not forgive those who have violated the sacred wind once before," Leon spoke as he followed on.

As Kai placed his hand over the top of the pile that was formed from the group circle that the five cardfighters and Hitoe had formed, they all turned their attention to Ruko who looked over to them. Looking down at Tama who pumped her right fist into the air as a sign of excitement and approval, Kuro then nodded with a sincere smile, showing that she now had complete faith in her Selector's decision. Yuzuki waved from her card to get Ruko's attention back to the group before the Selector nodded in response.

"Everyone..." she breathed before she stepped forward, now placing her right hand in the center of the group that had been formed from each of their right hands, now indicating that their circle had finally been completed as each of them now held a sincere smile, showing that they were now willing to take on whatever challenges that Mayu or the Selector Battles had to offer, in their bid to save everyone from her's and the Star-vaders' twisted grip. From her card on the table, Umr also held a sincere smile of her own, a sign showing that she too would offer her aid to Aichi and the others the moment that she would be called upon to aid them in their struggles for the future of this world.

* * *

Emerging from a flight of stairs that presumably led to an underground rail network of some kind, a cheerful young girl emerged onto the lonely street that was in front of her. She had smart black hair tied up in a bow at the back and had bright orangish eyes whilst wearing a buttoned up whitish coat with rather short sleeves. Seeing that no one else was currently present around her, she dug into her right coat pocket and brought out a single card, this one containing the real Midoriko as evidenced by the green background, the LRIG's jutted hair and her rather depressed expression at this point in time.

"Is something the matter Midoriko?" she asked in a gentle tone.

"I... It's nothing..." the LRIG replied, trying to force a smile on her face which had just been enough to reassure her Selector at this point in time.

However, Midoriko had felt anything but truely happy after her encounter with Photon that occurred shortly after Hitoe had her wish tainted at the end of her first run in the Selector Battles. Even though this had raised more questions for her about the individual and his forces that had apprehended her at the time, she knew that one thing was for certain. He was somehow in alliance with the one behind everything, Mayu herself and that he had seemingly been employed to prevent prying eyes like herself from gazing into what was truely going on. Before she could question more about herself after coming this far, she suddenly felt something within her chest causing her to throb in pain as a dark red aura surrounded for a brief moment, catching the attention of her Selector.

"Is something wrong?!" she cried, worried for her LRIG at this moment.

"I... I'm just a little sick..." Midoriko groaned, having struggled to stave off whatever Photon had his forces infect her with at the time "It's nothing I cannot handle..."

"If you say so..." her Selector replied, still not convinced that she was telling the entire truth about how she was feeling before putting the card back into her pocket.

Midoriko almost wheezed for a moment, having barely managed to cover up about how she was truely feeling as she lay down on her back to try and catch her breath out of her sudden ordeal. All she knew was that no matter how long she could delay 'it' for, that is if she knew what 'it' was, in the end, she was now a ticking time bomb for her Selector and that there was nothing she could do to truely prevent whatever would occur but prepare herself for the worst to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Beast Deity, Ethics Buster**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 2 Silver  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Nova Grappler  
> Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) Pay 1 Silver: When your Nova Grappler LRIG grows from this LRIG, until end of turn, it gets “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG attacks, choose up to two of your downed SIGNI and up them. Then if a SIGNI is upped by this effect, you may conduct your SIGNI attack step again at the end of that battle.” If the LRIG that grows from this card is not Level 4 when this effect activates, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field.  
> [Constant]: Lord
> 
>  **Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 3 Silver  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Nova Grappler  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active when you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): When this LRIG attacks, you may reveal the top two cards of your deck, one card at a time. For each card you reveal with “Beast Deity” in its card name that doesn’t have a Life Burst, you may add it to your hand, pay 1 Colorless, then choose 1 of your Silver SIGNI and up it. Any other card(s) revealed through this effect are sent to the bottom of the deck. Then at the end of the battle, if you upped a SIGNI through this effect, you may conduct your SIGNI attack step again.  
> [Constant]: If you have a card named “Beast Deity, Ethics Buster” beneath this LRIG, all of your Silver SIGNI gain +2000 power.  
> [Constant]: Lord
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Death Stinger**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Choose one of your Silver SIGNI, it gains 5000 power until the end of your next turn and one of the following effects:  
> Double Crush  
> or  
> LANCER
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Max Beat**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver with “Beast Deity” in its card name: During your Attack Phase when this SIGNI is upped, if you have a Silver LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your other Silver SIGNI and Up it.
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Desert Gator**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Nova Grappler LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Beast Deity” in its card name, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Brainy Papio**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver with “Beast Deity” in its card name: When this SIGNI’s attack hits an LRIG, if you have a Silver LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your other Silver SIGNI and Up it.
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Nova Grappler LRIGs only  
> Power: 6000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Beast Deity” in its card name, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI is upped due to an effect from one of your cards, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until end of turn.


	50. Arc 3 - Ride 50: The Unfolding Mystery

**Vanguard World: Card Capital**

"H... He's really gone?"

Miwa kept a solemn expression on his face followed by a single nod as he addressed the situation surrounding both Kiyoi's arrival into this world and Kamui's disappearance in addition to finding his Raizer cards blank to those present of his friends in Card Capital. Whilst Misaki, Ratie and Shingo were surprised with traces of shock noticable on their faces, the two extras to the 'group circle' had not taken the terrible news very well at all. They were both boys who were just a little shorter in height than Kamui himself and were very close friends to the Nova Grappler user, which explained both their disbelief and agony from the fact that he had just suddenly 'vanished'.

One of them had dark turqoise-like coloured hair with a portion of it being tied up into a knot at the very bottom of the back of his head and he also wore large round glasses over his yellowish brown eyes. His name was Uno Reiji. The other boy had brown hair and much like Reiji, had his hair tied up in a knot at the back of his head. However it was at the top of the back instead and had dark blue eyes of his own. This boy's name was Saga Eiji and much like Reiji, the news of Kamui's disappearance that was brought to light by Miwa had initially brought about much grief to the two boys.

"T... That can't be true!" cried Reiji.

"TCBT yo!" Eiji chimed in.

"Calm yourselves," said Misaki, placing a hand on one of the boys' shoulders in an attempt to calm them down "We've only gotten knowledge of this right now."

"Besides, it shouldn't be impossible to find where he vanished to, right?" Ratie asked "I mean, you did manage to find the Sanctuary with a bit of luck."

Miwa's expression had not changed in the slightest from the former Quatre Knight's attempt to try and restore some faith in the fact that they would hopefully find Kamui and bring him back, unaware of his presence in the world that Kai was stuck in that Aichi and the rest of their friends had ventured out to.

"I know I'm grasping at straws here," he spoke "But with Kiyoi's recent appearance and Kamui vanishing, I'm getting the feeling that these two occurrences are linked."

"What makes you think that?" asked Shingo as he fiddled with his glasses.

Miwa then reached into his pocket and brought out the Grade 0 Remember card that he had picked up from the cardfighting stage in the park earlier in the day, just shortly after he had gathered up Kamui's blank cards. He placed the 'unit' on the table for everyone present to see, prompting Misaki to closely inspect what little details she could find on the card itself. Shingo and Ratie both came alongside her to see the card for themselves, curious about why Miwa had brought it before them and more importantly, where exactly he had found it in the first place.

"Remember...?" the former Quatre Knight murmured.

"Jun said that was the commonly shared name of some of the units that Kiyoi used," he explained "I'm starting to get the feeling that Kamui fought against her as well, before his cards went blank and he disappeared with her."

"That's most certainly a strange unit," Shingo interjected as he picked up the card for a closer look "It appears to be a part of the Magallanica nation and yet it has no clan name."

"Huh?" Ratie pondered, prompting the others to look at her as she gazed at a certain portion of the card, just beneath the seemingly blank clan box of the card "LRIG...? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I see."

Misaki then turned to face Miwa who could already tell that she was thinking of what she was going to say next and with the recent occurrences that had happened within their world, no one could blame her from coming to the exact conclusion that he had already come to.

"I think we can now agree that Kamui's disappearance was no coincidence," she said "If what Jun told you was already true, we need to be careful for this 'Kiyoi'."

As Miwa nodded grimly in reply, he turned to see that Reiji and Eiji's spirits hadn't been lifted by much and from everything that had happened throughout this day with them being unaware of it all, who could truely blame them for feeling in such a state. Deciding to try and help ease some of the pain from the recent shock of this news at hand, he walked over to them.

"Don't worry you two," he said "We'll find a way to get him back, just like how Aichi's going to find a way to get back here with Kai."

"I can't imagine how Kamui must be feeling in wherever he is now," Reiji replied.

"ICIHKMBFIWHIS yo," Eiji interjected in his usual way of speaking.

As the shop atmosphere around the group continued on as normal in Card Capital like it normally would on busy days such as this, the store owner and uncle to Misaki, Nitta Shin seemingly remained unaware of what had been going on for the moment, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, given how far at the back of the shop that they were standing. However, a closer look behind his glasses could allow anyone to tell that he had overheard part of the conversation and like everyone else, he too shared concern about Kamui's sudden disappearance and how he could be holding up in wherever it was he was in now. But even he knew that as long as there was no trail for any of the group to follow on, much like everyone else involved in the discussion, even he was powerless to do anything to help.

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

Kamui panted as he struggled onwards throughout the various streets of the large city that was within. The Nova Grappler user was tired from both the long distance he had covered whilst calling out for either Aichi or Kai in hopes that they would hear him and was also rather hungry, given that he did not have a chance to eat whilst avoiding Nagisa earlier in the day, getting caught up in a cardfight with Kiyoi resulting in his current scenario along with his meeting and brief battle with Amika having almost made him forget about the dilemma completely. As his stomach sounded out again for the umpteenth time throughout his long trek, he was too worn out to even sigh under his breath in that regard as he eventually came up to a bench in the park and sat down on a bench to catch his breath.

As he slowly managed to regain his breath, he took the time to recount everything that had been going on so far and what the Selector had told him about. From what little he could understand, he could somehow see these 'alive' LRIGs just like Aichi and the other cardfighters within this world and that Piruluk, the blue LRIG who seemed to be more of an annoyance to him than Amika, given her blunt tone towards him which had caused him to have initial dislike of her in particular, appeared to be a requirement for the Selector to participate in these Selector Battles going on around the world so that her wish could be granted. When he recounted this bit of information, something suddenly clicked in his head.

"Wait a sec..." he murmured "Kiyoi mentioned something about the Selector Battles in our last fight. Is that what she was telling me about?"

Looking up to the late afternoon sky as the sun was now beginning to set over the horizon, Kamui suddenly realized that it was about to get rather dark soon and unless he could find some shelter soon, he would have to sleep outside in the open which ideally was the very last thing that he would want for his first stay within this world. Deciding not to waste any time on pondering over the subject any longer in favor of one last attempt to try and find his friends whilst it was still daylight, he hopped up from the bench and looked around the park for a little longer, just as Chiyori was passing by in front of him, holding out Eldora's card in front of him.

"Aww... Why did I have to miss my chance to battle with Kai for real?" she moaned "At this rate, I'll never get that rematch he promised me."

"To be fair, you weren't exactly helping the mood given the family issue between Ruko and her brother," her LRIG replied.

"And just how was I being insensitive?" the young Selector retorted.

"Who knows," said Eldora "I wasn't looking at you when this was going on."

Kamui's eyes widened for a moment, not just from hearing the LRIG's voice at this very moment but also for the fact that she had just mentioned Kai's name at this very moment, indicating that much like Amika, Chiyori had also battled Kai in a game of Wixoss once before.

"Hey, wait up!" he called as the Selector paused in her footsteps, turning around to face him immediately "A... Are you one of those Selectors I've heard about?"

"But of course!" Chiyori replied as she walked up to Kamui "I mean, there's no way you'd know unless..."

She suddenly paused in the middle of her speech as she turned around Eldora's card that she held in her right mitton to face the Nova Grappler user, prompting the LRIG herself to look over at him.

"Well now," she murmured "I must say, your hearing must be good if you were able to determine that Chiyori was a Selector."

"R... Right," said Kamui, apparently still getting used to acknowledging that within this world, there were girls 'trapped' inside cards that only he and certain others were able to see "And you're this 'LRIG', right?"

"That would be correct," Eldora answered "By the way, you wouldn't be kind enough to tell us your name?"

"Sure!" he replied "I'm Kamui. Chiyori was your name, right?"

"Yeah!" she called "And this is my LRIG, Eldora. This must be my lucky day today, meeting with all of these boy Selectors with units from the Planet Cray and now I meet a sixth one!"

Kamui wasn't sure what to make out from the young Selector's seemingly overexcited attitude towards meeting him, as if it was almost the greatest thing in the world to her or something. But then again, if she had already met with Aichi, Kai and the other cardfighters that came to this world, no one could exactly blame her for feeling this way considering how few of them were around this city, including the Nova Grappler user himself.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where Kai is, right?" he asked "And you wouldn't happen to know if Aichi onii-san was with him?"

"We didn't see where they went off to after we last met," Eldora replied "But if this 'onii-san' you're referring to is Aichi, then yes, he was with him."

"Well that's just great..." Kamui sighed "First I bend up in this crazy world to find they're here and now I can't find them!"

An awkward silence briefly hushed over the park with the exception of a cold breeze as Chiyori and Eldora stared blankly at him, leading him to immediately assume that he had messed up in his basic grammar for the third time this day.

"I was meant to say 'end up', wasn't I..." he murmured to himself before clearing his throat.

"Anyway Kamui, let's battle!" the Selector called as she turned the card around to have the back of it facing him, much to his sudden surprise.

"Fine by me! I guess I could use some practice in getting used to this Wixoss thing though," Kamui replied as he brought out his Beast Deity deck, giving Chiyori the confirmation that she had been waiting for.

"Yes! Let's go!" she called "Open!"

And just like before, with any other Selector or Cardfighter that had already experienced this once before, a series of rectangular flashes emitted in front of the Nova Grappler user as everything went completely white from his perspective.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When Kamui eventually regained consciousness, he soon found himself within the dark space of the battlefield, seated at a table whilst his side had a silvery white colour covering over half of the background in addition to the silhouetted buildings in the distance that he could see all around him. Looking ahead to the opposite side, he could see Chiyori seated at the table over there and seeming rather eager to get the battle started already whilst Eldora simply scratched the back of her head, understanding the Nova Grappler user's sudden surprise in arriving in this particular place.

"W... Where the heck am I?!" he exclaimed before looking down on his table to see that Beast Deity, White Tiger was standing poised and ready for battle. As he watched the unit flex its arms for a brief moment, he couldn't help but look down in wonder.

"No way..." he breathed as the unit turned its head around to face him "A... Are you the real thing?"

"In the mechanized flesh!" the unit boldly proclaimed as it gazed around its surroundings before looking upon Eldora and Chiyori "So they are our opponents, huh?"

"Yeah," Kamui replied "Glad to know I have all of your backs in this whole thing."

"Amazing!" cried Chiyori as she stared wide-eyed at White Tiger "I can't believe this is actually happening! I'm finally battling against units from the Planet Cray! Isn't this exciting Eldora?!"

"Yeah, this isn't the first time you've wanted to go on about it," Eldora replied "Or the second. Or the third."

"Aw come on! At least sound ethusiastic about it!" the Selector groaned in reply.

The LRIG took no notice of Chiyori's sudden complaint and looked back towards Kamui who now seemed fairly acqainted with his surroundings and everything that was happening around him. So far that was.

"I take it you've at least learned the rules of Wixoss, right?!" she called out.

"You got it!" he replied "I should warn you I don't plan on being a pushover though!"

"Let's make this a battle they won't forget, partner," White Tiger interjected to which Kamui nodded in compliance along with a confident grin as the roulette above their heads began to spin to determine who could determine the turn order.

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Meanwhile from the gantryway that stood above the lab, Mayu had observed Kamui's sudden entrance into this Selector Battle with Chiyori with Kiyoi standing right beside her as the two watched the monitor displaying the battle in front of them very closely. Whilst this was going on, down on the lab floor below them, several humans dressed in different attires and having their hands bound behind their backs by black rings were being shoved forwards in line by the Radons and Niobiums standing behind and alongside them. Two of them were easily recognized as units from Kamui's Raizer deck, one of which was a member of the Raizer maintenance crew and the other being Raizer Girl, Kate.

They remained begrudgingly silent to avoid risking having their companions hurt as they were forcefully marched across the lab in an orderly fashion from the Cyberoids surrounding them as they looked across the lab to see that several Cyber Fairies were using their lifting ability to help heave one of the heavy Raizers to a large set of open doors on the other side of the lab. Meanwhile back up on the gantry, Mayu's expression had shown a hint of confusion, but also one of annoyance as she turned around to face Kiyoi who seemed hardly unfazed in the face of her slowly building presumed rage.

"You..." she muttered "What is the meaning of this? I thought you said you had obtained the units that boy possessed!"

"Forgive my oversight, Mayu," the girl calmly replied "I had no prior knowledge of him possessing a second deck on hand at the time we fought as I simply assumed that the only deck he had then was his Raizers. Regardless though, all of the units summoned from Cray via Kamui's cards are now your prisoners and Photon can 'tinker' around with those machines if he doesn't feel like scrapping them for spare parts."

The enigmatic mastermind simply stared at Kiyoi, having expected her to give an 'excuse' on her part for seemingly overlooking a detail that was now noticable within the current Selector Battle. Deciding not to bother arguing over the 'subject' with her, she simply huffed and looked back down to the floor of the lab as the lineup of the Raizer maintenance crew were brought before her presence as gazed down upon them.

"What is it that you want with us?!" Kate demanded as she tried to step forwards, only to have a beam rifle from one of the Radons pointed at her in response. Mayu raised one hand in command for the Cyberoid to lower its firearm immediately.

"Kate was it?" she spoke "I do sincerely apologize for the crude means we used to bring all of you forth to my domain. However, with what has occurred under my most banevolent gaze, I cannot simply allow all you to remain a possibility for hindrance in the Selector Battles."

"Then why are you working with the fiends that stained our home?!" one of the Raizer crew demanded.

Mayu however simply ignored his question and immediately snapped her fingers, causing the surrounding Cyberoids to move in closer to the group in response, boxing them all in to prevent any opportunity they were planning to use for escape.

"Take them to the Pit," she spoke "Even if they are in Takuto's presence, without his powers, it hardly changes anything."

The Radons and Niobiums nodded in reply to her command and escorted the group of captured humans to the place where she had kept Takuto imprisoned in since the attempted escape with Tawil and Umr. Eventually, the large group disappeared through a pair of sliding doors as Mayu herself turned her gaze up to the monitor that was displaying Kamui and Chiyori's battle which had only just begun at this very moment whilst Kiyoi simply remained standing beside her, intrigued to see what his 'other' deck was capable of. Unbeknowst to the two of them in the corridor behind them, Ulith was standing at a short distance away from them, enough to see what was going on in Photon's lab.

"How interesting..." she mused under her breath in her usual tone "So 'she' brought a sixth fighter over from the 'other' world and he's still clueless. For now at least."

The cruel demanored Selector then kept her sneer present on her lips as she turned around and exited the premises of the lab through the rest of the dark corridor that was in front of her.

* * *

**...**

Akira was within her bedroom, sulking to herself as evidenced by both her frustrated huff under her breath as well as her irriated expression at this very moment. Ever since the night that Hitoe had defeated her and Leon had played his part in recovering Kai's Kagero deck from her clutches, she had been far more moody than usual with anyone from experience around her knowing better that 'moody' was a light term when it came to describing the Selector whenever she revealed her true colours outside of her work as a fashion model. But then again, any day or night which had Aoi Akira sulking or angered in any regard however was always a bad day in her own point of view.

Mirurun had wisely chosen to remain silent whenever her foul-tempered Selector was awake on the few occasions that she knew that just the wrong choice of words would be more than enough to cause her to rip the card containing her to shreds in a fit of blind rage. This was one of those occasions as the LRIG innocently whistled quietly to herself to not attract any 'unfortunate' outcomes to befall her as she kept a close eye on her. Akira simply clenched her fists as she looked down to the assembled deck that lay in front of her on the covers of her bed as she began to run everything that had been going on through her head.

"Even a streak of minor victories since 'that night' wasn't enough to satisfy me...!" she growled before clenching her teeth and recalling the Selector Battles that had become most prominent in her memories. "That Ru-pon, Iona, Kai Toshiki, Ishida Naoki... and that weak-ass girl I defeated once before!"

As she closed her eyes in frustration, she immediately began to recall the words that were spoken to her during her previous battle with Hitoe, when she still had Kai's Kagero deck at the time.

" _Power is not merely for enjoyment. It is something you must grasp with your own hands. Stealing it from others to abuse for your own entertainment is not the true means to achieve it._ "

"To think even Dragonic Overlord dared to have the right to 'lecture' me...!" Akira huffed as she recalled those exact words that the Kagero commander had given to her during the battle, as if they had been burned into her mind since that moment.

" _Pitiful girl. It seems even as I'm battling under your banner instead of that of my Vanguard, unlike a certain few, you have learned nothing. You are not even worthy to call yourself a wielder of the Aerial Assault Unit,_   _Kagero._ "

"'Nothing' you say... Not even you understand... that's what I've had this whole time...!"

Screaming loudly in a fit of anger, Akira opened her eyes and smacked her deck in utter frustration, causing the cards that made it up to fly off to her left and scatter across her bedroom floor as a result of that action. She breathed heavily as a result of venting out her rage in such a violent manner, making Mirurun feel thankful that her own card was placed on the Selector's desk from outside of her deck prior to this sudden outburst. She then calmed down as she saw her Selector's expression begin to change to one that she had not expected to see at all.

"But... with my final lifeline..." Akira breathed "If I lose one more time... Ulith-chan will..."

Picturing the scenario right before her, she was kneeling on the floor of a different place rather than the covers of her own bed, watching Ulith leaving her all alone with her back turned away from the Selector. With a hint of panic now present in her expression, Akira tried reaching out for the one who gave her a second chance but Ulith continued to ignore her as the image faded away to reveal the bedroom all around her with the wall directly in front of where she was reaching out for. She then clenched her fist and turned her attention towards the door leading out of her room.

"That Sendou Aichi was the one who defeated you, wasn't it...?" she murmured to herself "In that case... that is all the more reason for me, to avenge your utter humiliation."

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

"Moonlight Chorizo!"

As Chiyori called out the signal for her attack, Eldora simply sighed to herself before flying along a jet of water towards Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme and smacking the giant Nova Grappler unit in the chest with her large hammer. Kamui simply tensed up as Ethics Buster briefly wobbled as a result of the force from the direct hit before immediately hovering back up to regain its balance, almost taking up a kneeling like stance to do so. The LRIG then landed back on Chiyori's table before looking back to her Selector, her expression seeming almost deadpanned to a degree from what she had to hear before conducting the attack at this moment.

"I give up..." she murmured to herself "I think at this point, any attack 'name' would do for her."

"How's that, Kamui!" called Chiyori, ignoring her LRIG's brief exasperation "I think I'm finally pulling my weight after that last battle with Kai!"

Kamui simply smiled in response, causing the Selector to feel overjoyed that he was seemingly having as much of a good time in a Selector Battle as she was, especially given the units that she and Eldora were fighting against. He briefly looked over to Ethics Buster itself as it hovered down to the surface of his table, landing on its feet as it took up a stance to prepare to attack when his turn would come around.

 _This is amazing!_ he thought  _I'm actually fighting beside the real Beast Deities! And Eldora really isn't pulling any punches in this battle, even with those extra Aqua Force units. Chiyori, you're a lot stronger than I thought._

"Let's finish this, my Vanguard," the unit emitted in a vocal tone to Kamui who nodded in compliance as he looked over his situation.

His SIGNI formation had been wiped clean, no Life Cloths left to spare him from another direct attack by Eldora or any of Chiyori's three SIGNI, no cards in his hand and he already more than enough Ener to work with when going through his next turn. He kept a confident gaze towards the Selector herself as did she to him in return, showing how serious they were with seeing this battle through to the end.

"The great Kamui ups and draws!" he called as he pulled out the top two cards of his deck to start his turn.

As soon as he saw what they were, he immediately threw them out to the center and right SIGNI spaces on his table. The summoned units were Beast Deity, Desert Gator and Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake as they stared towards the two SIGNI on Chiyori's field that were opposing them. They were both Beluga, Water Phantom and Pearl, Water Phantom.

"Let's go!" Kamui declared "I use a Doping ARTS on Yamatano Drake, then it and Desert Gator attack!"

The two Beast Deities nodded and immediately charged at both of the Water Beast SIGNI, having no trouble overpowering them and banishing them one at a time. Beluga was the first to fall, just as Yamatano Drake's attack had impacted on Pearl as the blue SIGNI vanished from the field. Chiyori gasped a little before immediately regaining her smile as she looked over her table. Like Kamui, she too had no Life Cloths as it had been a very back and forth battle between the two of them which had only made it all the more exciting for the young Selector. She then looked back at the cardfighter, seemingly prepared to counter his next offence right there and then.

"Bring it on!" she called.

"You asked for it!" Kamui replied "Go, Ethics Buster Extreme!"

The largest of the Beast Deities on the field briefly had its eyes glow before soaring up into the air and charging straight on at Eldora who took up a defensive stance to prepare herself for the oncoming attack.

"Guard!" Chiyori called as Servant O immediately appeared in front of the LRIG to generate a barrier around her as Ethics Buster's fist was stopped right in its tracks from the great defensive power of the colourless SIGNI. The unit gazed back at Kamui who was watching on from his table.

"Reach for it now!" the Strongest Beast Deity called to him.

"You got it!" Kamui replied "Ethics Buster's Limit Break! Drive Check!"

Revealing the first card from the top of his deck, he briefly cringed as it was Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny. As it had a Life Burst, he could not apply the effect of the Limit Break to any of his SIGNI to stand it back up for another attack as he placed the card back on the bottom of his main deck. The cardfighter and his opponent tensed as he reached out for the second card, hoping it would be the one he would need to finish the game. He closed his eyes as he flipped it face up, revealing that it was Beast Deity, Max Beat. As Chiyori gasped, he opened his eyes with joy.

"Yes!" he cried "Yamatano Drake stands for another attack and with his skill, another 3000 power is added!"

**Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake: 11000 - 14000**

After Ethics Buster retreated back to the cardfighter's table, Chiyori could only look down at Eldora as Servant O vanished, knowing in the back of her head that she didn't have Icefall Dragon to save her from defeat this time. Knowing the outcome that was to come from all of this, she forced a smile on her face as she looked back at Kamui, willing to accept that she had lost this time and that the better player had won.

"This is the showstopper!" he declared "Go one more time, Yamatano Drake!"

Yamatano Drake then charged towards Eldora before hitting her head on, dealing the final attack that was needed for Kamui to end the Selector Battle between him and Chiyori in his victory. The LRIG struggled back up onto her knees before seeing in front of her that Ethics Buster had suddenly appeared in front of her, seemingly offering her a hand back up onto her feet. Even though her hand was only the size of a portion of any of the unit's fingers, Eldora reached out for and touched a portion of the unit's right index finger, to which Ethics Buster slowly raised it to help her back onto her feet.

"You put up a most excellent fight," it spoke "If this world wasn't different from Cray, I would say your abilities could be useful for you in the 'Nova Grapple' back in Star Gate."

"I appreciate your kind words," the LRIG said with a sincere smile "But someone needs to look after Chiyori here. She's only doing the best she can with my help."

"So I see."

Chiyori though disappointed from having her second loss in the Selector Battles now being dealt to her wasn't feeling as annoyed as she was when she had previously lost to Yuzuki when she was still a Selector and Kai when they first met in Card Luck. If anything, she had been smiling the whole time from simply enjoying such a close battle between herself and Kamui as well as finally getting her chance to battle against units from Cray up close and personal which had been more than enough to satisfy her in that regard. She kept her smile on her lips as the entire battlefield went dark.

* * *

**City Park**

As the two of them had reawakened back in the exact place from where they were since Chiyori had opened the battlefield, they now faced each other with each of them knowing that the other had the satisfaction of enjoying the battle to the fullest, not caring about the consequences in the slightest, not that Kamui had even knew what those consequences were in the first place. To the Nova Grappler user's surprise, he could see the Selector trembling for some reason as she kept her head down, leaving him unsure of what to make of it.

"Hey, Chiyori..." he spoke "Are you...?"

"Amazing!" she cried out loud, briefly surprising him "This has got to be Chiyori's best battle ever! I'm so grateful you've given me the opportunity that I've been waiting for!"

"Heh, you were pretty strong yourself too," Kamui replied "I don't know everything about what these Selector Battles are meant to be, but fighting with Ethics Buster and the others in there was fun whilst it lasted."

He then held out his right fist between the two of them as Chiyori removed her right mitton from respective hand and return her respective fist back to his own. The two of them kept their exchanged fist bump in place for a few seconds before pulling away with the Selector putting back on her right hand the mitton that she had briefly removed earlier, apparently being caught up in the excitement enough to not notice the mark that Kiyoi had left on his right hand. She then immediately looked behind the cardfighter for a brief moment and gazed down at what appeared to be a small bright pink wristwatch on her right wrist before beginning to run off away from the Nova Grappler user.

"Good luck with whatever you're wishing for!" she called "I hope we'll see each other again soon!"

"Same to you Chiyori!" Kamui replied as the two of them waved each goodbye and the best of luck in their respective ventures as Chiyori eventually disappeared around the corner up a set of stone steps.

At the same time, now that he was thinking about it, he recalled Kiyoi briefly mentioning something to him about wishes in regards to her brief talk about the Selector Battles in their last cardfight, though he couldn't quite understand what exactly she was getting at during that time. At the same time though, now that Chiyori had briefly brought the subject up during her quick departure from the park, he began to ponder on this topic a little more than he had previously thought, now seeing that it appeared to be an important factor in the Selector Battles.

"So I need a wish, huh?" he murmured to himself "Let's see... Well, I suppose there is one..."

"Kamui-kun!"

His eyes widening upon hearing that all too familiar voice combined with the rapid pace of the footsteps sounding out behind him, Kamui turned around just in time to see Aichi and Naoki running up to him, followed by Kai, Hitoe and Ruko indicating that Ren and Leon had stayed behind at the apartment complex.

"Aichi onii-san! Ishida-sempai!" he called, waving in greeting as the group came up to him as he looked over "And you've found Kai!" He then looked over the two Selectors that were amongst the group "And who are they?"

"H... Hitoe," said Hitoe, briefly bowing to introduce herself.

"I'm Ruko," Ruko greeted "Kominato Ruko. It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you," Kamui replied as he flashed a somewhat toothy grin in response before looking back to the three cardfighters "Well, this is rather embarassing... I was trying to look for you and you ended up finding me instead..."

"Kamui, did you jump the countdown we agreed on back home?" Naoki asked in confusion.

"It's a long story..." the Nova Grappler user murmured as he scratched the back of his head in embarassment "Anyway, have you guys been involved in these Selector Battles, right?"

"You've entered the battlefield?" asked Kai.

"Sure!" he replied "I've just had a really close battle with a Selector called Chiyori! I tell you, that LRIG of hers really knows how to pack a punch, but I just outlasted them in the end!"

As soon as he finished his sentence however, he noticed that everyone's expressions had immediately gone down leading to a look of confusion present in his expression. Everyone else in the group felt somewhat saddened by what had just occurred before they had met up with the Nova Grappler user, though each of them had known that Chiyori in all of her excitement would purposely conceal the exact details of what all of them had learned throughout the Selector Battles up to this very point in time. And with him not knowing that much information to begin with, they knew they couldn't exactly blame him for the way things had turned out for simply having no prior knowledge until this very moment.

"What's the matter...?" he asked "Did I say something wrong?"

"Kamui-kun..." said Aichi "We... have a lot to talk about."

* * *

**City Hospital**

On the rooftop of the hospital, Amika looked over across the horizon towards the setting sun as she ran through her thoughts over how the day had gone, particuarly from her encounter with Kamui and what she had learned about him in regards to the world that he and Kai had come from as well as the units from the Planet Cray that they could call forth to the Selector Battles given that much like all other Selectors, they too along with Aichi could see Piruluk for herself along with the blue LRIG's own personal confirmation in that regard. Knowing the reason why she had come to the hospital with her family in the first place, she sadly sighed for a moment before bringing out Piruluk's card from the right pocket of her shorts.

The blue LRIG kept her seemingly emotionless appearance present within her expression as usual, appearing at first to look uninterested in regards to what her Selector was seemingly concerned about in the first place.

"Hey Piruluk," Amika spoke "About that wish of mine..."

"You're curious about the amount of victories required, aren't you..." Piruluk interrupted.

"Y... Yeah," she replied "I know there isn't an exact amount specified, but... to save my mom... how close am I getting?"

"Like you said, I cannot tell the exact amount," the LRIG spoke "But... I can sense you are making progress. Slow, but somewhat effective progress."

"I see..."

Amika sighed under her breath for a brief moment with a forced smile, having somewhat expected this kind of answer from her LRIG. She had been around Piruluk long enough to know that she wasn't exactly the most sociable or even the most friendly LRIG that she had ever encountered within her run of the Selector Battles. But at the same time, she had managed to put up with her cold attitude towards almost anyone outside of her card that she had usually come across, though for some reason today, this had also bothered her in that regard.

"Are you still thinking about Katsuragi?" Piruluk asked, snapping Amika out of her brief stupor.

"Y... Yeah," she replied "I know I shouldn't mess with his business and that he has his own battles to fight... but there's one thing that's bothering me. Piruluk, don't you think you were a little harsh on him there?"

"Why is that?"

"It's just that, he's had these other units of his stolen by this Kiyoi," the Selector murmured "But you don't want him to go after her. Why is that?"

"Whatever Katsuragi intends to do, regardless of whether he heeds my warning or not," the LRIG spoke bluntly "It is not your place to be concerned about him. However, I intend for that same warning to apply to you. Kiyoi is a dangerous individual and the last thing you will want is your wish to not come true because of her."

Amika simply kept a somewhat saddened look on her face as she kept her gaze down on Piruluk's card, seemingly not as upbeat as she was earlier in the day. She knew part of it was to do with the reason why she had come to the hospital, her mother to be more exact as she had mentioned earlier. At the same time though, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Kamui, knowing the struggle he had to go through to get his Raizer units back from Kiyoi with Piruluk's blunt comments not helping his self-confidence to say the least. Sighing for a moment, she forced a smile back onto her face as she looked back to the door that led back to the inside of the hospital.

"Well, feeling depessed about it isn't going to do me any good," she muttered to herself "I'll just have to bear with it and hope for the best with him. Right now, I have my own battles to fight."

And with that, she went through the doorway back to the hospital to now prepare herself, for whatever lay ahead for her. From around the corner of a wall however, Kiyoi emerged onto the rooftop as she gazed towards the door that led back to the building premises, having now overheard everything that Amika and Piruluk had been talking about in regards to both the Selector's mother and Kamui himself. As a cold breeze whistled over the rooftop, her lips pursed into a sinister smile, seemingly preparing herself to plot out her next move in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Beast Deity, White Tiger**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 0 Silver  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Nova Grappler  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Silver and send this card under your current LRIG to your LRIG Trash: When an attack hits an LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 one of your SIGNI with “Beast Deity” in its card name and Up it. Then if this effect was activated in the LRIG attack step, you may conduct your SIGNI attack step again.
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Bursts at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you have it! Better late than never, this batch of chapters ends as Kamui becomes the first victim of Mayu's plans for the world of Vanguard whilst also being dragged into the Selector Battles. Hope you've enjoyed this batch and I'll see you next time!


	51. Arc 3 - Ride 51: This Contemplated Prelude I

**City Streets**

Later that night, Aichi, Kai, Naoki and Ruko were walking back through the city with Kamui in tow, having bid farewell to both Hitoe and Yuzuki when the Selector had returned home safely with no more interruptions to catch them along the way. Now having been introduced to the LRIGs they held, the Nova Grappler user had a short summary of everything going on in the Selector Battles explained to him in the midst of their journey together, leaving him a little disheartened when he realized that he didn't take into account or even ask Chiyori about her wish before she had opened the battlefield for their Selector Battle. At the same time though, he felt a little on edge with the brief mention that the surviving Star-vaders also had a hand in the creation of the Selector Battles, only serving to stir up more uncertainty as a result.

As the group were travelling back to the apartment blocks, Kamui took the time to explain everything that happened throughout the day back in his world before his subsequent encounter with Kiyoi, the cardfight along with the result that occurred before she sent him off to this world, where he literally bumped heads with Amika. He then spoke of how she had helped to teach him the rules of Wixoss in a friendly non-Selector Battle, much to the relieved expressions of everyone present with the exception of Kai, Kuro and Umr, who remained as calm as ever.

"So you've encountered her as well," the Kagero user spoke.

"Yeah," Kamui replied "Now that you do mention the bad stuff going on here, I'm wondering what kind of a wish she's had in mind. I just wish her LRIG was a little more friendlier though..."

"You must mean Piruluk from what all of you have told me," Kuro explained as he looked to the girl of black whose card was held in Ruko's hand "Now that you do mention her... there was something strange about her the last I saw her, when she was in Akira's possession."

"Strange?" murmured Tama.

"What do you mean?" asked Ruko, now curious about what one of her two LRIGs had to say.

"Being the one who only became interested in becoming who I intended to be, at that time, I initially paid no mind to it," the girl of black answered "But with everything that has transpired and my changed viewpoint since our battle together, I believe it might be of a little importance. During my most recent battle against Akira, when I was in control of Urazoe Iona's body, I could sense that underneath Piruluk's calm demanor lay a hidden aura."

Everyone else blinked for a brief moment, with most of the group having encountered the blue LRIG at least once or twice on their own occasions within their time in this world. But then again, with Kuro already possessing as much knowledge about the insides and outs of the Selector Battles themselves, any piece of information that sounded intriguing in the least bit would at least be worth listening to at this point in time.

"That aura I sensed then..." she continued "Was one of great rage. But for why, I do not know."

"If that is the case..." Kai pondered "Then why did I not sense it during my first Selector Battle?"

"Rage..." Umr murmured, having been aware of the meaning of that emotion, but curious as to why such an aura was within Piruluk of all LRIGs.

"Well, 'rage aura' or not," Naoki interrupted "We know that Amika's just in as much danger as we are."

"We need to tell her everything the next time we meet her," Aichi interjected as the others nodded in agreement with him.

"Speaking of someone, who's Akira?" asked Kamui.

"No one you'd ever want to meet," Naoki huffed, almost mimicking a slashing motion in front of his neck to get the point across to the Nova Grappler user who was unaware of Akira, her temper and her affinity for sharp and blunt objects.

As the group were about to continue back to the apartment blocks through the dark night, they suddenly heard some footsteps from behind which had immediately caught their attention. Turning around immediately, they could see that it was Futase who had approached them at this very hour, her gaze with her only eye that was visible to them was made apparent as she had usually appeared. The moonlight revealed all of her face but the metal plating covering her left eye that was kept concealed by the strands of hair covering entirely over that portion of her face.

"It has been a while since we first met, Kai Toshiki," she spoke.

"Naturally, Futase Fumio," he replied.

"I suppose that the one named Soryu Leon informed you of our previous battle?" Futase asked, to which Kai nodded in response.

"You know her?" Ruko murmured.

"Tama remembers Fumio!" Tama called out, recalling the first time they had met her, before Kai battled her Selector that same evening.

"Then... are you the writer of those Wixoss novels we read yesterday?" asked Aichi.

"That is correct," Futase spoke, bringing her gaze upon the Royal Paladin user, her visible eye briefly widening when she saw Umr's card in his right hand. "It cannot be..."

The others looked at the Selector, curious as to why she had been surprised that Umr was in Aichi's possession as he brought up the card to face her. Umr stared up at Futase, bringing both of their curious gazes upon one another as one was wondering why she had taken interest in the other whilst the other in turn had been intrigued by who the Selector was and why she had chosen to write such novels in the first place, even if the mysterious LRIG had no knowledge in the concept of literature itself.

"Oi, what's up with her?" Kamui interrupted, snapping her out of her brief trance.

"My apologies," she spoke "I did not anticipate your companion would be in possession of 'that' particular LRIG." She then turned back to Kai. "Regardless, I came to give you a warning. I'm not fully aware of the details, but whatever you did to anger Mayu back then has forced her to raise her hand."

"What are you saying?" asked Aichi.

"From what I've heard, she has placed a bounty on the heads of the six of you... the units of the Planet Cray... and all of the cardfighters from your world," Futase answered "She has already sent one of her associates there to carry out her intentions."

"And if that's case, this first associate will not be the last," Kai murmured, his eyes becoming narrow slits.

"Then, that's the reason Kiyoi went after me in our last cardfight?!" Kamui exclaimed as he showed the mark on top of his right hand "All because of some bounty?!"

"So she's already begun..." Futase murmured as she looked at the Nova Grappler user for a brief moment before turning away from the group. "For now, this is where we must part ways. I would uphold a challenge for one of you, but Anne has fallen ill for the moment. When we next meet however... I will regretfully say that it may not be as allies."

Kai kept a close eye on the Selector as she departed from the empty street that they were standing in, curious as to know what she had meant by the fact they would 'regretfully' not be allies the next time that they would encounter each other. They all looked at one another, each of them knowing that the other were sharing almost the exact same thoughts and suspicions that were crossing their mind at the moment. The silence was abruptly cut off when Kamui's stomach began rumbling loudly.

"Sorry about that..." he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarassment "I didn't eat much before ending up in this world."

"Don't worry about that," Naoki replied "Kai will whip something up for us when we get back to the apartment."

"I suppose..." the Nova Grappler user mumurmed "Anyway, let's get moving!"

And with that, the group of cardfighters with the only Selector amongst them continued on their walk through the dark and empty streets back to the apartment complex, where they knew there was much to contemplate on with the day's events that had gone by.

* * *

**Vanguard World: Above Card Capital**

Meanwhile back in 'that' world as nightfall fell, Misaki was in her bedroom looking over the cards that had made up her most recent Genesis deck, gazing closely at the card named Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil. Much like everyone else that was involved in the discussion from the grim news that Miwa had brought of both Kiyoi's arrival and Kamui's disappearance, she too couldn't help but feel disconcerted about what had happened. This feeling was not just out of concern for the Nova Grappler user's safety, unaware that he was thankfully back in the capable hands of Aichi and Kai, but also of uncertainty for the individual who was believed to have been responsible for this event, all because of a lead on a card that she had seemingly left behind when she had left this world, for the moment that was.

Looking over to the single card that depicted Remember's Grade 0 form, only with different stats compared to the one that Kiyoi used in her cardfight with Kamui, she couldn't help but be intrigued by some of the odd details that were present. The two that caught her attention the most, much like everyone else who had taken a previous look at the card before, were the blank Magallanica clan box and the word LRIG encribed on the small race box beneath, located beside the other 'race' human, seperated by only a single forward slash.

Within the cardfighter's bedroom, she was not the only occupant at this very moment. Ratie who had been staying around for quite some time had also shared both curiousity and concern into the subjects that had been brought up as of recently, including the one that regarded Aichi's journey to Ruko's world so that he could find Kai and bring him back to their world, unaware of what was really going on over there. The former Quatre Knight from the remaining three of the group was briefly playing around with Card Capital's 'Sub Manager', sometimes also known as 'Assistacat', the pet cat of both Shin and Misaki before looking over to the cardfighter herself. Ratie noticed that whilst her friend still appeared as calm as ever, she could easily tell that hint of uncertainty was still present within her visible expression.

"Misakin?" she asked, bringing the very clerk of Card Capital's attention towards her "Has it been bothering you as well?"

"With how long Aichi and the others have been gone for, along with what has happened of late," Misaki answered "I can't shake the feeling that something ominous has been happening, not the least with how Kamui has disappeared."

"Aichi will definitely come back!" Ratie called with a little enthusiasm, presumably in an effort to try and cheer up the Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user "After all, he's not gone there alone!"

"Hmm... You are right about that," she replied with a warm smile "From what you told us after 'that' ordeal, he's always tried to take on everyone's burden alone. But thanks to Kai and Ishida, he's learned to have faith in those around him."

The former Quatre Knight nodded happily in agreement with Misaki before her expression went almost serious again.

"I should probably let Gaillard and Neve know about Kiyoi," she murmured "You know... for just in case."

"I understand," said Misaki "Be careful."

Ratie nodded before getting up on her feet and leaving the bedroom immediately in almost a hurry of some kind as Assistacat gave a brief meow in farewell. As silence fell in Misaki's bedroom once again, the cardfighter sighed for a moment before looking back at the Remember card that Miwa had given to her. Although she couldn't exactly blame Ratie for both her eagerness and for trying to brighten the mood after everything that had transpired thus far, she knew that alone would not quell her ever growing suspicions about Kiyoi, whom everyone else with the exception of Jun had not encountered. She looked back to her bed to see Assistacat had pounced up on the cover and was looking over Remember's card out of curiousity.

Then with a sudden brush of its paw, the card suddenly emitted a bright purple glow which illuminated the room in the bask of that very colour. Almost frightened by what had just happened, Assistacat shrieked and immediately hid behind the left side of Misaki who could only stare at the card, surprised that she wasn't already blinded by the bright glow before her shadow that was painted on the nearby wall began to warp in shape. Two sharp triangular points that represented eyes of some sort materialized in the inky black 'image' that was now before the cardfighter herself.

"Now that I have your attention, you by now have already realized about the noticable absence of the one named Katsuragi Kamui."

The eerily icy cold tone that spoke from the warped 'shadow' was unfamilar to Misaki, but familar to those that had been around her in the past. This was the same voice of that which Ayumu had called mother. The voice of the one that Ruko and Hatsu knew had belonged to Kominato Miyako.

"Who are you?" the cardfighter asked, curious as to why she was talking to her this way and why she had her own knowledge to Kamui's disappearance. The voice however ignored Misaki's question and continued to speak out.

"His mark of penalty that he recieved is only the beginning for what is to befall of this world. For there will be more." As Miyako continued to speak, a purple image of the symbol that was carved onto Kamui's right hand as a result of his loss to Kiyoi, appeared for only a brief few seconds during this 'explanation'. "I am aware that your world and the Planet Cray share a special connection, which is why I cannot allow you all to remain as potential hindrances in my associate's plans. Know that with this message, cardfighters from across this world, regardless of their possession of a particular connection to Cray or not, shall soon discover they have no concept of the powers that be for what lies ahead."

As Misaki narrowed her eyes in response to the message of Ruko's former mother whilst Assistacat simply hissed at the warped shadow in response, Miyako finally concluded her message as the light emitted from Remember's card began to die down.

"When the time eventually comes, my associate... No, my closest companion will finally take... her rightful place among the gods."

When her words had finally finished, the glowing light died down as the card suddenly vanished right before the cardfighter's eyes, presumably as a result of the message having concluded. Although she knew their one 'lead' to Kamui's whereabouts was now gone, whatever Miyako had spoken about to her had already confirmed several suspicions, some being said in regards to Kiyoi being involved with his disappearance. At the same time, she couldn't but ponder about the person that was talking to her at this moment, having no knowledge of Ruko and Ayumu's former mother beforehand from not venturing to their world.

Keeping an eye on her shadow that had reverted back to normal on the moment that Miyako's message had concluded, Misaki knew that whatever she and the others planned to do next in response to the events of today would have to be carried out carefully. If what was said to her this very night was indeed true, then Kiyoi's efforts in Kamui's disappearance and his 'Mark of Penalty' would not be the last 'strange' event that would occur in the near future.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Kai's Apartment**

"Phew... I tell you, I can't believe I actually owe Kai one there."

Kamui happily sighed after the group of cardfighters had already finished their meal, courtesy of Kai's culinary skills from his own previous experiences of living alone. Aichi simply smiled warmly, feeling somewhat relieved for the Nova Grappler user after everything that had happened to him throughout the day thus far whilst Ren laid back on the couch in almost a lazy like fashion. Leon on the other hand was looking out over the city horizon from the single window that was available to them in the living space of the apartment. The Aqua Force user kept a stern gaze over the darkening sky in front of him, having known that close encounters with both Mayu and Ayumu on seperate occasions as of late had only served to raise even more tension in the air around him, as he could already sense with 'the wind'.

"So Umr..." Kamui spoke as he looked down at the LRIG whose card was on the table in front of him and Aichi "You've gotten onii-san out of a pinch or two."

"That is correct..." she replied before blinking for a moment "Though... I do fail to see the genetic similarities between the two of you."

"Well... that's..." he murmured.

"Kamui just means that as an expression," the Royal Paladin user answered for his friend "He just looks at me like an older brother... or so I'm told."

"I see..."

As the two boys laughed nervously to try and kill off the awkward silence that had then been hanging around the three of them, Naoki briefly glanced over the apartment, noticing that a certain someone was currently absent.

"Besides... Where did Kai go anyway?" he asked.

"He said that he needed to pay another visit to Ruko and that he might be a while," Ren answered before dropping his expression into a somewhat exasperated smile "Though knowing him, I think I have a pretty good idea of what he's thinking of."

"With their fates having been tied before our arrival, it's only natural that something like this would happen."

Leon spoke those words out aloud as he turned away from the window and took a seat at the table, bringing out his Aqua Force deck out and turning his serious gaze upon Aichi. The Royal Paladin user blinked for a moment before looking back to the cardfighter that had approached him right now, wondering what exactly he had on his mind. Kamui looked over at Aichi for a moment before looking over to Leon, curious as to what he had in mind.

"Leon... are you wanting to battle onii-san?" he asked.

"Your perception is most accurate, Katsuragi," Leon answered "But, I do not intend to conduct it as a Selector Battle between us. Nor do I intend at this moment to face the Royal Paladins."

"Then..." Naoki murmured.

"It is me he wants."

Aichi and Kamui looked down at the card on the table to see that Umr had immediately drawn out the conclusion that the Aqua Force user was seemingly hinting at in regards to his sudden challenge. The LRIG gazed up at Leon in a curious manner, having known about him to be somewhat mysterious in more ways than one from what Aichi had described to her, especially with the sacred wind that he commanded in the midst of his cardfights and battles.

"I'll accept your battle, Leon-san," the Royal Paladin user spoke as he brought out the deck that Hatsu had given to him.

Whilst Kamui and Umr watched the two cardfighters prepared for battle, Ren now having been intrigued by what was about to happen got up from the couch he had been lying on and stretched his arms for a brief moment before taking a seat beside the Nova Grappler user to watch the battle that was about to unfold. When Aichi and Leon were ready to begin, both of them reached out for their starting LRIGs.

"Open!"

"Open, my LRIG!"

On the battlefield that was imaged in both of the cardfighter's minds, both Umr and Officer Cadet, Erikk stood at a great distance from each other, with it being wide enough for them to still see each other perfectly along with any other units or SIGNI that would be summoned into battle over the course of the game. Looking at each other, Aichi and Leon kept a focused gaze on one another as the Aqua Force user drew a single card to begin the first turn of the battle.

"Grow, Tear Knight, Theo!" he called as he placed the unit's LRIG card over the top of Officer Cader, Erikk.

After summoning Ice Floe Angel to the center SIGNI zone on his side of the field, he gazed up at Aichi with the long silence that followed, leading everyone to assume that would be ending his turn right there. The Royal Paladin user then began his turn by drawing 2 cards and then turned his attention to the cards that he had present in his hand. He had recognized those cards from previously battling against Hatsu and as such ended up having a reasonably fair idea of what Umr was based around in general. However, part of his thoughts for some reason was telling him otherwise. Before contemplating over what he was thinking, he placed the black Spell card known as Grave Pain from his hand into his Ener Zone.

_Umr's general style is reviving Ancient Weapon SIGNI from the Trash, just like how Gouki and Serra do with their units from Granblue clan_ he thought  _But there's difference between seeing them and actually using the real thing. I just hope I can use them properly so that I don't let Umr down if we ever battle together._

"Grow, Umr=Ett, Wielder of the Key of Chaos!" he called.

On the field imaged in the two cardfighters' minds, Umr's clothing and outfit had changed in quite a few ways, but not in a completely drastic manner, considering that it was her only her Level 1 form for the moment. In the center SIGNI space in front of her appeared a black SIGNI by the name of Code Anti Voyni as a purple aura then surrounded her immediately.

"With Voyni's skill," Aichi spoke "I down her and send the top three cards of my deck to my Trash Pile."

Turning over the top three cards of his deck, they were revealed to be Code Anti Nessie, Code Anti Nebra and Code Anti Texahammer as he placed the first two of the three revealed SIGNI into his Trash Pile. He then placed Texahammer's card onto the left SIGNI zone on his side of the field before drawing an additional card to add to the five that he was currently holding onto.

"How was he able to do that?" Kamui pondered.

"Texahammer can revive itself whenever its sent from the deck to the Trash," Ren answered "Given that Aichi's managed to remember what he's seen from battling Ruko's grandmother, he seems to be already at home with Umr. I guess changing briefly from the Royal Paladins hasn't had that much of an effect."

"You mean like the first time you gave him the Shadow Paladins?" the Nova Grappler user asked whilst raising an eyebrow, clearly recalling back to 'that' time.

"Wait... you never told me Aichi used Shadow Paladin before," Naoki interjected, looking over to Ren who simply held a somewhat innocent smile in response to Kamui's comment followed by a brief glance away from the two and a whistle under his breath.

Whilst Umr simply blinked for a brief moment, Aichi decided not to ponder on that particular subject, knowing that although Ren wasn't exactly himself back then, it was a brief period of time in his own case that he would rather forget about personally. Deciding to resume the battle from where he had briefly paused, he immediately downed Texahammer's card.

"Attack!" he called.

Back on the imagined field, Texahammer swung her large barreled hammer right into Tear Knight, Theo, disorienting him for the moment before Umr leapt in front and dealt another blow with the large golden key that she had carried. Leon placed his second crushed Life Cloth, Storm Rider, Diamantes on top of Battle Siren, Mallika whose earlier Life Burst had already increased his hand size by one. The Aqua Force user kept a sharp gaze upon Aichi as he concluded his turn there, having nothing else available to allow him to attack again this turn.

**End of Turn 2**

**Aichi vs Leon**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Ett, Wielder of the Key of Chaos : Tear Knight, Theo**

**SIGNI : Code Anti Texahammer - Code Anti Voyni - EMPTY : EMPTY - Ice Floe Angel - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 2**

Leon then drew his two cards to begin his turn before moving Mallika's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile and taking the next card from his white deck in preparation to Grow again.

"Grow!" he called "Tear Knight, Lazarus!"

The Aqua Force user placed Lazarus' card on top of Theo's, bringing him up to Level 2 and a Limit of 5 as he then immediately summoned Tidal Assault and Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Blader to his remaining open SIGNI spaces alongside Ice Floe Angel. He then gazed upon Aichi as he prepared to conduct his attacks.

"Tidal Assault's first attack!" he declared.

On the imaged field, Tidal Assault pointed one of its two blades towards Umr before taking a mighty leap into the air and slashing down the front of the LRIG. As Umr fumbled around briefly in pain from being damaged by the attack, a dark aura surrounded her as an afterimage of the black SIGNI, Code Anti Nessie appeared in front of her. The Ancient Weapon opened up her orange eyes before pointing straight at Tidal Assault, causing it to vanish in a murky black aura. Leon simply frowned as he moved the card to his Ener Zone as did Aichi with Nessie's card after resolving the effect of her Life Burst.

"Yes!" Kamui called "Onii-san's cut down the amount of direct attacks he'll get this turn!"

"You're right there," Naoki murmured "But Leon really gets into it around the late game, especially with those combo attacks."

As Ren simply remained silent, closely eying the game as it progressed through the opening stages, Leon immediately proceeded to banish both Voyni and Texahammer with both Ice Floe Angel and Tempest Blader with both units' respective attacks as Aichi moved the banished Ancient Weapons to his Ener Zone.

"Lazarus attacks!" he called.

Lazarus charged towards Umr and slashed down his blade upon the black LRIG who simply parried it away with the giant key that she had carried. Seeing that she was now wide open, the Tear Knight then thrust the blade he carried across the right side of her, grazing both her skin and a portion of her clothing causing her to cringe in pain. Aichi's next Life Cloth had revealed a second copy of the Spell, Grave Pain, with no Life Burst being available to aid him any further during this turn. The Royal Paladin user simply gazed at his Ener Zone for the moment before looking back to Leon whose serious gaze had remained unwavering, despite a loss on part of his advantage.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 3**

**Aichi vs Leon**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Ett, Wielder of the Key of Chaos : Tear Knight, Lazarus**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Ice Floe Angel - Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Blader**

**Ener - 5 : 2**

As Aichi drew his next two cards, he looked down to the real Umr herself who had been observing the battle since the beginning, no doubt studying every move he was making and trying to make sense of the power she would wield whenever they would eventually fight together within the Selector Battles themselves. Turning his attention back to the battle, he placed a SIGNI known as Code Anti Nebra from his hand to his Ener Zone before moving Code Anti Voyni from there to his Trash Pile.

"Grow!" he called "Umr=Två, Wielder of the Key of Chaos!"

After placing the card on top of Umr's previous form, the Royal Paladin user then placed down two more Ancient Weapon SIGNI in the left and right SIGNI spaces on his side of the field. Each of them were Level 2, but different from each other as evidenced by their respective names. They were known as Code Anti Aztec and Code Anti Cabrera. On the imaged field, the two SIGNI appeared in front of Umr as the ground between their respective SIGNI zones suddenly cracked and opened up, leaving a black aura that poured out of it.

"With Aztec's skill, I revive Voyni!" Aichi's voice called out "And by paying three for skill of Nessie in my Trash, I return her to the bottom of my deck and decrease Tempest Blader's power by 8000!"

As the black aura faded out to reveal that Voyni had returned back to his side of the field, Nessie appeared in a spectral form before reappearing behind Tempest Blader and coiling her tail around the unit, causing them both to vanish in a murky black aura. As Leon simply placed the banished Aqua Force unit into his Ener Zone, he did not take his serious gaze off of Aichi as they stared off once again. The Royal Paladin user then felt that there was something that he had to ask his opponent at this very moment, even if it was just a hint of curiousity.

"Leon..." he spoke "This battle... Is this about my responsibility for both Umr and Blaster Blade?"

As Kamui and Naoki blinked in confusion for a brief moment, Leon simply closed his eyes in response.

"In a sense, that would be correct," he answered "However, that was not my intent. Kai wanted me to ensure that you had managed to fully recover from Ulith, given that we dropped the subject to Ruko today."

"I see..." Aichi murmured "I'm still uneasy about her, but I'm feeling a lot better than I was back then."

"Oh? Did I miss something?" Kamui asked, having not been introduced to the cruel demanored Selector nor having any knowledge about her.

"Ulith's pretty nasty," Naoki whispered "She had Aichi in tears at one point and he only managed to pull himself together then because of Umr. Akira's even serving her for similar reasons or so I heard."

"That is true," Ren replied "But given the suffering that occurs in these battles, she's already content with herself."

The atmosphere in the apartment went completely silent as everyone began contemplating on the subject itself, knowing full well of Ulith's supposed allegiance to Mayu and the cause of the Selector Battles, even by going as far as reversing Tama during her previous battle with Aichi. Having recalled that name from the confrontation, Umr pondered over what little personal knowledge she had of the cruel demanored Selector.

_Ulith..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _That Selector from mine and Aichi's last battle together... I could sense a malicious aura from her at the time... but I never imagined she would willingly aid my creator in bringing devastation to this world._

"Is something wrong, Umr?" Aichi asked, bringing the LRIG out of her trail of thought.

"Aichi..." she spoke "Earlier today... you said I was your friend. But, I have no prior knowledge on the concept itself." She then looked up from her card at him. "What do I mean to you... as does Blaster Blade and your Royal Paladins?"

"Well... I know that I can't really mix the Royal Paladins and your Ancient Weapons together..." the Royal Paladin user murmured "But that doesn't mean I will forsake one over the other. Just as Blaster Blade and my closest comrades still continue to help me out... Umr, you're my comrade too. I don't know what kind of battles we'll fight when I use you in battle, but what I know is that I won't be fighting alone. After all, I have both my friends and you by my side."

"Even if Chaos Breaker had initially created me and Tawil as experimental weapons before we first met?"

Aichi nodded and smiled warmly in reply as he looked back to Leon whose neutral expression had somewhat delved into a calm smile as he brought his attention back to his opponent in turn.

"Let's go, Leon!" Aichi called, his confidence having returned back to him.

"Fine by me," the Aqua Force user replied as a breeze began to stir around them, presumably from the large open window in the apartment "Then show me and the fierce wind that you've learned everything you need to master Umr!"

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

Meanwhile, Kai and Ruko had been seated at the single small table in the apartment whilst Hatsu was staring out of the window into the night sky, presumably out of concern for Ayumu's current state and Miyako's presumed influence on the way that he was thinking for the moment. Both the cardfighter and the Selector had been involved in a discussion abouts the events that had been transpiring around them ever since the Kagero user first arrived into this world and how much of an impact that event and the Selector Battles in general had on them and the others. Kuro and Tama listened carefully to the discussion with the girl of black offering her views on the subjects at hand.

At first, Kai had begun the discussion with how he arrived in this world to his encounter with Yuragi and Mako, where he presumed that he was first able to hear the voice of an LRIG without knowing at first, before coming into Tama's possession. The question that had him puzzled however was how he had managed to recieve her card, given the circumstances from her last battle with Ruko before then. Needless to say, the girl of white was quick to answer that.

"Tama escaped because of Takuto!" she loudly called "That's how Tama found Kai!"

"I see..." he murmured "Because of his efforts, I arrived in this world, just as you left Mayu's domain."

"Mhm," Tama replied as she continued the story from there "And that's when Kai found Hitoe and Yuzuki!"

"So that's how the four of you began searching for me," said Ruko as her expression dropped a little. "Kai... I... I think I need to apologize for something."

Kai simply remained still, presuming that the Selector was only planning to apologize for initially rejecting his help in trying to remove the influence of Reverse from her.

"You see..." she began "When I last battled Kuro, I was fully intent on trying to set everyone free from the Selector Battles, even if it meant sacrificing myself and leaving my body for Tama to inhabit. Because of my bitterness then, I assumed that you were just trying to stop me because of what I believed was deception to have me reversed when I should have listened to you. And when Kuro's attacks had briefly reversed you and I heard Tama call out to you... I felt envious."

"So that's why I thought you felt off then," Kuro murmured "I presume that was actually out of envy for the bond you shared with Tama before I became your LRIG?"

"That's right..." Ruko answered "Even though I told Kai everything I believed about Tama after that battle back then, he was still willing to help and listen to her... something I should have done..."

As she was about to hold her head down in both guilt and depression, Kai placed a hand over her left shoulder to calm her down as she looked over towards him, noting his serious expression at this very moment.

"Ruko, I understand how you feel," he spoke as he closed his eyes "You were in a state of disbelief and denial back then, when you were only wanting to do good for the people caught in the Selector Battles. Neither of us have had the most pleasant experiences around Reverse, but I am grateful that you were at least aware of the danger that came with wielding that power and your willingless to restrain it until Aichi and I saved you, unlike myself in a previous time."

"Kai..." she murmured.

"Right now, there is the matter of Ayumu and his sudden reacqaintance with your mother, Kominato Miyako." he continued "If you don't mind me asking... do you remember anything about her before coming into Hatsu's care?"

Ruko then closed her eyes as she tried to recall everything she could about her former mother, hoping that it would at least provide a clue as to the sudden change in Ayumu's behavior towards her and the others as of late.

"Well... I never exactly talked to her," she spoke "I... remember her having a disdained look around wherever she went... and..." She then clutched her head, trying desperately to remember anything else from her past.

"What's wrong...?" Kai asked.

"I'm sorry," the Selector replied "My memories just before I came in grandmother's care seem to be fuzzy for some reason. I can't remember anything around then for some reason."

The Kagero user remained silent for the moment, now taking this newfound information about Miyako into account from what he had now heard. Ruko's memories around her appeared to have vanished from her mind completely, from what he could gather from the way she spoke and that their lack of conversation appeared to contribute to the neglection that Hatsu had brought up when they previously discussed about the former mother.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Ru-chan," the grandmother's voice spoke out as she approached both the Selector and Kai "I know you weren't entirely open to those around you, before you eventually found your friends because you didn't want me to worry. But as far as I know, you never held any unreasonable requests. If Miyako has granted Ayumu entry into these Selector Battles you told me about, then perhaps its through them we'll know the truth."

"You're right, grandmother," Ruko replied as she held a warm smile before looking down to Tama and Kuro "Somehow... all of us will get through this together. Right Kai?"

Kai's expression changed to a gentle smile as he nodded in reply, this being one of the few times that the Selector or anyone for that matter had seen him in this particular manner. Now it appeared that she had finally regained her resolve and that hopefully, somewhere in their quest to bring an end to the Selector Battles and Mayu's schemes, they would also bring an end to the family issue that had been plaguing her for all of these years.


	52. Arc 3 - Ride 52: This Contemplated Prelude II

**Kai's Apartment**

"Snowy white, swift wind! Becoming a shooting star in the night sky! Break Grow!"

On the imagined battlefield within Aichi and Leon's minds, a torrent of water enveloped Trans-core Dragon as Umr stared on to see the unit disappearing and the shadow of a different Tear Dragon taking its place, one that was very familiar to the Royal Paladin user who had seen it on more than one occasion. The column of water collapsed to reveal the all too familiar form of this particular unit, now powered up by the Break Grow ability of Trans-core Dragon as it stared down at the LRIG, with the cannons on its shoulders primed and ready to fire.

"Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon!"

Back in the apartment, Aichi stared at Tetra-drive Dragon's card for a moment before looking back to his own field, seeing that from the few turns that had passed, he was already at an overwhelming disadvantage. He had grown Umr to the Level 4 form that was known as Umr=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Chaos after barely surviving the previous wave of attacks from Trans-core Dragon. Like the Key of Impartiality form that was used in the Royal Paladin user's previous bout against Ulith, Umr in this form did not possess much for clothing except for various straps that covered over both her chest and lower body whilst several buckles kept them locked in place with the looser portions dangling around her arms and legs.

"So he's really going for it," Naoki murmured as he looked at Tetra-drive Dragon's card for a moment. "Now that I think about it... how was Leon able to grow into an LRIG of the same Level?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Kamui.

"It's just that on his last turn, he performed a Break Grow with Trans-core Dragon by using Blue Storm Marine General, Demetrius..." he replied "But... wasn't there a ruling or something on growing LRIGs that I can't quite remember."

"In the game of Wixoss, you are allowed to Grow your LRIG to an equal or lower level," Ren interjected as he took a seat beside the two cardfighters "However, that new LRIG cannot have the same name as the one they are growing from. That's why Leon used Demetrius first for Trans-core Dragon and if you remember back to Aichi's battle with Ulith, he was able to Grow into Umr because of her Spell, despite Alfred already being at Level 4."

"I suppose that makes sense..." said Naoki as he looked back at the battle to see how it would turn out from here.

Over from her own card on the table, Umr herself had been watching the friendly battle between Leon and Aichi very closely, noting the Royal Paladin user or her 'Selector' in some context in his calmness at the moment. Noting his determination beneath that expression, she recalled when she had first reunited with him due to Ulith's meddling with his PSY Qualia, noting how utterly devastated he was when the cruel demanored Selector had broken out what she deemed to be the absolute truth as a result of his future actions. Now, it seemed like that the event was nothing more than a bad memory and that it had not put a dampener on Aichi's confidence in his current state.

The Royal Paladin user could see that Leon had Storm Rider, Diamantes back onto his field after previously using its effect from his Ener Zone to summon it back to the field at the start of the turn. Looking ahead, he could see that he was now summoning an additional two copies to join it, now seeing the trouble that he was in at the moment.

_It's still too soon..._ he thought as he gazed at his LRIG deck before looking back at the three cards that were in his hand.

"I pay 1 to add 2000 power to my center Diamantes. And now... the first wave," Leon spoke as he downed the card of the Diamantes in the center SIGNI column.

On the imaged field, the center Diamantes took a mightly leap at the Level 4 SIGNI, Code Anti Nessie before slashing down the front of her with the larger of the two blades that he carried. After the SIGNI was banished as a result of the battle, the Storm Rider vanished in a white glow before Tidal Assault landed down on the center space of Leon's side of the field beside his other two Diamantes. Tetra-drive Dragon roared loudly as it pointed its cannons down towards Umr, signalling the second attack of the turn.

"I discard a card through Trans-core's skill and guard with Servant T!" Aichi called as he discarded Code Anti Voyni from his hand before revealing the Guard SIGNI.

"Very well," Leon replied "As Tetra-drive battled on the second wave, I gain another SIGNI attack step!"

"No way...!" exclaimed Kamui "I thought my Nova Grapplers were the only clan to get around that restriction!"

"To be fair, we have seen Leon fight Hatsu earlier today," Ren mused lightly, slightly nudging his shoulder "At least you and him fit the same category in that regards to your clan's speciality. Though I must admit I'm a little jealous."

"I suppose..." Naoki murmured to himself.

As their little banter quickly came to an end, Aichi moved his remaining two SIGNI, Code Anti Asslyen and Code Anti Nebra to his Ener Zone as a result of them being banished by Leon's remaining two Diamantes. Looking on to see to the Aqua Force user pay the cost for Tetra-drive Dragon's Limit Break, he knew that he wasn't in the clear just yet as the card was immediately upped.

"The fifth and sixth waves," he spoke as he downed Tidal Assault's card immediately.

Back on the field within their minds, Umr parried off Tidal Assault's first blade whilst wincing in pain at the same time from using her key against such great force before the Aquaroid immediately slashed down the front of the LRIG as she fell backwards before two glowing auras surrounded her, coming from the SIGNI known as Servant D and Code Anti Voyni, showing that Aichi had triggered their Life Bursts as a result of the double attack just now. Tetra-drive Dragon's cannons whirred to life as it unleashed two torrents of water that came in her direction before the figure of Servant T appeared once again to shield the LRIG from the attack.

Leon stared at Aichi as he moved the card to his Trash Pile, having partially expected that a lucky draw would save him for this round as he gazed to his opponent's Ener, now seeing that in addition to the three banished SIGNI and two crushed Life Cloths that he had three additional cards in his Ener Zone, bringing the complete total up to nine. However, he could also see that Aichi's field was completely empty and he had no cards in his hand to protect his very last Life Cloth whilst he still had only one of his own to compensate for the two consecutive Break Grow turns over the course of the game. Naturally, the odds seemed against the Royal Paladin user, but Leon knew better than to assume the outcome this soon, even if it was his first time using the deck that Hatsu had given him.

"Turn end," he spoke.

**End of Turn 8**

**Aichi vs Leon**

**Hand - 0 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Chaos : Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Storm Rider, Diamantes - Tidal Assault - Storm Rider, Diamantes**

**Ener - 9 : 2**

"That was a close one..." Kamui breathed "If onii-san hadn't drawn off of Voyni, he'd be in real trouble."

"But... he's got nothing in his hand and Leon still has three Diamantes at his disposal," Naoki muttered "If Aichi doesn't do something to increase the pressure next turn, it's over."

Aich breathed a sigh of relief for a moment as he immediately begun his turn by drawing his two cards before looking down towards Umr herself whose card lay on the table outside of the 'makeshift' battlefield. She gazed up at him for a moment as she began to open her lips to speak to him.

"I am not completely familiar with the strategems that are seemingly based around me..." she spoke "But from what I can gather thus far... you are handling yourself well with my supposed abilities."

"I guess..." he replied before looking back to Leon and the only two cards that he now held. Taking a hold of one of them, he revealed it to be another Code Anti Nessie as he placed it down onto the center SIGNI space.

"With the ARTS Ancient Digger," Aichi spoke "I pay 1 to summon any Ancient Weapon SIGNI I want from my Trash Pile."

On the imaged field, Umr thrust her key into the ground as Code Anti Aztec reappeared on his side of the field in a black aura followed shortly by Code Anti Voyni who reappeared on the far left side of Aichi's field. Nessie's eyes flashed a bright orange as she suddenly vanished into a veil of black shadows much to the surprise of all of Leon's units as she then reappeared behind them before lashing out her tail at the two Diamantes, banishing them both from the field. Leon remained visibly unfazed as he moved the two banished SIGNI to his Ener Zone before looking back at Aichi who then moved Voyni's card back to his Trash Pile, much to his confusion.

"With Nebra's skill," he continued "I pay the cost to revive her and activate Nessie's skill once again."

Leon simply moved Tidal Assault's card to his Ener Zone, still remaining unfazed in the scenario that he found himself within.

"Yes!" Kamui called "Leon's wide open! Aichi's three SIGNI can just attack him directly!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ren replied as he stared on closely.

"ARTS, Don't Move!" Leon called as he revealed the card "By paying three of my five Ener, I down both of your Nessies!"

Whilst Aichi groaned for a moment as he downed both of his Level 4 SIGNI, he kept his eyes closely on Nebra's card before reaching out for it.

"Nebra attacks Tetra-drive Dragon!" he called.

Back within the imaged field, Nebra gathered several green orbs of energy around her with a black aura surrounding each of them before she pointed right at Tetra-drive Dragon, firing several green beams of energy that struck the Tear Dragon head on, causing it to cry out and lash around in pain as Umr firmly gripped ahold of the key that she wielded. She leaped up into the air before diving down towards her target with a mighty battle cry before a unit suddenly materialized in front of her, revealed to be Emerald Shield, Paschal, having come to Leon's rescue to save him from defeat this turn. Aichi remained calm as he watched the Aqua Force user move the Perfect Guard to his Trash Pile, knowing that he didn't have any other option but to end his turn there.

**End of Turn 9**

**Aichi vs Leon**

**Hand - 1 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Umr=Fyra, Wielder of the Key of Chaos : Blue Wave Dragon, Tetra-drive Dragon**

**SIGNI : Code Anti Nebra - Code Anti Nessie - Code Anti Nessie :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 3**

"Up and draw," Leon spoke "It seems that Umr is indeed a powerful adversary when in capable hands. But from the way you are now with nothing more than the deck you've inherited from Hatsu, there is still more you must do if we are to understand her full power."

"You're right about that, Leon-san," Aichi replied "Takuto helped her to find me for a reason and I'm sure that together, we'll find out what that reason is."

"That is true," the Aqua Force replied as he moved Diamantes' card from his Ener Zone to the field by revealing Ouika, Water Phantom from his hand before summoning her and a second copy to the field. "Now then... prepare to face the third wave of the wind!"

As Aichi's gaze reverted back a determined state, he looked down on his field to see the situation that he was in, having recalled what exactly Diamantes was capable of in starting the loop of attacks that was needed to finish him off.

"Aichi!" Umr's voice called out "Use 'that' card now!"

"I got it!" he replied as he pulled out a card from his LRIG deck "By using Doping, I increase Nebra's power by 3000 until the end of the turn!"

As a white aura surrounded Nebra to increase her power, Diamantes regardless of knowing this change in strength or not charged towards the SIGNI who was able to withstand the blows of the Aquaroid with ease, thanks to the use of the Colourless ARTS. Tetra-drive Dragon roared loudly as it aimed its cannons down at Umr before firing off two jets of water that stuck the LRIG head on, knowing backwards in a raging torrent that subsided a few moments afterwards, leaving her soaked to the brim. As Tetra-drive stepped backwards for a moment, a black aura surrounded Diamantes as an afterimage of Code Anti Nessie suddenly appeared behind him and lashed out at the Aquaroid with her tail to banish him again before vanishing from the field.

"Again..." Leon muttered under his breath "However..."

Both of his Ouikas then leaped into the air and each landed down a hard kick on the remaining Code Anti Nessies that were on Aichi's field to banish them before retreating as a large blue Vanguard circle flashed in front of Tetra-drive Dragon as it fired its cannons at Umr once again. The jets of water landed in front of her, bringing up a cloud of smoke from impacting the weakened ground that she was standing in front of. As Tetra-drive Dragon gazed upon the area where its attack had landed, a blinding light suddenly dispelled the smoke revealing that Servant D this time was the Guard SIGNI that had just saved the LRIG. Knowing the inevital outcome to follow on from there, Leon who had still imaged himself as Tetra-drive Dragon closed his eyes as Code Anti Nebra then unleashed more green beams from the orbs that were floating around her, dealing the final blow that was needed for Aichi to finish the battle right there.

Back in the apartment, Leon opened his eyes as Aichi smiled warmly in response, acknowledging that he had enjoyed their friendly competition. The Aqua Force user returned a gentle smile of his own in return with no more words to follow, allowing the Royal Paladin wielder to know that was all there was to it.

"You did it, onii-san!" Kamui cheered in celebration as he jumped from his seat and came over to Aichi's right.

"Phew..." sighed Naoki "You almost had me going for a moment there."

Before Ren could make any comment of his own, a cough was heard from another portion of the table as everyone turned to see that Umr was wanting to voice her own opinion on Aichi's efforts in tonight's friendly battle.

"I suppose I should offer my... congratulations as well..." she spoke, having not familiarized herself with the exact definition as of yet.

"You're welcome, Umr," Aichi said kindly in response "Though I was lucky with my final Life Cloth in the end. That and your reminder of the Doping ARTS kind of saved me there. I should thank you as well."

"Well then... you are welcome," she replied in her usual tone.

"You battled using only what Hatsu had entrusted to you now," Leon spoke "But, I sense there is great potential for a perfect compatibility between you and Umr. The true test however will present itself soon, given your previous bond with the Royal Paladins that you still intend to fight alongside with as well."

As silence fell in the apartment once more with the Aqua Force user gathering his deck back together, a rington suddenly began ringing throughout the apartment's living space as Aichi reached into his pocket to bring out his phone. Looking on the screen, the Royal Paladin user saw that it was Hitoe's name that was labeled as the caller at this very moment.

"Hello?"

"Aichi-kun... are you there?" Hitoe's voice sounded through the speaker.

"Yes," he answered "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all..." she replied "I just was wondering... if you weren't completely busy with Kai and the others tomorrow... Could we meet up at the library?"

"That's alright with me," Aichi answered with a warm smile "I'll meet you there in the afternoon."

"T... Thank you," said Hitoe "Then... I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

And with that, the brief call between the timid Selector and the Royal Paladin user came to a close as he looked over to the other cardfighters in the room.

"So what's up with her?" asked Naoki.

"I agreed to help out Hitoe with some of her anxiety," Aichi answered "I can tell she really means well, even looking out for both Ruko-san and Yuzuki-san, her closest friends."

"Now that I think about it, she did look kind of shy," Kamui remarked "Almost reminds me of how you used to be when I first met you."

The Royal Paladin user simply laughed nervously in response, having known that it was inevital that kind of comparison would end up being brought between both him and Hitoe to a degree. Deciding to ponder on the subject for another time, he turned his thoughts over to Kai and how he and Ruko were doing throughout the rest of the evening back at the Selector's apartment.

* * *

**Uemura Household**

Meanwhile in her own bedroom back home, Hitoe placed her cell phone away on the desk as she sat down on her bed and thought over everything that had transpired. She had just asked Aichi in the event of hoping that he was still willing to try and help her overcome more of her anxiety whilst they still had some time together before a plan of action in regards to ending the Selector Battles once and for could be drawn up. But then again, with still so little that all of them knew in regards to this subject, there was plenty of opportunities for this personal issue to be settled so that hopefully, she wouldn't act so nervous around the people she came across.

Now that she was thinking about Aichi himself for a moment however, Hitoe gazed out into the night sky from the window beside her bed thinking about all that had happened since she had first met him. His kindness was geniune as Kai had described to her on the day that she learned everything there was to know about the Royal Paladin user as well as what he had been through in the past. Seeing that her Selector was lost in thought for a moment, Yuzuki gazed up from her card which lay on the desk.

"Hitoe!" she called, snapping the girl out of her daydream like state.

"S... Sorry Yuzuki!" she replied as she got up from her bed and frantically took a seat in front of her desk to talk to her LRIG.

"Easy there..." said Yuzuki as she tried to calm down her Selector. "It's just... I've noticed you staring into space a bit more often these days."

"T... That is true..." Hitoe murmured as her cheeks flushed briefly for a moment "A... Anyway, how did I do?"

"You mean your call with Aichi?" the LRIG asked to which the Selector nodded. "Well, at least you got the point across to him as clearly as you could."

Hitoe breathed a sigh of relief, with reassurance on her side that her earlier call with Aichi did not go as badly as initially anticipated it to be. Yuzuki simply gazed up at her Selector, noticing her current expression out of curiousity. That was when the LRIG remembered that there was something on the back of her mind that she wanted to tell her at this very moment.

"You know... now that I think back to it," she murmured "... I wasn't entirely kidding back then when I said you seemed similar to Aichi."

Hitoe blinked for a moment, curious to why Yuzuki had brought up this particular subject again when she had initially mentioned it on the day that Kai had told the two of them almost everything that they needed to know about both himself and Aichi.

"You've come a long way from when Ruko and I first met you," the LRIG continued "Even when your wish was tainted... even though only pain awaited for you whenever you tried to restore those lost memories... you perservered and fought back against whatever it was that Mayu had cast to seal those same memories."

"That's true..." said Hitoe "But... I don't see how Aichi and I are alike because of that."

"Don't you see?" Yuzuki replied "It's because of your courage in those conditions, even when you still have your social awkwardness around you that you were able to meet with Ruko again. And then, you stood up for yourself and what you believed in to win back Kai's deck from Akira despite the danger that was present."

"My... courage?" the Selector breathed.

"That's right," she spoke "It's something that someone has to overcome something that they truely fear, something that even I didn't have when sorting out my feelings for Kazuki before I discovered the truth of the Selector Battles. Before that battle with Akira that we had, Aichi and I could see that you were scared knowing that we were going to be within her presence, but for whatever reason you had, you put all of that fear aside to give him the time he needed to find Ulith."

Hitoe remained still as she absorbed all of the information that Yuzuki had been giving to her right at this moment, now understanding what exactly her LRIG was trying to tell her as she went deep into thought.

_Yuzuki does have a point..._  she murmured in her thoughts _Kai said that Aichi in the past had some issues with interacting with the people around him just like I do, only he got bullied because of it. It wasn't until he got Blaster Blade that he was able to discover the game that they played and find himself with people that can understand him. He also found his courage then, allowing him to grow as a stronger cardfighter and to save his world twice. Ren, Leon and even Kai changed for the better back in his world through what he did and what he believed in._

"... Aichi understands my issue because he's been through it before," the Selector continued aloud "And he always looks for the best in people around him. That's... what I like about him..."

Yuzuki simply looked up at Hitoe, presuming from her words just now that she finally understood about what she was trying to get across to her. At the same time though, there was something about the way she spoke that had perked the LRIG's curiousity for a moment, but decided to ponder on that subject for another day, believing it to be just a random thought that had simply woven its way right into her mind.

_Now that I do think about it though..._ she pondered in her thoughts  _I wonder how Kazuki is doing..._

"A... Anyway Yuzuki," Hitoe spoke, interrupting the LRIG's thoughts "Do you think Ruko will be okay?"

"I can't really say..." Yuzuki replied "With the fact Ayumu's opposing us because of her mom and something that happened six years ago none of us know anything about, she's probably taking it hard."

Hitoe's expression changed to one of sadness, grimly acknowledging in agreement with her LRIG that this was indeed the case. With the events of six years beforehand between Ruko and her mother Miyako currently remaining a mystery that was to be solved, they knew the sudden family issue would be a difficult one for their friend to overcome in the many trials that would surely lie ahead for them. Ayumu had turned against his sister because of presumed knowledge of these events that he had not fully revealed to them yet, but they knew that unless they could get him to talk about what had happened then, there was no way that this pain from the past between the two of them could finally be put behind them.

* * *

**Ruko's Apartment**

Back in Ruko's apartment, the Selector looked down at her side of the field to a Wixoss match that she had conducted with Kai in the midst of his late night visit to her. She had been playing with Kuro's deck, now removed of the cards that represented the forms of both Ultima/Maiden and Berserk Draconis along with any further influence of Reverse that had been removed from her in the previous night's battle. The Selector looked up to Kai who had kept his eyes closed from her, after barely winning the match with Dragonic Overlord the End on the 'Final Turn' that he had previously called out then. Kuro who had been watching the match closely with Tama from their respective cards simply kept her gaze upon Ruko, having expected something like this would happen.

"As I thought, you still have much to accomplish with my power now that Mayu or Reverse doesn't hold any influence on us," she murmured "But, I can sense that your will has wavered with what has happened today."

"S... Sorry Kuro," Ruko replied "I... just felt a little uneasy with using your deck again, after you know..."

"It appears you still need time to regain your resolve."

The Selector blinked as she looked back at Kai who had interrupted her answer to the girl of black. As she could see, the Kagero user had finally opened his eyes back up, revealing that his gaze was not as intense as it was during the recent battle that had just played out between them. He then looked down to Kuro, feeling that there was something that he had to ask her.

"Kuro, I am curious," he spoke "Mayu said that the events of the battle you had between yourself and Tama that you told us did not end as you described. What was it that you concealed from us then?"

The girl of black simply closed her eyes as Tama looked over towards her, curious as to what new information that she intended to reveal to the three of them at this very moment.

"And... could you tell Tama how Tama lost those memories?!" she asked.

"Mayu already told you about something that happened in that fight, different to what I told you then," Kuro spoke "That hideous transformation... it wasn't the first time that it happened to me."

"It wasn't?" asked Ruko.

"It happened... when I confronted Tama after she briefly brawled with Chaos Breaker and Photon," she explained "I had stolen a spike that belonged to an Abyss Dragon that was broken off in a previous scuffle with the Star-vaders from Photon's Lab, intending to test out the power that it contained for myself. Instead, I became the creature that Mayu would later dub, Berserk Draconis. I can't recall anything that had happened after that mutation. When I regained consciousness, I learned that 'Shiro' had disappeared, leading me to assume that she had died in the ensuing rampage and that the two Star-vaders had somehow returned me back to normal. Of course, my assumption was proven wrong on the night that I had first battled Ruko... after I had given Hitoe her third loss and Akira, her second."

Upon closing her eyes, recalling what she had done in her quest to become the strongest LRIG for the strongest Selector, Ruko and Kai grimaced having known about this previous turn of events on their own occasions. In the case of the Selector herself, she had learned about this from Ulith when she was still Kuro's LRIG whilst the Kagero user on the other hand was told about this by Hitoe herself on the night that the two of them had first met each other.

"So then... Ulith was bluffing back then?" asked Ruko "And... Akira was hallucinating when she tried to attack me and Yuzuki then?"

"That's correct," Kuro answered "We battled before, but the field was abruptly closed just as Ulith was about to deal the finishing blow, leading her to believe she had initially lost then. That is the sole reason why Kai was able to enter his first Selector Battle with her, if I am not mistaken."

Kai simply nodded in response, now understanding how it was that Akira had her wish tainted the first time around, all because of his first ever Selector Battle with his victory only coming through at the time because of a misplay on her end. At the same time though, now that the girl of black had brought up the foul-tempered and crazed Selector, there was something at the back of his mind that he felt he needed to ask her.

"Kuro," he spoke "Do you know anything about Akira, from your time as Iona?"

"I understood very little of what she was truely after," she replied "But she seemingly despised Iona and myself, if only for how I acted as her and... how Iona's prior popularity had threatened her career as a fashion model."

"Come to think of it..." Ruko murmured "Akira was acting kind of strange when you and I met for the first time. But still... why would she go as far as hurting others and helping Ulith... all just for a career she has?"

"That answer may come in time," said Kai "We know that she is helping Ulith, if only because they share a common enemy in all of us. But right now, as we have witnessed today and the days before, we have more pressing issues to concern ourselves about."

The Selector simply nodded as she looked over to Hatsu who was standing by the window, seemingly entranced by something that was going on outside. Joining her whilst picking up the two cards containing Tama and Kuro, Ruko and Kai could see tiny white specks passing by the window to which Kuro could only breath out loud for a moment, as if it was almost somewhat significant to her.

"It certainly is gentle, isn't it?" Hatsu murmured as she looked to her granddaughter.

"Y... Yeah," Ruko replied "The small specks of snow really are beautiful at this time of night."

"Snow..." Kuro murmured to herself, leading to Tama turning her attention over to the girl of black.

"Snow...?" she asked, having seemingly not seen it for herself before.

"I remember now..." Kuro replied "Even though she was locked away from the outside world... Mayu could still see the changes in weather from her bedroom window. Snow was usually the one thing that had calmed her down in the midst of her anger or frustration."

As Hatsu walked away from the window, leaving both Kai and Ruko to themselves at this point in time, the Selector held up the two LRIG cards in front of her as she looked over to the girl of black herself.

"Hey, Kuro," she spoke, bringing the LRIG's attention to her "I was thinking... since Tama ended up getting another name that she was happy with... Is it alright if I give you one of your own?"

"What did you have in mind?" asked Kuro.

"Well... I was thinking of calling you Yuki," said Ruko "Even after what happened back then, you always seemed so calm in the face of everything. That and you and Tama did come from Mayu's imagination and... you did say that Mayu calmed down whenever there was snow involved."

Kuro simply looked down in partial surprise from the whole turn of events, having not expected for Ruko to give her a secondary name after Tama had recieved hers in the place of Shiro, if only because of the anmesia she had suffered from due to their clash, the outcome of which neither of them could clear remember under different circumstances befalling each of them.

"Tama likes her new name!" Tama called "Kuro might like Kuro's new name!"

Turning over to the girl of white, for the first time in a very a long time, Kuro couldn't help but almost smile at her childlike innocence which was a noteworthy trait that she had carried over from the time that she was still called Shiro, even when the two were initially on opposite sides of what they truely believed in regards to their contributions to the Selector Battles over the years. Going deep into thought for a short while, the girl of black finally reached her decision.

"... I like it," she spoke "To tell you the truth, I never liked the name Kuro."

"... Seriously...?" breathed Ruko.

"If the name Tama was brought about from Shiro's desire to be who she is now," the LRIG continued "Then I would like this new name to show that I have at least changed my ways for the greater good. Yuki it is then."

The Selector smiled gently as Tama cheered loudly in celebration, if only for her own personal preference on the word Yuki and how it would represent the change of viewpoint that the girl of black had gone through over the last two days. Kai simply kept his expression as it was as he and Ruko made their way back to the table from which they were previously playing from.

"Kai..." the Selector spoke "Can I go for another game before you leave?"

"That's fine..." he replied "I assume you have regained your resolve?"

"I have," she said before looking to her LRIG cards that she placed to the side of the mat "I won't hold anything back for you, right Yuki?"

After Tama loudly cried "Battle!" in cheer and encouragement to her Selector, Yuki smiled for a moment before finally opening up her eyes and looking at her with the confidence she had in the previous battles she partook in.

"Then, as they say... give it to him."

Ruko nodded in response as she and Kai reset their decks to the way that they were when they first began their previous battle as they set up their Life Cloths and drew out their opening hands.

"Let's go, Kai!" she called.

"Come!" he replied as both of them reached out for their starting LRIGs to begin their second match of the evening.

"Open!"

"Open, the LRIG!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Blue Storm Marine General, Demetrius**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 2 Blue  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Aqua Force  
> Effect:  
>  Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): When your Aqua Force LRIG grows from this LRIG, if that LRIG is not Level 4, it gains +1 Level and +3 Limit whilst it remains on the field. An LRIG that grows from this LRIG also gains “[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Blue: When this LRIG attacks, if it is the fourth battle of that turn, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw two cards and choose up to one of your opponent’s SIGNI and banish it.” until end of turn.


	53. Arc 3 - Ride 53: Those Unfettered Feelings

**City Streets**

The very next morning after discussing their plans for the day at hand, Aichi, Kai and Ruko left the apartment blocks together whilst Kamui went off in a different direction to another portion of the city, presumably in the hope of finding Amika who had no knowledge of what was really going behind the inner workings of the Selector Battles or what Mayu was seemingly capable of. The Selector and the two cardfighters who had joined her each shared the same thoughts that were currently going through their mind and it was those thoughts that had each of them rather troubled at this moment, knowing the person that they knew they would have to talk to.

"Forgive me if I still haven't completely got this straight..." Aichi murmured "But... Yuzuki was in love with Kazuki, her brother, which was her motivation in the Selector Battles. Only when she discovered that becoming an Eternal Girl meant becoming an LRIG..."

"Hanayo took over her body and fulfilled that wish in her place," Kai concluded "Though given the circumstances, I do find the extent of Yuzuki's exact wish... questionable."

"Right... The subject of this whole incest love triangle thing aside," Ruko interjected "There's still a lot of things that we need to ask her about. Even if she's not like Tama, Yuki or Umr, she still might know something about Mayu we don't."

"I agree," the Kagero user replied "The last time we saw her, she said that she didn't mean for any of what happened to Yuzuki other than she needed to see for herself. However... I have the feeling she wasn't telling us the whole truth then."

The Selector and Aichi remained silent, though their expressions had gone down slightly at this moment having recalled their respective meetings with Hanayo herself on the day that the Royal Paladin user and the friends he brought into this world had taken their first steps in this city. Ruko felt rather guilty knowing that the first time she had met with Hanayo since the day she and Yuzuki saw Kazuki's confession to the body now inhabited by the former LRIG wasn't at the best of times with Reverse having plagued her at the time. That moment was also the first time she had met Aichi in person, after overhearing his conversation with Hanayo that confirmed he could also see the LRIGs around him and given the mood she was in at the time, the Selector felt terrible for leaving quite the first impression with him then.

Deciding that pondering back over those past events wasn't going to do her or the two cardfighters beside her any favours, she led the way over to Kazuki's apartment, having visited both him and Yuzuki there once before. After crossing through several more streets in some of the more busier portions of the city, occasionally hearing what sounded like the voices of a few LRIGs in the possession of Selectors that they passed by, the three of them eventually arrived at the front door that led to the apartment itself, with Aichi having recognized its appearance from his previous departure with Hanayo. Just shortly after they arrived, they looked to their right to see that Hitoe was hurrying over to them.

"S... Sorry for being late!" she panted before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. Yuzuki from within her card, now held in a neck wallet of some kind that hung from the Selector's neck, looked over to Aichi and Kai swallowing a small gulp as she did so.

"I guess... Ruko's already told you everything about this... complication, right?" she asked nervously.

"Yes..." Aichi answered "I know incest isn't a subject that I or any of my friends would like to partake in, but I understand about how you feel about Kazuki."

"If both of you have feelings for one another, that is, if his aren't only apparent solely through Hanayo's actions," Kai spoke "Then we have no right to intervene."

"Well... at least you're not like some people," Yuzuki murmured whilst briefly scratching her head.

As Ruko was about to reach out for the handle to the doorway in front of the group, said doorway suddenly swung open as Kazuki looked out to her, Hitoe and the two cardfighters standing beside them.

"Ah... Ruko!" he gasped "It's been a while!"

"T... That's true, Kazuki," the Selector replied "Is everything alright?"

"Well... things have been somewhat quiet for the last two days," he answered "But more importantly, I'm glad you've been found after what Hatsu had told me. Your disappearance gave us all quite the scare."

As Ruko laughed nervously in response, feeling that it was better to simply play along knowing that with Kazuki's lack of access to the Selector Battles or their understanding itself, there was a chance that the truth would not roll out as smoothly as she would like. He then looked over to Aichi.

"It's nice to see you again too Aichi," he spoke before looking over to Kai, having only heard about him through name and presumed reputation amongst several players of the Wixoss card game, some of which being Selectors themselves.

"This is Kai-kun," Aichi kindly clarified "... Yuzuki and I found him in the park just a few minutes after we left you."

"So you're Kai Toshiki," Kazuki murmured as he mentally noted the Kagero user's serious expression as evidenced by his gaze "From what I've been hearing amongst the Wixoss playerbase around this city, you have quite the reputation."

"So I have heard," Kai simply replied.

"It's nice to see you again," Hitoe kindly greeted.

"A... Anyway," said Ruko "We were wondering if... Yuzuki-san was in at the moment."

"She's upstairs in the living space," Kazuki answered "I'm just heading out to take care of a few things first. Maybe I might even learn a thing or two from your friend later."

"T... Thank you very much, Kazuki-kun," said Aichi "And take care."

The older sibling of Yuzuki simply smiled in reply as he left for the other parts of the city whilst everyone else outside nodded in agreement and headed inside, knowing that this was the chance that they were waiting for to talk with Hanayo.

* * *

**Elsewhere...**

"Amika! Are you around here?!"

Kamui was in another part of the city, looking for the aforementioned Selector herself in the hope of informing her of everything that he had learned about the Selector Battles thus far from Aichi, Kai and the other cardfighters and Selectors around him. Running about different streets with the hope of running into Amika herself and begrudgingly, with the hope that he could hear Piruluk's voice nearby, the Nova Grappler user was moving about rather quickly which only attracted a few stares from some passing people and on occasion, the sight of an LRIG or two, not that he could see them in the midst of his rush.

As he was passing by a more open area that seemed more reminiscent of the park that he had first encountered Chiyori in as evidenced by the various trees that now surrounded him, a cold gust of wind suddenly whistled around him as what appeared to be a small piece of paper suddenly flew right into his face.

"Ack!" groaned Kamui as he was immediately robbed of all foresight the moment the piece of paper covered over his eyes as he frantically reached out with his right hand before pulling it right out of his face. Upon looking down at it, he could now see that it was a photo that had blown right into him, the person being depicted on it looking almost identical to someone he knew, the brown hair and a certain ponytail being an indicator of that.

"Please give it back!" called a voice as a woman and a man immediately approached the Nova Grappler user in a hurry, panic being littered on their faces.

"H... Here you go," said Kamui as he handed the photo back to them, the woman sighing in partial relief "So you know Amika?"

"Amika?" the man murmured in confusion "... I'm afraid you must be mistaken. This... is a photo of our late daughter, who recently passed away under tragic and most unfortunate circumstances."

"Oh... I'm sorry," the Nova Grappler user murmured as he was shown the photo again, now immediately seeing where he had gotten the confusion from. He recalled that Amika had her ponytail up on the right side of her hair whilst the girl in the photo had her's styled on the left. "It's just... that girl looks a lot like a friend I'm looking for."

"We humbly accept your apology, boy," the girl's mother replied "If you wish to keep the name of our poor girl as a reminder to avoid further confusion, it is Sakaguchi Ayumi. We were in the midst of constructing a memorial for her in this small glade before that earlier gust blew the picture into your hands."

"I see..."

Kamui, now understanding the weight of this personal issue began to back slowly away from the mother and father of their deceased daughter, this Sakaguchi Ayumi that he was told about now seeming like a topic that he should not press on any further about, for their emotional state that was no doubt still crippled after what had happened to her.

"I suppose I'll leave you to it then..." he murmured as he began to leave the small area "I'm sorry to hear about it."

And with a quick wave of a goodbye exchanged between the three of them, the Nova Grappler user left the small park like area with his pace having slowed to a walk, no doubt from thinking over the weight of what he had just been told at this very moment, even if it was initially a 'case of mistaken identity' from a single photo that had blown into his face earlier.

"Calm down...!" he muttered quietly to himself "I know I feel bad for whatever happened to this Ayumi, but I've got other things to worry about!"

Regaining his resolve immediately afterwards, he picked up the pace into a run as he began to scour the city for the Selector that he was looking for, hoping that what Kai told him about in regards to an outcome from the Selector Battles had not already befallen her.

* * *

**Kurebayashi Apartment**

Hanayo sat in the living space all alone with her eyes closed, no doubt in thought over everything that had happened since she had left Aichi, Kai and Naoki on their own on that day. Guilt had been eating away at her for a long while now, not just because of her own concerns for Yuzuki herself, but how Kazuki had to deal with the fact that his closest friends had turned against him because of his feelings for what he percieved was his own sister, unaware of what was actually going on around him. Her thoughts were then interrupted as she heard a knock at the door. Walking up to it, the former LRIG opened it up to see both Ruko and Kai standing outside in front her with Aichi and Hitoe behind them.

"Ruko..." she breathed "Are you alright?"

"For the moment, I am," the Selector replied as she looked to Hanayo "We were just wanting to talk with you. And... I know this might not be the best time to bring it up now, but Yuzuki is with us. She..."

"I understand," she interrupted as she turned around and began walking back inside "I promise I'll make everything as clear as I can, no matter how much Yuzuki may despise me at this moment."

"Hanayo..." Yuzuki spoke out, interrupting the former LRIG's steps for a moment "I still can't forgive you for not telling me about what was really going on and I certainly can't forgive you for playing with Kazuki's feelings without my consent. But... I am willing to listen to what you have to say."

As Hanayo briefly looked back at the card containing her, she walked away from them as everyone ekse entered the apartment itself and each took a seat on one of the two couchs that were present. The former LRIG quickly went into another room for a few moments before returning outside with a large piece of paper that was held in her hand. Upon looking up at what Hanayo was holding, Yuzuki realized what it was before the former LRIG turned it around to show everyone. It appeared to be a drawing of some kind that depicted a girl with long brown reddish hair along with a flower stuck in it and wearing a orange dress. The left half of the picture was covered up by a black colour that looked like it was scribbled on frantically to cover up whatever was on there.

"That's..." Yuzuki breathed as everyone else looked down to her.

"That was your drawing, right?" Aichi murmured.

"Yeah..." she replied "That was... kind of how it started in the first place."

The LRIG closed her eyes, now recalling everything that had led up to that drawing in the first place.

"I was nothing more than a kindergartener at that time..." she explained "I had imagined Kazuki as a handsome prince, without even thinking about what the thought of it would even stir up. And whilst my teacher showed no sign of disdain, the other people in my class... they didn't think that much. Unable to stomach the thought of being called a freak... I scribbled out the 'dark prince' I had imaged then, hoping to bury that 'hallucination' for good. But, as the years went by... my feelings and my desire for Kazuki only grew stronger... as did my desperation for my wish in the Selector Battles to come true. And yet Hanayo...!"

"Calm down, Yuzuki," said Hanayo as she approached the table where her LRIG card was laid out.

"How can I calm down?!" she yelled, leading to collected gasps from everyone but Kai in the room. "If you had told me about what's really going on, the three of us wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Yuzuki-san..." Hitoe murmured nervously, now noticing the more hostile mood that had been stirred up.

"Yuzuki..." Hanayo breathed as she looked down at the floor for a moment "I... I wanted to tell you about what would really happen. But... at the time, you were already beyond the point of reasoning. Even Ruko's attempt to diverge you from that path ended in complete failure. That's why... I had no choice but to let you see what really happened for yourself."

Yuzuki immediately bit her lip and kept her right fist clenched tightly, trying to keep her slowly building anger under control so that everyone in the room could somehow get to the end of the conversation without anything taking a turn for the worst. Taking a few deep breaths, she looked back up to Hanayo, ready to continue their discussion.

"Is it true of what Mayu said...?" she asked "That LRIGs cannot reveal the truth to their Selector, unless they are trapped in their card forever?"

"It is true," Hanayo murmured "Even in this body however, I have had a close call with just exposing everything to Aichi, Kai and Ishida."

"What do you mean?" asked Ruko.

"Yuzuki's wish was to be in love with Kazuki," she explained "Even though I now inhabit her body... I am still burdened by Mayu to carry out that duty without revealing anything to him or almost anyone else."

"And how do I know that this isn't a trick of any sort...?" Yuzuki asked whilst raising an eyebrow.

"That's because..." Hanayo murmured before suddenly clutching herself in pain, struggling to stand upright for a moment.

Everyone but Kai and Yuzuki gasped in horror as they saw the former LRIG stumble around backwards, finding it difficult to keep her balance as she clutched her head and her chest. Before she fell back onto the floor, both the Kagero user and Hitoe quickly got up from the couches they were sitting on and caught her just in the nick of time before they looked over to her head. For a brief moment though, he suddenly felt a strange sensation course through him, feeling almost similar to when Yuki had triggered the Seed fragment within him during his first battle with Ruko.

"No more excuses Hanayo!" Yuzuki called "Are you telling me the truth or are you still hiding secrets from me?!"

"I don't believe that she is lying..."

As the LRIG's expression changed to one of confusion for a moment, Kai looked back to the card that was containing her whilst helping Hanayo back to the table alongside Hitoe.

"Just now... I could sense that she was in pain," he spoke "And I think I know how."

"Mayu..." Ruko murmured.

"If it really is her doing," Kai concluded "She must be willing to go to almost any length to punish those that reveal the truth, even when granting a wish that their Selector wants to fulfill."

"And because I wished to love Kazuki forever..." Yuzuki breathed before gasping, the realization having just dawned on her at this very moment. "Wait... are you saying if you don't keep loving Kazuki as me, you'll...?"

"That's right..." Hanayo answered "If I don't keep that wish fulfilled or I reveal the entire truth of the Selector System... Mayu will make me disappear and your soulless body will be left as nothing more than a rotting corpse."

Just as she had finished speaking however, the former LRIG suddenly lost consciousness as Aichi and Hitoe looked on in horror, knowing that there was no telling if what she had spoken of was occurring right before them at this very moment.

"W... We need to help her before Kazuki gets back!" the Selector gasped as Ruko approached the three of them.

"It looks like she's burning up..." she murmured "We better help cool her head down."

As Kai and Hitoe nodded in agreement, the Kagero user helped the Selector to haul Hanayo's unconscious self up onto the couch they were previously sitting on whilst Ruko hurried over to the kitchen area to prepare a wet cloth for the former LRIG's head. As Aichi moved over to Hanayo to keep a close on her condition, he gazed right back down at Yuzuki's card, now noticing the complete change in her expression compared to earlier when she was seemingly still holding a grudge on what she believed was deception in the use of her wish. Now that she had witnessed what had just happened along with everything she had been told, she fell down onto her knees in the space of her card, now realizing what was really going on with Hanayo.

"What have I done...?!" she gasped.

* * *

**City Streets**

As midday rolled over, Kamui eventually came to a stop in his trek for Amika as he came to a stop outside of a large building, his efforts in finding the Selector of Piruluk proving to be in vain thus far. He looked around to see that he was in another part of the city as he knew that wherever he was now was completely unfamiliar to where he had explored earlier along with the places that he had been to the previous day. As he was just about finished with observing his surroundings and ready to resume his search, he suddenly looked to the doorway opening up, just in time to see both Ulith and Akira leaving the building together, the latter of whom seemed to be almost huddled up to the cruel demanored Selector with her scar seemingly not present on her right cheek.

"Ulith-chan doesn't need to worry about anything," she said in a soothing like tone "Aki-lovely will make sure that Sendou character will pay dearly for wounding your pride."

"I sense your concern," Ulith replied "But Sendou Aichi is not one to be underestimated. His own strength rivals that of Kai Toshiki's himself and given your state, you are not prepared to handle him just yet."

"Then I'll continue to rack in more victories to show my worth and my devotion!" Akira replied "Because of you... I'm no longer 'that' person who had nothing!"

"But of course. Before you may even consider that however, there is someone I would like you to meet."

As Ulith wrapped an arm across the top of the Selector seemingly in comfort, she kept a sinister smile hidden from the view of both her and Kamui who had just listened in on every single word that they just said. He narrowed his eyes for a moment, now seeing who exactly that he had just encountered.

"So that's Akira and Ulith," he murmured "Ishida said they've given Aichi and Kai a hard time on their own. But... who are they be meeting with? Is it Kiyoi or someone we don't know about?"

Feeling as if his earlier goal of looking for Amika could wait for the current moment, Kamui decided to follow the two Selectors both closely and quietly, in the hope of finding out something new for the group to learn that he could share. Walking as carefully as he could, the Nova Grappler user kept a close eye on the both of them, doing his best to not attract their attention. After being told of Kai's previous injury by Akira herself along with her affinity for sharp objects, Kamui knew that he was treading a very fine and dangerous line into the decision that he had just made.

* * *

**Kurebayashi Apartment**

As Hanayo remained unconscious on the couch closest to the small table, everyone anxiously waited for her to make a recovery, especially after what she had just told them and the situation that she had now found herself within. During this time, Aichi and Ruko had brought out the cards containing Tama, Yuki and Umr, bringing the three LRIGs up to speed with what had just happened. Needless to say, whilst the girl of white and Umr were initially confused by the drama that was involved within the whole complication, Yuki however had some understanding of what had been going on between Hanayo, Yuzuki and Kazuki.

"You mean to tell me that the girl who became Hitoe's LRIG had foolishly banked on her wish for the sake of forbidden love?" she muttered.

"That... bluntly sums it up," Yuzuki huffed "It's just that... I want to hate Hanayo for using my wish without telling me of what was really going on. But after what she told us and what we just witnessed... I feel that I can't blame her for the way things have gone."

"What do you mean?" asked Ruko.

"Think about it Ruko," the LRIG replied "As we all saw in that 'last battle', Mayu's not the only power at play in the inner workings of the Selector Battles. Yuki told us that the Star-vaders had been working with her from the start and if Aichi and Kai remember what they're capable of..."

"Yeah..." Aichi murmured "I thought when Blaster Blade shattered the Seed that the whole of Link Joker would be accepted by Cray."

"However, it appears there are still those that have maintained their loyalty to the Void," Kai spoke "And it appears to be the same evil I once acqainted myself with and one that I must overcome once again."

As Yuzuki sighed deeply in regards to the scenario that she, Hanayo and Kazuki were now in, the Kagero user stood up from the table and walked around to face her card. The LRIG then looked up at him, not feeling very thrilled in regards to going over this topic.

"Kai... I know you said that you wouldn't intervene if Kazuki's feelings weren't truely brought about through Hanayo's doing," she murmured "But..."

"I see now."

Yuzuki suddenly blinked as she looked up at Kai who had knelt down to get a better look at her card which was laid down on the small table that was in front of him.

"Yuzuki, from what I understand," he spoke "This is an issue that has been plaguing you for years since 'that day'. But as you have said, you previously tried to discard those feeling to protect him from the social stigma that you endured from. However, even that has not seemed to work in anyone's favour."

"That's true..." she answered.

"Then, if we are going to help you solve this issue..." Kai replied "I need you to prove that those feelings for Kazuki are truely honest."

The LRIG suddenly stepped backwards in response to what the Kagero user had just told her whilst Aichi, Ruko and Hitoe simply blinked, confused as to what he meant. From what Yuzuki could gather, although Kai had fully understood everything about her issue involving her feelings for Kazuki, he still wasn't entirely convinced as to whether or not those feelings were truely honest to either her brother or herself.

"W... What are you suggesting, Kai?" she asked.

"If you were once a Selector, who had bet everything on making her wish come true," he answered "Then perhaps a battle would all you need to prove your seriousness."

"H... Hold on Kai!" the LRIG exclaimed "I can't just let you put Hitoe in harm's way just to get to the bottom of this!"

"That is not what I meant."

Yuzuki once again blinked in confusion as to what Kai was telling her, seemingly not getting the full meaning of what he was implying through this battle to her. Just as Yuki was about to come down to the one conclusion that was available, Umr had spoken out for her.

"You mean to conduct a battle, against Yuzuki herself as if she were still a Selector," she spoke.

"That is correct, Umr," Kai answered.

"W... Wait..." said Yuzuki "How can I battle you like a Selector when I'm stuck inside this card?!"

"I... can act as liason."

Everyone turned their attention to see that Hanayo was slowly sitting up from where she had been lying down, removing the cloth from her forehead as she looked over to Yuzuki herself.

"Hanayo, are you sure you're alright?" Aichi asked in concern.

"It's nothing I can't handle..." the former LRIG replied as she brought our a deck from her pocket "Let me act as your hand and aide, Yuzuki. You decide your own moves, just as you would as a Selector, I'll just follow your lead."

"A... Are you sure, Hanayo?" asked Yuzuki.

"Yeah," she answered "Even in this situation, I feel guilty about what my involvement has done to you and Kazuki. But... if this helps to verify the feelings you have, the feelings I have to bear to keep your body alive until we can fix this, I'll gladly help."

The LRIG herself was somewhat taken aback by the kindness that she had offered her in this very moment. For the first time since they made the oath for the birth of a new Eternal Girl, Yuzuki felt she could trust Hanayo again, even if the roles in this scenario appeared to be somewhat reversed in a sense. Holding her head down, she began running a million thoughts through her head as Kai waited patiently for her to make a decision. Eventually, Yuzuki looked back at him before turning to Hanayo.

"Alright then..." she said "If that's how I'm going to sort out my feelings once and for all... then I'll accept your challenge, Kai Toshiki!"

"Very well then," he spoke "I expect you to not hold anything back, Kurebayashi Yuzuki."

The LRIG nodded firmly in reply as Hanayo brought her card over to the other side of the table to prepare themselves to face off against the Kagero user. She showed Yuzuki all of the cards that were comprised of her current deck with the latter surprised that a Level 5 form for the former LRIG existed in her old deck and that much had changed since she had used it in her last Selector Battle. A minute or so later, both Kai and Hanayo prepared the respective starting hands and reached out for the starting LRIGs they laid on the table.

"Battle, Kai and Yuzuki!" Tama called loudly.

"P... Please do your best," said Hitoe.

Aichi and Hitoe nodded towards the LRIG, showing that they still held support for her in the face of this battle, knowing that the path to sorting out her true feelings for Kazuki was not going to be an easy one. Yuzuki smiled sadly in reply before turning her attention back to Kai who was now prepared to begin the battle against her.

"Open, the LRIG!" the both of them along with Hanayo declared out loud as they flipped up their starting LRIGs.

"Hanayo-Zero!" Yuzuki called.

"Lizard Runner, Undeux."

Everyone else suddenly blinked as they saw the choice that Kai had made for his starting LRIG, seeming puzzled by the fact that he had normally used Conroe instead of Undeux. None however were more confused than Ruko and Yuki, who had remembered they had not seen this particular unit in any of their battles against him.

"He changed his starting unit?" Aichi murmured "But why Undeux?"

"He must have a reason..." said Hitoe, thinking back to the battles she had seen Kai partake in.

"Draw," Kai spoke, indicating that he was taking the first turn by drawing his single card before looking through his LRIG deck for the card he wanted "Grow! Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!"

On a field imaged in both his and Yuzuki's minds, Undeux vanished in a bright orange glow as Bahr appeared in its place, taking up a defensive stance as it could not attack on the first turn. The air remained silent as the imaged form of Hanayo-Zero looked upon the demon from the Kagero clan before she too was enveloped in an orange glow, indicating that Yuzuki was beginning her turn.

"I grow Hanayo-One!" her voice sounded out "I summon 2 Iron and attack!"

As Hanayo's form did not change much as a result of the Grow, two Iron, Natural Stone materialized onto the field both in front and to the left of the LRIG. On Yuzuki's command, they immediately hurled several blobs of molten metal at Bahr who used his blade to block out some of the bubbling substance whilst two stray shots had landed directly on his armour and hair, solidifying on contact after burning him from the heat. Hanayo then leaped up into the air and hurled a fireball right at the Embodiment of Armour which was then immediately intercepted by Wyvern Guard, Barri, who generated a green barrier in front of it to dispell the attack.

Back in the apartment, after Barri's card was placed in Kai's Trash Pile, the Life Cloth count between Yuzuki and him remained at 7 to 5 with his first two Life Cloths being Dragonic Burnout and Calamity Tower Wyvern. He stared at them for a brief moment before looked down at Yuzuki, who was looking up at the cards that Hanayo currently held as liason of her hand, given her inability to exit her card and play out the battle somewhat close to normally. She then looked back at the Kagero user, keeping a serious gaze in her eye.

"I promise that won't be all, Kai!" she called "Turn end!"

**End of Turn 2**

**Kai vs Yuzuki**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Hanayo-One**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Iron, Natural Stone** **\- Iron, Natural Stone - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 0**

Kai simply drew two cards to begin his turn before moving Dragonic Burnout's card to his Ener Zone, paying the necessary cost that was needed for him to Grow this next unit.

"Grow!" he called as he placed the card he chose on top of Bahr "Dragon Knight, Aleph!"

Immediately after he had done that, he placed the unit known as Embodiment of Spear Tahr on the rightmost SIGNI space before looking over to Yuzuki herself, her expression tensing up upon the moment he had made that action.

"This move is..." she murmured.

"That's correct," Kai replied as he moved Calamity Tower Wyvern's card to his Trash before taking a second copy of Bahr from his LRIG deck and stacking it beneath Aleph's card. The Kagero user then placed Tahr's card from the SIGNI Zone he summoned the unit to before placing it in his Ener Zone and taking out another card from his LRIG deck.

"Superior Grow!" he called "Embodiment of Victory, Aleph!"

Within the field imaged in his and Yuzuki's minds, Aleph and the dragon he rode atop of appeared in the Level 3 they were depicted as, as evidenced by the Embodiment of Victory's more demonic appearance in contrast to the Dragon Knight that he was previously seen as. Two Dual Axe Archdragons along with a single Gatling Claw Dragon appeared in front of and to the side of the unit as they stared towards the SIGNI that Yuzuki had summoned as well as Hanayo.

"Attack!" Kai declared.

The left Dual Axe Archdragon and Gatling Claw charged towards their foes before immediately banishing them from the field with the use of their respective weapons. The Dual Axe Archdragon on Aleph's right swung down its axe onto the floor with a mighty smash as a shockwave knocked Hanayo onto her back. She fumbled for a moment before looking up to see that the Embodiment of Victory and his dragon were coming down fast towards her. The imaged LRIG shielded her face as the steed that Aleph rode on top of unleashed a torrent of flames right at her.

Within reality, Hanayo herself flipped up Yuzuki's next Life Cloth which revealed Diabride, Natural Pyroxene. The LRIG herself smiled as soon as she saw what she had gotten as the card was placed on top of Servant D2, her first crushed Life Cloth.

"With Diabride's Life Burst," she spoke "I banish the Dual Axe Archdragon on your left!"

Kai simply moved said Dual Axe Archdragon's card from that SIGNI zone to his Ener Zone, not seeming fazed as he normally would in the face of a Vanguard fight or in this case, a Wixoss battle.

"Turn end," he spoke."

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Yuzuki**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Hanayo-One**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Gatling Claw Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 2**

"They're tied," Aichi murmured.

"Yuzuki hasn't battled in control of herself in a long while..." said Ruko "And now... she's managing to keep up with Kai."

"Battle!" Tama called out loud.

As Hanayo drew two more cards to begin Yuzuki's next turn, the LRIG herself looked over the cards that were currently being held on as her hand. Upon seeing the two familiar Spell cards that were gathered, she nodded in compliance.

"First, I Ener Charge with the third Iron in my hand!" she declared "Then I Grow Hanayo-Two!"

Hanayo then moved Servant D2 from the Ener Zone to the Trash Pile before placing the card that represented her second Level's form on top of Hanayo-One. She looked down at Yuzuki who once again nodded for confirmation.

"Kai, this is where the battle really begins!" she called "I activate Swift Advance!"

Kai kept his gaze sharp as he looked upon the Colourless Spell card, recalling that Hitoe had used a copy in her previous battle against Ren and having been well aware of its capabilties in the right hands.

"Now let me show you, my Superior Grow!" Yuzuki declared as Hanayo picked out the LRIG card she wanted "Hanayo-Three, Blazing Flame Dance!"

On the imaged field, Hanayo's appearance changed drastically as she emerged from the column of fire, her dress having gain longer coattails to it. A blaze of fire suddenly enveloped Gattling Claw Dragon as it left the field immediately after it had died down.

"I'm not done yet!" Yuzuki's voice sounded out "With another copy of Swift Advance, I Superior Grow again!"

A column of fire enveloped Hanayo once again as her form changed completely once more, this time to show that the skirt of her dress had changed to the style of a rose with a thorn loosely being wrapped around the waist section. Appearing onto the battlefield this time were SIGNI by the name of Malachite, Natural Pyroxene, Chrysobe, Natural Stone and Opalal, Natural Stone. As Kai stared onto the field that Yuzuki managed to assemble, he looked over to her card to see that the LRIG was breathing heavily, as if something was on her mind.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Earlier, you asked me if my feelings for Kazuki were honest..." she murmured as she clenched her right fist "If defeating you is the only way to convince you... then I'll come at you with everything I have!"

"Come then."

Yuzuki looked up to Hanayo who nodded back, showing that she was willing to comply with whatever moves the LRIG was willing to make.

"First, Chrysobe attacks Dual Axe Archdragon!" she declared.

Kai simply moved the banished SIGNI to his Ener Zone, showing that he had let her attack go through so easily.

"Now Kai's field is empty..." Aichi murmured "Yuzuki's putting the pressure on him from that double Superior Grow, just like Hanayo did in her battle against me."

"You've battled Hanayo-san before?" asked Ruko.

"I didn't know it was her at the time until I met you for the first time," he answered "But even though I understand where Yuzuki is coming from... I can't help but feel sorry for Hanayo."

Hitoe and the other LRIGs that were laid out on the table away from the battle remained silent, having no comments of their own to add to the current discussion. But deep down, the Selector shared the same thoughts as Aichi, concerned for the states of both Hanayo and Yuzuki in the situations that each of them had respectively been in with the former having lived as an LRIG once before.

"My other two SIGNI attack!" Yuzuki called as Hanayo downed their respective cards. Kai then revealed his two crushed Life Cloths, those being Seal Dragon, Artpique and his own Servant D2.

"Got a Life Burst," he spoke "I draw 1 card."

"Let's go, Hanayo!" the LRIG declared "With all of our might, I'll show him how serious I am!"

On the imaged field, Hanayo with a fiery aura surrounding her manipulated the thorn around her dress before lashing it out at Aleph and the dragon he stood atop of, bruising them in the result of the clash. A green aura surrounded the Embodiment of Victory as Dragon Monk, Genjo briefly appeared, showing that Kai had triggered the Life Burst to recover a Life Cloth after the battle had ended.

_Only four hits to go..._  Yuzuki murmured to herself  _And knowing Kai like we do..._

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 4**

**Kai vs Yuzuki**

**Hand - 4 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Victory, Aleph : Hanayo-Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Chrysobe, Natural Stone - Malachite, Natural Pyroxene - Opalal, Natural Stone**

**Ener - 7 : 0**

"Up and draw."

As Kai begun his turn, he began thinking over what he had learned from both Yuzuki and Hanayo over the course of the day thus far in regards to their seperate scenarios, both of which tied to the dillema at hand. The source of it all being the LRIG's own feelings for Kazuki and how her wish had burdened Hanayo with maintaining it within her own body. When he had finished recollecting all of his own thoughts on the matter, he looked down to Yuzuki herself.

"I can sense that you have been serious about what you are trying to prove to me," he spoke "Certainly, I believe that your own feelings for Kazuki are genuine, even if it is within a subject area that neither me or my companions wish to tread into ourselves."

"Well... I'm relieved to hear that you're actually taking this rather well..." she murmured "I just wonder even if I get my body back, Kazuki will notice something's different."

"But..." Kai continued "When I think about the case with any romantic relationship one wishes to pursue, there is one thing that I don't understand."

"What is that?" asked Hanayo.

"We can all now tell that Yuzuki has every intention on wanting be in love with her brother and so far throughout this battle, I can tell she is serious about going through with that objective. However, there is one question that remains in all of this. That question... is why."

Everyone else with the exception of Yuki and Umr gasped for a moment, having realized that this was an important question that they had never asked Yuzuki about in the first place in regards to the subject at hand. Even Yuzuki couldn't help but falter for a moment, having not exactly pondered over this herself throughout the course of her run in the Selector Battles whilst she was still a Selector within her own body.

"That's..." she murmured nervously, unable to think of an answer to give to him.

"If you do not have a reason for going through with loving your own brother in the first place..." Kai continued as he moved two cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash "Then the only thing you're doing is acting on impulse with no thought or regard to his own feelings. If you have a reason that you're not telling us... then I have no choice but to force it out of you!"

As Yuzuki gritted her teeth, knowing for a fact that what the Kagero user was saying to her was mostly true, he held out a card from his LRIG deck above him.

"Grow the Vanguard!" he declared "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

Back within the imaged field, a large column of fire enveloped Aleph, causing him and the dragon he rode on top of to vanish from sight. Then, the familiar giant shadow appeared within the tall blaze as the embers died down to reveal the crimson clad dragon that was familiar to all, but the real Hanayo herself, having not seen it in action for herself beforehand. Clutching tightly to its sword, it roared loudly sending a shockwave across the battlefield as Kai called out the unit's name.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

"So... this is the card that Kazuki's been hearing about..." Hanayo breathed "The one that defeated Akira once before. Dragonic Overlord..."

Yuzuki clenched her teeth as she looked across towards Dragonic Overlord's card, knowing that this battle to verify her feelings for Kazuki and to make a start on patching things up between herself, her brother and Hanayo had only just gotten more difficult.


	54. Arc 3 - Ride 54: That Shaken Resolve

**City Park**

As Kamui kept a close eye on both Akira and Ulith from behind a nearby tree, he was keeping as quiet as he could to avoid attracting their attention towards him, after nearly having a few close calls in doing so. He was eagerly anticipating the arrival of this person that they mentioned they were planning to meet with, wondering if it was Kiyoi herself or someone else they knew very well about within the Selector Battles. Little did he know, the answer to one of those questions brewing in his mind at this very moment would answer itself very soon.

"So who is this... person you wish for Aki-lovely to see?" asked Akira.

"Make no mistake..." Ulith replied with a smug smile "She is with no doubt... already here."

As the cruel demanored Selector had finished what she had to say, the bitter winter air suddenly dropped in temperature even more as Kamui shivered for a brief moment, inwardly cursing the apparent difference in the seasons between both his and Ruko's worlds. As he looked back to where the two Selectors were standing, he looked ahead of them to see a figure that was unfamiliar to him approaching the pair. The woman's physique along with black coat that had the hood covering over the top half of her head and the black gloves that she wore over her hands however was familiar to Ulith and one particular person.

"Akira..." she spoke "Say hello, to Kominato Miyako."

Akira couldn't help but let out a silent gasp upon the moment that she had heard that last name, not expecting this new arrival to be related to Ruko in one way or another.

"So... you know Ru-pon then?" she asked.

"That is correct."

The overall tone of the voice from Ruko's former mother was as icily cold as it when she last spoke to Ayumu. Although the top half of her face was mostly obscured by the shadow of the hood of her coat, two murky green lights that seemingly represented eyes of some kind shone from underneath to reveal that she was more than capable of seeing what was in front of her. Those lights were sharp in the way they appeared, giving off the impression of a glare or an intense stare of some kind. Held in Akira's free hand was the card containing her LRIG Mirurun, who looked up at Miyako with a hint of fear as shown by her expression. She was on the verge of being almost terrified in being in the presence of the woman, a feeling of great uneasiness swelling up inside of the LRIG from just looking up at her.

"Aki-lun..." she murmured nervously "I know you were eager to see one of Ulith's 'higher-ups', but I think this one might be off the deep end."

"How about you show some respect?!" the Selector snapped back in reply, briefly closing up her right hand slightly, almost bending the card that Mirurun was trapped inside. Akira then immediately looked back to Miyako, noticing that her unnerving expression had not changed at all in the slightest. "Forgive Mirurun's rudeness... excellency of Ulith-chan."

"Then it would appear that what I've heard of you having to keep your LRIG's tongue in check is true, Aoi Akira," the woman spoke in her usual tone before turning her gaze to Ulith who nodded in reply. The Selector then immediately looked back to Akira herself.

"Now that I have formally introduced you to one of my associates, would you not mind leaving us to discuss this current issue in private?" she spoke in a seemingly soft tone "Besides, you are scheduled for a solo back at the studio."

"R... Right!" the Selector replied "I won't let you down! And... everyone on my... I mean our hit list, will rue the day that they crossed paths with Aki-lovely and Ulith-chan!"

And with that, she immediately left the premises of the otherwise lonely park, prompting Kamui to briefly shuffle away from his hiding place in a hurry to avoid being seen by her. Sighing in relief to see that Akira was no longer there, he shuffled back across the tree to where he was originally hiding from to continue to observe the conversation between both Ulith and Miyako. The cruel demanored Selector was the first to speak out from amongst the pair.

"I saw the entire battle," she spoke in almost a musing like tone "I must say, whatever truth you gave to put him off has been rather amusing, if only he didn't lose to Ruko so that the cards I replicated for him weren't destroyed."

"This is nothing to joke about Ulith," the former mother of Ruko replied with a hint of averseness to her tone "Ayumu's involvement in the Selector Battles is of mine and Mayu's own personal doing. I do not require your own 'methods' unless I deem it necessary."

"Hmph. As offstandish as usual I see," Ulith muttered with a smile as she turned herself away from Miyako whose unnerving expression had remained as it was, from what little visibility was shown from underneath her hood. "What makes you so confident that you can fulfill Mayu's own wish without mine or 'their' assistance?"

"I can assure you that Mayu's plan will reach fruition, regardless of whether Ruko will fulfill her true destiny or if the completion of Project: Locked Soul from your own alteration will contribute to that," she answered with a hint of venom to her tone "But once the gateway has been completed, after spending over 2 decades within the depths of purgatory, harnessing the hopes and wishes of those participating in the Selector Battles, she will finally have the vengeance she desires upon this world and the adults of the past."

As Miyako finished speaking those words, she brought up and clenched her right fist tightly, a small and quiet, but noticeable clattering sound being made as this action was being made. Kamui's ears twitched for a moment, remaining curious as to what that sound was.

_What the heck was that?_ he murmured within his thoughts  _Just now, that sounded like... metal._

"For now, you know what you must do," her voice sounded out "I must take my leave to the other world as Mayu has instructed. 'His' former guardians' units will soon belong in her possession."

And with that, the former mother of Ruko opened out her right hand as a dark purple aura appeared, causing a single card to materialize right in the palm of her glove before she took it out of the air with the swipe of that same hand.

"Open!" she called.

A blinding flash of the same colour emitted from the card and enveloped Miyako completely, causing her to vanish from the park and leaving Ulith on her own with Kamui almost startled by what he had just witnessed. He had recalled that Kiyoi used a similar technique with a strange blank Wixoss card to take both him and her out of his world and drop him off in this one, only she had seperated from him willingly during the entire trip whilst he had bumped heads with Amika. The cruel demanored Selector then closed her eyes and smirked before opening up her lips to speak out in her usual soft, yet unnerving tone.

"The former guardians, huh?" she murmured to herself before giggling to herself "As much as I would like that opportunity for myself, watching them relish in despair will be more than worth it. For both the historical record and... for later."

And with that, Ulith left the park in a different direction from where Akira had previously departed, leaving Kamui in relief that she had not noticed him at all. At the same time though, he was puzzled by what she and Miyako were talking about, especially when it came down to the 'guardians' she spoke of from his world. But what he did know was that she was planning to take their units, just like how Kiyoi had previously taken away his Raizer units who unbeknowst to him were currently under imprisonment from Mayu and alongside Takuto within 'The Pit'.

"Damn it...!" he groaned "Ruko's old mom's planning something and I can't do anything to get back home to warn anyone!"

As he clenched his right fist in frustration, he immediately remembered that there were other issues that he needed to attend to within this world, silently praying that his friends back home would be on their guard and ready to fend off the threat that was coming their way. Huffing for a moment, he left the park as it was and immediately resumed his search for Amika, hoping to at least get to the bottom of whatever it was she had wished for.

* * *

**Kurebayashi Apartment**

Meanwhile, back at the apartment that belonged to both Kazuki and Yuzuki, the LRIG in question was looking back at Dragonic Overlord's card on the far side of the table, having recalled that Kai had only just grown into this unit at this very moment. She knew that whenever the Kagero user had called this unit or one of its other forms into battle, he would never hold anything back to the very end and that this battle she was now partaking in was now possibly about to turn into a long uphill struggle for her. Looking up at Hanayo who had been acting as liason for the cards in her hand and the actions the LRIG would make throughout this battle, she knew there was something that she needed to get off her chest to get down to the bottom of the issue at hand.

"Hanayo..." Yuzuki murmured.

"What is it?" the former LRIG asked.

"It's about what's going on between you and Kazuki..." she replied "How... far have you gone with my wish?"

Hanayo briefly looked to the floor beneath her, her face having gone a beet red colour as a result of the topic that Yuzuki had just raised at this moment. Given the nature of the LRIG's wish whilst she was still a Selector, it was understandable that she was feeling this way from the answer that she had to give out. Looking over to the former LRIG that was inhabiting Yuzuki's body, Aichi, Hitoe and Ruko couldn't help but wonder what kind of answer they would expect from the person their friend was questioning at this very moment. As Kai kept his eyes closed and remained silent, seemingly not fazed by the subject matter at all, Hanayo finally spoke out the answer to all who were sitting before her and those resting with their LRIG cards.

"We've only kissed," she answered, her blush fading as she continued to speak out. "I never had any intention to take things any further until there was a way to get you back inside your body."

"Y... You've kissed?!" Yuzuki exclaimed with a blush of her own forming on her face, also leading out to some shocked reactions from Ruko and Hitoe.

"I... guess it was bound to happen at some point..." Aichi murmured, still trying to comprehend the situation.

Whilst Umr simply stared up at Hanayo from her card, Yuki simply sighed from noticing Ruko, Aichi and Hitoe's reactions to the whole debacle whilst Tama tilted her head in confusion, having not been familiar with the subject of romance or kissing in general herself. The girl of black kept a close gaze on Yuzuki, now having noticed from her own reaction that the true test of verifying the reason behind her feelings for her brother had now just begun.

"W... What I'm trying to say is..." the red LRIG stuttered "... I would have at least liked to have kissed him first! I mean..."

"I'm sorry, Yuzuki..." Hanayo murmured "But it's common knowledge that kisses are a general part of romantic relationships, so it was only a matter of time before I had to do one to fulfill your wish." She then looked back over to Kai who had still remained as calm as ever in the face of the whole revelation, seemingly not as concerned as the others were in regards to the topic at hand. "Y... You can continue if you want."

"Very well then," he replied as gazed down at Yuzuki for a moment, his hardened gaze bearing down upon her for a moment before turning his attention to the cards in his hand. "Summon!"

From the left to the right of his three SIGNI zones, he summoned Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon, Berserk Dragon and Chain-attack Sutherland, the red Dragon Beast SIGNI and the two Kagero units materializing on the field that was still being imaged within his mind. Sending two cards from his Ener Zone to his Trash to pay the cost for Berserk's skill, Hanayo nodded and moved Chrysobe's card to her Ener Zone.

"Sutherland's skill," Kai spoke "Each time your SIGNI is banished or sent to your Trash by an effect during my Main Phase, he gains 3000 power."

**Chain-attack Sutherland: 5000 - 8000**

Yuzuki gritted her teeth for a moment, knowing that the Kagero user wasn't planning on holding anything back in this battle if only so he could uncover the truth behind her feelings for Kazuki, that was, if he could first find the reason as to why.

"Here I come!" he called loudly as he downed Sutherland's card to signal his first attack.

On the imaged field, Sutherland used the pistol in his left hand and the large barreled gun in his right hand to shoot fiery bullets towards Opalal, hitting their mark dead on the red SIGNI, banishing her from the battlefield. Shortly after Berserk Dragon had growled under its breath, having not enough power to overcome Malachite even with the additional power bonus from Lintwurm, the Dragon Beast SIGNI herself immediately lunged at Hanayo, knocking her onto her back with her tail. She gritted her teeth as she looked up just in time to see a spark of fire ignite within Dragonic Overlord's jaws, signalling the next attack to befall her.

Back in the apartment, Yuzuki looked up at her hand that was currently being displayed through Hanayo's role as her liason for the battle and looked back at Kai.

"I guard with Servant O!" she called as Hanayo revealed the card before placing it in her Trash, canceling the attack right there.

Kai nodded in compliance with the knowledge that he had no other option, but to end his turn right there and then. He looked over to see that the Life Cloth that he had crushed with Lintwurm's successful attack was Macury, Natural Stone whose Life Burst had increased Yuzuki's hand size by one.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Yuzuki**

**Hand - 3 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Hanayo-Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion**

**SIGNI : Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon - Berserk Dragon - Chain-attack Sutherland : EMPTY - Malachite, Natural Pyroxene - EMPTY**

**Ener - 3 : 3**

Yuzuki breathed heavily as she stared up at the Kagero user himself, knowing that Dragonic Overlord was easily a unit that was not to be reckoned with, regardless of whether or not it battled alongside or for anyone for that regard. She knew that it was Hitoe's courage in her last battle with Akira that had allowed the two of them to overcome the Kagero commander itself once before, leading to the generousity of gaining the Kagero clan name in addition to the LRIG type that was already on her cards in addition to several new powers of her own to use in battle. This time however, she was fighting as she would do as a Selector against Kai himself on almost equal terms, the questions that he had posed to her earlier having not done much to help calm her nerves at all.

"I will ask you again," he spoke "What is your reason for wanting this kind of relationship with Kazuki? If you do not have a sincere one, then you're acting on nothing more than impulse without regard for his own true feelings. And I believe I know where that impulse has come from."

"What are you suggesting?" she murmured, to which he then closed his eyes once again in response.

"Image it," Kai answered "The trials and tribulations you have gone through to reach this point as the LRIG you are now."

Before Yuzuki could even question what the Kagero user had just said to her, all sense of reality around her from her outside view of the card suddenly faded away as several images began flashing before her eyes. All of them depicted events that involved her struggles to try and get Kazuki to notice her feelings without doing anything to hurt his own in return. One most prominent image Yuzuki could recall was on the day when Hitoe had first battled Akira where she saw her brother talking with another girl with light brown hair outside of the shop Card Luck. Intially, she had viewed the event as a reason to stir up a panic to try and get her wish as quickly as possible whilst Kazuki had claimed he was only making a trade with her at the time.

Even with that supposed reassurance, that had done little to lift the LRIG's spirits as several afterimages of the girl she recalled seeing along with several other girls she had recognized from both her school and kindergarten classes appear all around her, each with a disturbing smile plastered on their faces. Yuzuki then looked past the group to see an afterimage of Kai that was seemingly speaking to her, just as he was now doing in real time.

"That image is born from the bottom of your own heart," he spoke "Unless you can overcome what it has posed, there will be no end to this issue that you've been facing."

Right after he had finished speaking, all of the afterimages of girls surrounding the LRIG began pointing at her, each of them chanting the same words over and over again.

"Weirdo!" "Deluder!" "Freak!"

"Shut up...!" she cried as the imaged voices overwhelmed her, tears beginning to leak out from her eyes. An afterimage of Kazuki briefly appeared before he suddenly vanished along with the brown haired girl that she had recognized. The voices got louder and louder until the LRIG could take no more. "SHUT UP!"

The moment she yelled out loud, her visual sense of reality returned to her as she looked up at Kai, only seeing his usual intense stare that was directed at her.

"I won't let all of you take him away!" she yelled "FINAL TURN!"

As her sudden declaration earned some gasps from Aichi, Hitoe and Ruko in addition to Tama's own, Yuki simply kept her eyes closed whilst Umr simply blinked, having only been aware of the phrase from Ulith when she had previously used it. Hanayo was also shocked that Yuzuki would resort to such a declaration, but she also knew that seeing the image that Kai had told her about had clearly shaken her up. Knowing better at the moment to not question her decision, given that this was her battle to fight at the moment, she drew the two cards that were needed before looking down at Yuzuki who simply gazed up at the cards she held.

"I Ener Charge Macury and Grow!" she called as the former LRIG threw the card into her Ener Zone before taking three other cards from there and moving them to the Trash Pile. Hanayo picked out the one card from the LRIG deck she knew that Yuzuki intended to Grow into and held it just above the LRIG space as the LRIG herself continued to speak.

"Raging inferno, burn away those who defy me and show them the truth of my feelings!" she declared as Hanayo herself placed the card on top of Hanayo-Four. "Hanayo-Five!"

Within the imaged field, a vortex of flames swallowed up Hanayo completely as Dragonic Overlord just stared onwards to see the LRIG then reemerge moments later with a completely different outfit and utilizing a thorned whip as her weapon of choice. The Red SIGNI known as Diabride, Natural Pyroxene and Bronda, Natural Stone appeared onto the field to either side of Malachite who was stanced and ready for battle. Back in reality, Kai simply kept his usual gaze upon Yuzuki as she held her head down, trembling for a brief moment before gazing back up at him with an angered expression.

"What is wrong with me being honest about my feelings...?!" she yelled with tears running down the sides of her cheeks "I just wanted to show Kazuki about how I truely feel...! And yet, why can none of you accept that?!"

"W... Wait a minute, Yuzuki!" cried Hitoe.

"She's still shaken by imaging the events of her past...!" Aichi gasped "Yuzuki may not be thinking straight right now!"

"Yuzuki..." Ruko murmured in worry, concerned for her friend.

Whilst Kai's expression had remained mostly unchanged, not even in the face of bearing the full brunt of Yuzuki's held back anger and frustration to everything she had been through to reach this point in time, he was now beginning to understand where she had been coming from this whole time.

_I see now_ he muttered within his thoughts  _It's not just about feelings for Kazuki._

"First, I'll use One Rule, Two Birds! Then Hanayo-Five's skill!" Yuzuki yelled "I banish everything from your field! Burning Tempest!"

After gaining a fiery aura to her with the effect of the ARTS, Hanayo-Five within the imaged field used her thorned whip to summoned a fiery tornado that enveloped the entire battlefield, immediately incinerating all of Kai's units and SIGNI with the exception of Dragonic Overlord, reducing them all to ashes before they faded away along with the storm that was summoned. All of the SIGNI that were summoned for Yuzuki by Hanayo were glowing in a bright golden aura, indicating they now recieved the Double Crush effect that Aichi had recognized from before in his previous battle against the former LRIG herself.

"Kai Toshiki, if you're trying to sway me with those voices from the past, you're mistaken!" Yuzuki's voice cried out loud "I do have my reasons for loving Kazuki!"

As soon as she had finished, Bronda pulled out a portion of the earth from the battlefield ground that she was standing on before igniting it with fire from the Double Crush effect of Hanayo-Five and tossing it over towards Dragonic Overlord. The Kagero commander stood its ground as it took the hit head on with afterimages of the cards representing Dual Axe Archdragon and Gatling Claw Dragon flying past, the latter glowing to indicate that Kai had successfully triggered its Life Burst. Shortly afterwards, Malachite unleashed a devastating beam from the green orb on top of the staff she wielded that also struck Dragonic Overlord head on as it roared fiercly in response, shortly after regaining its footing immediately after reeling from that hit.

As Kai stared on at his Ener Zone, now with the addition of Iron Tail Dragon, he could now see that he no longer had any Life Cloths left and that Yuzuki was far from finished with her attacks.

"If only I could stay with him forever... the Dark Prince I had imaged then...!" she shouted "I... would never feel so alone!"

As those words left her mouth, Diabride threw her boquet of flowers towards Dragonic Overlord which immediately caught fire to turn it into a deadly projectile that was headed straight for the Kagero commander. Closing its eyes as part of his image, Kai reopened them immediately as his voice sounded out.

"Listen to your master's voice! Assemble for the sake of victory!" he declared "Quintet Wall!"

Upon the moment his command was given, Dragon Knight, Gimel appeared in front of Dragonic Overlord, before generating five circles in front of himself. Out of them appeared Iron Tail Dragon, Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon, two Goddra, Phantom Dragons and Embodiment of Spear, Tahr who simply parried away Malachite's projectile with the use of his aforementioned weapon. After the five units had vanished, Yuzuki through the imaged form of Hanayo-Five simply clenched both her teeth and fists as more tears continued to flow down her cheeks. The imaged LRIG leaped into the air and hovered above Dragonic Overlord with her thorned whip catching on fire up to a short distance away from where she was holding it.

Back in the apartment, Kai had kept his eyes closed throughout most of the ordeal, seemingly not fazed by what Yuzuki had just said to him so far in the midst of her rant, stirred up by the earlier image she had experienced from his word.

"Kai...!" she cried "You once sacrificed everything for the sake of power, something that is a sin even to this day, just as I was willing to sacrifice everything for my wish! And yet... why can't you and everyone else understand why I feel this way?!"

The moment she had finished speaking out, Kai's expression suddenly tensed up for a moment as several images from his own personal time with wielding Reverse, including the brief time where he was corrupted by the Seed's overloaded power in his first battle with Ruko flashed throughout his memories. Then without even looking, he picked out one card from his hand and placed it between the two mats, shocking Yuzuki as it was revealed to be Servant D2.

"Guard!" he declared, his voice showing a hint of fierceness for a moment.

Within the image, the colourless Guard SIGNI appeared in front of Dragonic Overlord as it created a barrier just large enough to block the majority of the flame coated whip that repeatedly slammed into it. Yuzuki, still in tears through the form of Hanayo-Five closed her eyes and pushed past Servant D2 attempting to land a last ditch punch on Dragonic Overlord that was simply stopped with its right claw. As she allowed her frustration to get the better of her, the image around her suddenly changed to show that she as the LRIG she was in the present day had her punch caught by Kai's right hand, much to her sudden shock.

Hanayo herself meanwhile had looked down at the floor throughout Yuzuki's entire anger, no doubt feeling even more guilty about what had happened between them in the Selector Battles that led them up to their respective points in time today. Whilst Aichi and Ruko couldn't help but sigh a little in relief that Kai had managed to withstand both her attacks and the brunt of her anger, they much like Hitoe were still concerned for how their friend was mentally holding up. As Yuzuki herself could only fall to her knees, partially in frustration from the failed Final Turn she had called out, Kai had finally opened up his eyes with the intention of speaking out to her.

"I believe I now have 'that' reason," he spoke, bringing the LRIG's attention from her card back up to him "You initially had what was otherwise considered innocent thoughts for your brother Kazuki back in your kindergarten days, ones that you tried to bury out of fear from your classmates and for Kazuki's safety, fearing that he would get hurt from the backlash you've endured all this time. However, when you noticed nearly any girl from your classes seemingly getting close to him, you instinctively developed a fear of isolation which had only ressurrected those feelings."

Yuzuki could only clench her teeth as she listened to what Kai was saying to her, knowing that was he had recounted based on what she had previously told her and what he figured out on his own so far was already true.

"Some time later," he continued "Hanayo had first came into your possession and you intially learned about the Selector Battles and the supposed conditions needed to make a wish come true. Being too afraid to approach Kazuki on the subject of your own feelings, you decided to risk everything on that wish, believing you would obtain a great power or something else necessary to ensure that it would become a reality."

"... During that time... I first met Ruko and Tama," she spoke "Believing in everything then, I at first simply viewed them as stepping stones to my wish. But as the day went on, we got to know each other better and that's how we first became friends, before we eventually brought Hitoe into the circle."

"And yet... just now, you confessed you would sacrifice everything for your wish."

Gasping for a moment, Yuzuki suddenly recalled some of the words she had spoken out in the midst of her earlier rant towards Kai during her failed Final Turn.

"I... I had no choice...!" she cried "Even if Ruko said she never had a problem... how was I supposed to believe that she wasn't like the others?!"

"Then you're saying that even though the presence of your friends essentially cancels out the isolation you feared," Kai continued "You're still willing to break that bond for those feelings?"

"You're one to talk!" she snapped "You willingly went the distance as I wanted to, sacrificed so much just for Link Joker and all of a sudden, you're an expert on this kind of subject?!"

"No."

As Yuzuki suddenly blinked in confusion, not quite understanding at what the Kagero user was getting at, Aichi quietly gasped having realized that the answer was right in front of them all along.

"Certainly, what you're saying is true to an extent," Kai spoke "Although our overall goals at their respective times and the morals behind them differ, whilst you were controlled by your desire to remain with Kazuki to avoid what you percieved as an eternal loneliness, I was controlled by own desire to become the strongest, regardless of whoever was reversed. Yuzuki... whilst I find your comparison most accurate, there is only one thing that has seperated us in that regard."

"And what would that be...?" she asked.

"Yuzuki..." he answered "... Unlike myself then, I can still sense indecisiveness in your resolve."

Yuzuki simply stared down on the floor of the space within her card, clenching both her teeth and her fists as she took into account everything that Kai had just spoken to her about, only further adding to the indecisiveness that had been addressed just moments earlier. As she huffed under her breath, the earlier pent anger now slowly leaving her mind as she though over everything she had just said, especially to her friends and Hitoe who had held on to her card for so long, the aforementioned Selector, Ruko and Aichi looked down at the LRIG's card, feeling sorry for what she had to go through in both a mental and physical struggle, only to end up at the point she was now.

"The ideal that something can only be achieved through a great sacrifice, even your own friendships," Kai spoke as he drew two cards and placed one into his Ener Zone to begin the turn "Yuzuki... I am going to burn that image to nothing. Final Turn!"

Yuzuki's expression didn't change in the slightest, knowing that the Kagero user was bound to call out this declaration of his own sooner or later within the entire battle that had been transpiring between them. Holding up one card from his LRIG deck above him, he spoke out the ride chant that was familiar to all but Hanayo herself who had finally brought up her gaze to meet his.

"At the end of an endless quest, you arrive at your final evolution! Sublimate your savage soul and show your true form! Crossbreak Grow!"

Back in the imaged field, Dragonic Overlord was enveloped in a bright fiery orange glow as the number of wings and arms it had doubled as the familiar weapons from this form appeared in each of the four arms it now possessed. Two guns for the upper pair and two swords for the lower whilst the distinguishable gold and red armour materialized over the form that was familiar to almost everyone in the room.

"Dragonic Overlord the End!"

Yuzuki could only groan upon realizing the situation she was now in, especially given the fact that she had used up every single card in her hand in her last ditch to finish off Kai meant that she could no longer defend herself, especially with the knowledge of the End's skill given that she taken up the brunt of that kind of attack physically in Hitoe's previous battle with Akira. Hanayo knew this too from acting as her liason throughout the battle, knowing that it would take even a miracle to fend off the End in this situation. Kai then took out two cards from his LRIG deck and revealed the first one to the two of them.

"First, I activate One Rule, Two Birds!" he called "And then... Phosphorescent Samsara!"

As he revealed the new ARTS that he had placed in his deck, Hanayo could only gaze down at Yuzuki, knowing full well of what was about to come with the LRIG herself unaware of the ARTS' capabilities, especially with the way that he had been playing.

"Not yet...!" the LRIG cried, gazing over to Kai's LRIG deck "Because of that... you only have two copies of the End for the Persona Blast!"

"She's right...!" Aichi gasped "Kai-kun, what are you...?"

He stopped in the middle of his speech upon noticing the Kagero user's serious gaze being directed towards him, most likely in the reassurance that there was nothing for him to be concerned.

"Now then... here I come, Yuzuki!" he declared "The End attacks Hanayo!"

On the imaged field, the End roared loudly as it pointed down both of its guns towards Hanayo-Five who could only brace herself for the impact as the fiery bullets crashed right into her, causing her to scream loudly in pain. Afterimages of the cards that were named Diabride, Natural Pyroxene and the Spell, Roaring Fire Pillar appeared for a moment, the Life Burst of the SIGNI being useless to Yuzuki as Kai had no SIGNI available for her to banish.

"The End's Persona Blast!" Kai's voice called out "Overlord, stand up again!"

Dragonic Overlord growled as it then took flight into the air before point down its guns at Hanayo and firing off a barrage of fiery bullets at her once again, knocking her backwards across the battlefield even further as another glow surrounded the Kagero commander, indicating that Kai was using its Persona Blast once again. It dived down towards the LRIG before charging towards her with the intent of finishing her off with the swords that it carried in its lower arms. Back in reality, Yuzuki looked up at the card Hanayo held, thanks to a Life Burst that was just triggered by the previous attack.

"The effect of Phosphorescent Samsara!" Kai declared "I Exceed 5 cards and add 3 extra skills to the End! The first, you can no longer use Level 2 or 3 Guard SIGNI for the rest of this turn! The second, Overlord gains Triple Crush!"

"Then the third..." Hanayo murmured to herself.

"In that case, Level 4!" Yuzuki called as the former LRIG revealed the card that was drawn moments earlier "Servant Q!"

After Hanayo placed the card into the Trash Pile with her earlier expression having not changed a bit, the LRIG then breathed heavily for a moment, looking back up at Kai.

"The End is truely over!" she called "Both of us have now failed our Final Turns and you no longer have any SIGNI to defend yourself! In the next turn...!"

"There is no next turn."

Yuzuki stared up at Hanayo in confusion as it was her who had just spoken out those words and not Kai as she had somewhat anticipated in that regard.

"Hanayo is correct," Kai replied "If you would kindly inform her."

"The third effect of Phosphorescent Samsara," the former LRIG spoke "If five cards were Exceeded during that attack... the End stands up again."

"WHAT?!" Yuzuki exclaimed.

Everyone watching from the couch beside the table gasped in shock, having not expected such a powerful effect to help benefit Dragonic Overlord and Kai in the event of a failed attack such as this. Whilst Tama was as equally shocked as her Selector, Hitoe and Aichi, Yuki simply gazed up at Kai, now having realized how this had all come together for him.

"Then the reason he used Undeux and that additional Bahr for the Superior Grow of Aleph," she murmured.

"That gave him the necessary conditions for that Exceed," Umr concluded.

Back on the imaged field, Yuzuki through the imagined form of Hanayo-Five could only look up at Dragonic Overlord the End, staring down at her with the same feeling of dread that she had once felt when facing the physical unit once before, only this time, there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop the attack that was coming her way.

"This is... Kai Toshiki's resolve...?!" she breathed in disbelief.

"Kurebayashi Yuzuki..." Kai's voice spoke out "I don't have the right to interfere with your personal feelings for Kazuki. But until you can reach a conclusion on the indecisiveness of the reason you gave us, there is nothing more any of us can do for you."

"... I understand," the LRIG breathed as she closed her eyes, preparing to accept the inevital "No guard."

Dragonic Overlord opened its jaw out wide as a large fireball began to ignite from amongst the dozens of teeth that the Kagero unit possessed. Then, the sphere of flames erupted into a giant devastating beam of heat and fire that consumed her immediately, ending the battle in Kai's victory, all until she regained her sense of reality around her. She then opened her eyes with much less strain than she had before, now looking up to Kai as did the Kagero user towards the LRIG herself.

"Yuzuki... are you alright...?" asked Ruko.

"Ruko..." said Yuzuki as she breathed in and out for a moment "I may not have all of my feelings sorted... but I'm glad that Kai was able to help me get some things off my chest." She then looked over towards Hitoe who had shared equal concern. "Hitoe... about the part where I said I'd sacrifice everything... I'm sorry that..."

"It's alright Yuzuki..." the Selector replied in reassurance "Now that you've talked to us about it... we can find a way to the bottom of all of this."

"Thank you..." the LRIG breathed as she looked up at Hanayo "Sorry you've had to lose like this, Hanayo-san."

"No," she replied "If anything, this battle has helped me to be a bit more comfortable talking to you about this mess. Since..."

"Since what?"

Hanayo sighed for a moment before looking down at Yuzuki with a sad smile on her face.

"The truth is..." she began "Kazuki is actually much like you. Some of his own feelings are still making him somewhat indecisive and because of that... part of the reason why I'm struggling to keep your wish fulfilled... is because I might have fallen in love with him myself."

"Hanayo-san..." Yuzuki murmured before looking down on the floor of her card for a moment "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?"

"It's just as Kai said," the former LRIG replied "Your feelings were still somewhat indecisive and you were still angry with me then, so you might not have taken the time to listen. Even so... my own feelings would mean betraying your wish and leaving you without a body to go back to!"

As everyone looked over to Hanayo, now understanding about how she really felt about both herself and Kazuki in the situation that the two of them were now in because of Yuzuki's wish and the rules of the Selector System that were designed by Mayu herself. Whilst Kai and Yuki kept neutral expressions in response to the whole scenario, Yuzuki herself was in deep in thought for a moment before she finally looked back at Hanayo.

"Hanayo-san!" she called, bringing the former LRIG's attention back to her "If you really have feelings for Kazuki... then until we can get our own bodies back to sort things out, please promise me you'll look after him until then!"

"Yuzuki..." Hanayo breathed.

"I now understand that this whole mess is bigger than just the three of us in where we are!" the LRIG continued "I know my feelings still need some time to sort things out... but the truth is, I've finally realized that I never had to fear being alone again. Because... I have my own companions I can turn to for help, something I should have still realized before this battle. So please... until we can fix things together as real people, keep my brother safe with your true feelings!"

"... I understand, Yuzuki," Hanayo replied with a tear trickling down her left cheek "When this is all over... tell Kazuki to look for a girl named Unjoh Hanayo. That's who I really am."

"I got it."

The earlier tension that was within the apartment abruptly came to an end as they heard the sound of a door opening from a few floors down. They suddenly realized that Kazuki must have returned from his trip, still unaware of the entire body switch or the truth behind the Selector Battles and Yuzuki and Hanayo's true feelings.

"Hide me with Hitoe!" Yuzuki called "If Kazuki finds out I'm an LRIG in the state you're in...!"

"I understand," Hanayo replied as she picked up the card and handed it over to Hitoe who immediately hid it in her pocket in brief panic, just in time as the door to the apartment swung open moments later, revealing Kazuki in their presence. He then looked over to the former LRIG, noticing the tear down her cheek.

"Yuzuki!" he cried "What happened?!"

"It's alright, Kazuki..." Hanayo replied "I... told them about 'it' and... they don't have a problem with what's going on between us."

"Are you sure...?" asked Kazuki.

"T... There's nothing to worry about..." Aichi interrupted, biting his lip to avoid uttering Hanayo's name by accident "Yuzuki-san was... just a little overwhelmed that we were willing to listen. Kai-kun battled her to help her understand that."

Kai simply kept his neutral expression as it was, he too knowing that the moment Kazuki found out that Hanayo was actually inhabiting his sister's body this whole time would mean that whatever punishment Mayu had for the former LRIG would take effect, leaving behind that same body as a soulless corpse that would slowly wither away into nothingness.

"I... Is this true, Kai?" asked Kazuki.

"It is," the Kagero user simply replied.

"Oh... thank goodness..." he breathed in relief before looking over each of the others "... Thank you for understanding our current state and... being somewhat cool with it." Kazuki then cleared his throat immediately afterwards. "If you still have some time, would you not mind staying a little longer? I would be interested in seeing what Kai Toshiki has to offer."

"Very well then," Kai spoke as he reassembled his deck, switching out several cards before shuffling up the main deck.

From within Hitoe's pocket, Yuzuki breathed a sigh of relief in that they had managed to avoid exposing Hanayo's identity to Kazuki for now. But the question was for how much longer would they able to keep up this necessary deception until she and the former LRIG could regain their true bodies? They knew the answer they sought would not reveal itself until they could bring an end to the Selector Battles themselves. For now though, the current LRIG could rest for a moment and take some time to reflect on what had transpired and the indesiciveness she had when sorting out her feelings for her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-adapted Cards Debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Chain-attack Sutherland**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase]: When your opponent’s SIGNI is banished or put into their Trash by an effect from one of your cards, this SIGNI gains +3000 power until end of turn.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you have it! I hope you've enjoyed this next batch of chapters of Stand Up, the LRIG! and I'll see you all next time!


	55. Arc 3 - Ride 55: This Provoked Fight I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter namedrops an OC who is Midoriko's current Selector as of Arc 1 and is based on an unnamed existing character in the Wixoss canon. She is an interpretation of Hitoe's friend from Aomori and should that unnamed character debut in conflated in some way before I complete the fic, I will not change it to keep the Canon Divergence Tag in effect.

**City Streets**

Later in the afternoon, after departing from Yuzuki's apartment no more than a few minutes ago, Aichi and Hitoe took their leave to the library together whilst Kai and Ruko had seperated from the group, with the intention of finding any more clues to the Selector Battles and learning anything new about Amika's scenario from Kamui once they had found him. As both the Selector and the Kagero user wandered across a lonely street together in their continued search for more answers, she was deep in thought over everything that had transpired since he had freed her and Yuki from the grip of Mayu and the terrifying power of Reverse. Although she was now more content with using the girl of black in battle thanks to two battles she previously had with Kai the preceding night, that had done little to qwell her concerns since the sudden turn of events on that same day.

Kai himself on the other hand, whether he had known about it already or not was also thinking about the topics that had arisen on that same day, mostly however in regards to the family links Ruko now had to deal with. Between both her former mother, Kominato Miyako and Ayumu, there was something that had caused a wedge in the siblings' relationship and for the moment, the older brother had critical knowledge about the events that transpired between all of them six years ago that he had chosen not to reveal, simply out of blind anger and assumption that Ruko had already known and was hiding it for herself when in truth, the Selector had no memory at all about what had happened back then.

 _If we are to put an end to Ruko's family issue, then we must battle Ayumu once more the next time we see him_ he muttered in his thoughts  _As of this moment, only he and Miyako hold the key to the answers we seek._

"Say, Kai..." Ruko spoke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Do you think... Yuzuki's going to be alright?" she murmured "You know... with what's been going on."

"As of now, the only thing that can verify her feelings is her own certainty," Kai answered "She needs time to gather her thoughts together."

The Selector looked down at the floor for a moment, a part of her still feeling concerned for not just her friend, but for Hanayo and Kazuki as well, given the situation that the three of them were currently stuck in within the Selector's twin brother being unaware of the whole thing. Wanting to move the conversation along to something at least a little less depressing, she forced a small smile on her face and looked back the Kagero user.

"Anyway..." she began "I was actually curious to know. You're a really strong fighter from back in your own world, so..."

"You were curious about the kind of people I faced?"

"Yes," Ruko replied.

"I see..." Kai murmured as he closed his eyes, recalling all of the major Vanguard fights he had ever been involved with throughout his life up until the point where Takuto had unintentionally summoned him to this world.

"Certainly, I have faced many opponents in my own world," he began "The ones that always progress in their growth as a fighter and as a person themselves I acknowledge as strong fighters. Of course, that doesn't exclude the other fighters that have arrived in this world. Aichi is certainly is no exception to that. On the last fight we had, before he had sealed himself away without our knowledge, I believed I had been steeped in a such an unforgivable sin that I forgot how much fun Vanguard truely was and as a result, to me, living meant hurting the people I knew."

The Selector remained silent, taking into account about everything Kai was indeed telling her at this very moment.

"Ruko," he continued "You have felt the same way, haven't you?"

"Y... Yeah..." she murmured "Even after Yuzuki and I learned from Hanayo about the consequences of losing 3 Selector Battles, when I battled Yuki for the first time... I had ignored everything that we'd learned then for the sake of fun. When I realized what I had done then... it completely ate me up inside."

"And that desire in turn had affected me."

Hearing that the recent voice had come from Yuki herself, Ruko reached into her pocket and pulled out the card containing the LRIG in question who looked up to her and then over to Kai.

"I assume you meant your desire to be paired with the strongest Selector at that time?" he asked.

"That is correct," the girl of black replied "When I saw how carefree Ruko was in our battle along with both her skill and tenacity alone, I knew that she was the Selector that I had desired to be paired with, to rule over the battles themselves as our own. However... I was completely naive in my ambition as to what Mayu really planned for her and because of my greed..."

"It's alright, Yuki," Ruko interrupted, trying to comfort the LRIG in her recount of past events "You didn't know any of that would happen. All of that is behind us now and Tama and I need you to help all of us get to the bottom of this whole mess."

Yuki had calmed down slightly from the reassurance of her Selector as she remained silent with her eyes closed, no doubt still in thought over the whole incident that had occurred back in their previous Selector Battle against Kai and Aichi. Ruko then looked up to the Kagero user himself, having much more on her mind that she wanted to tell him at this moment.

"Kai..." she murmured "My wish will still be for the freedom of everyone that was trapped in Mayu's game. But... now that I've had a chance to think about it, there's something else I want to do."

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"When this whole thing is over..." Ruko answered "I want to help as many Selectors as I can to understand how fun Wixoss can be. Because of everything that's been going on, most people will have lost their enjoyment from all of the bad things of the Selector Battles that Mayu and the Star-vaders have placed in the game."

"I have my doubts that most Selectors or LRIGs will be the friendliest towards ending the system itself," Kai replied "But... I can understand the nobility behind your ideal. For now, keep ahold of that dream you aim to achieve alongside your wish and know that every action we must take towards bringing an end to the Selector Battles will bring that ideal closer to reality."

"Thank you for understanding... Kai."

Kai simply nodded in response as both he and the Selector then continued on their walk further into the city, each of them feeling that a part of their respective weights on their shoulders had been lifted just a little further.

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Library**

Later that afternoon within one of the various annexes of the library, Aichi and Hitoe were seated at a table within the Selector's favourite part of the building, given that rarely anyone ventured to this particular corner on their own initiative. Laid out on said table in front of them were Yuzuki and Umr's LRIG cards as well as the decks that represented the two of them and the Royal Paladins with Blaster Blade's card being on top. The two had been talking over everything that they had been through since the Royal Paladin user's arrival into this world, still finding it somewhat surprising of the weight of everything that each of them had been through thus far, even with the looming threat of the Star-vaders that were residing from within Mayu's domain.

Umr had also taken her time to reflect on everything that she had been through up to this point, from the first time she had met Aichi within a dream to the time that they fought side by side to save Tama from Ulith eventually coming to the point where she was now amongst the Royal Paladin user at all times, but trapped inside a card as his LRIG. At the same time, she had taken interest in what Yuzuki and Hitoe had been through up to this point with the red LRIG's issue being the most prominent, given how she and Kai had gone through it singlehandedly throughout their previous battle back at her apartment. Umr also couldn't help but think about Hitoe's wish of making friends, recalling how Aichi himself had called her one, despite the dark background that came around her's and Tawil's creation as explained earlier by Yuki.

"Hitoe..." the LRIG spoke, bringing the Selector's attention down to her card "I am curious, about the true meaning of a friend. What do you consider as one?"

"To me... a friend is a beautiful thing," Hitoe replied "I think it's someone you know you can trust and someone who can be there for you when you need them the most."

"When you mention it like that..." Aichi murmured "I guess we don't think so differently about our friends after all."

"Y... You think so?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered "I... know this might sound strange, even to me... but when you think about it, you were lucky to find close and reliable friends in Ruko-san and Yuzuki in the Selector Battles."

"You know... I think you actually have a point there Aichi," murmured Yuzuki.

Hitoe blinked for a moment before immediately understanding at what Aichi had just told her at this moment. In truth, despite all of the suffering that the Selector Battles had brought to her and anyone else unfortunate to discover its darker turns for themselves, there was some sense to the Royal Paladin user's words. It was through these same battles that she had met Midoriko whose presence at the time had allowed her to befriend Ruko, Tama, Yuzuki and Hanayo, before she had her wish tainted by Yuki and Ulith. Now that the topic was somewhat brought up, Aichi couldn't help but ponder on one thing in particular, though he knew that he was hesitant to ask it, given the subject that was involved.

"Hitoe-san..." he spoke "Why did you wish for friends?"

Hitoe looked down at the table for a moment, realizing that Aichi had intended to ask her about her former LRIG and the reason the two of them fought together to ensure that she would become an Eternal Girl, the form ideal to granting her wish when the Selector herself was unaware of the flipsides that were involved. Bringing up her bag that she carried with her onto the table, she opened it up and brought out a piece of paper with writing on it.

"I moved from Aomori... here to Tokyo..." she began as she handed the piece of paper to Aichi "I had an accent... and was very slow. Before I met with Ruko for the first time... I wasn't able to make any human friends around here."

"I'm sorry to hear about that..." said Aichi, feeling somewhat guilty for having Hitoe recount some of her more lonely memories.

"I have a friend from Aomori that I wish to see again one day and this letter she sent is my hope," the Selector continued, leading the Royal Paladin user to assume that the piece of paper he was handed just now was that same letter. Looking down and reading the kanji enscribed, he immediately found out that answer for himself.

_Hello Hitoe-chan_

_How are things going over in Tokyo?_

_Have you made any new friends yet?_

_I hope we can meet each other again soon._

_With best wishes, Sakuya_

"So Sakuya was your friend..." he breathed as he looked back to her "Have you managed to speak with her?"

"Not since my last battle with Midoriko..." Hitoe replied "But with everything that's been going on... I'm not sure if telling her about the Selector Battles is the right thing to do..."

"If you have to tell her, don't worry about it," Yuzuki interjected "Sometimes, talking over an issue with a close friend can help you to come closer to solving it. I think my battle with Kai has now helped me to fully understand that."

Aichi smiled for a moment, having recalled that whilst the LRIG herself had not yet reached a decision regarding how she truely felt for her brother, Kazuki, she had finally managed to get a great weight from her shoulders by talking over it and having Kai delve deeper into the subject in their most recent battle. At the same time, when he recalled that Hitoe mentioned that the city they were staying within was Tokyo, something immediately clicked in the back of his head.

"Wait a minute..." he murmured.

"What's wrong, Aichi?" asked Umr.

"This other world... It's an alternate version of my own!" he quietly gasped "I knew something felt familiar about the city we were in, but different at the same time!"

"So... your world isn't that much different from ours?" asked Yuzuki.

"Well, Earth... I mean, 'my' Earth has a special connection to the Planet Cray," the Royal Paladin user explained, briefly clarifying the most major difference between both his world and the one that he now stood in before briefly blushing and scratching the back of his head in embarassment. "I feel silly for not asking about the name of this city beforehand though..."

Hitoe simply looked at Aichi, almost blankly for a brief moment, now understanding what he had meant earlier when he said that even he could still be nervous sometimes. At the same time, she knew that she could not fault him for not knowing that this world was somewhat of an alternate parallel to his own, given that he did not expect to come across such a scenario in the first place. Deciding to get back onto the topic at hand, she looked back to the Royal Paladin user who had regained his composure rather quickly.

"Aichi..." she spoke "Y... You know that I mentioned about how I was slow..."

"What about it?" he asked gently.

"S... Should I speak much quicker in future?" the Selector asked "It's just that... Ruko and Yuzuki never pause in their speech. So..."

Aichi smiled warmly in response, understanding where exactly Hitoe had been coming from, having previously experienced some of this difficultly for himself prior to the day where he had met Kai for the very first time.

"I understand what you mean," he said kindly "Some people can keep their composure very well in the way they talk, but if there's one thing I've understood from my friends around me, speed in your speech isn't necessarily a problem."

"I... It isn't?" she asked.

"Some people tend to talk at their own speed, even feeling comfortable if it is a slower one," Aichi answered "If anything, you just need a little longer than usual to get out what you want to say. Believe me, I know the feeling."

"I see..." Hitoe murmured before smiling warmly for a moment "T... Thank you."

The Royal Paladin user nodded kindly in response, feeling as if they were beginning to make some more progress in helping the Selector in overcoming her own anxiety, something that was still very much present despite the extra confidence she had picked up from the previous bout with Akira. Whilst he kept his eyes closed for the moment in happiness, Hitoe looked over at him for a few moments, her cheeks briefly flushing a faint red for a moment before she looked back down to Yuzuki and Umr's cards, pondering on what she could say next.

* * *

**Vanguard World: Paris**

Meanwhile, back within the capital city of France from within Kai's world, several grey clouds had begun to gather in the sky above the various people that were wandering the streets. From underneath one of the capital city's famous monuments, known simply as the Arc de Triomphe and emerging onto the empty streetway that was in front of them were two rather peculiar people. To most people, they would seem like the local passerbys that were simply touring Paris for their own interests, but to everyone greatly familiar with the game that was commonly played in this world, they were two of the strongest fighters on the Vanguard European circuit and in the case of those close to Aichi, they were also two of the people that formerly made up the group known as the Quatre Knights.

The first of the pair was much shorter than his other companion and was dressed very smartly in comparison. He had turqoise coloured hair with a long pointed ahoge at the top and had orange eyes whilst wearing white clothing with a light greyish blazer over the top with his blue tie and the white cuffs of his long sleeved shirt still being present. He was known to most who had known about the Euro League as well as his title of champion of said League, as Olivier Gaillard.

The taller colleague had light purplish hair and his eye colour was exactly the same as Gaillard's, his also being a turqoise colour. He wore a large jumper with a red scarf around the collar and wore long darker green trousers with long boots to accomodate them. His attire seemed to be more suited for one who was more at home with nature around him, as he knew that for himself with how peaceful and tranquil he could find it outside of conflict. This person's name was Phillipe Neve.

"So Ratie informed you about this?" he spoke, his voice sounding rather rough on an outer exterior.

"Yeah," Gaillard replied "And whilst I'll be one to admit that Aichi's venture to that other world has raised my own concerns, the fact that this supposed Kiyoi has caused Katsuragi to vanish is most troubling."

"That is true," Neve muttered "Regardless, I hope Ratie can keep herself safe for now. With whatever has been going on these past few days..."

The former Quatre Knight's speech was interrupted as a nearby loud sound caught their attention as the two of them looked in the distance to their right to see a large purple beam erupting and causing several birds nearby to scatter around in panic. This spectacle had also caught the attention of several bystanders in the street and the monument behind them as they too looked towards the light, wondering what exactly was going on over where it had been coming from. When several more moments had passed by, the pillar of purple light then faded away, leaving hints of anxiety on both of their faces.

"That light..." Neve breathed before suddenly gasping, realizing where it had possibly come from, having been previously shown the location by his companion. "Don't tell me!"

"We need to hurry!" called Galliard "If the kids are hurt...!"

He cut his sentence short knowing that there was no time to waste in getting to the destination that was currently on their minds. Ignoring the people around them with their confused expressions, particularly from those that knew about their status in the Euro Vanguard League, they eventually departed from the more busier portions of the streets and into the more quieter areas of Paris. Eventually, the two of them came up towards a large house with tall fencing and several trees along with other greenery surrounding it. But what had Gaillard concerned the most was the way the gateway had seemingly been forced open, evidenced by the fact it hand been bent with what appeared to be scorch marks present.

He tensed his expression before he and Neve immediately ran into the courtyard, only to stop as they saw several young children running in panic towards the two of them. Before Gaillard could ask in concern about what was going on, the sound of a blast suddenly caught their attention as said blast in a bright purplish colour ripped the front doors of the house off and sent them flying to either side of the courtyard.

"Look out!" called Neve as he quickly dived forward to push several of the children out of the way, just in time as the longer edge of the door grazed his back, causing him to wince in pain.

"Neve!" Gaillard cried as he went to check up on the former Quatre Knight, immediately feeling a waver of relief that the edge of the door did not dig as deep into his back as he anticipated, only causing so much as a tear in his jumper and a heavy graze on his back. He then immediately turned back to one of the children, kneeling down to reach their level.

"What happened here?" he asked in concern "Where are the others?!"

"T... They're hiding somewhere," one of the girls answered "We were..."

"At last, we finally meet, Quatre Knights."

Upon hearing the new voice that addressed him and Neve by their former titles, Gaillard gasped in shock for a brief moment as he looked back to the empty doorway, where the smoke of the earlier blast was now disappearing to reveal the perpetrator involved in this incident. The black coat along with the gloves and the hood she wore made her presence unfamiliar to those before her, but herself. It was Miyako, with her right hand almost being partially opened, like a claw of some kind. She stepped out of the building until she was at a little distance away from the doorway itself.

"Who are you?!" Gaillard demanded.

"I am Miyako," she spoke "And in the name of my companion... I will claim your units!"

 _Claim our units...?_ Neve muttered in his thoughts  _More importantly, how does she know of our former connection to Aichi-dono?!_

Gaillard seemed far from content with the answer that he had recieved from Miyako, having shared almost identical thoughts to his colleague about the whole situation in the general. But in that regard, that was the least of his concerns at this moment.

"Why did you attack our home?!" he demanded "As far as I know, these kids never did anything to incur you!"

"For the sake of acquiring your attention, Olivier Gaillard," Miyako answered "I will resort to any methods I see fit as necessary to completing my mission. Some of these little ones were foolish enough to stand in the way of my search and have already paid the price. However, it appears that my efforts now have saved me the trouble of bringing Phillipe Neve to my presence."

The two former Quatre Knights had tensed up even further from her explanation, knowing that she had willingly gone through this much trouble of her own accord just to obtain their units for this 'companion' she had brought up, unaware of who it was or what she was really capable of.

"I don't know why you've come here or why you're looking to take our units," Gaillard spoke as he brought out his deck "But... I won't forgive you for putting the kids of this orphanage, my home, in danger!"

Miyako simply remained silent in response to his declaration as she simply clenched her right hand, a brief and somewhat quiet clattering sound like the one Kamui had overheard from earlier being noticable, as evidenced by Neve's eyes narrowing for a moment. Then opening said hand slightly, a dark purple aura manifested above her palm as what appeared to be a deck of cards materialized within that same aura, their backings being more than enough to indicate that they belonged to the game of Vanguard or so it seemed.

"Very well then," she spoke as she took ahold of the deck with her other hand "But remember this well, Gaillard. I can take what I want, from who I want, whenever I or my companion desires it."

Closing the palm of her right hand once more, she began to speak out more words, the rattling sound being heard once again.

"Torturous inferno, resurrect for the first time in your true destructive nature!" she declared "Blaze open, Holy Prominence Prison!"

As Gaillard and Neve suddenly gasped in both shock and horror as to what Miyako had just declared, a purple haze of flames erupted from her right glove with the same aura from before still surrounding it, now having completely covered it up her right arm and obscuring it from sight. The flames travelled a little way into the air above their heads as it seemingly surrounded the two of them, Neve and the children that stood close to him for their safety. They gazed around the prison, now with a purple hue to the flames rather than the bluish flames that Gaillard was much more acqainted with, much to his displeasure as he saw the familiar fight table manifest in front of him.

"How does she have access to my prison?" he murmured to himself "The talismans disppeared when we all returned to Earth..."

"Gaillard, look!"

The former Quatre Knight turned around to face Miyako in response to Neve's voice, now gasping in shock as he now saw what was beneath the woman's right glove this entire time, allowing her access to all of the power that she had shown off in his presence. Her hand, or at least what he assumed that it was, appeared to be covered or even made out of metal, with the tips of her fingers almost seeming like razor sharp points and a red gem of some kind was embedded on the top of said 'hand'. Burning embers of what was once the glove that covered it fell to the ground, where she immediately extinguished the small embers with the heel of her boot. Using that same metallic hand, she placed down the unit that would be her starting Vanguard on the Vanguard circle of her 'table' and had already drawn out the cards that would form her starting hand.

Gaillard, cautiously feeling somewhat eager to get more answers to the stranger things he had been seeing today and from everything that had been happening over in Japan as of late, prepared himself to begin the fight. He briefly gazed back to the children who remained alongside Neve, not wanting to dare to try and find another way out of the blazing walls of the prison before turning his attention back to his opponent.

"Let's go, Miyako!" he called.

"Very well then," she spoke calmly as she reached out for the card on her table with the metallic hand that she had.

"Stand up, le Vanguard!"

"Stand up... the Vanguard."

As both their starting Vanguards were flipped face up, two respective sihouettes appeared in front of their respective tables, showing the respective units that they were about to start the fight with. Gaillard was the first to announce the name of his Grade 0 unit.

"Flaming Passion Liberator, Guido!" he called as the silhouette dispersed to reveal the Gold Paladin unit, standing at the ready with the double edged daggers that he wielded.

**Flaming Passion Liberator, Guido** **/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 5000/SLD: 10000/Gold Paladin/United Sanctuary/Human**

Miyako simply remained silent as the dark silhouette on her side of the prison faded out to reveal what appeared to be Ulith from her time as an LRIG, evidenced by both the outfit she wore during said period of time. The same clothing that resembled the tights that she wore along with the bandages that wrapped around her head and right arm. But even though this was far from the real Ulith, who still resided within Iona's body unbeknowst to everyone but Miyako, the 'unit' that was played right now held the same expression that the cruel demanored Selector would have when she was about to cause chaos and misery with her own hands. Even that alone was more than enough to have Gaillard feeling on edge for whatever reason.

**Ulith, Enma/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 4000/SLD: 10000/'?'/Dark Zone/'Human/LRIG'**

"This unit..." he breathed, staring down at the card on the far side of Miyako's table "Don't tell me...!"

"Ride," her voice interrupted, bringing his attention to the card that she drew with the metal hand "Ulith, Burning Eye Enma!"

**Ulith, Burning Eye Enma/Grade 1/Boost/POW: 7000/SLD: 5000/'?'/Dark Zone/'Human/LRIG'**

With the ride that was conducted, Ulith's appearance changed drastically, in the terms of how her outfit appeared to everyone else standing before her. It seemed to have gotten somewhat skimpier, with the top half from her waist being all but reduced down to a single portion that covered her chest. In exchange for that however, it appeared that the form of the Level 1 LRIG was now starting to grow bat like wings from both her back and her boots. A purple aura radiated around her, seemingly indicating that she was growing stronger somehow.

**Ulith, Burning Eye Enma/POW: 7000 - 8000**

"With Ulith, Enma's skill," Miyako spoke as she moved out the Grade 0 Ulith slightly from underneath before holding her right hand over towards her deck "I add this to my hand."

One by one, each of the top cards of her deck hovered into the air until she had found the card she had wanted, immediately snatching it out of the air with the fingertips of her metallic hand as the other cards and the remainder of her deck shuffled itself around before hovering gently down to the appropriate space on her table. She then gazed towards Gaillard, revealing the card that she had added.

"What the...?!" Neve exclaimed.

 _A Grade 4?!_ Gaillard gasped in his thoughts  _Impossible...! There's only one unit that exists with that power... and not even 'he' has it!_

"With this, my turn is over," Miyako spoke "... Come."

The former Quatre Knight tensed in his expression as he drew to begin his turn before looking over the cards that he had available in his hand. Taking one out, he placed it on top of Guido's card.

"Ride!" he declared "May Rain Liberator, Bruno!"

A bright flash enveloped Guido as he seemingly left the field for Gaillard's new unit to take his place as the Vanguard. Bruno appeared in the place of the Grade 0 unit who immediately reappeared behind him.

**May Rain Liberator, Bruno/Grade 1/Boost/POW: 7000/SLD: 5000/Gold Paladin/United Sanctuary/Human**

"Attack!" Gaillard called as he moved both his and Guido's cards to the rest state.

A bluish aura surrounded Guido as his power was transferred to Bruno, allowing him to gain the power that he needed to attack Ulith at this moment. The Liberator took aim with his bow at the LRIG, whose unnerving smile had not faded in slightest, as neither did Miyako's composure as she simply remained silent and motionless, indicating that she had no intention of guarding this first attack. Gaillard simply kept his gaze firmly on her as he performed the drive check, revealing the top card of his deck which was Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare.

"It's here!" one of the boys standing beside Neve called out.

"Gaillard's trump card!" one of the girls replied.

Bruno let go of the string of his bow, sending an arrow of solid light towards Ulith who remained motionless as the projectile simply grazed past the side of her and flew towards Miyako who effortlessly caught it with her metallic hand before crushing it into nothingness, just as the top card of her deck flew to her damage zone. It was the black SIGNI, Baal, Reason of the Mortal Sin, now changed into a Draw Trigger to compensate for its abilities. The woman simply drew her single card, not concerned about taking 1 damage from the first attack. Gaillard simply stared at the cards that he had seen so far, feeling that there was something more to them at this moment.

 _No clan names... but possessing a nation colour..._ he murmured in his thoughts  _If she's with Kiyoi that Ratie warned us about..._

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 2**

**Gaillard vs Miyako**

**Hand - 6 : 7**

**Soul - 0 : 1**

**Damage - 0 : 1**

**Front Rows: EMPTY - May Rain Liberator, Bruno (Vanguard) - EMPTY : EMPTY - Ulith, Burning Eye Enma (Vanguard) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows: EMPTY -** **Flaming Passion Liberator, Guido** **\- EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Miyako simply drew her single card to begin her turn as he looked amongst the other seven cards that she held in her hand, including the Grade 4 form of Ulith that she had revealed to Gaillard and the others earlier.

"How unfortunate..." she muttered as she took ahold of one of the cards and placed it onto the Vanguard circle on top of the card representing Ulith, Burning Eye Enma. "Ride!"

A black aura enveloped Ulith, changing up some of her appearance thus far back to the tights that she originally wore with the outfit being mostly restored to the way it previously was before. The bat like wings on her back and boots grew larger and within the LRIG's right hand manifested a large purple spear with several disjointed points located at the very top. All the while, the expression of this Ulith had not changed in the slightest, even if it was only a representation of the real one.

**Ulith, Enma of Black Rope Hell/Grade 2/Intercept/POW: 9000/SLD: 5000/'?'/Dark Zone/'Human/LRIG'**

"Ulith attacks Bruno!" she declared.

Gaillard said nothing in response, showing that he had no intention of Guarding this attack at all. Miyako remained silent as she revealed the top card of her deck, revealing it to be Ulith, Enma of Screaming Hell. The former Quatre Knight tensed for a moment, now seeing that Ruko's former mother had gathered the pieces she had needed to ride Ulith all the way up to Grade 4 as she had planned. Or at least, that was what he had assumed. Ulith slashed down the front of Bruno, causing the Liberator to cry out in pain as her cold smile remained as it was, the first damage to Gaillard being Regulation Liberator, Aglovale. He tensed for a moment before drawing a card to begin his turn, briefly looking back to Neve and the children out of concern before focusing his attention back to the fight.

"T... That unit's scary..." one of the girls murmured nervously.

"Is Gaillard going to be okay?" a boy asked.

"Have faith young ones," Neve replied "Gaillard has a strong spirit. That's why he is my rival and how he came to become the Euro League champion in the first place."

The former Quatre Knight then looked back towards the area where the fight had been taking place, keeping a close gaze upon both Miyako and the 'unit' Ulith, his uneasiness having only just returned to him at this moment. He then looked over to Gaillard, inwardly hoping that his resolve would be enough to ward off this intruder and hopefully get more answers to the strange happenings within their world as of late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Difference(s) from original FF publish:  
> Ulith, Enma's re-adaptation has its power changed to 5000 instead of 4000.
> 
> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Ulith, Enma**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have “Ulith” in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RG).  
> [AUTO](Soul): When a Grade 1 card with “Ulith” in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with “Ulith” in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Ulith, Burning Eye Enma**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 7000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named “Ulith, Enma” in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [AUTO](RG): [Choose a Grade 3 or greater card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 card with “Ulith” in its card name, reveal it to your opponent and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> Ulith, Enma of Black Rope Hell  
> Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): All of your Dark Zone rear-guards gain [Power]+1000.
> 
> Baal, Reason of the Mortal Sin  
> Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 4000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Trigger: Draw  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Race: Devil  
> Unit Type: Trigger Unit  
> [ACT](RG): [[Rest] this unit] Reveal the top card of your deck. If it is a unit, add it to your hand.


	56. Arc 3 - Ride 56: This Provoked Fight II

**Wixoss World: Selector Battlefield**

Within one of the towers of the Selector Battlefield, the atmosphere in the air around that area had grown more tense by the new arrival to the space. Standing on the windowsill were Tama and Yuki, with their Selector standing on the floor of the tower, looking out from the windowsill. Kai stood beside Ruko, his intense gaze being present within his green eyes, directed to the unit that he had summoned before them that was hovering in front of the opening that was before them. Dragonic Overlord flapped its large wings as it came down to the edge of the tower windowsill, gazing down at the two LRIGs standing before it as it then turned his attention towards the one who had called upon him here.

"What is your reason for summoning me here?" the Kagero commander asked, a rough tone to its voice.

"Overlord, I need answers from you," Kai spoke "And I assume you already know the reason as to why."

"The previous battle, if I am not mistaken," the dragon replied.

"That's correct," the cardfighter continued "During that time, before the Seed's overloaded power consumed me, I could sense that it was somehow interacting with you as well." His gaze then narrowed sharply, indicating that he was holding back a hint of frustration within his expression. "Why is that?! And how isn't that power gone from you after Aichi defeated me?!"

A low growl sounded from under Dragonic Overlord's teeth as it leaned closer towards Kai, its gaze still remaining as it was, making the whole scenario almost like a stare-off of some kind, if only due to the Kagero commander being shrunk down as a result of the battlefield's properties with LRIGs and other human-like beings that could be called into battle as them.

"You still haven't accomplished it yet."

Kai blinked for a moment, confused by Overlord's response to his questions at this moment, as was Ruko who had been standing beside him.

"You let go of that power long ago," the Kagero commander spoke as it hovered into the air and backwards by a little distance "However... not using it since then has not simply meant you have overcome it."

"What do you mean?!" he asked.

"It is true, Reverse still flows through my veins since my abrupt reawakening," Overlord continued "However, I was never reversed to begin with. Instead, I took the very power those accursed demons attempted to revive me with and wielded it as my own, dominating any will that the Void attempted to imprison me with once again."

The cardfighter then clenched his teeth as he looked down at the floor, now taking into account about this new information he had learned from the unit he had wielded throughout a majority of his life.

 _Then... Aichi's efforts in our fight were for nothing?!_ he growled within his thoughts  _Was I only able to save him afterwards through just ignoring the power that still remained?!_

"Wait a second!"

Kai then looked up to see that Ruko had spoken out at this very moment, bringing Dragonic Overlord's attention over towards her. The Selector did her best to keep her composure together from the dragon's own fierce gaze being directed upon her at this very moment, now that she had seemingly dropped the 'attitude' she had donned when she was infected by Reverse from wielding Yuki when she was previously known as Kuro.

"Kai's not to blame for being brought back into Reverse!" she called "You know I'm responsible for using that power as well!"

"I have not forgetten your face, Ruko..." the Kagero commander spoke "But, this is not a matter of who is to blame. What we know now is that power has still remained within Kai this entire time. Albeit in a weaker state from the absence of Link Joker from his world until the fragment of the Seed was embedded within him. He simply has not dominated it as he has previously believed so."

The Kagero user simply clenched his fists, knowing for a fact that there was some truth to Dragonic Overlord's words at this point. Ever since his first battle with Ruko had abruptly concluded, he had started to second guess on whether he had truely let go of Reverse as he had previously believed or not. But the fact that some of it remained in the commander himself had also raised other doubts of his own. Whilst it was true from his previous battles until then that no one was reversed as a result of his efforts, if it was true that he had dominated it so it would have no further influence on him, who was to say that such a power could spiral out of control again? Kai didn't know exactly what to think at this point, but he knew that as of this moment, he had no idea on how to properly 'dominate' over that power for good, so that it would no longer haunt his every thought or put those he cared about in further danger. And until he could learn how to do that, he was unsure of whether he could still use Dragonic Overlord in battle again.

* * *

**Vanguard World: Paris**

Back within the Holy Prominence Prison, Gaillard and Miyako were still in the midst of their cardfight, with the fourth turn now having coming to an end. Both of them were sitting at three damage to one and the Quatre Knight currently held a greater field presence in having four units to Ulith whose expression had remained practically unchanged throughout the entirety of the fight thus far. Gaillard had Phallon as his Vanguard with Guido still behind him for boosting and standing to both sides of the Liberator of Royalty were Oath Liberator, Aglovale. From the sidelines, Neve and the children beside him could only watch on in concern, hoping that Gaillard would be able to defeat Miyako and find out why she had attacked their home in the first place.

Ruko's former mother kept her cold and calm composure as it was, drawing a single card to begin her next turn after standing her units back up. Placing it into her hand, she picked out a different one with her metallic hand and held it high into the air above her.

"Cruel embodiment... descend now and stain all before you with the necessary suffering they must endure!" she called "Ride!"

In that instant, a purplish glow enveloped the Ulith that was on the field, changing up some of her appearance in the result. Her overall outfit had not changed at all, but the bat like wings on both her back and boots were removed completely, being replaced with black feathered wings instead. Ulith's weapon had also undergone several changes, the tip being changed to a sharp dark red point that radiated a dark purple aura. Increasing her cold smile by a little, the 'LRIG' pointed her weapon towards Phallon who suddenly dropped to his knees, seemingly getting weaker for whatever strange reason. Gaillard gasped as he noticed this, not expecting this sort of scenario to befall him at the very moment.

**Liberator of Royaltly, Phallon/POW: 9000 - 2000**

"What is that?!" one of the young girls on the side of the field exclaimed.

"Phallon just got weaker...!" Neve muttered "Just what kind of skill is this...?"

"Ulith's skill," Miyako interrupted "By discarding a card when I ride her, I decrease a unit's power by 7000 until the turn's end phase. Then, if that unit is a rear-guard that has zero or less power, it is retired."

"So this is Ulith's speciality," Gaillard replied "Increasing the amount of shield I have to throw out when guarding your attacks. But that isn't all, is it."

Ruko's former mother remained unfazed in response to the Quatre Knight's immediate deduction of what she seemingly had planned for him, immediately moving her metallic hand over another card from her hand as she called it to the rear-guard along with another unit. These were the two black Devil SIGNI from her world, known as Hecate, Sloth of Mission and Maymon, Fallen Confession.

**Maymon, Fallen Confession/Grade 2/Intercept/POW: 9000/SLD: 5000/'?'/Dark Zone/Devil**

**Hecate, Sloth of Mission/Grade 1/Boost/POW: 6000/SLD: 5000/'?'/Dark Zone/Devil**

"Hecate's skill. I rest her and she becomes a Charm for one rear-guard of my choice."

And with that, Miyako turned Hecate's card sideways into the rest state before it immediately slipped right underneath Maymon, Fallen Confession, much to the shock of everyone else within the prison. The black SIGNI, now as a Grade 2 unit, gained a dark aura to it, as if it was somehow getting stronger from the effect of being tagged with a Charm as Miyako had called it.

**Maymon, Fallen Confession/POW: 9000 - 14000**

"Call, Gwynn the Ripper!" she called as the Dark Irregulars unit materialized to the left of Ulith "With his skill, I retire Guido!"

The murky coloured elf smirked in an evilish glee as the blades on his right wrist flung out and began spinning around at high speed like a buzzsaw of some kind. He leaped all the way to the other side of the prison where he immediately disarmed Guido before striking down the Gold Paladin across the front, causing him to vanish in a flourish of dark blue sparks as the card moved to Gaillard's drop zone.

"I attack one of your rear-guard Aglovales!" Miyako's voice sounded out, as Gwynn immediately turned his attention towards the Aglovale to Phallon's right.

Gaillard simply gritted his teeth, knowing that there wasn't much he could in this situation as the Dark Irregulars unit swung his right arm into Aglovale, the still spinning blades already making quick work of retiring the unit, before he leaped back to her side of the field.

"Come on!" one of the boys beside Neve called out "She's weakened Phallon but still going after the rear-guards?!"

"She's trying to reduce the number of shields Gaillard can use to block her attack," the former Quatre Knight muttered "Especially if she has Stand Triggers."

He looked over to Gaillard to see that he was still standing for the moment, keeping a close eye towards Miyako who had remained unfazed throughout the entire fight, even though she knew about what was going to come next.

"Ulith attacks Phallon!" she declared.

"Guard!" the former Quatre Knight responded as he revealed Strike Liberator and Numinous Tree Liberator, Elchea from his hand, the two trigger units immediately appearing in front of Phallon to shield him from harm.

Miyako silently conducted her Twin Drive, her first check revealing the Dark Irregulars' Heal Trigger, Cursed Doctor. The card illuminated brightly in a yellow glow as one of the face-down cards in her damage zone moved to her drop zone whilst Maymon in turn recieved the power bonus. Her second card revealed March Rabbit of Nightmareland, no trigger being available for her to power up any of her units again. Ulith still kept her cruel smile as she raised her spear, drawing out purple fire from the walls of the prison before pointing the tip of her weapon right towards Gaillard. The fire erupted from the spear as the flames immediately engulfed Strike Liberator and Elchea, the heat forcing the former Quatre Knight to shield his face immediately.

"Ggh...!" he groaned "Even though the attack didn't hit...?!"

"Maymon!"

He immediately resumed his attention to the fight as the flames in front of him cleared out for the Devil SIGNI to strike the already weakened Phallon directly, dealing him his second damage, that being Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival. The cardfighter gritted his teeth as he looked back towards Miyako, who simply made a silent gesture to end her turn as Phallon's power returned back to normal.

**End of Turn 5**

**Gaillard vs Miyako**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Soul - 1 : 3**

**Damage - 2 : 2**

**Front Rows: Oath Liberator, Aglovale - Liberator of Royalty, Phallon (Vanguard) - EMPTY : Gwynn the Ripper - Ulith, Enma of Screaming Hell (Vanguard) - Maymon, Fallen Confession (Equipped with Charm)**

**Back Rows: EMPTY - EMPTY** **\- EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

_It's true, we're break even for damage..._ Gaillard muttered in his thoughts  _But... this woman and the units she commands alongside the Dark Irregulars... there's a malicious aura about them._

As he remained silent for the moment, as did Miyako with what was only visible of her eyes under the shadow of her coat's hood, it appeared that the two for the time being were staring off, only raising the tension in the prison around the both of them. The former Quatre Knight drew his next card to begin his turn before staring back to his opponent, a sign showing that he was prepared to go all out from here.

"Bluish flames that singe the soul! Turn your noble faith into power!" he called as he held one card high into the air before placing it down on top of Phallon's card. "I ride Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare!

Phallon vanished in a dark blue glow as in his place, arrived the unit whose name was called out by Gaillard. Complementary to his name, the dragon that the cardfighter had brought into the fight had several trails of azure blue fire flying out from between the structures in his wings and the top of his head. Carried in his right claw was what appeared to be the hilt of a saber of some kind, only it lacked the blade to make out any offence. At least, for the moment, it appeared to be that way. Appearing to Prominence Glare's right was Liberator, Lawful Trumpeter as Gaillard then held out one hand over the card on the Vanguard circle.

"Seek mate!"

As a golden ray of light shone up towards the 'roof' of the blazing prison around everyone, all four cards that were in his drop zone flew back into his deck and rearranged themselves amongst the remaining cards as a file of light scanned through and picked out the one card that he needed, bringing it straight into his open hand.

"For the sake of the ideal, high up in the heavens, gather, warriors, whose hearts are one! Together, raise the flag! Regulation Liberator, Aglovale! Legion!"

Within a blinding flash, Aglovale now wearing different attire in comparison to the Oath Liberator that remained on the left column of Gaillard's rear-guard, appeared alongside Prominence Glare as the Legion symbol appeared to all, representing the completed unity between the two units and the new power that they would wield in battle from this moment onwards. Whilst the children beside Neve cheered in joy, Miyako remained simply motionless in response, as if she wasn't even concerned about what was about to happen next.

"Lawful Trumpeter's skill!" he declared as three cards from the top of his deck hovered up into the air before he took ahold of one of them and slapped in down onto the table behind the unit "Superior Call Bruno and Explosion Blue!"

As Bruno appeared behind Lawful Trumpeter, a blue Vanguard circle flashed above Prominence Glare and Aglovale, indicating that another skill was being triggered at this point. As the former Quatre Knight turned over the only face-up card in his damage zone face-down, he revealed the unit known as Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Core from his hand before dropping it into his drop zone. This caused a yellowish aura to surround Prominence Glare as it seemed to get stronger from the skill that he had dubbed as 'Explosion Blue'.

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare/Critical: 1 - 2**

"Nice!" one of the boys on the sidelines called out "Now that woman won't be able to use that March Rabbit of Nightmareland to guard this attack!"

"Go for it Gaillard!" one of the girls interjected.

As Neve remained silent, feeling uneasy from Miyako's current stance, he knew that there was a chance that she was more than prepared to handle whatever Gaillard was planning to throw her way. The former mother of Ruko gazed at Prominence Glare and Aglovale, not concerned with what she was now faced with but almost as if she was studying their appearance for whatever reason.

"The final stage of Percival," she mused out aloud "The warriors from Cray's lost history."

"You know of their origin...?" Gaillard murmured, his gaze mixed between both curiousity and utter suspicion.

"I am not blind to the existence of Cray," Miyako replied "But my companion will be most interested in my acquisition of Blaze Paladin for her agenda."

The cardfighter decided at this point that it was time for him to go all out and hope that his efforts would be enough to defeat her and get some more answers to what was really going on. Taking two cards from his hand, he called another Bruno to the back row behind the Legioned vanguards and Fast Chase Liberator, Josephus behind the other Aglovale that remained on the rear-guard.

"Let's go, Miyako!" he called "Lawful Trumpeter attacks!"

"Guard," she responded calmly, revealing Cursed Doctor from her hand to block the attack.

"Prominence Glare, Aglovale!" he continued "Bring down your furious judgment upon our foes! Legion Attack!"

As Prominence Glare and Aglovale soared high into the air, Ulith simply gazed down and kept her calm expression hidden from sight, as did Miyako who simply remained silent, using only a single hand gesture to show that she had no intention of guarding.

"Twin Drive!" Gaillard called as he revealed the first card, Strike Liberator "Critical Trigger! I give 1 Critical to Prominence Glare!"

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare/Critical: 2 - 3**

**Oath Liberator, Aglovale/POW: 9000 - 14000**

"Just one more..." Neve murmured "One more and it's over."

As the children beside him remained tense in silence for the moment, Gaillard conducted his second check immediately. To his slight disappointment, it was Halo Liberator, Mark that he had obtained. But he wasn't completely upset, given the advantage that he now possessed. Prominence Glare's saber then blazed to life with a small blade of bluish fire erupting from the hilt as both the dragon and Aglovale slashed down the front of Ulith who cringed loudly in pain, but immediately recovering her smile afterwards, as if for whatever disturbing reason, she was actually enjoying being in this much pain. Miyako revealed the first card from the top of her deck as Hysteric Shirley, allowing her to draw a card and power up Ulith against the next attack. Her next two cards revealed themselves to be Ulith, Enma of Screaming Hell and Ariton, Fallen Annihilation, no triggers being revealed this time.

"Aglovale attacks!"

As the other Aglovale on the field ran towards Ulith and raised his saber in preparation to strike the final blow, an explosion of smoke appeared in front of him as he immediately halted to see that Dark Queen of Nightmareland had come to protect her from the supposed final attack. Gritting his teeth, the Oath Liberator leaped back to Gaillard's side of the prison as the turn came to an end after that.

**End of Turn 6**

**Gaillard vs Miyako**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Soul - 2 : 3**

**Damage - 2 : 5**

**Front Rows: Oath Liberator, Aglovale - Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare (Legioned with Regulation Liberator, Aglovale) (Vanguard) - Liberator, Lawful Trumpeter : Gwynn the Ripper - Ulith, Enma of Screaming Hell (Vanguard) - Maymon, Fallen Confession (Equipped with Charm)**

**Back Rows: Fast Chase Liberator, Josephus - May Rain Liberator, Bruno -** **May Rain Liberator, Bruno** **: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

"Stand and draw."

As Miyako drew the top card of her deck with the metallic hand that she had, she took ahold of one card with only the sharp pointed fingertips, causing Gaillard to tense up, having known about what was to come from seeing it earlier in the fight. She then looked over to the children on the sidelines who immediately retreated behind Neve as he returned a glare of his own in her direction.

"Misguided, I see," she spoke, her tone taking an icy cold approach.

"What are you getting at?" Gaillard asked.

"It is most unfortunate," Miyako continued "That the youth of our worlds have been misguided by the corruption in the people they look towards for the path they seek, resulting in the cycle of deceit, despair and greed that continues into adulthood and passes down to the next generation. Believe me when I say this, Quatre Knight, that I know of such ideolgy. When my companion's ideal is realized, such corruption shall finally be purged."

The cardfighter simply stared at the woman as she raised her mechanical hand high into the card, the tips of her fingers still firmly held onto the card that she had picked out.

"Being of torture," she spoke "Bring those unworthy souls to ruin and bask in their pain and suffering! Ride!"

The firery walls of the Holy Prominence Prison started to spit flames around the field before several streams from above starting pouring themselves right into Ulith as she briefly screamed out loudly in pain before her expression changed to one of absolute madness as she began laughing both madly and evilly, almost identical in tone and voice to the real Ulith back in her own world. As Gaillard and the others gasped in shock for a moment, the feathered wings on the 'LRIG's' back burned away to reveal solid black wings in their place as the flames disappeared to reveal the form that stood before them.

"Ulith... Infinite Enma!"

**Ulith, Infinite Enma/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/POW: 13000/SLD: 0/'?'/'Human;LRIG'**

"Grade... 4..." Neve breathed "The Grade that only one unit should possess. And yet... how has she managed that feat?"

As he and Gaillard looked towards the figure that represented Ulith on the battlefield before them, a dark reddish aura suddenly surrounded her as she looked up to the two former Quatre Knights, the smile that was well recognizable being present on her lips.

"Hello... scum."

As Gaillard and Neve gasped in shock as to what they just witnessed, the children on the sidelines were just as confused by their own expressions.

"D... Did she just speak?!" one of the boys exclaimed.

At this moment, Miyako turned her attention to the 'unit' that she just rode into and snapped her metallic fingers, capturing Ulith's attention back towards her.

"Why have you intruded on this fight?" the woman asked, a hint of annoyance to her tone.

"Oh, I'm not intruding," Ulith replied as she glanced over her current appearance "I thought I'd temporarily manipulate the image generated by this Holy Prominence Prison, just so I don't miss out on all the fun you're having without me."

"Who are you really?!" Gaillard demanded.

"She already said it out loud. I am Ulith," she spat as she turned back around to face the cardfighter "And you must be one of those 'guardians'. I must say, the twisted emotions I pulled from your former 'master' have been most amusing."

The former Quatre Knight gasped as he suddenly realised as to what the cruel demanored Selector, currently through her manipulation of the image of Ulith generated by the prison's properties, was talking about. And it was a suspicion that had been knawing at his concerns for days he had heard it much like many of the others he knew.

"Don't tell me..." he breathed as he clenched his open fist "That Aichi's screams... were your doing?!"

"Of course," Ulith calmly replied "But it appears I'm out of time for now. Have fun, Miyako."

And with that, the real Ulith vanished from the presence of the imaged one that was present on the field as evidenced by the dark red aura that had finally faded away from everyone's presence. When the brief silence had passed over, Miyako immediately resumed her turn from where she had left off.

"Ulith's skill!" she called "Counterblast and discarding 1 Dark Zone unit. Then I pay the cost once more!"

Within mere seconds, a dark purple aura surrounded Prominence Glare as the Cosmo Dragon screamed out loudly in pain, much to Gaillard's shock as he looked over to his Legioned Vanguard before gazing back at Miyako.

"What are you planning...?!" he growled, partially agitated from finally realizing who was responsible for Aichi's screams that he had heard beforehand on that night.

"Prominence Glare loses 20000 power and as long as it remains on the field, that decrease is permanent."

"20000?!" he exclaimed in shock.

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare/POW: 11000 - '-9000'**

As Prominence Glare began to slump down from being weakened so greatly by the imaged Ulith that was still present on the field, Gaillard could only stare on towards the 'unit' in question, still wondering as to how this was only a representation of the cruel demanored Selector that he only spoke with for a mere few seconds or so. But representation or not, he knew that he was now in serious trouble and he had to defend as hard as he could.

"He's only got -9000 power?!" one of the girls gasped.

"Gaillard!" one of the boys cried out in concern.

As Neve gritted his teeth, he could only stare towards Miyako and Ulith, now seeing how terrifying the 'LRIG' could be in action, now that she had seemingly reached the full height of her strength.

"Prepare yourself, Quatre Knight," Ruko's former mother spoke "Gwynn attacks Prominence Glare!"

Gwynn extended his blades and spun them at high speed before charging straight towards Prominence Glare who was already severly weakened by Ulith from earlier. Aglovale leaped in front to try and block the attack, but was quickly shoved aside by the Dark Irregulars unit as he slashed across the front of the Cosmo Dragon, dealing Gaillard his third damage. That damage check revealed Liberator of Royalty, Phallon.

"Ulith attacks!" Miyako declared.

"Perfect Guard!" Gaillard responded as he placed down Halo Liberator, Mark on the Guardian circle and discarded Fast Chase Liberator, Josephus from his hand.

The Gold Paladin unit then appeared in front of Prominence Glare, shielding the Cosmo Dragon from harm as Ulith's spear came into contact with the barrier that was created.

"Twin Drive..." Miyako murmured as she revealed the first card, that being Dark Knight of Nightmareland "Critical Trigger! I give all the effects to Maymon!"

**Maymon, Fallen Confession/POW: 14000 - 19000/Critical: 1 - 2**

"Second check."

Her next card then revealed Dark Queen of Nightmareland, much to everyone else's shock as they soon realized exactly what this had meant for Gaillard this turn. The cardfighter in question could only clench his teeth in annoyance as he realized what was about to befall him as Gwynn was radiated in a bright blue aura, indicating that Miyako was applying the trigger effects to him alone.

**Gwynn the Ripper/POW: 9000 - 14000**

As Mark vanished from the battlefield, Ulith's annoyed frown changed to a smirk as she leaped back to the woman's side of the field before she wordlessly with only the gesture of her metallic hand gave the signal for Maymon to attack. The Devil SIGNI held the fingers of her right hand to her lips in an alluring like gesture before leaping high into the air and landing a large kick on Prominence Glare which caused the already weakened dragon to scream even more loudly in pain, much to the shock of Aglovale who was just recovering from the tackle that Gwynn had dealt to him moments earlier.

"Damage check!" Gaillard called as he revealed his first card to be Halo Liberator, Mark. He then revealed the second card to be Numinous Tree Liberator, Elchea, much to his slight annoyance as he knew he could not heal any damage in this scenario. "I give power to Prominence Glare!"

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare/POW: '-9000' - '-4000'**

"Gwynn!"

As Gwynn revved up his spinning blades for a second time and leaped into the air towards Prominence Glare for a second time, Gaillard threw the only card that he had left onto the Guardian circle of his table.

"Strike Liberator guards!" he declared "And intercept!"

Strike Liberator, Lawful Trumpeter and Oath Liberator, Aglovale all appeared in front of the Cosmo Dragon, willing to shield it from harm by any means necessary. As the elf slashed across the three guardians, retiring them from the current battle, the Legion-mate Aglovale who had finally recovered from his earlier beating stopped Gwynn's blades right in their rotation using his saber at the right timing. Annoyed, the Dark Irregulars unit retreated back to Miyako's field as the woman did not share such an expression herself.

"You only have one chance left," she spoke as she gazed down at her hand "But unless you can re-ride, you effort will mean nothing."

**End of Turn 7**

**Gaillard vs Miyako**

**Hand - 0 : 3**

**Soul - 2 : 4**

**Damage - 5 : 5**

**Front Rows: EMPTY - Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare (Legioned with Regulation Liberator, Aglovale) (Vanguard) - EMPTY : Gwynn the Ripper - Ulith, Infinite Enma (Vanguard) - Maymon, Fallen Confession (Equipped with Charm)**

**Back Rows: Fast Chase Liberator, Josephus - May Rain Liberator, Bruno -** **May Rain Liberator, Bruno** **: EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Gaillared slowly breathed in and out in an effort to regain his composure, after barely having managed to survive the onslaught of attacks that Miyako had thrown his way, not helped by the permanent power decrease that she had given to Prominence Glare as a result of Ulith's ability in this new form. Clenching his fist tightly, he faced the woman in preparation for his last chance.

"I don't know why you're doing this..." he murmured "I can certainly understand that there can be corruption in any world like you said... but that's no excuse to justify the aggression you used to grab my attention or the fact you're looking to take our units by force! Prepare yourself Miyako! Final Turn!"

As Neve and the children gasped in shock, knowing that it was even rare of Gaillard to even use that phrase in any cardfights he partook in, Miyako remained motionless to his declaration as she knew that only a luck of the draw would be able to turn things around in his favour. Clutching the top card of his deck, the former Quatre Knight prepared to pull it off to reveal what he had gotten.

"This draw will now determine everything!" he declared as he pulled out the card, turning it around to reveal what he had gotten.

His expression remained neutral whilst Neve, who had been watching both the fight and his hand from the start could only look down in worry, leading the children to immediately assume the worst had happened.

"No Grade 3," Miyako murmured "How disappointing."

"Even so... this fight will end on this turn!" Gaillard called as he placed the card down on the front right rear-guard circle of his table.

"Prominence Glare's skill!" he declared "I retire the unit I called and look at the top four cards!"

As the top four cards hovered over to him, he immediately took a hold of one of them before placing it straight onto the rear-guard circle that was occupied by the unit he previously retired. This was another copy of Oath Liberator, Aglovale.

"Not yet!" he continued "The Bluish Flames will continue to burn! Aglovale's skill! Superior call my avatar, Percival!"

Appearing on the only empty rear-guard circle that remained on Gaillard's field was Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival in all of his original glory as he ignited the saber that he held, almost identical to the one held by his alternate form, Prominence Glare. The Brunos that remained in the back row suddenly gained a golden aura to them, as if they were somehow drawing strength from Gaillard's plays at this very moment.

**May Rain Liberator, Bruno x2/POW: 7000 - 13000**

"He not only made the best of his scenario to fill out his board, but he managed to power up as well," Neve murmured "And thanks to Bruno's power up, Prominence Glare now has enough power to attack Ulith head on."

"I don't know why the real Ulith has harmed Aichi-san," Gaillard spoke "But if you're working with her, then I cannot forgive you! With Bruno's boost, Prominence Glare and Aglovale attack!"

Prominence Glare let out a triumphant roar as it and Aglovale took to the air thanks to their newfound strength gained from Bruno's power. As the imaged Ulith gazed up to the Legion pair, Miyako simply kept her gaze upon the former Quatre Knight, not fazed by the situation she found herself in as she took out one of the cards from her hand and placed it at the front of her table.

"Guard," she spoke as Dark Queen of Nightmareland appeared in front of Ulith.

"Twin Drive!" Gaillard called as he revealed his first card, that being another copy of Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare, before immediately revealing the second card to be Liberator of Hope, Epona. "Critical Trigger! I give all the effects to my avatar!"

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival/POW: 11000 - 16000/Critical: 1 - 2**

Prominence Core and Aglovale brandished their sabers once again as they charged head on towards their target with Dark Queen of Nightmareland using her whip to catch the Regulation Liberator off guard. The Cosmo Dragon roared loudly as it attempted to strike Ulith who simply held out her spear's pole horizontally to block the attack effortlessly, having known that he was weakened still from Miyako's efforts during the previous turn.

"Aglovale attacks!" Gaillard called.

"Intercept," Miyako responded as Gwynn used his spinning blades to block the other Aglovale's attack with the greatest of ease before vanishing from the fiery prison.

"This will end it!" he declared "Brandish your sword and destroy my disobedient enemy, my avatar! Percival!"

Percival held up his saber high into the air as a torrent of blue fire swirled around it before he thrust it forwards like a lance to send a spiral of fire towards both Ulith and Miyako. The woman calmly discarded Dark Knight of Nightmareland before she revealed the very last card that she held in her hand.

"Perfect Guard."

March Rabbit of Nightmareland then appeared in front of Ulith as its pocket watch suddenly sent out a ripple through the battlefield, immediately extinguishing Percival's attack before it had even reached the imaged LRIG, much to Gaillard's shock before the Dark Irregulars unit left the battlefield in a flurry of black sparks.

"And with that, your final turn has failed," Miyako spoke as she drew her single card "I activate Ulith's skill for one final time."

The woman then revealed another copy of Ulith, Infinite Enma from her hand before discarding straight to her drop zone and turning the last card in her damage zone face-down before the same aura from before surrounded Prominence Glare, weakening it once more.

**Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare/POW: '-9000' - '-19000'**

"Attack."

Ulith gleefully ran across the prison in a crazed manner and laughing maniacally whilst Aglovale charged towards her in a desperate attempt to prevent her from landing the final blow. The imaged LRIG smirked and then leaped right over the top of the Regulation Liberator and landed right at the feet of the weakened Cosmo Dragon. Increasing the depth of her smile, she pulled back her spear before thrusting it straight into Prominence Glare, causing him to roar loudly in even more pain. Then to his sudden shock, Gaillard suddenly clenched his chest in pain, almost as if the final attack for whatever reason was affecting him as well. Everyone else gasped in shock for his concern as the final damage revealed itself to be Strike Liberator, ending the fight there.

"Gaillard!" the children and Neve cried out in concern.

As the imaged units that were still materialized in the prison faded out of existence, Miyako then held out her metal hand towards Gaillard, now containing a blank Wixoss card much like Kiyoi when she had won against Kamui. The images on Gaillard's cards suddenly began to fade to black and white before turning into complete blanks, much to his horror as he looked back towards his victorious opponent, who had rematerialized the deck in the cold metallic palm of her right hand as one that was suitable for play in both the Wixoss card game and the Selector Battles.

"No..." he breathed as he slammed one of his fists down onto the table before crying out in pain as a purple glow showed a marking, identical to the one on Kamui's right hand carved itself into that same fist. "H... How could I have failed..."

"Not yet!"

Gaillard looked forward to see that Miyako was far from finished as purplish black smoke was rising from the damage zones of both his and her's tables within the prison.

"Incinerate," she spoke "Judgment!"

The two columns of smoke suddenly rose into the air and combined into one cloud that was high above the heads of both participants of the fight just now before a torrent of dark purple fire suddenly rained down upon Gaillard, causing him to scream loudly in pain as was engulfed by the inferno.

"Gaillard!" one of the children cried out as he tried run forwards, only to be held back by Neve.

"Don't!" he called "You'll be burned as well!"

As the group of children looked back at Neve in worry, they could only look back in horror to see Gaillard's torture continue on for several more moments until the prison walls finally disappeared from around them. When they found themselves back in the courtyard of the orphanage, the former Quatre Knight's punishment had ended as he fell to the ground with scorch marks present on his clothing and skin as well as small patches of smoke that was pouring out. For him, the experience was nothing short of being in the middle of a blast furnace, having experience his own signature judgment once before when Kai had finally defeated him for the first time when they still bitter enemies.

Miyako placed the reforged deck into her coat pocket as she then turned around and brought out another blank card, seemingly preparing to depart from the premises at last.

"Wait!" yelled Neve, bringing her attention back to him "What is your reason for this?! Who is this companion you're speaking of?"

"Phillipe Neve," she spoke as she held the card above her "If you do not wish to bring harm to those close to Kai Toshiki, stay away from the other world. This will be your only warning. Open!"

And with a blinding flash, Miyako disappeared from the premises of the orphanage at last, presumably to hand over Gaillard's stolen Liberators over to Mayu herself, to do to them what she had already done to Kamui's Raizer units and the crew that piloted them. Neve simply stared at where she last stood for a moment or two before running over to Gaillard who was struggling to get back onto his feet.

"Gaillard!" he called, helping him from under his shoulder.

"I'm sorry... Neve..." he groaned weakly "I... couldn't stop her..."

As he coughed for a moment, one of the boys amongst the group of children approched the two from the front.

"Are you going to be okay?!" he cried in concern.

"... I'll live..." Gaillard replied as he looked over to Neve "Once I start recovering, head to Japan immediately. You've got to warn them...!"

"I understand," Neve answered "But right now, you're the one whose in need."

The former Quatre Knight simply held his head down in shame, from having both his pride and will shattered in an instant after that fight. First, he had his units stolen by Miyako for her 'companion', then he was marked with the same symbol that was carved onto Kamui's right hand and to add further insult to injury, he had just been through torture from the Judgment of his former prison, something that Miyako should not have even had access to. At the same time, there was the matter of Ulith who had briefly spoken to him and what she had done to Aichi on that night. Somehow, remembering back to that had only raised his internal concerns for the Royal Paladin user even more, praying that he was safe for the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Ulith, Enma of Screaming Hell**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO](VG): [Choose a card from your hand and discard it]: When this unit is placed on (VG), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent’s units and until end of turn, that unit gets [Power]-7000. Then, if the unit chosen by this effect was a rear-guard and that rear-guard’s power is 0 or lower, retire it.  
> [CONT]: This card counts under all clans from the Dark Zone nation.
> 
>  **Ulith, Infinite Enma**  
>  Grade 4  
> Ability: Twin Drive!!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 13000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](Hand): If you do not have a Grade 3 Vanguard with “Ulith” in its card name, you cannot Ride this unit.  
> [ACT](VG): [Counter Blast (1) and choose a Dark Zone unit from your hand and discard it]: Choose 1 of your opponent’s units and that unit gets [Power]-10000 whilst it remains on the field.  
> [CONT](VG): If a rear-guard’s [Power] is 0 or less, retire it.
> 
>  **Hecate, Sloth of Mission**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Power: 6000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Race: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [ACT](RG): [[Rest] this unit] If your Vanguard has Ulith in its card name, choose 1 of your rear-guards and place this unit under it as a Charm.
> 
>  **Maymon, Fallen Confession**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Power: 9000  
> Shield: 5000  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Race: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](RG): Whilst this unit has a Charm, if your Vanguard has Ulith in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+5000 during your turn.


	57. Arc 3 - Ride 57: The Twisted Reunion

**Mayu's Domain: The Pit**

Takuto wearily opened his eyes as looked across the dark space that Mayu had dropped him into, after previously being shot in the back by a Neon footsoldier in his efforts to try and get Tawil to Aichi. The burning and stinging sensation from the Cyberoid's gauntlet blaster was still very much present as he could very much feel it, the scorched open hole on the back of his jacket being an indicator of that. Cringing in pain for a moment, he slowly moved forwards as his eyes began to slowly regain their foresight, allowing him to look up to see nothing but a shimmering dim light at the top of the Pit. All the way up, he could see that the walls around him and leading up to the top of his new prison had similar structure to the walls, windows and gates in Mayu's White Room.

Those walls here however were painted black with a shimmer of a purple hue amongst them, presmably cast by the dim light from the very top. Hearing some groans from behind him, the Cray being turned around to see that the Raizer maintenance crew and several others that were affiliated with them were now regaining consciousness after having previously been deposited into the Pit, much like he had been earlier. Hurrying over to them on his feet, still feeling weak after the punishment that he had taken earlier from the backhanded attack that knocked him unconscious earlier, he knew there was much that he had to ask in what had just happened to them.

"Are you alright?!" Takuto called as he came over to one of the men who had regained consciousness.

"Ugh..." the man groaned as he looked up at the Cray Being "You're... you're the guy that visited us, when the Void infested Cray. They got to you as well?"

"Indeed," he replied "Mayu captured me and as such, much has happened since my imprisonment. Fighters from Earth have stepped into the world outside of her domain, looking to bring an end to her plans and the battles that she had created. But already, our opposition has proven to be much more greater than I imagined."

As Takuto was explaining everything that was going on, a young man with light brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in a red suit which seemed to suit the attire of a pilot came up to him.

"That's not the worst of it..." he sighed "She's... she has them."

"What are you saying, Huey?" the Cray Being asked, addressing him by his name.

"Mayu has the Raizers," Kate answered, leading to a collected gasp from Takuto. "She had the Star-vaders lock them away in their 'storage' before we got acqainted with her."

"They knocked out all power to the Raizer units before we had a chance to counterattack and we were immediately apprehended," one member of the Raizer Crew interjected "Those damned demons also confiscated our tools when we were being rounded up, so getting out of here's not looking too likely any time soon."

Takuto's expression turned rather grim as he took everything he had just heard into account, knowing full well of what each of the Raizer units themselves were capable of. At the same time however, this had also raised many questions in regards to this scenario. How was Mayu able to summon these units from Cray all the way over to her domain and why did she target them specifically? Little did he know was that those units as well as the crew and pilots were only the first of what the enigmatic mastermind intended to capture within her domain. But for what purpose and why however were two different questions brewing in his mind that he still had very little knowledge of the answers to.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Tokyo City Streets**

Back within the streets of Tokyo within that world, the girl who had departed from the train station the previous afternoon and the current Selector of the green LRIG Midoriko, stepped out from a tall building and walked onto an empty street where there was seemingly no one present to disturb her for the moment. Now that she was seemingly alone for the moment, she took out the card containing the LRIG in question. Staring closely at the space that was within the card she held, the girl could see that Midoriko seemed somewhat pale in comparison to the last time that she had talked to her, only further raising her concerns.

"Midoriko, you're not looking so good..." she murmured "Are you sure you're holding up well?"

"I already told you... it's nothing I can't handle..." the LRIG coughed, still struggling to hold back the force within her, accounting for her current state.

"We shouldn't battle today," the girl replied "Not until we can figure out why you're feeling this way."

"Don't worry about me...!" Midoriko interjected "I'm more concerned about your well...!"

Before she could finish her sentence however, she suddenly fell to her knees on the space within her card, her face showing a rather agonized expression much to the shock of the girl who was holding her. Then from within the green LRIG, emerged a dark red aura that she had been trying to keep restrained within her for as long as possible, ever since the conclusion to that confrontation she was involved with. She screamed loudly in pain, trying desperately to not allow the power at hand to consume her or worse, her own Selector, knowing what exactly it was capable of.

"Midoriko-san!" her Selector cried "What's wr...?!"

Before she could finish her question, she suddenly gasped for a moment before she fell to her knees, dropping the card as a result of this sudden pain she was now in. The aura that had enveloped Midoriko just moments earlier suddenly spread quickly to her, causing her a great deal of pain as she felt both her consciousness and her own free will slipping away from her, into the grasp of the Void itself. The Selector struggled to try and get back onto her feet, but was finding her struggles in vain as her foresight became blurry by the second.

"Hitoe...!" she cried under the strain "Someone...! Anyone...! Please help me!"

* * *

**City Park**

Meanwhile, only several minutes away from where the calamity was occurring, Aichi and Hitoe were walking through the park together as they heard a rumbling sound from the sky above them. Looking up, they could see that several dark grey clouds had begun to block out the blue afternoon skyline that they were acqainted with earlier in the day and from the way it appeared, it sounded like the rumbling of thunder would befall upon them sooner or later. At the same time though, the two of them couldn't help but feel a little uneasy from the way the atmosphere around them was concerned.

"You feeling that way too?" Yuzuki murmured from her card as the two looked to her "Then again, grey skies are never usually a good sign."

"I suppose..." Aichi replied "The last time I felt like this... was the day Kai-kun had taken up Link Joker as his own. And I didn't even know about it then."

Before Hitoe could reply in response, she looked ahead of Aichi whilst he still had his back turned to whatever she was seeing and gasped in shock. Then, immediately without warning, she grabbed his hand, much to his surprise as he found himself being pulled forwards and to his left, just in time to notice what appeared to be a sharp knife that flew past him and struck the stone wall that was beside the steps they had come down. Realizing he would have been struck had it not been for Hitoe's unexpected action, he breathed heavily for a moment, feeling lucky to have avoided something like that and grateful that the Selector had pulled him out of harm's way, at least for the moment.

"A knife...?!" he murmured "Don't tell me...!"

The Royal Paladin user immediately turned around, seeing who had attempted to attack him at this very moment and given the weapon that was used, it was no surprise that he would recognize who had targeted him at this very moment.

"Akira...!" gasped Hitoe.

"You know, your little shtick with knives and other sharp objects is really starting to get old," Yuzuki muttered.

"Well excuse me, incest lover," the Selector spat back, keeping her trademarked sneer plastered on her lips "But as it's Sendou I'm after, I'm saving you for a later occasion."

"Run Hitoe!" called Aichi "Find Kai-kun and the others!"

As Hitoe began to back away from the park, Akira immediately turned her gaze upon her for a moment before returning her attention back towards the Royal Paladin user, lunging towards him with a mighty leap and a thrust of her knife. Quickly jumping aside, Aichi briefly gasped for a moment before the Selector immediately without warning lunged towards him again, this time leaving him with no window of opportunity to jump out of the way in time. Realizing he would have to try and defend himself, he braced himself before immediately grabbing ahold of Akira's arms, leaving the two locked in a grapple as he tried his best to prevent her from overpowering him so she could not stab or slash him immediately afterwards.

"Akira, why are you helping Ulith?!" he cried "Don't you know the terrible kinds of things that she's even capable of?!"

"Of course, that's why I feel like helping her," she mused as she gazed into his brave, yet somewhat terrified eyes "You thought I was vying for 'Hittoe' so you could play the hero? I know from Ulith that outside of battles or cardfights, you're nothing more than a pacifist, a coward whose afraid of breaking his own morals just for survival in this world!"

Aichi ignored her words and tried desperately to stand his ground and keep the stalemate for as long as he could, but Akira's more offensive stance, not helped by the fact that her knife was mere inches from his left wrist, was quickly overpowering him. But that was far from the least of his concerns. Deep down, he was hoping that Hitoe had fled the park and sought immediate safety with Kai so that Akira wouldn't dare to attack them as a group. That brief moment of concern was all the Selector needed as she stopped her push on Aichi before immediately pulling back and thrusting her head right into his own, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the ground, giving her the time she needed to pin his torso with her right shoe.

"You messed with Ulith-chan..." she spoke as her knife shone for a moment "Now I'm gonna mess you up, starting by scarring that 'brave' face!"

As Aichi closed his eyes, expecting the worst to befall him immediately, he suddenly reopened them from the sound of a struggle going on above him as he gasped to see what was going on before him.

"Hitoe?!"

And indeed it was. Hitoe who had seemingly begun to fled the park when the game of cat and mouse had been laid down had actually remained for the duration of the conflict and for whatever reason on her mind had decided to help Aichi in this dire moment as she struggled to hold back Akira's right arm, in the hopes of making the Selector drop the knife in the ensuing struggle.

"Let go of me you weak-ass bitch!" she screamed.

"L... Leave Aichi-kun alone!" Hitoe replied, trying to muster up her own bravery in this most dangerous of situations.

"What are you doing Hitoe?!" cried Yuzuki.

"Fine, there's plenty of room for me to scar both of you at once!" Akira growled.

The Selector slowly began to rise up from Aichi and immediately spun in a violent manner, sending Hitoe falling to the floor at a small distance away from her. As Aichi got up from the floor and began to run over to Hitoe in concern, Akira immediately turned his attention back towards him as she pointed her knife right at him, stopping his advance immediately. He remained still for the moment, knowing that there was no telling if any action he took to back away immediately would result in her turning her wrath upon the fallen Selector. Before Akira could do anything else as she moved closer and closer to Aichi, preparing to strike him down, a familiar voice suddenly echoed into her head, one that only she could hear at this very moment.

"Akira, stop this at once!"

 _U... Ulith-chan...?!_ Akira exclaimed in her thoughts, wondering how it was that the cruel demanored Selector was contacting her this way.

"I need Sendou alive for my plans to succeed!" she growled "You won't ruin them by having him bleed to death or fulfilling whatever pointless agenda you have planned! Is that clear?!"

Whilst Aichi and Hitoe saw that the Selector was briefly startled for the moment, unaware of how Ulith was contacting her in the first place, they were confused as to why she did not resume her attack on them immediately afterwards. The Royal Paladin user however had tensed up on his own accord, sensing a familiar feeling of dread in comparison to a previous encounter. Akira hissed under her breath for a moment as she put away her knife before leaping up to the top of the stone steps that led out of the park, taking her leave immediately afterwards. Silence immediately fell as Aichi almost shivered for a moment, feeling a small bit of anxiety creep up into his mind at this very moment.

 _That was close..._ he murmured in his thoughts  _But just now, it felt like that Ulith was..._

After a harsh breeze whistled over the park followed by the reassurance that Akira would not return at this very moment, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over to Hitoe, helping her back onto her feet. After she shook off the dirt from her clothes caught by the earlier fall, she looked at the card containing Yuzuki, that was still hung in the neck wallet she wore.

"Hitoe, that was completely idiotic, even for you!" the LRIG yelled in a scolding tone "If Akira ended up stabbing you, how was Aichi was going to explain this to your mother?!"

Whilst the Selector remained seemingly motionless at first, her breathing could be heard as somewhat hectic as she tried to gather up her thoughts together from what had happened moments earlier.

"Hitoe-san...?" murmured Aichi.

"When I saw you struggling to hold back Akira's knife..." she stuttered "I... couldn't... I couldn't run away."

"What do you mean?" Yuzuki murmured, raising an eyebrow in response.

"Instinct..." Umr murmured, bringing everyone's attention to the black LRIG as Aichi brought out the card containing her "Hitoe couldn't bear to see Aichi, the one that had helped her to open up and grow in her self-confidence... become fatally wounded."

"If he was scarred or stabbed... I..."

Unable to finish her sentence, Hitoe closed her eyes and suddenly leapt right into Aichi as he just stood still, almost completely startled by her sudden action that had just happened right in front of him. The Selector had unexpectedly caught him in an embrace, presumably from out of a sudden jolt of fear from the thought of him being wounded by Akira having crossed her mind. As she kept herself rather close to the Royal Paladin user with her arms held tightly around the top half of his jacket, just underneath his elbows, the right side of her face was up against the front of his chest, just below his neck. Unsure of what to do, Aichi simply looked at the card he had held with Umr simply holding an expression of confusion as the entire area around them became completely silent over the course of the next minute or so.

"Um... H... Hitoe-san?" he pondered as the Selector finally opened her eyes, having realized what she had just done. Slowly, she let go of Aichi before backing away a little from him.

"I... I'm sorry..." she murmured as her cheeks flushed a bright pink for a brief moment "I... just panicked for a moment. Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," Aichi said in reassurance "You were just worried about me."

Hitoe breathed for a moment as she finally calmed down from what had just transpired moments earlier, feeling happier for his safety and also relieved that they had managed to avoid another attack by Akira, for now at least. Meanwhile, Yuzuki had been pondering deep in thought over the whole event and what had happened after it.

 _Why did Akira just leave us like that?_ she pondered  _She was in a position to attack Aichi again, but for some reason she didn't._

As she continued to delve deeper into her thoughts, the LRIG looked up to see Aichi and Hitoe talking with Umr over what had just happened, particuarly the aftermath scenario where the Selector had hugged him out of panic and concern. As the Royal Paladin user tried to explain everything to his own LRIG, hoping to clear up any confusion that she had from being unfamiliar with this kind of action, Yuzuki also couldn't help but think over Hitoe's behavior around him thus far and up to this point.

_Now that I think about it... Hitoe does admire Aichi's bravery and he has been kind enough to help her with her anxiety. But if what I think is true... is she actually...?_

"Hello... Hitoe-chan..."

Upon hearing the voice that had addressed her at this very moment, Hitoe suddenly gasped as she looked behind Aichi to see who it was. She gained a hopeful smile upon recognizing how the person appeared, with her black hair tied up in a bow around the back, her orangish eyes and the white coat she wore. That was all the Selector needed to confirm as the Royal Paladin user turned around to see who it was that approched them.

"S... Sakuya!" she cried as she ran over towards her old friend "I can't believe it's really you!"

As Hitoe went over to greet her, Aichi was about to join her when he looked on ahead and stopped in his advance. He looked down to Umr who nodded in agreement with him, having shared the suspicions as him.

"Wait, Hitoe...!" the LRIG called, prompting her to halt in her progress.

As the Selector stopped in her tracks and looked back to Aichi and Umr, confused by their sudden suspicion at this very moment, she looked back towards Sakuya and soon realized that something indeed was very wrong. Her smile and overall expression seemed rather unnatural compared to what Hitoe had remembered back in their time together when she was still living in Aomori. Then there was also the fact that her orange eyes had now become a dull shade of their former self.

"I never thought you'd actually become one..." she giggled "I was curious as to what you were up to since you moved here."

"S... Sakuya... what's going on?" Hitoe asked nervously.

"Why... our battle that will commence of course," Sakuya spoke in a rather creepy tone as an all too familiar aura suddenly surrounded her, leading the others to gasp in horror.

"What the... Reverse?!" exclaimed Yuzuki.

As Aichi breathed in worry, knowing that Sakuya was more than likely to initiate a Selector Battle with Hitoe at this very moment whilst being under the control of the Void's power, he immediately began to dig through his pocket to bring out one of the deck cases he had on hand so that he could challenge the reversed Selector in Hitoe's place. As he had made his mind on which deck to use, he suddenly saw Hitoe holding up Yuzuki's card.

"W... Wait Hitoe-san...!" he gasped.

"Please...!" she cried "I don't know how Sakuya got into this mess... but I want to save her! I couldn't do anything when Ruko was trapped in Reverse, so...!"

"Mess...?"

Hitoe looked back towards Sakuya, feeling slightly nerved by her creepy expression exhibited by the power of Reverse that had already overwhelmed her. She knew deep down, she was scared to face one of her closest friends in a Selector Battle, regardless of whether she was reversed or not. But at the same time, she knew that if nothing was done to stop her in her current state, other Selectors and their LRIGs would be in danger of being reversed by her, not knowing how many she may have faced before their encounter at this moment.

"Oh... I can assure you it's far from a mess..." Sakuya continued "I simply have Reverse as a bonus to obtain my wish. And that wish is... to bring you back to where you truely belong!"

As the park fell silent from the Selector's words at this very moment, Aichi was almost hesistant with allowing Hitoe to go through with a battle at this very moment, if only out of concern for not wanting her to fall to Reverse herself. But at the same time, he knew that she had made a point. She wasn't as strong as Ruko which was why she couldn't do anything to save her when she had her own problems with that power and this time, the dillema lay with a friend that she had not seen for a long time. Umr looked up from her card to the Royal Paladin user, as if she was expecting an answer from him.

"What should we do?" she asked.

"I want to battle in Hitoe's place..." he murmured "But... Sakuya means a lot to Hitoe-san. She was the reason she had hope for her wish to make new friends. Interfering now just won't feel right and she's come a long way from battling Akira. Umr... Hitoe deserves a chance to save her friend."

"Very well then."

Aichi nodded in reply and walked over to Hitoe as she looked back towards him. Sakuya briefly stared at him for a moment, not knowing of his connection to Umr or the Royal Paladins at this very moment.

"Hitoe-san... please be careful," he spoke.

"I promise... Aichi-kun," she replied as she held out Yuzuki's card in front of her, the LRIG herself feeling slightly nervous for what was to come.

"Let's go then, Hitoe-chan..." Sakuya spoke as she brought out her LRIG card, it too covered in the dark flowing red aura of Reverse "Open!"

And with that, the red streams of Reverse swirled around the three of them, bringing them over to the battlefield that they would be stationed at.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

When everyone had regained their sense of reality, Hitoe and Yuzuki glanced around to find that they were not within the usual battlefield that most Selectors would be playing in. Instead, recognizable to the two of them from the black void and the stars all around them was the exact same field that Aichi and Kai had previously fought Ruko and Mayu in, also evidenced by the single red surface that was in front of the Selector and the fact that Yuzuki herself was now back to her normal size as a human within this space. Looking to the side, they could see that Aichi and Umr, who was now back to the size she was when Takuto was helping her in fleeing the White Room, were observing from the sidelines in a spot that would hopefully be out of range from the attacks that would be exchanged.

"This place again?!" Yuzuki groaned.

"L... Looks like it..." Hitoe murmured as she took the time to get her thoughts together from seeing the cards that were currently laid out on the table.

"It's been a long time..."

Immediately, the two of them gasped as to the new voice they had heard at this very moment, one that was instantly recognizable to the both of them and one they thought they wouldn't hear from again for a very long time. Shivering upon realizing who that voice had belonged to, Hitoe looked forward to see Sakuya prepared on the other side of the field with a familiar LRIG standing in front of her table. Yuzuki eventually looked forward to see the LRIG herself and needless to say, her expression shared just as much shock as her Selector was feeling.

"M... Midoriko?!" they gasped.

Indeed, it was. Midoriko herself still retained the same appearance that she did as she would whenever a Selector Battle would begin as her being a Level 0 LRIG. Like her current Selector however, her expression was also one that was displaying some kind of malicious intent, twisted by the power that had now corrupted her, all because of Photon who had infected her prior.

"I never thought I'd battle you two... let alone like this..." she murmured, her smile taking a creepy turn to it.

"That's... Midoriko?" Aichi murmured.

Whilst Umr remained silent for the moment, having no comment of her own to add to the current situation at hand, Sakuya gazed at Midoriko for a moment, curious about her prior knowledge of Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"You know them already?" she asked.

"Of course," the green LRIG answered "They were old accomplices before I met you. But with Link Joker's power, a permanent reunion will be possible. Then, we'll never lose the person we care about to anything ever again."

"That is true," Sakuya replied as she looked back towards Hitoe who looked far more nervous than she had ever been.

A creaking noise was then heard as everyone looked up to see that the roulette from the regular Selector Battlefields had appeared above their heads and had already begun spinning, each of its slots being adorned with a red and green colour. Eventually, after a few tense moments had passed over, the wheel eventually stopped on a green slot, much to the annoyance of Yuzuki as she briefly groaned under her breath.

"I go first," Sakuya spoke as she drew her single card before gazing over to Hitoe. "I'll tell you a hint. With this newfound power, the battle will end exactly on the seventh turn!"

"T... The seventh turn...?" she breathed.

"You can't be serious!" Yuzuki exclaimed "There's no way you'll know how the battle ends!"

"Then, I'll have to prove it to you," the Selector spoke as she held out her hand "Midoriko, grow!"

A series of rectangular flashes rose up around Midoriko, not changing her current appearance by much other than adding a transparent green scarf that wrapped around her neck and a large pair of dark green gloves that materialized around her fists. In front of her appeared a single SIGNI by the name of Hyakko, Phantom Beast. It appeared to be feline like as evidenced by both the tail and ears it had. Hitoe looked closely at the field before her for the moment, almost as if it was somehow familiar to her.

 _I've played with Midoriko before..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _But now that she's reversed..._

"Hitoe!" called Yuzuki "I know Midoriko was your LRIG before, but you need to focus if we're going to save them!"

"Y... Yes!" she replied as drew her two cards to begin her turn "Yuzuki, grow!"

A series of fiery rectangular flashes rose up around Yuzuki, giving her small draconic like wings that were attached to her back and the two gunmetal single barreled cannons she now had as a result of the power she recieved from Dragonic Overlord and several of Kai's Kagero units. In front of her appeared Gattling Claw Dragon and another unit that was unfamiliar to her at this moment. It appeared to be a human male with greyish hair, wielding a trident like spear.

"Here I come, Midoriko, Sakuya!" she called.

"Naive," Sakuya murmured as she revealed a card from her LRIG deck "Doping. I add 3000 power to Hyakko."

As a golden aura surrounded the Earth Beast SIGNI to increase its strength, Yuzuki seemed a little worried for the moment, concerned that Hitoe's first few attacks of the turn would be reduced from this sudden turn of events. However, the Selector herself whilst concerned for the state of her friend and the LRIG she once fought beside was not worried about the situation that was before her.

"I attack Hyakko with Perdition Dragon Knight, Gia!" she declared.

Whilst Midoriko and Sakuya gasped in shock to this sudden declaration, Gia dashed across the space towards his target before a bright red aura surrounded both him and Yuzuki, as if the Kagero unit was somehow drawing strength from the red LRIG herself.

**Perdition Dragon Knight, Gia: 2000 - 5000**

The Dragon Knight then slashed across the front of Hyakko with his trident-like spear, immediately banishing the SIGNI from the battlefield in an instant. Gattling Claw Dragon then pointed its right arm towards Midoriko and opened fire upon her. The LRIG shielded her face from the fiery hot bullets, cringing briefly in pain for several moments as the attack then came to an end after that. The first crushed Life Cloth on Sakuya's table was Beagle, Phantom Beast as the Selector herself looked down in surprise, having not expected that manuver to come before her.

"Yuzuki attacks!"

She looked back ahead to hear Hitoe call out her next attack as Yuzuki pointed one of her cannons towards Midoriko who could only brace herself for the incoming impact. Sakuya then glanced back at the cards she held before picking out one of them.

"You are full of surprises today, Hitoe-chan," she mused, having recovered from her brief surprise of Gia's effect "But you're not the only one with new tricks in store. Guard!"

As the stream of fire erupted from Yuzuki's cannon and hurtled across the battlefield towards Midoriko, a flash of light appeared in front of the corrupted green LRIG as a figure materialized before her. A female human like figure, dressed in white robes and having black hair with bluish eyes and a headdress of her own, held out both of her hands in front of her as she projected a barrier around Sakuya's side of the field, deflecting Yuzuki's attack with the greatest of ease. As the figure then departed from the space, both Hitoe and her LRIG were surprised by what had just occurred at this moment, but none were more shocked than Aichi who had easily recognized the unit that was used at this moment.

"B... Be careful Hitoe!" he called "Sakuya has Genesis units!"

"Genesis...?!" gasped Hitoe.

"Then... some of those cards must be the same units from this Misaki Kai told us about," Yuzuki muttered as she looked back towards her opponents.

Midoriko remained silent for the moment as her gaze trailed upon Hitoe, noticing her regain her composure after turning her attention away from Aichi to resume the battle.

 _Hitoe... you've definitely changed since we were last together..._ she murmured in her thoughts as she began recounting the times they spent as friends  _You're still nervous as always, but... your resolve has hardened. I don't know if Yuzuki had something to do with it after she learnt the truth for herself, but I can sense that isn't the only factor involved._

The green LRIG then gazed over to the sidelines towards Aichi and Umr, who looked on for their friend in concern, hoping she would be able to overcome the challenge that was posed before her and emerge safely from it with two of her closest friends liberated from the grip of the Void.

_I heard whispers going around Tokyo before Sakuya and I obtained this blessing of Link Joker that a boy through the name of Kai Toshiki, one who commands the flames of purgatory and a dragon for an LRIG was able to participate in the Selector Battles. This one doesn't match the description, especially with 'that' LRIG he has, but I can sense Hitoe somehow shares a connection with him. Could he be the reason she's gained more confidence since our last battle together?_

"Midoriko-san!" Hitoe cried, bringing the LRIG's attention over to her "How did you get to Sakuya and how did you two get reversed?!"

Before Midoriko could consider speaking from her point of view, Sakuya made a hand motion for her to stop immediately, causing the others to presume that she would tell her side of the story so far first.

"When you moved away from Aomori, things seemed rather lonely," she began "Neither of us had the power to change the mind of your parents at that time. I couldn't imagine how you must have been feeling, being so far away from your true home."

"It's true that things were lonely when I first came to Tokyo," Hitoe murmured "B... But, I recieved your letter a month or two ago and I was able to find some new friends. Midoriko-san was one of the closest friends I ever had then."

"Exactly..." the reversed Selector replied "But then, something happened to you and for whatever reason, I was not permitted until recently to go to the city myself to investigate for myself. But now that I command Reverse as my own, you can come back with me and together with Midoriko, we can reverse even more Selectors and prove that your ignorant parents were wrong all along!"

Yuzuki breathed in worry for a moment, knowing that Midoriko had not told Sakuya anything about her time with Hitoe until now and she was still unaware that it was because of the Selector's tainted wish from losing to Yuki and Ulith that was responsible for the 'something' that even she was still in the dark about. The green LRIG herself then looked up towards the pair, intending to answer the question that she had been asked at this very moment.

"Certainly, I'll admit the process was painful..." she mused, her tone holding a hint of malice to it "But now that both I and Sakuya can command Reverse as our own, I'm now certainly thankful for the reward that was given to us, by Photon."

Aichi suddenly froze up in shock, realizing who exactly was responsible for infecting Midoriko with the power that flowed through her and Sakuya. Umr herself grimaced also, having recalled the name of the Star-vader himself.

"M... Midoriko-san..." he breathed.

"Now then Hitoe, I believe your turn has come to an end has it not?" Midoriko asked.

The Selector simply nodded in response, knowing that she had used up all of her possible attacks during this turn and that for the moment, there was nothing more she could do but wait and see what other tricks that Reverse had in store for her.

**End of Turn 2**

**Hitoe vs Sakuya**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-One, Ember of Perdition : Midoriko, First Girl**

**SIGNI : Gattling Claw Dragon - Perdition Dragon Knight, Gia - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 2**

Sakuya kept her confident smile as she drew her next two cards before moving one of the two cards in her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile before placing a new card from her LRIG deck on top of the one that represented Midoriko's Level 1 form.

"Grow!" she called "Midoriko, Second Girl!"

A series of flashes once again enveloped Midoriko, though her appearance had hardly changed at all with the only difference being the addition of a few extra green markings that were present on top of her forehead. Three bright glows appeared in front of the reversed LRIG, revealing that Sakuya had summoned yet another Hyakko to the field, but this time, it was not alone. To the right of the Earth Beast appeared another Green SIGNI by the name of Koalan, Phantom Beast and to the left was another Genesis unit, this time going under the name of Battle Maiden, Sahohime as evidenced by the similar clothing of the unit used to block Yuzuki's attack previously. A green aura surrounded Hyakko as it powered up from Koalan's own aura.

**Hyakko, Phantom Beast: 1000 - 4000**

"Hyakko attacks first!" Sakuya declared "With her skill, I Ener Charge!"

As the top card of her deck moved to her Ener Zone, Hyakko swiped her claws down across Gia, immediately banishing him from the field, leaving only Gattling Claw Dragon on its own as it was quickly overpowered by Koalan. Then after the chaos had settled, if only for a few mere moments, Sahohime summoned two pink circles that rotated around her weapon before she pointed it right at Yuzuki, sending them hurling as projectiles right towards her as they immediately exploded on contact, engulfing her and Hitoe in a cloud of smoke. The red LRIG coughed loudly in pain, failing to look ahead just in time to see Midoriko leap through the black smog and deal a devastating right punch into her cheek, sending her flying back a little way across the battlefield towards Hitoe who gasped in concern.

"Y... Yuzuki!" she cried as her second Life Cloth flew past her.

"Don't worry about me...!" Yuzuki replied "Just focus on your end!"

The Selector nodded as she looked back to her Ener Zone to see that the second successful attack had crushed Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon giving her a Life Burst in this moment of need. The first crushed cloth was Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon, nothing at all to have helped her then.

"W... With Lintwurm," she spoke "I add Menace Laser Dragon to my hand!"

"Fine with me," Sakuya mused "But since Sahohime's attack already hit you earlier, my Ener Zone has already been buffed up to four cards!"

Hitoe then stared towards the reversed Selector's table, briefly sweating for a moment upon realizing the situation she was being dragged closer and closer to, having been more than well acqainted with Midoriko's playstyle, now strengthened by both the Void's power and the units of the Genesis clan. Aichi looked over at the Selector, worried for her safety at this very moment.

"I knew Midoriko's playstyle was similar to Genesis' speciality of manipulating the soul..." he murmured "But..."

"When they are in combination together," Umr interjected "The speed of Ener Charging for the more powerful attacks accustoms her the best."

After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, Hitoe looked over towards Aichi, noticing his concern for her at this very moment. When the brief silence was over, the Selector knew she could begin her turn as she looked down to the table in front of her before looking back to Midoriko and Sakuya.

 _If there's one thing I know, I wasn't able to do anything for you the way I was then... But things are different now,_ she murmured in her thoughts  _Watch me Aichi-kun. With everything I've learned from you, Yuzuki and I will definitely save them!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Perdition Dragon Knight, Gia**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if you have an LRIG with “Perdition” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 6000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if you have an LRIG with “Perdition” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Goddess of Self-sacrifice, Kushinada**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Green  
> Class: Noble  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Green LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Battle Maiden, Sahohime**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Green  
> Class: Noble  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Green: When this SIGNI’s attack damages an LRIG (even if the damage is dealt by Lancer), if you have a Green LRIG, Ener Charge 3.


	58. Arc 3 - Ride 58: The Growth of a Single Soul

**City Streets**

Kamui panted as he hurried around the streets of Tokyo, still having been unsuccessful in his efforts of finding Amika and warning her about the danger of the Selector Battles. Aside from looking for the Selector and Piruluk, whom he was looking forward to seeing the least out of the two of them, there was also the plan of attack on his home world that he had overheard from both Ulith and Miyako, unaware of the latter's success in stealing Gaillard's units and marking him just like how Kiyoi had done to him earlier. Eventually, after turning a corner and looking out ahead of where he was going, he stopped in his tracks to see the person that he had been seeking at this very moment.

"Amika!" he called as he ran over towards her.

Amika upon hearing his words turned around to face him as he stopped just a little in front of her. Her expression had not been a happy one in contrast to how she usually felt and to the Nova Grappler user, something felt rather wrong.

"Amika...?" he murmured in confusion "Is something up?"

Amika breathed for a moment as she dug into her pocket before taking out an LRIG card, revealed to be Piruluk's own card as evidenced by her usual cold and emotionless demanor. Kamui looked up at the Selector in confusion to see that she was doing her best to avoid crying out loud for whatever reason she had on her mind at this very moment.

"Kamui..." she spoke, quivering for a moment "... Please battle me!"

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Back within the battlefield, billows of smoke poured from the ground in front of Midoriko as she struggled back to her feet, now that Hitoe's second turn had come to an end. Yuzuki along with the units and SIGNI in front of her had just finished their wave of attacks against the green LRIG and her reversed Selector, helping Hitoe to gain a slight edge on the lead she had regained thus far. To the far right was Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon followed by Tokage, Phantom Dragon and Kannya, Phantom Dragon. Sakuya's field had no SIGNI of her own, her formation in front of Midoriko was completely empty and she only had four Life Cloths left. However, her Ener Zone was now brought up to 7 cards with an earlier Life Burst having increased the number of cards in her hand by one.

Aichi and Umr watched anxiously from where they were standing, now sensing that the danger that was posed to their companions was creeping steadily closer towards them with every passing turn and with every Level that Midoriko advanced up, the dark aura of Reverse continued to intensify in turn. Sakuya drew her two cards and placed one of them into her Ener Zone, revealed to be Witch of Grapes, Grappa. Then, both that card and a second copy of the Genesis unit moved from the Ener Zone to the Trash Pile as a dark aura surrounded Midoriko, changing her appearance ever so slightly as she emerged within her Level 3 form, keeping the creepy smile on her face as she did so.

"In this moment, Grappa's skill is triggered!" Sakuya called as picked up four cards from the top of her deck "Ener Charge!"

"10 cards...!" Yuzuki muttered.

"And... I also activate Swift Advance! Time for a Cross Grow!"

As the colourless Spell card revealed itself to everyone present, Hitoe looked on in worry as the dark aura of Reverse completely enveloped Midoriko, obscuring her from sight as it turned from dark red to pitch black.

"M... Midoriko-san...!" she cried.

"It's coming...!" Aichi gasped "Her reversed form!"

The black aura dispersed as Midoriko emerged, her appearance now warped completely by the Void's power. Her outfit remained mostly unchanged, only it was now stained with a black colour, as was a large portion of the LRIG's hair to signify this and she now wore additional armour over her legs and arms. A black ring with incomprehensible red runes carved into it hovered behind her back and mounted on each of her two gloves were three long razor sharp talons, showing how much more malicious Reverse had transformed her into. Opening up her eyes, now dyed in a blood red colour, Midoriko gazed upon Hitoe and Yuzuki who gasped in horror as Sakuya called out the name of this form.

"Midoriko... Dauntless War Empress Type Яeverse!"

"So it's shown itself again..." Umr murmured as she gazed upon the changed Midoriko, recalling that Tama was once under a similar state when Ulith had reversed her.

"Be careful, Hitoe-san...!" cried Aichi, concerned for his friend's safety.

As Hitoe looked back at the Royal Paladin user for a brief moment, Sakuya gazed upon him for a moment before looking back to her old friend, seeing that she had caught her attention back to the battle.

"Unfortunately, I can't end the battle as soon as I would like," she muttered "After all, it's still only the fifth turn and this is but a preview of what is to come."

The reversed Selector then placed down three additional cards from her hand onto the empty SIGNI zones on her table as the beings represented on the cards appeared in front of Midoriko. Those were two Seiryu, Phantom Beasts in the left and right columns and in the center was a SIGNI by the name of Bigtatt, Phantom Beast in the center column. The dark aura of Reverse radiated around them, as if it was somehow strengthening them even further.

**Seiryu, Phantom Beast x2: 12000 - 14000 - 16000**

**Bigtatt, Phantom Beast: 8000 - 10000 - 12000**

"Then I Trash Bigtatt and summon another Seiryu!" Sakuya called "And I power her up with a second Doping ARTS!"

Bigtatt then vanished from the battlefield in a thick black smog as a third Seiryu suddenly appeared in the Earth Beast SIGNI's place, powering up through Midoriko's aura and the use of the ARTS at this very moment.

"All of them have Lancer now..." Yuzuki breathed as she looked back at Hitoe "Hitoe, we better brace ourselves!"

As Hitoe nodded in response to her LRIG's concern, she gazed down at her hand before looking down at her Life Cloths, now remembering what cards she had left over in her deck after searching through it earlier for Menace Laser Dragon with Lintwurm's earlier Life Burst. She knew she was in trouble and that for the moment, there was very little she could in this situation, especially with the cards she had left over in her hand.

"Let's go!" Sakuya declared "My three Seiryus will pierce through those ugly dragons!"

The three Seiryus each lashed out their claws across the front of Menace Laser Dragon, Tokage and Kannya, banishing the three dragons from the field as they then set their sights immediately upon Yuzuki, who could only cringe in the realization that Hitoe did not have a Quintet Wall to shield her from any of the oncoming damage headed their way. Each of the Seiryus took their turn in slashing across the LRIG who screamed loudly with each scratch as Hitoe's next three Life Cloths flipped face up from each one that was dealt. First it was Perdition Dragon Knight, Gia, then it was Gattling Claw Dragon and finally Perdition Dragon, Vicious Dragon.

Before Yuzuki had a chance to recover from the onslaught, she looked up to see Midoriko with a crazed expression on her face charging towards her with the talons on her right glove being extended out and shimmering brightly as a result. She slashed across the LRIG once again as she fell onto her back, breathing heavily as a result of taking four attacks from Sakuya's side of the field all at once. Scratches and cuts from the talons had torn off some of the outfit and she was barely able to stand back up as she stumbled on her knees for a moment.

"Yuzuki...!" cried Hitoe "Are you...?"

"I... I'll be alright...!" she groaned as she cringed in pain for a moment.

"The pain will be over soon Yuzuki," Midoriko spoke "All that is needed is just one more turn."

"Indeed," Sakuya murmured "Then... things can finally go back to the way they were meant to be."

**End of Turn 5**

**Hitoe vs Sakuya**

**Hand - 5 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Two, Flare of Perdition :** **Midoriko, Dauntless War Empress Type Яeverse**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Seiryu, Phantom Beast : Seiryu, Phantom Beast : Seiryu, Phantom Beast**

**Ener - 7 : 9**

"U... Up and draw."

Hitoe calmly drew her next two cards as she looked over what she had available in her hand before looking back to Aichi and Umr, still noticing their somewhat concerned expressions in the wake of her current situation. As she looked back to face Midoriko and Sakuya, she suddenly saw the aura of Reverse intensify around her old friend.

"Tell me, Hitoe," she spoke, a hint of displeasure to her tone "... What importance is that boy to you?"

"Importance?" Yuzuki pondered.

"... A... Aichi's one of my new friends," Hitoe answered "H... He helped me to have faith in my own abilities. And it's because of him and them that I'm now trying to save you."

"Save me...?" Sakuya murmured, the distaste in her voice rising by the second "Even if he's somehow acted as a confidence booster... what does he really know about you?!"

As the aura around the reversed Selector continued to intensify in size and strength, Hitoe and Aichi gasped in shock, noticing the sudden change in her friend's expression. For whatever reason, she seemed to dislike the idea that Aichi had decided to help her in the first place and she wasn't sure as to why this was. Then in an instant, a memory suddenly flashed before her eyes, believing she had now found the reason as to why Reverse was driving Sakuya to act like this in the first place.

"Wait a second..." she breathed "That day... are you saying...?"

"That's right...!" Sakuya yelled "Your ignorant parents took you away from your place of peace and tranquility, forcing you to endure countless days of loneliness against your wishes! No one from this city... not even this Aichi who stands here... could understand how you truely feel!"

"H... Hey!" Yuzuki shouted in response "I don't know what's causing you to go out of whack, but neither Aichi, Ruko or Hitoe's parents are hardly as insensitive as you think!"

"Don't talk like you know Yuzuki!" Midoriko replied "Sakuya and I both owe a debt to our closest friend and that is to bring her happiness, even if it means defeating you two! I wasn't strong enough to protect her from Iona and this is the only way we can make up for our mistakes!"

As the field went silent for the moment, the tension having only rised up a little further, Hitoe decided to bring her attention back to the battle as she revealed Perdition Dancer, Agafia from her hand and placed it into her Ener Zone before taking it and Vicious Dragon from there and placing them into her Trash Pile.

"Grow!" she called as Yuzuki was enveloped in an orange glow "Yuzuki-Three, Flame of Perdition!"

As Yuzuki's wings grew slightly larger and her outfit was repaired partially from the effects of the Grow, Aichi went deep down into thought from everything he had just heard as Umr glanced over to him.

"I never knew Sakuya felt so strongly about Hitoe when she left Aomori..." he said to himself "And Midoriko only wants to make things right for them."

"Aichi..." the LRIG murmured.

"But even so..." the Royal Paladin user continued "With the way they are now... the only thing I can do is to have hope for Hitoe."

As he looked up to continue his viewing of the battle that was continuing to unfold in front of him, he looked back to Hitoe to see her reveal another card from her hand and it was one that was instantly recognizable.

"So you have one as well..." Sakuya muttered.

"W... With my own Swift Advance, I Superior Grow!" Hitoe called as a torrent of fire enveloped Yuzuki, enlarging her wings, changing up the appearance of her cannons and the silver headcrown with the Kagero clan symbol emblazed upon it appeared on the LRIG's forehead. "Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition!"

As Yuzuki emerged from the flames that dispersed across the battlefield, even Midoriko could not help but stare at the newly changed form of Hitoe's LRIG at this very moment, curious about the power that was coursing through her veins at this very moment. She looked on as Yuzuki landed on her feet with the aid of her much larger wings as they flapped in sync with each other, almost stirring up a little whirlwind at this very moment.

"W... What kind of power is this?!" she gasped "That power Yuzuki has... it's not from 'her'!"

"I summon Vicious Dragon and Mušḫuššu!" Hitoe called as the Kagero units and the Level 4 Dragon Beast appeared in front of Yuzuki "I banish the Seiryu that is in the same column as it!"

Vicious Dragon roared loudly as it aimed its head at the center Seiryu before unleashing a torrent of flames at it, banishing her from the battlefield as Sakuya growled in annoyance.

"Yuzuki's skill!" Hitoe called as she sent three of her four remaining Ener to her Trash Pile "I banish another SIGNI and you have to send all SIGNI with the same or a lower Level from your Ener to your Trash!"

"Tsk, how annoying!" Sakuya muttered as she took ahold of Seiryu and four cards from her Ener Zone "I send my other Seiryu and my Level 3 SIGNI from my Ener to my Trash!"

"Mušḫuššu's skill! For each Ener Yuzuki burned away this turn, she gets 4000 power!"

**Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess: 12000 - 32000**

After the Phantom Dragon Princess recieved the power bonus from Yuzuki's efforts as of now, another Perdition Dancer, Agafia appeared on the field beside Vicious Dragon as she took a stance in preparation for the battle that lay ahead in the coming moments. Midoriko could only growl upon realizing the situation that she and her Selector were in and it was one that was very unpleasant for them.

"Mušḫuššu's skill allows her to banish another SIGNI when she attacks and since she's well over 20000 power..." she muttered.

"No way..." Sakuya breathed as she suddenly realized that she no longer held a single card in her hand. The Reverse aura intensified even more as her anger and frustration continued to rise. "Am I actually going to lose before the seventh turn?!"

"Now's our chance Hitoe!" Yuzuki called "Hit them with everything we've got!"

"Mušḫuššu attacks!" Hitoe declared "With her skill, I banish the last Seiryu!"

Mušḫuššu nodded to her Selector's command and flapped her wings in a hard manner, sending a strong gale right into the Seiryu that was in front of Agafia before it immediately caught on fire, banishing the Earth Beast SIGNI from the battlefield. The Phantom Dragon Princess then set her sights on Midoriko herself as she took flight into the air and materialized a sphere of flames in her hands. Upon throwing it towards the reversed LRIG, she growled as she held up her talons in front of her face in an attempt to shield her face from the impact of the blast. As the explosion engulfed her, Sakuya hissed as she revealed her next two Life Cloths, Goddess of Self-sacrifice, Kushinada and Pandan, Phantom Beast, both of which had Life Bursts.

"I Ener Charge and draw!" she called.

"Vicious Dragon and Agafia attack!" Hitoe continued.

The two Perdition units immediately turned their attention upon Midoriko who could only groan under her breath as she desperately tried to shield her face from both Agafia's torch and the torrent of fire from the head of Vicious Dragon. As the flames engulfed her, Sakuya's final two Life Cloths were revealed to be the Spell Angry Roar and Servant D2. When the flames dispersed once again, Yuzuki took flight into the air with her wings flapping hard to give her extra speed in her charge towards Midoriko. As she was about to fire with her cannon, she gasped and suddenly stopped in mid-glide as Servant D2 materialized in front of Midoriko, blocking any attack she might suffer from this turn.

"So close and yet so far," Sakuya mused as she moved the card to her Trash Pile.

Yuzuki's expression was scrutinized as she returned to Hitoe's side of the field, knowing that although she had wiped out Sakuya's remaining Life Cloths and banished every SIGNI from her field, her Ener was now at 11 cards which was greatly concerning considering that her turn was coming up now.

**End of Turn 6**

**Hitoe vs Sakuya**

**Hand - 3 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Yuzuki-Four, Combustion of Perdition :** **Midoriko, Dauntless War Empress Type Яeverse**

**SIGNI :** **Mušḫuššu, Phantom Dragon Princess** **\- Perdition Dragon, Vicious Dragon - Perdition Dancer, Agafia : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 11**

As Hitoe looked on in concern for both her friend and Midoriko, knowing that for the moment, there was little she could do with the two of them enthralled by the power of Reverse. The aura around the both of them intensified as Sakuya drew her next two cards, ready to announce the beginning of the end for both her and Yuzuki. She began by summoning two SIGNI by the names of Koalan, Phantom Beast and Rhino, Phantom Beast, one of which was another Level 4 like the Seiryus that she summoned last turn.

"By using my Salvage ARTS," she began "I add a Seiryu back to my hand and summon it to the field."

Moments after she did that, Seiryu reappeared on the field as everyone else looked on in worry with none more concerned about this situation than Aichi or Yuzuki. Then, two red markings appeared on Sakuya's cheeks just beneath her eyelids as she looked back to Hitoe.

"I'm the only one who knows how you truely feel about your loneliness..." she spoke "But if you're still insisting on following the word of those people in this city... you leave me and Midoriko no choice! Now is the time to show you the surprise that will end this battle on the seventh turn! Limit Break! I pay 2 and Lock!"

As a black Vanguard circle flashed in front of Midoriko, she smiled deviously and pointed the talons of her right glove towards Rhino who stood in front of her. Two black rings surrounded the Earth Beast SIGNI as she screamed loudly before being Locked into a black sphere by them as the card representing her was turned face-down on Sakuya's table with sparks flying off of it.

"By Locking my Level 4 Rhino," she continued "I can now Ener Charge 4 cards!"

"12 cards..." Yuzuki murmured "Why would she need so many...?"

As Hitoe was pondering on this subject around the same time as her LRIG, remembering everything from her past experiences of fighting alongside Midoriko in her first run of the Selector Battles, she quietly gasped as she realized why this was.

"There is one..." she spoke to herself.

"That's right," Sakuya interrupted, having known that Hitoe had finally figured it out "Behold, my final trump card, the ARTS Late Bloomer! Midoriko, obliterate everything!"

As the Green ARTS revealed itself to all from the reversed Selector's LRIG deck, all twelve of the cards in her Ener Zone moved straight into her Trash Pile as a large green aura surrounded Midoriko, before it was stained a dark red by the Reverse that had enveloped her. The corrupted LRIG opened her eyes with a crazed smile as she yelled out loud and retracted the talons into her gloves before smashing them straight onto the space's floor. A monstrous gale and several mighty shockwaves shook across the battlefield, forcing everyone but Sakuya and Midoriko to cover their face as they tried desperately to stand their ground as all of Hitoe's units and Mušḫuššu immediately vanished in a flurry of white sparks as their cards along with the single card that was left in the Selector's Ener Zone moved straight into her Trash Pile.

"Everything on Hitoe-san's field...!" Aichi gasped.

"Even her Ener is gone...!" Umr interjected.

Hitoe and Yuzuki cried out loud as the effects of the ARTS had not finished being unleashed upon them as of yet. Whilst the LRIG had been fortunate to use her wings to shield herself from the gale, the Selector however was not as lucky. Crying out loud in pain, she was thrown right into the air as her glasses flew right off her face and further backwards across the battlefield. Hitoe landed hard on the floor of the space a few inches from her table whilst her glasses landed more than five times the distance away from her.

"No!" cried Yuzuki "She won't be able to read her cards without them!"

"I'll get them!" Aichi replied as he ran over to the spot where Hitoe's glasses had landed. He picked them up and began to run over to the Selector who was struggling back onto her feet as she cringed in pain from the fall she had taken.

"Stop!"

Aichi suddenly stopped in his tracks as he heard Midoriko's voice who had addressed him at this very moment. Sakuya then gazed upon him as she knew he wanted an answer as to why this was.

"If you or your LRIG dare to approach Hitoe's table, it will be registered as an intrusion and both of you will recieve a loss on your run in the Selector Battles!"

"But...!" Yuzuki replied.

"The rules cannot be set aside," Midoriko replied "If Hitoe leaves her area of the field to retrieve them, it will be registered as a surrender as well."

As the red LRIG growled under her breath, knowing that Hitoe was already at somewhat of a disadvantage with her glasses now out of range from where she was allowed to stand, Aichi clutched the glasses gently, wondering what exactly he should do at this point. He knew with Midoriko and Sakuya already reversed from the start, if he attempted to even approach Hitoe if only to hand back her glasses to her, he would risk disqualifying her from the battle and reversing her as a result of it. A part of him wanted to hope for the best and try to throw them over to her, but the last thing he wanted to do was have them damaged in any way and there was no telling how far away he was from the proximity of Hitoe's area of the battlefield.

"A... Aichi!"

Aichi and Yuzuki looked over to Hitoe, as did Umr who was still standing from where he formerly was before the 'incident', wondering what it was that she was calling him about.

"Hitoe-san?" he murmured.

"P... Please trust me on this!" she called as she rubbed her eyes briefly "I can't read my cards... but I can just make them out enough from their images to remember what they do!"

"Are you sure?!" Yuzuki asked in concern.

Hitoe closed her eyes and gave a single nod in response as she staggered back to her table, almost stumbling in the result as her legs were still aching badly from the earlier fall she had taken moments ago. Opening them back up, she looked over to Sakuya with a hint of newfound determination brimming from within them. The reversed Selector almost hesitated for a moment, the look of Hitoe she was seeing now without her glasses on was something she had not expected to see at all. But she quickly regained her composure as she continued on with her turn.

"Because I sent 12 cards from my Ener to my Trash after the Limit Break," she spoke "Midoriko gains three additional skills! My SIGNI gain 10000 power along with a banish immunity until the end of your next turn, she gains Double Crush and when she attacks, you're not allowed to use Quintet Walls or Level 2 or higher Guard SIGNI to block it!"

As Yuzuki groaned for a moment, knowing that they had now been pushed at what was essentially the worst case scenario they could think of, Hitoe winced a little with little eyesight was available to her, just being enough for her to make out the images on the cards that she held in her hand. She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly.

"So you've finally accepted it," Sakuya spoke "Then here I come! Koalan, wipe out her final Life Cloth!"

Koalan nodded in response as the dark aura of Reverse surrounded her before she charged towards Yuzuki who held out her right wing in front of her to try and shield herself from the attack. The Earth Beast used her left claw to pull it out of the way before slashing down the front of her LRIG with the right claw, dealing the blow that would eliminate Hitoe's very last Life Cloth which was Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon.

"Hitoe...!" groaned Yuzuki as Koalan retreated back to Sakuya's field "If you don't stop this next one, we'll...!"

The LRIG then looked on in wonder as to why Hitoe had remained the way she was throughout the whole ordeal thus far, her expression remaining as it was. She was still breathing slowly in and out to keep her composure calm and her eyes were still closed, much to her confusion at this moment. Needless to say, Yuzuki wasn't the only one who was confused by this rather strange stance. Midoriko and Sakuya were sharing equal expressions, wondering why was this was even happening before them in the first place instead of what they intially thought would happen.

"Why are you still acting defiant...?" the reversed Selector muttered "I just need to deal a single blow and you'll be free from what you've been suffering from all this time!"

As Hitoe did not respond again, Sakuya's temper continued to rise as she glared towards Aichi for a brief moment before turning her attention to Seiryu who had still not attacked at this very moment.

"LOOK AT ME!" she yelled as Seiryu charged towards Yuzuki with her claws extended.

As the LRIG braced herself for impact, a green flash suddenly appeared in front of her as Dragon Knight, Gimel arrived onto the battlefield to protect her. Out of the four circles that were generated by the Kagero unit appeared Tokage, Menace Laser Dragon, Orochi and another Gimel. Seeing that she was outnumbered, Seiryu had no choice but to retreat from the battle as the five figures vanished from the battlefield, much to Sakuya's annoyance as evidenced by her composure being almost broken by her utter shock.

"THE NEXT ONE...!" she screamed.

Midoriko nodded in response to her command as she charged towards Yuzuki who took up a stance in preparation for a chance to try and counterattack. Hitoe, still with her eyes closed however placed another card down onto the very front edge of her table in response. A unit by the name of Perdition Dragon, Rampart Dragon then appeared between the two LRIGs in an eruption and explosion of fire and embers, stopping the reversed LRIG dead in her tracks as it caught each of her gloves' talons effortlessly. Groaning in response, Midoriko kicked the dragon away as she retreated back to Sakuya's side of the field as the reversed Selector's utter shock had left her speechless, just as the fire died down to reveal Hitoe had finally opened her eyes back up. Her foresight was still limited, but that wasn't enough to prevent her from being defeated.

"Amazing, Hitoe-san!" Aichi called from behind "You can save them now!"

"Y... Yeah!" she called in reply as she turned around briefly to face him.

"I... Impossible..." Sakuya breathed in panic "Y... You stopped my final two attacks and you didn't even look at the cards you used...?!"

As she stepped back a little to try and regain her already falling composure, Midoriko could not help but share her own disbelief as well, especially given the circumstances that her former Selector had been faced with.

"Sakuya! Midoriko-san!"

The two of them looked ahead to see that Hitoe was looking ahead to face them both, with her gentle expression having mostly returned back to her face. Only this time, what was once overlapped with anxiety and nervousness appeared to have mostly disappeared with newfound confidence being in their place.

"Y... You were right about one thing..." she began "When I first moved away and came to Tokyo... things were very lonely. I didn't know who else other than my parents to turn to and the way I was, I couldn't make friends." She breathed in for a moment as she collected her thoughts and memories before continuing on with her speech. "But then... I met Ruko, Yuzuki and... Midoriko-san."

"H... Hitoe..." Midoriko murmured, a single tear trickling down her cheek as she listened carefully.

"Things didn't go the way we'd hoped..." Hitoe continued "We learned how dark the Selector Battles could be... I had my wish tainted... and I couldn't save Ruko when she was in danger. But then... when Kai came over to this world along with his friends... I met someone who understood what I was going through because he had been through it once before."

"T... That person..." Sakuya breathed "Are you saying that boy behind you...?!"

Aichi nodded in reply, confirming both the reversed Selector's and Midoriko's suspicions all along as they finally realized why Hitoe had gained so much confidence in herself through him. Umr gazed upon the two of them, going deep in thought over what had just been discussed on the subject of the Selector and her previous issue in making friends and overcoming her confidence issues.

"I... I know Reverse is a dangerous thing and right now... I can't lose you both the same way that Ruko almost lost herself," Hitoe breathed as she drew her two cards before opening her eyes "Final Turn!"

As the two gasped in shock as to what the Selector had called out at this very moment whilst Aichi was almost a little surprised that Hitoe had even chosen to use the phrase at all, she turned her attention to Yuzuki who nodded in reply.

"Yuzuki, free my friends from darkness!" she called.

The LRIG then flapped her wings and took flight into the air as she came towards Midoriko and Sakuya over the top of them, aiming her cannons downwards and preparing to fire them in order to deal the finishing blow that would hopefully free them from the control of Reverse.

"I... I can't lose!" Midoriko cried "If we don't bring Hitoe back to Aomori... she'll be...!"

"There's still hope!"

The reversed LRIG gasped in shock as she looked up towards Yuzuki who had called out to her at this very moment. Sakuya also looked up to the LRIG herself, wondering why she had said that out aloud.

"Hitoe's never let go of Sakuya's letter!" she continued "As long as she knows you're there, she'll never lose hope that you'll be friends forever! And she doesn't blame you for what happened then!"

Midoriko's eyes for a brief moment reverted back to their normal green colour as memories of her time with Hitoe began flashing before her. She remembered the day the two of them first met when the Selector had opened her Green Wanna deck that contained her card, the day when she had become friends with Ruko and Yuzuki when the three of them battled for fun at the library and got involved with their everyday gossip. The final memory she saw was nothing more than the Selector's innocent smile, with nothing around to dampen her spirits at all. Midoriko then looked down on the floor as the two burning rocks from Yuzuki's cannons came hurtling down towards her.

The rocks exploded on contact the moment they hit the floor of the battlefield, engulfing both the LRIG and Sakuya in a torrent of burning hot flames as the Reverse aura began to disappear from the both of them as they screamed loudly in pain. The armour and the black ring that Midoriko gained burned away to ashes whilst the card representing her reversed form disappeared from the table in a series of dark red embers. When the smoke disappeared, the two of them fell to the ground, unconscious as a result of the dark power leaving them all at once. As Yuzuki flew over to check on Midoriko, Hitoe and Aichi ran over to Sakuya.

"S... Sakuya...!" she cried as she picked her up from the floor.

"Is she alright?!" Aichi asked in concern.

As Sakuya groaned for a moment, turning over in Hitoe's arms for the moment, Yuzuki looked over to the two of them, now joined by Umr as they were overlooking Midoriko's state.

"That power's gone from them now!" she called "Hopefully, it won't come back to them any time soon."

As Umr nodded in agreement with her, the battlefield immediately went black around them, indicating that the battle had finally come to an end.

* * *

**City Park**

When everyone regained their foresight in the park, Hitoe was still holding on to Sakuya who had dropped Midoriko's card onto the floor, the green LRIG having fallen unconscious herself as well. Aichi upon remembering what he had been holding onto the whole time handed over the glasses he held back to the Selector, who put them on immediately. When she did, Sakuya finally begun to stir from her unconscious slumber, as did Midoriko from her card.

"S... Sakuya," Hitoe breathed before looking to the dropped card on the floor as Aichi picked it up "Midoriko-san."

"Ugh..." Sakuya moaned as she opened her eyes before realizing who was holding her "H... Hitoe...? Is it really you?"

"Sakuya!" Hitoe cried "You're okay!"

"Okay...?" she murmured in confusion, before suddenly remembering what had happened before "That's right... the last thing I remember is being covered in that dark aura... and the rest is a blank..."

"You don't remember...?"

The Selector then blinked for a moment as she looked over to Yuzuki whose card was still in the neck wallet around Hitoe's neck. She winced for a moment, now trying to get a better sight of the LRIG that had spoken to her.

"But if you're here..." she murmured before looking up to Hitoe "What did I do...?"

"Everything's alright now," said Aichi as he handed Midoriko's card back to her "You're free now."

"I... I think I remember seeing you..." Sakuya spoke "Aichi wasn't it?"

The Royal Paladin user nodded in response with a kind smile as he and Hitoe helped Sakuya back onto her knees, the experience of being Reversed even if only for a short period having already drained most of her stamina from just leaving her's and Midoriko's bodies. The green LRIG opened her eyes as her foresight immediately landed on Yuzuki within her card before she looked up to the person that had just saved her moments ago.

"H... Hitoe..." she murmured "I... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"It's over now," Hitoe gently replied "You're both safe."

"C... Could you fill me in on the blanks at least...?" Sakuya murmured in confusion "My head's still feeling a little messed up."

Both Hitoe and Aichi looked to each other and nodded in agreement, knowing that aside from the battle that had just ocurred, there was a lot that Sakuya did not know about the Selector Battles in general and that was going to be a rather long conversation in itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Perdition Dancer, Agafia**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
>  **Perdition Dragon, Rampart Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Dragon Beast: Flame Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Red LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Red: If you have an LRIG with “Perdition” in its card name, you may pay the cost. If you do, and there is a SIGNI in the same column as this SIGNI, choose and apply one of the following effects:  
> *Banish that SIGNI.  
> *Choose a SIGNI card from your opponent’s Ener Zone whose Level is equal or one lower than the SIGNI in the same column, send it to your opponent’s Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Perdition Dragon, Vicious Claw Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kagero LRIGs only  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Red: If you pay the cost and there is a SIGNI in the same column as this SIGNI, choose and apply one of the following effects:  
> Banish that SIGNI.  
> Choose a SIGNI card from your opponent’s Ener Zone whose Level is equal or one lower than the SIGNI in the same column, send it to your opponent’s Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Witch of Grapes, Grappa**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Green  
> Class: Noble  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant]: When this SIGNI is sent from your Ener Zone to your Trash, if you have a Green LRIG, Ener Charge 2.
> 
> Story Original Cards:  
>  **Midoriko, Dauntless War Empress Type Яeverse**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Green  
> Grow Cost: 3 Green  
> Limit: 12  
> LRIG Type: Midoriko  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): Pay 2 Green and choose 1 of your Green SIGNI and Lock it: Ener Charge cards equal to the Level of the SIGNI locked by this effect. Until end of turn, you may add 5000 power to any Green SIGNI you control for each card placed into your Ener Zone by this effect. Then until end of turn, this LRIG gains the following effect(s) depending on how many cards were sent from your Ener Zone to your Trash after this effect resolves:  
> >4 or more: This LRIG gains Double Crush.  
> >8 or more: All of your SIGNI gain Lancer +10000 power until the end of your opponent's next turn and "[Constant]: As long as this SIGNI's power is 18000 or greater, this SIGNI cannot be banished by your opponent's card effects."  
> >12 or more: Until end of turn, this LRIG gets "[Constant]: When this LRIG attacks, your opponent cannot use [Quintet Wall] or Level 2 or greater SIGNI with [Guard] in its ability until the end of that battle."  
> This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn. (The Locked card is turned face-down and cannot do anything. It is unlocked during its owner's End Phase)  
> [Constant]: If you have a Level 3 or greater LRIG with "Midoriko" in its card name underneath this LRIG other than a LRIG with the same name, all of your Green SIGNI gain 2000 power.  
> [Lord] If you have a SIGNI in your SIGNI Zone that is not the same colour as your LRIG (excluding Colorless), this LRIG cannot declare an attack.


	59. Arc 3 - Ride 59: That Resolute Determination

**City Streets**

A few minutes later, Aichi and Hitoe had helped Sakuya over to a nearby bench in order to help the weakened Selector regain her strength after her brief experience within Reverse itself. After he had properly introduced both himself and Umr to both Hitoe's friend and Midoriko, the Royal Paladin user along with the Selector herself then went on to discuss about everything that had been going on in the world around them, particuarly since the time that Yuzuki became an LRIG and when Kai had been unintentionally summoned to this world's Tokyo by Takuto. When the red LRIG had finished her explanation of what she had been through, Midoriko immediately held up a hand to interject something of her own.

"W... Wait a moment!" she called "If you told Hitoe about the truth, then...!"

"I know..." Yuzuki murmured "This means I can no longer grant her wish and escape this card. But at least this way, she won't have to do that oath and I can just worry about keeping her safe."

"This is all so confusing..." Sakuya moaned as she clutched her head, trying to get some understanding of everything that she was being brought up to speed on. "Aichi and this Kai aren't from here, there's some White Room with this Mayu and Link Joker thingy and the whole thing about the wishes coming true was somewhat of a sham?"

Aichi could only nod in response, unsure of how to properly answer to Hitoe's friend given the confused state that she was in as of right now and with her mental strength already drained from being in Reverse as well, who could blame her for feeling the way she was as of this moment. The Selector huffed for a moment as she looked down at the ground below the bench.

"Well damn me," she muttered "I just happen to have my head screwed by this Reverse and now I find the coolest risk and reward way of a card battle is evil!"

"W... Well, it's not entirely bad," said Hitoe "I did manage to free you and I'm just happy to be with you and Midoriko-san again after so long."

"I suppose that is true," Sakuya replied with somewhat of a forced smile "Thanks for the save Hitoe. I guess for the first time in years... I owe you one."

The Selector smiled warmly in response as she took a seat on the bench beside one of her closest friends, turning Yuzuki's card in her neck wallet to her left slightly so that they could get a better look at her. As Yuzuki looked over to Midoriko with a warm smile of her own, almost in the vein of reassuring the green LRIG that what previously transpired between the two of them was not her fault at all, the LRIG herself smiled back, almost feeling as free as she would ever be for the first time in days. She then looked up to Hitoe as she looked down at the card containing her.

"I still can't believe that managed to gain so much confidence in yourself in nearly a week up to now," she said.

"W... Well, I had a good teacher to help me," Hitoe answered as she looked back to Aichi who smiled in reply.

"I'm really happy the three of you have managed to get back together," he said kindly "I was really worried when I was watching the battle."

"I will certainly say that Hitoe's skill has become rather... formidable from these past few minutes," Umr interjected from her own card.

Sakuya and Midoriko gazed closely at the LRIG herself, having not previously addressed her during their time in Reverse despite seeing her watching from the sidelines alongside Aichi.

"Well I'll be..." the Selector murmured "I knew Umr was almost a one of a kind LRIG in the regular game of Wixoss, but I never thought I'd meet the real one up close."

"If what Aichi has told me is true," Umr replied "Then it would appear that the prior reputation of my fictional presence precedes me, apparently."

"That's... one way of putting it I guess," said Midoriko.

"Anyway... you wouldn't mind us heading over to your place Hitoe?" asked Sakuya "There's... something I need to come clean about."

Hitoe kindly nodded with a smile on her face, knowing that her parents would most likely be intrigued with what had been going on in Aomori since she had left her old school there. The two Selectors got up from the bench and departed from the park with Aichi.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

The cold air of the battlefield was disturbed for a brief moment by the breeze that blew across the vast expanse between the tables of the two combatants as well as the SIGNI, units and LRIG that they commanded. Kamui shivered for a moment as he looked to Ethics Buster who he had only just grown into at the start of the current turn, the cold air drawn up by Piruluk's Freeze abilities having done little to lift his spirits as he saw that Brainy Papio was still frozen from an earlier effect. Looking back to Amika, he could see that her expression had not changed by much since he had met her moments earlier. Initially, he had suspicions of Reverse playing a part from learning that Aichi, Kai and Ruko had to deal with it previously.

However, everything he saw from the way Amika act and play was telling him otherwise. The fact she was not exhibiting any signs of it as evidenced by the lack of dull eyes or even the indentifiable aura whilst relieving at first had only gotten him far more suspicious of what was really going on. At the same time, Kamui was doing his best to try and not lose his patience with Piruluk, who had barely spoken throughout the encounter thus far, still in her usual monotone. Deciding not to worry about the blue LRIG for the moment, he looked over to the Selector in question.

"Oi Amika, just what's going on?!" he called "Why did you bring us here in the first place?!"

Amika bit her lip for a moment, still almost quivering as she was earlier when the two of them had reunited back in the streets of the city around them.

"I met her..." she spoke "I... encountered Kiyoi. Or rather..."

"Or rather what...?" Ethics Buster questioned, keeping a stance.

"The truth is..." the Selector continued "The person who beat Kamui in Kiyoi's body... was Kiyoi's LRIG, Remember."

Kamui was caught off guard at this sudden revelation as evidenced by his surprised and somewhat confused expression. Apparently, the person he had fought back in his own world had the body of Kiyoi to face him, but wasn't the actual person in question herself, if what Amika was saying still happened to be true. Then recalling back to the fight that he had the previous day, he suddenly remembered a detail that he had seemingly overlooked, when he thought that he was briefly seeing Remember as a unit in the place of 'Kiyoi'.

"Wait a minute...!" he called "Are you saying that Remember 'unit' I saw on those cards... was that actually...?!"

"Correct," Piruluk replied in her usual monotone "Deception is something that Remember is rather skilled at, regardless of who she appears as. Believe that when I say that I know, Katsuragi."

"But if that's true..." Kamui murmured "Then where the heck is the real Kiyoi?!"

The blue LRIG remained silent in response to the Nova Grappler user's question, as if she had no intention of saying anything more to him at this point, almost as if she was expecting him to find out the answer for himself. When he saw that he wasn't going to get anything more from Piruluk as he had expected, Kamui huffed as he placed down two more cards onto his table as the units Beast Deity, Death Stinger and Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos joined Ethics Buster and the frozen Brainy Papio that were already present and accounted for.

"Let's go!" he called "Hatred Chaos attacks!"

Hatred Chaos took up a stance before rushing off across the battlefield towards the Aqua Force unit Tidal Assault before leaping into the air and landing a kick on the Aquaroid's face, banishing him from the battlefield. Shortly afterwards, Death Stinger had swiftly scuttled on its legs up to the Aqua Force Heal Trigger unit, Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir before thrusting its stinger tail into her, banishing it from Amika's table as well. Ethics Buster's eyes flashed for a moment as it soared over towards Piruluk who gazed at the Beast Deity with her usual disinterested expression.

"Amika, what's so important to make you want to go through with this?!" yelled Kamui "Aichi knows all of the shadier stuff from Kai and I bet that Piruluk does as well!"

As Ethics Buster was about to throw a large punch with its massive right fist, a glow appeared in front of Piruluk as Emerald Shield, Paschal projected a barrier in front of her, shielding the blue LRIG from the oncoming attack. When the Beast Deity with a growl of frustration retreated back to Kamui's table, just as the Aqua Force Sentinel unit disappeared from sight, the Nova Grappler user looked ahead to see the Selector keep her head down with her depressed expression still present on her face. However, something seemed a little different than what he had seen earlier thus far.

"Yeah... I know alright," she spoke "The whole body-swap, the catch in becoming an Eternal Girl. But right now, my own well being isn't what's important right now...!"

"What do you mean?"

"If I don't win enough battles to make my wish come true, then... my mother will die!"

Kamui's heart skipped a beat for a brief moment as he allowed what the Selector had just told him to sink into his mind. Now everything was finally starting to make sense to him, from Amika's depressed expression when she had left Card Luck when she said she had to attend to 'family business' to the fact that she appeared somewhat desperate before opening up the battlefield to where they now found themselves. However, that revelation in itself had done very little to qwell his growing concerns.

"Your wish... is to save your mom?" he breathed.

Amika bit her lip for a moment as she raised her head to look up at Kamui, seeing the evident confusion in his eyes as to why this was the case in the first place. A part of her was hesitant to talk to him about what was really going on, but when she gazed down at Piruluk who simply looked back at her in response, nodding once for a brief moment, the Selector decided to face the Nova Grappler user once more to tell him her side of the story.

"My mother... she's been diagnosed with an illness for some time and she hasn't been able to leave the hospital since..." she began.

_**Flashback; Amika's POV/Narration** _

" _Aside from her, there's my father who's been working harder ever since she's had to go into care to keep everything together and my two younger brothers._ "

Amika stepped out of her bedroom and into the living space of her home where she was greeted "good morning" by her father and two much younger boys around half of her own age. All three of them in contrast to the Selector had a much more darker shade of brown in their hair in comparison to her much more brighter shade. Smiling for a moment, she patted the head of one of her brothers in a teasing manner as she and the other one giggled in amusement for a brief moment.

" _When we learned that it was possible that mother could die from her illness, it took its toll on all of us, especially my brothers. Ever since then, I've had to try and do my part to make sure everything is alright, in the hope that she can be cured. It made me feel hopeless, knowing that even though I was keeping everyone calm... to not raise panic in front of them or my classmates at school... there was nothing I could do to save her._ "

The Selector was then in the hospital room overlooking her mother in a deep sleep along with the rest of her family both beside and in front of her. It was the late afternoon as evidenced by the dim light cast into the otherwise dark room where the sun was setting outside in the far distance of the city. Amika held a hand over her two younger brothers to try and keep them calm as well as reassure them that 'everything was going to be alright'. Or at the very least, she hoped it would.

" _But then... when I got a deck to the Wixoss card game out of interest... I met Piruluk._ "

Later that same evening, the soon-to-be Selector opened up a box containing the cards that made up the deck that was simply titled, 'Blue Appli'. After reading through the rules througly and inspecting what she assumed was all of the cards that she had recieved, she turned the very last one she found, evidenced by the recognizable white backing with both the Wixoss logo and 'prophecy' text inscribed upon it, she turned it around to see the LRIG in question, intrigued by her current pose. Piruluk's eyes widened for a moment as if she had almost seen a ghost for a brief moment before she brought up her hands to rub her eyes. When she did however, Amika had suddenly frozen up in sudden confusion as she tilted her head, followed by a rather loud scream.

" _Our first meeting... could have gotten much smoother than I thought..._ "

As her father and brothers came scrambling to her room, wondering what had caused the Selector to scream, Amika in a state of shock and panic tried to explain everything she had just witnessed, even by going as far as to wave Piruluk's card around in front of them to make sense of what she was talking about. Much to her dismay and Piruluk's slight discomfort from the way her card was shaken to a somewhat excessive degree, the rest of her family currently present were utterly confused as they did not have Selector rights of their own, preventing them from seeing the alive LRIG in the stead of the still image that they could see.

" _Thankfully though, she did manage to clarify things quickly before I got into a right mess._ "

A few minutes and dinner later, Amika was finally alone in her bedroom to talk to the LRIG again, now that she had calmed down and accepted that he could see and hear her for that manner. Piruluk gazed up at the Selector as the two of them learned of each other's names and as Amika explained her situation with her family, the LRIG in turn laid out the 'rules' of her new role as a Selector and asked her for her wish. Needless to say, she had already laid out her wish as clearly as she could and Piruluk nodded her head in acceptance of that wish.

" _I finally had hope that I could save my mother... even if the method was somehow strange and somewhat unorthodox. Of course... things didn't exactly go according to plan at first._ "

The very next day, Amika had emerged from her first Selector Battle, practically at a loss for words as to what she had witnessed and how things had played out in regards to it. Chiyori was celebrating with Eldora over their first victory together since their previous loss to Yuzuki at the time, much to the LRIG's exasperation and Piruluk's hidden utter disbelief, which was hidden behind her usual expression. Amika was initially shocked at first from losing her very first battle and that she could not afford to lose twice more right out of the gate, but she immediately regained her composure and offered a hand to Chiyori to congratulate her on the victory, to which the younger Selector was all too eager to accept.

" _I now realised that I couldn't just expect things to go my way if I wanted to save mother._ "

_**Present** _

"And that's why..." the Selector murmured "That's why... I have to defeat you!"

Kamui couldn't help but tense up a little more, now seeing that Amika was serious in fulfilling her wish through to the end, even if it had meant Piruluk taking over her body as a 'result' of the oath required. He wanted to argue further on the subject, but he knew the Selector had already made up her mind, knowing there was little he could do to change her viewpoint at this moment as he had no other option but to end the current turn there as the ice around Brainy Papio shattered.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kamui vs Amika**

**Hand - 3 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Beast Deity, Ethics Buster : Code Piruluk G**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos - Beast Deity, Death Stinger - Beast Deity, Brainy Papio : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 8**

Amika breathed in and drew her two cards to start her next turn as she tried to keep her composure under control. Deep down, she knew that she was going to have to tell the truth behind her wish to Kamui after running into him again, if only so he could understand why she was going through with what she was doing. Looking to her Ener Zone and deciding that she had everything she needed there, she held out one hand towards her LRIG space.

"Grow!" she called "Code Piruluk Omega!"

A series of flashes rose up around the LRIG space of the table as Piruluk's appearance was altered for the fourth time throughout this battle as she gained another pair of crystal wings in addition to the three pairs that she had in the prior form, her garb gained some additions to the fabric in addition to a collar-like brooch with a blue gem hanging around her neck and a pair of glasses that materialized in front of her cold blue eyes. She gazed upon Kamui and Ethics Buster with her uninterested gaze as the Nova Grappler user tensed up, recalling in the previous battle that Amika did not have a chance to show off this form to him meaning that he had no idea of what to expect at this point.

"Piruluk's skill!" Amika called "I discard one card from your hand!"

Kamui gasped in shock as one of his three cards hovered up into the air before shattering immediately into glass like fragments and reappearing in his Trash Pile, much to his annoyance. It was one that he had needed at this point and losing it at this late stage of the battle to that ability was most disadvantageous at this point. The card that he had lost from the effect was Beast Deity, Solar Falcon.

"That annoying skill again...!" he growled.

"We're not out of this yet," Ethics Buster spoke "Just pull through this and we can knock them for a loop."

"I got it!" Kamui replied, regaining his focus immediately.

As Piruluk looked back to Amika who nodded in agreement, she moved another three cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile before revealing a card from her LRIG deck, one that was vastly familiar to the blue LRIG herself from the previous occasions that it had been used.

"Let's go!" she called as she placed the card down onto the table "Peeping Analyze!"

As the remaining two cards in Kamui's hand hovered up again, much to his surprise, he looked on ahead to see that Piruluk's eyes had turned into a blank white glow as she stared intensely towards him. He saw Amika's expression tense up in nervousness as even she knew that using it at this point was mostly a gamble and a lucky guess at this point, something that she was not so good at holding her composure in regards to that.

"Calm yourself..." Piruluk spoke "You have looked through his deck before."

"R... Right," the Selector replied as she took a deep breath and pointed towards Kamui's table "Level 2!"

As Kamui gasped in shock, both of the remaining cards in his hand hovered up before one of them shattered immediately and reformed in his Trash Pile, indicating that Piruluk had successfully managed to destroy even more of his hand, leaving him with very little options to try and defend with against Amika's next wave of attacks. Then looking down at himself for a moment, he could see that his chest was glowing for a moment much to his shock.

"W... What the heck is this?!" he gasped.

"Utterly hopeless..."

The Nova Grappler user blinked for a moment, seeing that it was Piruluk who had bluntly spoken out presumably towards him as he stared back towards the blue LRIG seeing that her gaze had not stopped for even a second as the same coloured aura on him surrounded her eyes.

"Did you see his wish...?" Amika breathed.

"My wish...?!" Kamui exclaimed "B... But I never had...!"

"His goddess..." Piruluk spoke "... is Sendou's sister."

The Nova Grappler user suddenly froze in shock, wondering in utter bewliderment, surprise and slight embarassment how the LRIG has somehow managed to find out about his crush on Aichi's sister, Emi. His face had gone beet red from the exposure of his desire without his own consent, but at the same time, he inwardly cringed upon realizing that he had made that his wish after his battle with Chiyori, just seconds before Aichi and Kai had found and explained everything that was going on to him. But at the same time, he knew that there had to be more to this signature trick of Piruluk's he had just fallen victim to.

"W... Wait a minute...!" he called "How did you even...?!"

"Peeping Analyze has one additional effect with my gaze," Piruluk spoke "I can peer into a Selector's heart and see what their wish is. Of course, this technique hasn't worked on everyone I have encountered. Kominato Ruko and Kai Toshiki to name as examples."

"Kamui..." Amika breathed "Was I not supposed to...?"

"Fine... I'll admit that Emi-san is my one true 'goddess'!" Kamui huffed "But... I'll never throw that wish on the line! Not if it means throwing her into this mess as well!"  _And Aichi would never forgive me for that!_

Piruluk remained uninterested as her gaze into his heart continued onwards as she patiently waited for the side effect of Peeping Analyze to come to an end so that Amika could continue on with her turn. As it was coming down to the last few seconds, the LRIG's eyes suddenly widened for a brief moment as she inwardly gasped upon what else she had found. Before she had time to peer more into this however, the lingering effect of Peeping Analyze had finally worn off, meaning she could no longer peer through Kamui to find more information. However, what she had found at this moment combined with her own memories was enough to tense up her own expression as she clenched her right fist, unbeknowst to the Nova Grappler user.

_How is it... that he knows Sakaguchi's name?!_

"Is everything alright, Piruluk?"

Upon hearing Amika's voice call out to her, Piruluk snapped out of her trance and looked back to the Selector who seemed somewhat concerned with her LRIG by noticing her clenched fist at this moment, wondering what had caused her to do so.

"Nothing of your concern," she bluntly replied "It's still your turn."

The Selector nodded as she then placed down the SIGNI onto the empty spaces of the table that were to the left and right of Piruluk. These were the Level 4 Blue SIGNI named Code Art CL and Code Heart VAC who respectively stood in different stances facing the direction of the units on Kamui's side of the field that opposed them.

"With CL and VAC," Amika spoke "I discard the last card in your hand and banish Brainy Papio!"

Kamui groaned as the last card in his hand shattered in an instant before reappearing in his Trash Pile again as Brainy Papio then vanished from the field in a flash of white as its card reappeared in his Ener Zone, much to his annoyance.

"CL's skill!" the Selector continued "Since I already have a copy of VAC in my Trash, I can add ICE BREAK back to my hand."

Shortly after she had recovered the Spell from her Trash that was used earlier for growing Piruluk into her current form, she then placed down the SIGNI Code Art PZL who held her hands out in front of her, forming a white glow within them. Then before Kamui knew it, a formation of ice had imprisoned one of his units once again, this time being Hatred Chaos.

"Now with ICE BREAK, I banish Hatred Chaos!"

A brilliant flash surrounded the ice that imprisoned Hatred Chaos before shattering it as the unit vanished in the same manner as Brainy Papio, showing that it was banished from the battlefield. Kamui huffed for a moment as he looked down at his field, seeing that the only unit that remained in front of Ethics Buster was Death Stinger and it would easily be defeated by an attack from PZL in the coming Attack Phase.

 _She's not just destroying my hand... she's mowing down my units before she's even attacked..._  he muttered in his thoughts _I guess Amika wasn't kidding when she said that she was holding back the other day._

"Let's go!" called Amika "My SIGNI attack Ethics Buster and Death Stinger!"

PZL materialized a large crystal of ice within her hands before throwing it across the battlefield towards the lone Death Stinger who could do nothing to avoid it as it crashed right into it, banishing the unit from the field. Ethics Buster looked on ahead to see CL and VAC running towards it and raised both of its fists and charged towards them in response. It slammed down its fists onto the floor of the battlefield, but missed the two Blue SIGNI as they shocked it through the large glove like weapons they wielded. Kamui's next two Life Cloths revealed Beast Deity, Death Stinger and Beast Deity, Van Paurus.

"Tsk!" he hissed "Death Stinger's Life Burst is useless... but I can still draw 1 card!"

"Piruluk attacks!"

Piruluk nodded in response to Amika's command and took flight towards the downed Ethics Buster who had barely managed to recover from the onslaught of attacks from CL and VAC just moments earlier. Kamui looked down at the card he drew and could only close his eyes in annoyance as he knew that he could not guard at this very moment. The blue LRIG materialized several large ice spear like formations around her and immediately launched all of them at once upon the Beast Deity in front of her. Ethics Buster groaned as it shielded its face from the onslaught of the ice spears as Kamui's next Life Cloth revealed itself to be Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake. Both the unit and the LRIG retreated to their respective combatant's tables as Amika's turn came to an end.

 _Man, that was rough...!_ Kamui murmured in his thoughts  _But... I have everything I need to go all out this turn._ He then gazed towards Piruluk whose uninterested gaze remained upon him as usual, only unbeknowst to him, there was something a little different about it.  _Let me show you that I'm not as much of a pushover as you think._

"My vanguard!" Ethics Buster called, bringing the cardfighter's attention back to it "Let's do it now!"

"Yeah!" Kamui called "The great Kamui ups and draws!"

As soon as he drew his next two cards, he looked upon them closely and smiled, if almost bitterly for a moment.

_Not exactly what I wanted... but they'll do it just fine!_

As he moved three of the cards in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile, he held out one hand over to his LRIG space as Ethics Buster was enveloped in a blinding neon green glow, indicating the form that it was about to change into at this very moment. As Amika looked on in worry for a moment, Piruluk remained unfazed as she was, almost as if she had expected this to happen.

"Go! Burning Fire! Roaring Thunder!" called Kamui "The great Kamui Crossbreak Grows the furious, Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme!"

As the neon green glow died down, the changed and upgraded Ethics Buster descended onto the table with its new armaments, now ready to take on Piruluk at full strength as it hovered just a little above the surface.

"Break Grow skill! When Ethics Buster attacks, I can up two of my Silver SIGNI and attack with them again! In addition, all of my SIGNI gain 2000 power at all times!"

"The same as last time..." Piruluk murmured as she kept her sharp gaze up at the towering Battleroid at the far end of the battlefield.

"With a Salvage ARTS, I'll get back Brainy Papio," Kamui continued "Then I'll summon him back along with Yamatano Drake and Brutal Jack!"

As Brainy Papio and Yamatano Drake appeared on the table, both of which were familiar to Amika and Piruluk from seeing them in the previous battle, a Nova Grappler unit that was partially unfamiliar to them appeared onto the far left of his formation. The new unit was not a Beast Deity as it did not possess that title, but looked just as formidable. He was covered in black armour with green spikes trailing down the back down to his tail, had three eyes present on either side of his head and he wielded two different weapons, one for each arm. On Jack's left were two razor sharp blades and a rounded weapon with multiple spikes almost resembling a saw of some kind. All of them gained an orange coloured aura for being powered up by Ethics Buster's presence.

**Beast Deity, Brainy Papio: 5000 - 7000**

**Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake: 8000 - 10000**

**Brutal Jack: 8000 - 10000**

"I power up Brainy Papio with Doping and pay the cost to release Jack's restraint!" Kamui called "Here I come!"

As the eyes of the three units in front of Ethics Buster lit up all at once, showing that the Nova Grappler user was prepared to go all out with his attacks available to him, Piruluk closed her eyes as Amika looked to her LRIG deck.

"Don't Escape!" she called as the ARTS revealed itself "I down Yamatano Drake!"

A series of energy coils erupted from Kamui's table as they wrapped themselves around Yamatano Drake and forced it down to the ground, just as its card turned sideways to show that.

"That doesn't matter! Go, Papio and Jack!" he declared.

Piruluk remained motionless as the two Nova Grappler units unleashed their attacks upon the defenceless Level 4 SIGNI that were beside her on the table. Brainy Papio unleashed a barrage of missiles that struck down CL in an explosion whilst Brutal Jack fired a large orange laser that shot out of its jaw and directly impacted into Code Heart VAC, banishing her from the field as well.

"Go, Ethics Buster Extreme!" Kamui called.

"You got it!"

Ethics Buster soared into the air once again as it flew across the length of the battlefield towards Piruluk who remained motionless still as if she was not even concerned about the situation that she and Amika were in. The Selector looked down at her hand and shook her hand to dismiss a decision that was previously considering at this point.

"No guard..." she spoke as an orange Vanguard circle flash in front of Ethics Buster.

"Limit Break activated!" Kamui called "Twin Drive!"

As he reached out from his deck, he flipped over the first card to reveal Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny, a card that he wasn't after in this time of need as he sent it back to the bottom of the stack of cards. He then revealed the next card to be Beast Deity, Max Beat which he immediately added to his hand as the energy coils that were wrapped around Yamatano Drake shattered, allowing it to stand back up. Ethics Buster raised its arms high into the air as a large neon green sphere of energy crackled in its palms before it threw it down towards Piruluk who still did not move as Amika raised her arms in front of her face to shield herself from the impact of the oncoming blast.

As the sphere impacted, a large explosion rocked the table as Amika's next Life Cloth revealed itself to be Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, whose Life Burst was useless as she still had more Life Cloths than Kamui at this present moment. The Nova Grappler user looked on as the smoke cleared up to see that despire the damage that was sustained to her garb and the fact that her glasses gained from this form were destroyed by the impact of the blast, Piruluk herself had remained virtually unfazed by the entire attack. Looking to Code Art PZL who he wasn't able to previously banish thanks to Amika's ARTS, he decided that at least getting rid of her SIGNI would be a small achievement in itself.

"Let's go, Yamatano Drake!" he called.

Yamatano Drake's centermost head opened its jaw and began to gather up energy for its atack, followed shortly by the other six heads that it had on its mechanical body. Then concentrating their power together, they unleashed the seven beams from their head together as they joined to form one attack that immediately banished Code Art PZL from the battlefield upon impact.

"Brutal Jack attacks again!" Kamui continued.

Brutal Jack's eyes lit up as he charged across the battlefield in a rampaged like manner towards Piruluk who once again did not respond or move as the unit came towards her. When he reached Amika's table, the unit swung both of his arms across her, dealing the next damage before returning back to Kamui's table as a shower of rockets from Brainy Papio then struck the surface in front of her, knocking her back slightly as she leaped up and landed back on her feet in an elegant manner. The Nova Grappler user kept his gaze upon Piruluk, trying his best to not let her unfazed appearance get under his skin again.

"Using Papio's skill, I stand Jack for another attack!" he called "Then with the skill of White Tiger as the attack hit, I Exceed it and stand Papio!"

An afterimage of Beast Deity, White Tiger appeared above Brainy Papio whilst an orange aura surrounded Brutal Jack's eyes as the two units stood up once again, giving Kamui the two attacks that he would need to end the battle.

"Go Jack!" he declared.

Brutal Jack opened its jaw once again as a large orange laser erupted from there and struck Piruluk down in a large explosion as she shielded her face from the attack, still not changing her expression or opening up her eyes even once.

"This is the finishing blow!" Kamui boldly called "Brainy Papio attacks Piruluk!"

As Brainy Papio unleashed one final shower of rockets from its head that soared and whistled through the air on their way towards Piruluk, the blue LRIG finally opened up her eyes as her usual gaze was directed upon the Nova Grappler user once again.

"Katsuragi..." she addressed in her usual blunt monotone "Do you think I haven't already seen through that 'attack' before...?"

As Kamui blinked for a moment, a blue flash suddenly appeared in front of the LRIG as Amika revealed a card from her hand.

"Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon!" she called "Quintet Wall!"

As the Tear Dragon appeared in front of Piruluk as a whole, a green circle was generated in front of it as Code Art PZL, Servant O and Tidal Assault materialized alongside it, making it just enough SIGNI that were need to deflect the attack. The missiles from Brainy Papio impacted onto the shield generated by Icefall Dragon, but it along with Piruluk and the units it summoned remained completely unharmed.

"Damn it...!" Kamui groaned as he realized that he could no longer attack again for the rest of the turn. _The best I could do was knock her down to no Life Cloths! And worse than that... it's her turn again!_

**End of Turn 8**

**Kamui vs Amika**

**Hand - 2 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 0**

**Current LRIGs - Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme : Code Piruluk Omega**

**SIGNI : Brutal Jack - Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake - Beast Deity, Brainy Papio : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 9**

As Amika sighed in relief, she drew her next two cards to begin what could be percieved as the 'last turn', given that Kamui had exhausted almost all of his resources and lacked quite a lot of defensive cards himself as she had seen his deck the previous day when she was helping him to understand the rules of Wixoss.

"Kamui... I understand where you're coming from..." she spoke "I really do. But... I've already made up my mind. So please, don't bear any hard feelings towards me or Piruluk for this."

"Not yet!" he yelled back in response "I can still protect myself until the next turn...!"

"There is no next turn..." Piruluk interrupted bluntly as he gasped in shock.

"Using my Servant O from the Quintet Wall as a Red ARTS," Amika spoke "I use One Rule, Two Birds to restrict the SIGNI you can guard with!"

Kamui groaned as he realized that he could no longer protect himself as his last means of defense was Beast Deity, Solar Falcon. But because it was Level 1 and the ARTS prevented him from guarding with Guard SIGNI of that Level, he knew at that moment, there was nothing more that he could do.

 _Why did I have to lose Shieldraizer to Remember...?!_ he groaned within his thoughts  _Amika and Piruluk already shredded through my hand early on and froze my SIGNI to the point where even my best wasn't enough...!_

As he delved into his thoughts, something suddenly occured to him as Piruluk was taking flight to deal the finishing blow to Ethics Buster who could only take a defensive stance in preparation for the inevitable.

 _Wait a moment..._ Kamui murmured  _Freezing... discarding... and the fact that Piruluk knows that Kiyoi is actually this Remember who was her LRIG... and she used the same tactics in our fight...!_

He then looked back up toward Piruluk as she was materializing multiple ice spears that was preparing to launch right at Ethics Buster, realizing that even though he had already lost the battle, there was something he still had to confirm.

"Hey Piruluk!" he called, bringing her attention down to him "Are you... Are you the real Kiyoi?!"

As she closed her eyes in response for a moment, Amika held down her head as Kamui gazed over to the Selector, wondering if she already knew the answer to his question at that very moment. When he looked back up to Piruluk, she opened up her eyes, her gaze remaining unfazed as ever.

"Yes..." she replied "I am... the true Mizushima Kiyoi."

And with that, she pointed one finger down towards Kamui's table as the ice spears crashed into the surface, forcing the Nova Grappler user to take cover underneath as several of the projectiles crashed into his seat upon impact as Ethics Buster Extreme screeched out loud in pain. When the barrage of ice had finally passed over, he came back up to see that the Strongest Beast Deity was now flat on the ground, completely weakened after suffering the fatal blow that ended the match in victory for Amika and Piruluk.

"I'm sorry... Ethics Buster..." he spoke in disappointment.

"Ugh..." the unit groaned as it dug itself free from the rubble of shattered ice "Azure Dragon isn't going to be happy about this, that's for sure."

Shortly after Ethics Buster had made that remark, the entire battlefield went pitch black.

* * *

**City Streets**

When Kamui and Amika regained consciousness, it was now very late in the afternoon as the sun was beginning to set in the distance behind them. The Nova Grappler user could only bite his lip to prevent himself from ranting on in frustration over his failure to make a difference to the Selector's stance on the situation around both her ill mother and the family she was doing her best to take care of in these dire times.

"Rats...!" he muttered as he punched the wall of the nearest building in anger.

As Amika looked over to him in worry, she tried to approach him only for him to hold back a hand in response as he turned around to face her.

"I guess... there's no talking you out of it," Kamui murmured.

"Y... Yes," she said "I'm sorry things had to end this way, Kamui. But... you really were close there. I'm sure you can beat Remember and take back your units with enough pr..."

"Right now, he isn't in that shape to do it."

Kamui glared over to Piruluk, or rather Kiyoi as he now knew her by as evident by her answer to his question in the closing moments of the battle, still feeling annoyed about being addressed by her blunt tone.

"If you cannot defeat me," she continued "Then how do you expect to overcome Remember, let alone take back the units she's stolen from you?"

Knowing that he did not have an answer to respond to her question that was directed at him, the Nova Grappler user simply looked away from her and clenched his fists in response. Seeing that it was possible that Kamui could explode at any moment from his already volatile temper at this instance, not helped by Piruluk's blunt comments towards him for the way that he was now, Amika held one hand to his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"Kiyoi..." Kamui muttered "If you help Amika with that 'contract thingy'... you better help her with that wish of hers."

Piruluk remained silent in response, not showing a waver of her expression as Amika began to back away from him and walk away to return home to her father and two brothers, knowing that they would no doubt be waiting for her to be there.

"I'll see you around Kamui..." she said "And... don't give up on getting back your units! I'm sure you can beat Remember this time around!"

Kamui, huffing for a moment, dropped his angered expression as he breathed in deeply and waved goodbye to Amika, now having calmed down from having a little faith restored in his own self-confidence. Knowing that there was nothing more he could do to change her mind, he began to take the long walk back to Kai's apartment, having finished what he had tried to do for the day. As Amika was walking away from the Nova Grappler user, inside the card from within her pocket, Piruluk had her eyes closed, deep into thought about everything that had transpired in the battle. But there was one aspect that was bothering her at this moment and that was when she had discovered that Kamui had knowledge of the name 'Sakaguchi'.

 _That boy has no concept of the powers he is up against..._ she murmured in her thoughts as she imaged Remember in her LRIG appearance, holding a cruel smile beneath her seemingly innocent expression  _Not even he could understand Remember... or the name that he somehow knows._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Brutal Jack**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Class: Battleroid  
> Limiting Condition: Nova Grappler LRIGs only  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant]: Restraint (This SIGNI cannot attack)  
> [Action] Pay 1 Silver: This SIGNI loses “Restraint” until end of turn.
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there we go! We conclude the next batch of chapters with the introduction of Sakuya, Kamui's eventual tie-in to the Peeping Analyze sub-arc upcoming and the first hints of a possible ship as hinted at previously in the tags.


	60. Arc 3 - Ride 60: The United Events I

**Uemura Household**

As the late afternoon began to draw over Hitoe's home, the Selector in question along with both of her parents, Aichi and Sakuya were seated in the living area of the small house. Her friend from childhood days that the two of them had spent together in Aomori was looking down at the floor with an unhappy expression present on her face. At some point during the walk over to the house of her closest friend, she had slowly but surely regained the memories of everything that happened between them and all of the things that she had said against both Aichi and her parents, for believing that none of them understood of what Hitoe was going through and that they deserved to suffer for it.

Now that she had the time to recollect her thoughts on everything that she had said during her time in Reverse however, she felt guilty for even saying such things in the first place and Hitoe herself could see that it was taking its toll on one of her closest friends. Both her mother and father looked on to Sakuya, noticing her initial upset expression as well.

"Is something wrong Sakuya?" the mother murmured.

"Listen... I..." the Selector began "I need to apologize to all of you."

"For what exactly?" asked Aichi.

"It's just that... ever since Hitoe left Aomori, I haven't been myself," she answered as she looked up to face them "I've thought of and even said horrible things about you when I know that you're really nothing like what I had initially imagined on that day. I was... I was just really worried for Hitoe's sake knowing how nervous she can be."

"Sakuya..." Midoriko breathed, hearing the conversation from her card, not that Hitoe's parents could hear her at this moment.

Sakuya took a deep breath to try and calm herself as she continued on with her explanation, briefly wiping away a tear that trickled down her left cheek as she decided to continue with her explanation.

"But I think I understand now..." she continued "This is something that Hitoe has to deal with and that I can't just worry about keeping her sheltered from everything around her. Today, I've seen that she's making progress to overcoming her anxiety and whilst I can still visit once in a while..." She then looked over to Aichi, pausing briefly in her speech as she did so. "I think my best friend is in capable hands."

The Royal Paladin user smiled warmly, understanding how Sakuya was feeling at this moment and feeling somewhat thankful that his efforts in aiding Hitoe over the past three days had not gone to waste.

"Sakuya, do not feel guilty about that day and what may have transpired after it," Hitoe's father spoke as he rose from the chair he was sitting on "What matters now is that the two of you have managed to reunite and that your friendship from those last few years have not changed at all."

"Thanks for understanding," the Selector replied as she looked over to Hitoe "So you said you've got more friends around here. Is there a chance I could meet them before I have to go back to Aomori tonight?"

"T... There's no need to worry," Hitoe replied as she looked out of the front window.

Sakuya and Aichi then looked out to see Ruko waving to the three of them with Kai standing beside her, his usual expression being present on his face as he gazed towards the front window of the house. As the three occupants looked back to Hitoe's parents for a brief moment, her mother kindly nodded in response as they went over to the front door to allow them to enter.

"Hitoe, how are you doing?" asked Ruko as she then looked over to Sakuya, the two of them meeting each other at last for the first time.

"Um... Ruko, this is my friend from Aomori, Sakuya," Hitoe explained "Sakuya, this is Ruko."

"Hitoe's told me a lot about you," said Sakuya as she offered one hand to the Selector who shook it gently in response "It's nice to finally meet each other in person."

"The same goes to you," she replied as she looked back to Kai who had joined them in the hallway "Um... I guess she and Aichi told you about Kai already."

Sakuya then looked up to Kai as did Midoriko from the card that she held, both of them taking note of his serious and yet somewhat neutral expression. Before she had become reversed, the Selector had previously heard about the Kagero user through rumor across various Selectors that she had encountered in her initial bid to make her wish come true, whatever that may have been.

"So you're Kai that I've heard about," she said as she briefly looked back towards the living space to make sure that Hitoe's parents weren't listening in on the topic she wished to address "I'm guessing you already know everything that's really going on."

"Naturally," he replied as he looked down at the card containing Midoriko, recognizing her appearance from Hatsu's previous battle with Naoki "I assume that you are the true Midoriko and Hitoe's previous LRIG."

"Yes," the green LRIG answered "If only I'd been a little braver and told Hitoe the truth before Yuzuki found out for herself, we wouldn't still be in this mess. I'm just glad you kept her safe from Akira the first time the two of you met." She then looked over to Ruko who had held out Tama and Yuki's LRIG cards before her.

"Ru's found Midoriko again!" the girl of white cheered out loud.

"It has been a while," Midoriko greeted as she then looked over to Yuki, her expression dropping a little as her gaze trailed upon the girl of black.

"It's okay Midoriko," said Ruko "We can trust Yuki now. She was just a little... misguided then."

"I see..." the LRIG replied.

She was still bewildered on how she came to Ruko's possession in the first place, not knowing the full story as to why and knowing that she and Ulith were mostly responsible for previously tainting Hitoe's wish in the first place. But if the Selector was willing to trust her even after that, there had to be a good reason as to why. Aichi and Hitoe smiled warmly, seeing that Sakuya was managing to befriend more of their group much more easily, now that she was beginning to understand everything that was going on around her and the danger that lay within the Selector Battles before them.

* * *

**Apartment Blocks**

A long walk later back to the building, Kamui had eventually returned back to the apartment blocks, still feeling in a rather bad mood from what had transpired between him and Amika in their battle as of recently. He was frustrated for not only being unsuccessful in his efforts to try and get the Selector to abandon her efforts to claim whatever wish she was after, knowing full well of the consequences from what Aichi and Kai already knew, but for being somewhat duped in a case of partial mistaken identity in regards to Kiyoi and Remember's actual identities, the thought of which still made his head feel rather dizzy. At the same time though, when Amika had told him what exactly her wish was in the first place and the state that her family was in as of now, he didn't know what to think.

With her mother's life on the line, regardless of whether she wished to participate or not, a part of him still felt hesitant to object to what she intended to do, despite having knowledge on what would happen. As he came up the stairs towards one of the topmost floors, he saw Ren and Naoki at the top with Hatsu, confused as to why they were conversing with her as he had not met the grandmother of Ruko beforehand. Hurrying up the stairs, he eventually joined the two cardfighters and the elderly woman who looked over to him out of curiousity, having met the Nova Grappler user in person for the first time today.

"Kamui, is everything alright?" asked Naoki.

"No..." he muttered "I found Amika... but we ended up battling each other. I should be glad that her wish is safe, but...!"

"You feel otherwise?"

Kamui blinked for a moment before looking over to Hatsu, having not met her the previous day unlike the others beside him at this very moment.

"Who are you anyway?" he asked.

"I'm Ru-chan's grandmother, Hatsu," she answered "And you must be Kamui from what she told me last night."

"Right..."

Upon hearing the mention of Ruko, he inwardly gasped as he suddenly remembered something that had slipped his mind in the midst of his earlier frustration. Naoki looked at the Nova Grappler user, unsure of why he was acting this way at this very moment.

"I... I remember now!" he gasped "Didn't Ruko say she was having issues with her brother 'cause of her mom or something?!"

"So you have been told about it I see," said Hatsu "Is something wrong?"

"Well, her mom's gone over to our world!" Kamui exclaimed "And if my hunch is right, she's finishing what Remember started!"

As Ruko's grandmother gasped in shock along with Naoki, Ren said nothing in response but knew deep down that this was not good news at all. If the person that Kamui intially thought was Kiyoi was capable of taking away his units and marking him to prevent any additional copies of the stolen cards being used against her, there was no telling if Miyako would be just as equally dangerous, not aware of her previous cardfight with Gaillard. Although he wasn't showing it in his expression, his mind immediately flashed over to Tetsu and Asaka, knowing that they would be keeping Foo Fighter together in his absence and as such were in just as much danger as the Nova Grappler user was at the time he had encountered Remember.

"Hold up... don't you mean Kiyoi?" asked Naoki, now confused from the fact that Kamui had seemingly addressed Kiyoi by that name instead.

"Look, long story short," Kamui replied "Piruluk is really Kiyoi whose body is being used by her old LRIG Remember who's the one I actually fought back home."

"There, that wasn't so hard for a catch-up, wasn't it?" Ren mused, back in his usual cheerful demanor rather quickly.

"Try getting criticized by her for a start," he huffed in response "I swear, I thought Kai had a bigger attitude problem when we first started off as Q4. Not that he's anything like that since Aichi knocked his sorry reversed self for a round or two."

The hallway immediately fell silent as Hatsu turned away from the three cardfighters, having gone deep into thought about everything in regards to Miyako and what little new information that Kamui had learned from following Akira and Ulith earlier in the day. Ren looked over to her, wondering if was thinking on the exact same subject that had them thinking since yesterday.

"I assume you are thinking about Miyako, aren't you," he said.

"Indeed. I have been thinking about everything you have told me... and if Kamui's findings are only serving to confirm my worst fears," she spoke "I believe it may trace back to beyond the supposed incident of six years ago."

"So... what is it?" Naoki asked once again.

"I believe it may concern the name of the one you said was behind this crisis alongside these 'Star-vaders'," Hatsu answered as she closed her eyes "The person that you called... Mayu."

* * *

**Mayu's Domain: Photon's Lab**

Meanwhile in the lower levels of the lab that belonged to the current commander of the Star-vaders, Miyako flexed her metal hand as sparks briefly crackled across it, indicating that she had been using it for whatever purpose that she or Mayu had in mind at this moment. Behind her, several units that were easily recognizable as some of the Liberators from Gaillard's stolen deck were shackled by the Cyberoids that were marching beside them, escorting them to the 'Pit' where Takuto along the Raizer maintenance crew and pilots were now imprisoned within. Although the woman's eyes were mostly hidden by the shadow of her coat's hood, her lips however showed that she was not within the best of moods at this current moment.

After briefly clenching her metallic fist, she immediately loosened her grip as she heard several footsteps approach her from behind. Turning around, Miyako could see that it was Mayu who was approaching her at this very moment. Her expression seemed much more calmer compared to the previous day when she had learned that Remember had been unaware that Kamui still had his Beast Deity deck on hand when she had teleported him to the world outside of her domain. Kneeling down for a brief moment, Miyako opened her arms wide as she gently embraced the mastermind of the Selector Battles who returned it as well.

"It has been too long since I had last shared this within that accursed world," the older woman spoke.

"All in good time, my old friend," Mayu replied in a more gentle tone as she broke away from the embrace "What news do you bring?"

"I have successfully summoned most of the units from Gaillard's deck to your domain," Miyako answered "However, for whatever reason, I cannot find the presence of those that wield the Bluish Flames."

"That is because they no longer exist within this time."

The two of them turned around to see that Photon had now joined them within the premises of his lab with Ulith walking closely behind, keeping a calm and collected smirk from beneath her lips. The Cyberoid commander stopped in his footsteps along with the cruel demanored Selector as Miyako walked towards them from behind Mayu, stopping at a short distance from each other.

"Explain then, if you would Photon," she spoke with a hint of bitterness to her voice.

"The warriors named Percival and Aglovale along with several affliated with them, were once part of a group known in Cray's myth as Blaze Paladin," he answered "However, they were lost to the confines of history, until a certain individual brought them to our time, when we had captured the Swordsman of Light."

"Who you then promptly lost along with your fortress and all the technology you had of manipulating time to an alternate Dragonic Overlord of all things," Ulith interjected with a hint of snark to her usual tone "And considering that your little 'experiment' was disarmed by Sendou's new 'girlfriend' recently, your track record has hardly improved in that regard, 'commander'."

As she closed her eyes upon finishing her sentence, a few seconds later, she felt the sharp tip of metal pointed at her head between her eyebrows. Keeping her calm and collected appearance, Ulith reopened her eyes to see that Miyako had pointed the middle finger of her metallic hand right in the same spot she could feel the metal digging into her skin as the woman pushed slightly further on that point.

"That was only the first step in purging this world and Midoriko's case was also to serve as a reminder to those who dare defy my friend," she spoke "You would be wise to remember that."

Ulith simply smirked back in response as Miyako pulled back her metallic hand from the cruel demanored Selector's face, leaving a somewhat indented mark in the skin on her forehead that wasn't to the extent that would be a wound that could bleed.

"Regardless, Percival and his allies are one-of-a-kind units in the 'other' world, so keeping their cards will at least prevent Gaillard or anyone else from somehow using them against us," Mayu continued as she turned away from the group from the moment "I want the two of you and Futase to head back there immediately. The time has come to make my presence there known."

Miyako nodded in response and turned to Ulith who said nothing in reply to her, but kept her usual calm demanor in the face of the older woman's more serious gaze. The two of them then left the premises of the lab together, in search of Futase to inform her of the mastermind's most recent orders and the task that they would have to set out to accomplish. When it was just her, Photon and the working Cyberoids in the lab alone, Mayu tapped her foot on the floor panel that she was standing on. Then in an instant, it immediately descended from the floor she was currently on to an even lower level beneath the lab, one that was shrouded in darkness as evidenced by the lack of light all around her.

When the floor panel came to a stop, she took a step out into the dark space before her and held out her hands, causing a dark red cloud to manifest in front of her before a black image appeared in the very center along with the head of the figure that was displayed in front of her. It was one that displayed another Link Joker unit that was familiar to her and very few who had been in its presence before and recognized its appearance. It was the one that was called by most as the 'Clown', but to Mayu herself and those who served under it, it went by another name.

"What brings my presence to you, Mayu?" it asked.

"Tell me more of this... one who summoned Blaze Paladin to that altered history," she spoke "Which unit was it?"

"We believe it is the Sage of Guidance, Zenon," it answered "But as of the failed invasion of 'that' Earth, no cardfighter was detected possessing his card. What interest is he to you?"

"Chaos Breaker," she continued "I assume that Photon still has that 'disused' weapon on Cray's surface?"

The Clown moved closer to the 'portal' that it was speaking through to Mayu with, intrigued by her suggestion at this moment and the news that she had to offer thus far in regards to progress within the Selector Battles themselves.

"I believe I may have a solution to Miyako's small... 'dillema'."

* * *

**Vanguard World: Card Capital**

Meanwhile as dusk had only just began to settle over the city, Misaki had been sitting on a bench to the side of Card Capital, talking to Ratie after she had previously closed up the store just a few minutes earlier and saying goodbye to Miwa who had left on his way. She could see that the former Quatre Knight's expression was one of utter worry as she could easily tell, but she wasn't prepared to hear about what had happened halfway across their world earlier in the day.

"What was it that Neve told you?" the Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user asked.

"Gaillard... he was defeated by some woman called Miyako," Ratie answered "And he's not just lost his units to her... she somehow has access to his prison!"

Misaki blinked in confusion for a brief moment, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden news of Gaillard fighting within his Holy Prominence Prison once again when it was clear to her some time ago that the Quatre Knights had lost their powers the moment Aichi had returned back to Earth from the moon. The fact that an individual such as Miyako was now wielding those same powers as her own and had taken his units was proving to be all the more troubling considering the recent events that had taken place as of this instance. The sightings of this 'Kiyoi' from Jun and Miwa to Kamui's sudden disappearance and now the news of Gaillard losing his units were certainly disturbing, but the question that remained was what was the link that had tied them all together and why.

"Is there any other news about Gaillard's condition?" she asked once again.

"Neve said he had someone from the Euro League who's keeping watch over him until he recovers from his injuries," said Ratie as she then paused for a moment "He's... not the first person to come to mind, but he says that Leon trusts him well enough on his own accord. I think his name was Jaime if I remembered right."

"I see..." murmured Misaki.

As the clerk of Card Capital took into account this new information that the two of them had learned over the course of the day, the sky above them began to grow much darker just as the sun disappeared over the city's horizon. When it had done so, as she began to rise up from the bench that she and Ratie had been sitting on, the sound of fast paced footsteps immediately caught her attention as she looked out to the street in front of the entrance to Card Capital, just in time to see the edge of a shadowed figure rush on past. Ratie immediately hopped up from the bench and came alongside her to see that her friend's expression had tensed up in suspicion, wondering who exactly had just hurried on to wherever it was.

"Misakin?" she pondered.

Misaki didn't answer as she watched the figure disappear down another street, wondering what exactly that they were in a hurry for. But that alone wasn't what had made her suspicious at this moment, it was the direction of where that particular streets and several others in the same general direction was leading to and with all of the strange events that had transpired, she knew that this wasn't the time to second guess that something was about to happen very soon in correlation to those same events.

"Let's go, Ratie," she spoke as she hurried out into the empty street, followed closely behind by the former Quatre Knight.

As the two of them headed off in the direction that the Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user had suspected the passerby figure had hurried to for the presumed destination in mind, Ratie couldn't help but ponder on everything that the two of them had learned so far. It was shocking enough that Gaillard of all of the Quatre Knights would lose to someone they didn't know about, but for him to be injured by his own prison was enough to keep her worried sick about him. Eventually, after several minutes of rushing across various streets, the two of them had reached the destination that Misaki had presumed the figure had been hurrying off to. The tall building was already recognizable to the two of them, having visited it on seperate occasions of their own.

"Foo Fighter..." Ratie murmured as she turned to her companion for a moment before looking ahead, gasping for a moment "There they are!"

Misaki then looked ahead just in time to see what appeared to be the figure from earlier who was seemingly about to enter throught the front doors to Foo Fighter's main building. Turning around, the person in question stepped out from the shadow cast by the overhanging roof whose multitude of lights were not turned on for whatever reason. Emerging from the small blanket of darkness was none other than the Selector Futase who kept her gaze upon Misaki and Ratie with her only visible eye as she approached the two of them.

"It appears that I have acquired unwanted attention," she murmured "But this way, we finally meet in person, Tokura Misaki."

"Who are you?" asked Misaki.

"My name is Futase," the Selector answered "And by order of my companions... I cannot allow you to pass."

"There's more in there?" pondered Ratie.

"That is correct," she replied as she began to reach into her pocket, eventually bringing out what appeared to be a deck suited towards the game of Vanguard, unlike her usual Wixoss deck that she used in Selector Battles back in her own world. "I may only be dealing with a minor inconvenience, but 'she' has particular interest in you as well, Tokura."

Misaki said nothing in response as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the case that contained her Genesis deck, removing the cards from within it shortly afterwards in preparation for what appeared to be an inevitable cardfight.

"Before we begin, there is something I need to ask," she spoke "Do you know of a person named Kiyoi?"

"You must mean Remember..." Futase murmured "I see that she has taken full advantage of the body she now possesses. No doubt I see why Katsuragi has taken an interest in pursuing her."

"Then... you know where Kamui has disappeared to!" Misaki muttered.

The Selector said nothing more as she then brushed the large portion of hair covering the left side of her face away in that same direction, revealing the metal and the red lens covering over her left eye as it shone in the moonlight for a brief moment. Before Misaki or Ratie could even ask what they were just witnessing, the lens suddenly emitted a blinding red glow as two solid transparent red surfaces appeared in front of each of the two combatants, indicating that Futase had summoned these as the tables necessary to conduct their cardfight. The Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user couldn't help but feel somewhat unnerved when she had recognized the design of these tables, stirring up some rather unsettling memories within her mind.

Taking out the frontmost card from her deck and setting it down on the idented Vanguard circle, she placed her deck on the far top right corner away from it to prepare herself for the fight as Futase did the same. As the two of them drew their starting hands, Ratie watched on nervously as everything around them suddenly seemed to grow even darker through an aura that appeared all around them. She then looked back to Misaki, hoping she would be able to overcome Futase and find out more answers as to what was really going on around them.

"Stand Up, Vanguard!" both of them called out as they turned their starting Vanguards face up. Two columns of light appeared in front of their respective tables, one that was bright green and the other being dark red.

The first unit to emerge was Misaki's Genesis unit, Regalia of Prayer, Pray Angel. She had bright green eyes and brownish grey hair and was dressed in a set of white robes with a purple hue to them. In addition to wielding a small weapon of some kind, she also had feathed wings attached to her back and a metallic halo that hovered above her head.

**Regalia of Prayer, Pray Angel/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 5000/SLD: 10000/Genesis/United Sanctuary/Angel**

The other one that emerged was a small white draconic unit with several bits of red littered all over its body, including the nails for its claws and feet as well as the top half of its face and a large portion of its wings. Its purple eyes glowed omniously as it stared at Pray Angel, but what was more disturbing about this unit was the black ring adorned with several red lines that went around its neck.

**Micro-hole Dracokid/Grade 0/Boost/POW: 4000/SLD: 10000/Link Joker/Star Gate/Cyber Dragon**

"Link Joker..." Misaki murmured.

"Ride, Gravity Ball Dragon!"

Futase's declaration immediately caught her attention as a dark aura surrounded the small unit before the shadow grew in size and as it disappeared to reveal the newly changed unit, it appeared that the first unit had undergone quite the change as well. As a dark red aura surrounded it, Ratie looked on toward the unit with a hint of nervousness.

"Blaster Blade said that Link Joker would be accepted by Cray..." she murmured "But... this one still feels malicious..."

"Ride, Shiny Angel!"

The former Quatre Knight then looked over to Misaki's side of the field to see Shiny Angel appear in the place of Pray Angel, who immediately reappeared in the space behind the Grade 1 Genesis unit.

"Attack!" she called as Shiny Angel charged up a sphere of energy in the palm of her right hand.

As Futase remained silent and motionless to indicate a 'no guard', Misaki revealed the top card of her deck to be Regalia of Foredoom, Lot Angel. It glowed brightly to indicate that she had managed to activate its trigger effect as she immediately drew 1 card from her deck after concealing the card in her hand. Shiny Angel then hurled the sphere of energy at Gravity Ball Dragon who remained motionless as it exploded into it upon impact. As the smoke cleared, the first card in Futase's damage zone revealed itself to be Barrier Star-Vader, Promethium, showing that she had not managed to get a trigger in this moment. Misaki kept a close eye on the Selector as she drew her next card, pondering on the situation before her.

"She's not exhibiting any signs of Reverse, just like Kourin then..." she murmured to herself "Aichi said that Blaster Blade believes that Link Joker would be accepted peacefully one day. And yet, this uneasiness..."

Futase then looked over the cards in her hand as she contemplated the situation at hand. Gazing over to the card at her far left with her left eye, she closed her eyes as she took out the centermost card from her hand.

"Ride, Gravity Collapse Dragon!" she called.

A dark aura enveloped Gravity Ball Dragon as it grew in size once again, emerging as an even larger Cyber Dragon with a large wingspan and a huge black ring with several red lines and multiple triangular points on the edge that circled behind its back. A dark red aura enveloped the dragon as it powered up from its own effects.

**Gravity Collapse Dragon/POW: 9000 - 10000**

"Lock!"

A pair of black rings encircled Pray Angel before they closed in on her, trapping the unit in a black sphere as they circled around it. The card on Misaki's table turned face down as sparks began flying off of it. She then looked ahead to see that two more Link Joker units that were unfamiliar to her appear behind and to the left of Gravity Collapse Dragon. The one that was behind the Cyber Dragon had a pair of black wings with red markings on them and wielded a neon green whip with sparks crackling across the length of it. The other was much more humanoid, being mostly clad in white armour and wielding a large firearm that it carried behind its shoulder.

**Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium/Grade 2/Intercept/POW: 9000/SLD: 5000/Link Joker/Star Gate/Cyberoid**

**Star-vader, Volt Line/Grade 1/Boost/POW: 7000/SLD: 5000/Link Joker/Star Gate/Cyber Fairy**

"Osmium attacks!" Futase called.

The Cyberoid to the Selector's far left brought forward its firearm in front of it and began charging up the weapon as a purple glow began to illuminate the large barrel. Misaki however was prepared to counter this offense.

"Guard!" she called as Lot Angel appeared in front of Shiny Angel "And Soul Charge!"

As the noise of the build-up in Osmium's weapon died down along with the glow inside of it, Gravity Collapse Dragon growled as it flapped its large wings and took flight into the air. Futase then turned over the top card of her deck, revealing it to be Recollection Star-vader, Tellurium as it glowed brightly for a short instance.

"Heal Trigger," she spoke as she picked up Promethium's card from her damage zone and moved it straight to her drop zone.

Gravity Collapse Dragon held out its claws in front of itself as a black orb with several sparks emitting from it began to generate and grow in size. Then with a mighty roar, it hurled the orb right into Shiny Angel as it exploded upon contact. Misaki shielded her face from the impact of the blast as Regalia of Fate, Norn flew past her and entered her damage zone. Then as she looked ahead to see the smoke clearing, Volt Line's green whip suddenly pierced through the grey smog and wrapped around the sphere that was keeping Pray Angel locked before green sparks began flying off of the whip onto its target. The Cyber Fairy then pulled back its weapon with a single mighty tug as Misaki looked back at Futase, wondering what was going on.

"Volt Line's skill," the Selector spoke "Since Gravity Collapse's attack was successful, Pray Angel is Omega Locked. If you had allowed Osmium's attack to go through, the same skill would have applied."

"So even if Misakin's turn ends..." Ratie murmured as she looked over to her field  _Futase's deck must be full of them and as long as she keeps boosting her Vanguard with Volt Line, Misakin will have to guard to keep her units under a normal Lock._

Misaki stood up Shiny Angel's card as she looked over what was available in her hand to try and counterattack with at the present moment. Looking back to Futase, who kept her gaze with both her visible eye and the lens covering over the left side of her face upon her, she knew there was much that she had to ask about whilst she still had an opportunity.

"I can see that you don't appear to be reversed, even with Link Joker," she spoke "But, the fact that you know of Kamui's whereabouts has caught my attention. Where is he now?"

"He is within my world," the Selector replied "From what I last saw, he was with other companions that you were familiar with."

"You mean... you're from the same world that Aichi went to?!" asked Ratie "But then... why are you even here?!"

Futase looked down at the ground for a moment, hiding her expression for a brief instance before closing her eyes and facing the two cardfighters once again, knowing that they were demanding an answer from her.

"I have been sent here with many more, to carry out the orders of the one who governs the game in my world," she spoke "I will defeat you, just as Remember and Miyako have done to Kamui and Gaillard. Then, your units will belong to 'her' and that will be all to it."

Misaki narrowed her eyes upon learning of this new information, now seeing that Futase was involved with all of the strange events that had been going on in her world as of late and that all of them were connected in one way or another, just as she had initially expected. But that in turn had also served to raise even more questions. Was Kamui safe in that other world, even if he was with Aichi and the others as the Selector had claimed to had last seen him and just who was this 'one that governed the game' in that same world and why did she seek interest in taking her units? All the while, she knew that she now could not afford to lose this cardfight to avoid falling prey to the last question in mind and if what she said was true, she also had to stop these other companions she spoke off who were possibly within Foo Fighter, conducting fights of their own to achieve the same objective.

As Ratie watched on from she was standing, outside of the field's boundary that was indicated by the dark aura surrounding the three people inside of it, a new observer was watching closely from beside the front gate of Foo Fighter's premises. He was smartly dressed in a black suit with a white undershirt and a black tie and wore a pair of white gloves along with a pair of bespectacled glasses that had a string coming down from the right hand side. He had purple eyes and pale greyish turqoise coloured hair that was wavy near the front with a strand that came down across the middle of his face and the very back was tied up in a long strand neatly by a black coloured bow of some kind. He eyed the fight closely with his gaze falling upon Futase in particular, having beared some kind of interest to him in the first place.

"I've found one," he spoke quietly, seemingly to someone who was not present with him at the moment.

"Do not lose sight of her," a voice echoed as a small white flash emitted from the blue gem like earring that was present on his right ear "With any luck, she will lead us to the others."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone interested (and may have noticed on my profile), I did a one-shot called 'Treasuring the Moment' which is set during this chapter. Whilst the overall 'canonicity' impact to the story that it has is entirely left up to the reader for the time being, I would appreciate hearing some feedback on it (As of yet on both here and its original fanfiction.net upload, I've yet to see any kind of response to it).


	61. Arc 3 - Ride 61: The United Events II

**Wixoss World: Tokyo City Streets**

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways for now."

Later that night, Sakuya and the rest of the group around her had journeyed over to the stairway entrance that led to the underground station where the Selector's train back to Aomori would be departing in several minutes from this current instance. Although she had been initially saddened that most of her intended plans for reuniting with Hitoe took a brief detour when she and Midoriko were reversed, she knew dwelling on that would not brighten up the happier mood she had now found herself in. Hitoe stood in front of her from a distance whilst Aichi, Ruko and Kai remained beside a nearby tree, feeling it would be better to give their friend the personal space she would need to make the farewell less strenuous on her.

"Actually... there's something I want to do now that I know what's going on," said Sakuya.

"W... What is it?" Hitoe asked curiously.

The Selector smiled for a moment before taking out Midoriko's card that she currently had in her pocket, causing the green LRIG to look up at her in slight confusion as to why this was happening. She then handed it over to her closest friend, leaving even more confusion evident on her's and Yuzuki's expressions.

"Now that I know these Selector Battles are bad news... and how much you've grown since 'that'," she answered "I won't need Midoriko to grant any wish I want. That and I already fulfilled mine anyway."

"So what are you saying?" asked Yuzuki.

"I'm not tossing Midoriko away, if that's what you're thinking," Sakuya replied "I'm just giving her a second chance, to be there for Hitoe if she needs it."

Midoriko stared up at Hitoe, surprised that her now 'former' Selector had given her back to the person that she felt that she had failed to be there for when she had needed her the most. Now that she had seen how much she had grown in her absence however, she felt that a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders and that she needed to make the most of this second chance as much as possible, until they could bring the Selector Battles to an end.

"A... Are you sure you want to hang on to me again?" she asked.

"Midoriko... you're one of my closest friends," said Hitoe "Of course I would like to be with you again."

"Then it appears we have reached a decision," Sakuya interjected as she came over to the Selector, putting an arm on her shoulder "Do the best you can, in life and in this mess you're all fighting to get out of. If you ever need me, I'm always a train ride away to the north."

Hitoe then placed Midoriko's card in the neck wallet she wore, placing it in the opposite direction so that the green LRIG would be facing Yuzuki. Then, the two Selectors briefly embraced one another as the night atmosphere went completely silent for a few seconds before they broke apart with Sakuya backing away towards the stairs leading down to the station below.

"Take care," she spoke before looking over to Aichi "Keep up whatever it is you're doing. I know you're from a different world but Hitoe could really have someone like you in her lifetime."

As Aichi smiled meekly in response whilst closing his eyes for a moment, Ruko waved towards Sakuya to bid her farewell for the moment until they would all hopefully meet again some time in the future. Kai looked over to the now 'retired' Selector, opening his eyes with a hint of his usual demanor enshrouded amongst them, though less harsh than they normally would appear to most others.

"Even if you are no longer participating, I suggest being careful," he spoke "This third strike of Reverse in this world won't be the last."

Although Sakuya still kept on smiling, she nodded briefly to assure the Kagero user that she would heed his warning to her, regardless of the circumstances. She then ran down the stairs that led to the station, eventually disappearing down a corner in the passageway. When she was no longer present amongst them, Hitoe turned around and rejoined her companions who walked over to join her.

"Sakuya's really been looking out for you," said Ruko "You're really lucky to still have a friend like her."

"Thanks Ruko," Hitoe replied as she looked over to Aichi "And thank you Aichi... for... everything."

As she briefly paused between her words, her cheeks faintly turned pink for a moment, not that anyone else noticed this at all. The Royal Paladin user simply scratched the back of his head for a brief moment.

"You're welcome, Hitoe-san," he answered "I'm really happy for you."

His smile immediately faded however when he felt a hand placed rather firmly on his shoulder. He turned around to see that Kai seemed rather serious in his expression which could only mean that he wanted his attention for something that was on his mind.

"Kai-kun?" Aichi pondered.

"Aichi, when we return to the apartment..." he spoke "I... need to battle you."

* * *

**Vanguard World: Foo Fighter**

Meanwhile, outside of the entrance to Foo Fighter within the dark space that enveloped most of the surrounding area, Misaki and Futase had continued on with their current fight whilst Ratie watched on from the side. So far, it had only been the end of the fourth turn and the Genesis user had finally managed to recover her lead with the attacks that she had made, despite Pray Angel remaining Locked due to Volt Line's own ability. On her field was Midday Regalia, Hemera as her current Vanguard who was currently taking up a defensive stance and to her left was Regalia of Fertility, Freyja with Purification Regalia, Pure Angel behind that unit. Futase so far had been knocked back to two damage after guarding previously with Tellurium as she stared at her Drop Zone, currently housing the Heal Trigger and Promethium.

Ratie watched on anxiously from where she was standing, hoping that Misaki would be able to recover from the rather early Omega Lock, seeing that it was putting her at a disadvantage in that she was only lucky to land an earlier hit with Hermera due to a lucky Critical Trigger pulling through for the Genesis user. The Selector then began her turn as she drew her next card before the eye hidden behind the red lens and metal covering over the top left portion of her face widened for a brief moment, upon seeing which card it actually was.

 _I really wish it never had to come to this..._ she murmured in her thoughts as she held out the card in front of her  _But for your's and Fumio's sake..._

"Fragile locus, emerge with your stained heart and defile the light of those before you! Ride the LRIG!"

As soon as the word LRIG was uttered, both Misaki and Ratie stared at the card that Futase held high above her head as it was covered in a familiar dark red aura before the Selector placed it down onto her table on top of Gravity Collapse Dragon. The Cyber Dragon disappeared in an eruption of that same coloured aura as the shadow of a humanoid figure began to appear admist the darkness that was swirling around Futase's side of the field. The aura dispelled to reveal that it was none other than the LRIG Anne who was far from what she usually appeared like, as evidenced by what she was wearing in the place of her usual dress.

The girl was covered from head to toe in plates of white, black and grey coloured steel with several dark red lines etched into various portions of the armour she wore. A black visor covered over her eyes, obscuring them from sight from an outsider's perspective. Some of the armour seemed to be somewhat complimentary and the overall shapes of the plating appeared resembled the dress that she would normally wear with the lower half being changed to several long 'blades' of grey armouring and a large black ring hovered behind the LRIG's back, seemingly giving her the power of flight as she hovered above the ground in front of Futase's table, as she announced the name of Anne's new form.

"Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity!" she called.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Link Joker/Star Gate/'Human/LRIG'**

"So that's an LRIG..." Misaki murmured, recalling seeing the 'Race' listed on Remember's Grade 0 card before it had vanished the previous night.

"No way..." Ratie breathed as she stared up at Anne "That appearance is almost like..."

A familiar image suddenly formed in the back of the former Quatre Knight's mind, despicting Blaster Blade under the power of Link Joker as evidenced by the black ring behind the Swordsman of Light's back and the red glint from his obscured eyes. Truth be told, she didn't know why she felt like making this comparison to the form that Aichi had called 'Blaster Joker', but there was something about Anne in this state that made it feel neccessary for her to do so. Futase then placed down two more cards which were Gravity Ball Dragon and Singularity Sniper.

"Singularity Sniper attacks!" Futase declared "With its skill if the attack hits, I can Lock a rear-guard!"

As Gravity Ball Dragon lowered its stance, a dark aura surrounded Singularity Sniper as it recieved the Cyber Dragon's boost and took flight into the air. As the three small black rings in front of it opened up to allow the projectile between them to fire through, it launched immediately after the Cyber Fairy pulled it back and let go rather quickly as it hurled towards Hemera.

"Guard!" Misaki responded as she placed down Battle Maiden, Kukurihime to the Guardian Circle.

The unit appeared in a green flash in front of Hemera to take the hit for her as the projectile grazed past her dress, causing her to scream loudly as she vanished from the battlefield afterwards.

"With Volt Line's boost, Anne attacks your Vanguard!" the Selector continued.

Anne held out her right hand in front of her as a dark red aura began to manifest a new weapon for her to use, the shadow of it beginning to materialize in the palm of the LRIG. The darkness dispersed to reveal that it mostly resembled the one in her Level 4 form, only the fan 'blades' had been replaced with the stylized black rings seen on Gravity Ball Dragon and Gravity Collapse Dragon. Misaki could only clench her teeth as she looked down at her hand before making a decision.

"No guard..." she muttered.

Futase remained silent in response as she conducted her Twin Drive upon looking her to her deck. Revealing the first card, it was Star-vader, Weiss Soldat as the card glowed brightly, causing both Anne and Osmium to glow a bright yellow as the trigger effects were applied to them seperately.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium/POW: 9000 - 14000**

The Selector then picked up the second card from the top her deck and looked at it closely with her visible non-covered eye, causing Misaki to ponder what she had managed to pull on her second check.

"Tell me Tokura," she spoke "Is Takuto's reason for beginning the Asia Circuit still fresh in your 'Perfect Memory'?"

"The capture of Cray's Three Heroes by the Void," the Genesis user replied, recounting the events as if they were still fresh in her mind "What about it?"

"It would be of your best interest, to meet the one who freed Aqua Force for Soryu on that night," the Selector answered as she turned over the card, revealing it to be a Grade 3 unit.

"Schwarzschild Dragon?!" exclaimed Ratie.

Shortly afterwards, the rings on Anne's weapon illuminated brightly as a large static orb materialized at the end of the staff on the sharpest furthermost point, just as she pointed it down towards Hemera before firing the orb right at the Genesis unit. As the sphere made contact with her, the orb suddenly engulfed her and grew even larger to the point where it had even enveloped Misaki's entire side of the field as both Hemera and the Genesis user suddenly cried out in pain as they were suddenly forced to their knees as if they had just been thrown to the ground by a very heavy weight. The orb's effects suddenly wore off as Misaki stumbled for a moment, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"What was that...?!" she coughed  _It almost felt like I was being crushed from Anne's attack!_

"I Omega Lock Pray Angel again and Osmium attacks!"

Misaki quickly glanced to her damage zone, seeing that she did not manage to set off any damage triggers from the aftermath of Anne's previous attack before looking to her hand.

"Guard!" she called as Exorcism Regalia, Shiny Angel appeared in front of Hemera "And intercept!"

Freyja joined the Grade 1 unit as the two of them stood side by side in front of her vanguard, prompting Osimium to lower its firearm once again for the second time throughout this fight as the two of them vanished from the field immediately afterwards. Futase remaining motionless, remained silent in response to this as her turn came to an end.

**End of Turn 5**

**Misaki vs Futase**

**Hand - 3 : 4**

**Soul - 2 : 3**

**Damage - 3 : 2**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Midday Regalia, Hemera (Vanguard) - EMPTY : Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium -** **Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity (Vanguard) - Singularity Sniper**

**Back Rows : Purification Regalia, Pure Angel - Regalia of Prayers, Pray Angel (Locked) - EMPTY : EMPTY - Star-vader, Volt Line - Gravity Ball Dragon**

Misaki stared down at her table, seeing that she was somehow back to square one, given that Pray Angel was still Omega Locked for the second turn in a row, knowing that at the rate the fight was progressing, she would have to make do without a unit boosting her Vanguard at all. Looking back up at Anne who remained still since the end of her attack, she couldn't help but ponder what it was that made this 'LRIG' special unlike any other unit, not knowing of what LRIGs actually were from her lack of knowledge of Mayu or the Selector Battles. Drawing her single card, she looked across towards Futase whose gaze had remained unwavering throughout the majority of the fight thus far before holding out the card she drew in front of her.

"Warrior imbued with the power of a god, all bow down before that noble power!" the Genesis user called "I ride Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil!"

Hemera was enveloped in a bright green flash of light as the new Regalia unit descended from the brilliant light in its place in all of her spectacular glory. She was dressed in a set of robes like most of Misaki's Genesis units thus far and her weapon of choice appeared to be a staff much like Anne's, only it was stylized more like a very tall flower of some kind. Immediately to her left, another Freyja appeared onto the same rear-guard circle that the previous Freyja had been occupying for the duration of the last two turns, as if nothing had changed about her at all.

"Seek mate!"

A green aura surrounded Yggdrasil as the silhouette of another figure began to materialize in a blinding white glow beside her before it disappeared to reveal the unit named Regalia of Fate, Norn. Her choice of dress was similar to Yggdrasil's own, only she had her hair tied up in a bun, she wore a pair of glasses in front of her eyes and she carried what appeared to be an urn or a jug over her shoulders. The Legion symbol briefly flashed for a moment, showing that Misaki had completed it successfully as her Drop Zone was now completely empty.

"Freyja's skill!" she called "Counter Blast and Soul Charge!"

"It's coming..." murmured Ratie before she looked over to Misaki and called out in encouragement "Go, Misakin!"

The Genesis user nodded in acknowledgment before looking over to Futase, preparing to start her attack at this very moment.

"Here I come, Futase!" she declared "Yggdrasil and Norn, Legion Attack!"

The two units immediately nodded in reply as they held out their weapons in front of them, charging up a large attack together as pure white energy began to crackle between the top of Yggdrasil's staff and the edge of Norn's urn as they took aim towards Anne who remained motionless.

"Yggdrasil's Legion skill!" Misaki continued "I send all the cards in my soul to the drop zone! You cannot guard with Grade 1 or higher units and she gains an extra Critical!"

As a yellow aura surrounded the Legion pair, showing that they were about to gain more strength, Futase closed her eyes in response, showing she wasn't concerned with what was about to occur.

"Is that all?"

Misaki blinked in shock for a moment, upon hearing a voice that was completely unfamiliar to her speak out at this very moment, almost as she was willing to mock the Genesis user for her efforts thus far. Looking up to Anne, she suddenly realized that it was the LRIG that spoke out at this very moment, but how this was, she still had no idea as to why.

"Anne's Soul Blast!" Futase called as Micro-hole Dracokid slid out from underneath Anne's card and moved to her drop zone.

Anne then held out her staff as sparks flew out of it and spread across to Misaki's side of the battlefield, shocking both Yggdrasil and Norn for a brief moment as the yellow aura around them forcibly disappeared and a new one appeared around the LRIG.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity/Critical: 1 - 2**

"What the?!" gasped Ratie "Anne just gained a critical and Misakin's Legion didn't get any!"

"So Anne can steal Criticals from my units?!" Misaki gasped.

"Not entirely," Futase replied "Any time a unit on any of our fields would gain a Critical whilst you have a Locked card, I can Soul Blast and steal that Critical until the end of that turn."

Misaki frowned for a moment upon seeing that the Selector was easily anticipating that manuver without having to waste any of her hand to guard what was now a regular attack with no other downsides to taking a hit.

"Twin drive!" she called as she revealed the first card, Regalia of Far-sight, Clear Angel "Critical Trigger!"

"That's useless!"

Upon hearing the declaration from Anne herself, sparks immediately flew from the card as Misaki cringed in pain for a moment. The LRIG glowed a bright yellow once more, indicating that Futase was somehow using her skill again.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity/Critical: 2 - 3**

"My Critical Triggers are vulnerable to that skill as well?!" she exclaimed as she looked over to Futase, who had moved Gravity Ball Dragon to the drop zone as a cost, saying nothing more. "I give the power to Freyja!"

She then revealed her second card to be Cold Blast Regalia, Svalinn, not having a Trigger marking on it to further aid her in this scenario. Although most of the energy from their combined attack had been lost, Yggdrasil and Norn launched what was left of it at Anne who remained still as it collided with her, causing a large explosion nonetheless. Star-vader, Scouting Ferris flew past Futase's line of sight and landed face-up in her damage zone, now alongside Gravity Collapse Dragon and Gravity Ball Dragon, the card glowing for a brief moment as she drew her next card.

"Freyja attacks Osmium!" Misaki continued.

"No guard," Futase replied calmly.

Freyja then charged towards Osmium and lashed down her blue coloured whip upon the Star-vader, retiring him from the Selector's side of the field. Anne briefly gazed down upon her before the Regalia unit retreated back to Misaki's side of the field as she reviewed everything that had transpired in her mind.

 _Anne's skill can shut off the danger of Yggdrasil's skill..._ she muttered in her thoughts  _But... Futase only has one card left in her soul. If I can force her to use it up..._

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 6**

**Misaki vs Futase**

**Hand - 4 : 5**

**Soul - 0 : 1**

**Damage - 3 : 3**

**Front Rows : Regalia of Fertility, Freyja - Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil (Legioned with Regalia of Fate, Norn) - EMPTY : EMPTY -** **Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity (Vanguard) - Singularity Sniper**

**Back Rows : Purification Regalia, Pure Angel - Regalia of Prayers, Pray Angel (Locked) - EMPTY : EMPTY - Star-vader, Volt Line - Gravity Ball Dragon**

Futase then drew her single card as the red lens covering her left eye began to illuminate brightly, catching the attention of both her opponent and the onlooker who were wondering what exactly was going on at this very moment. She then held out her right hand over Anne's card as the dark red aura of Link Joker enveloped the two of them, signifying that something was about transpire in their favour. For whatever reason though, the Selector inwardly cringed for a moment as a tear left her closed right eyelid and dripped onto the table. The sound of this caused Misaki to stare closely at her, feeling that there was now more to the situation than it was first apparent.

"... Seek mate," Futase spoke.

As Anne held up her staff into the air, four of the five cards in her drop zone, those being Micro-hole Dracokid, Osmium, Promethium and Tellurium, all hovered and set themselves on the top of the Selector's deck as as file of light scanned through the cards until it found the one that was required. It pulled it out of the deck as it was covered in the same dark red aura from before and Futase caught it with her open hand, clenching her teeth for a moment, almost as if she was trying to hold back some frustration of some kind.

" _It is time,_ " a familiar voice echoed in her thoughts, one that was always heard by her throughout her service to Mayu's cause. The Selector then opened her eyes and held up the card high into the air.

"Dragon of darkness, born of dark flames..." she began "Convey an unending nightmare to those who incur your wrath! Appear, Schwarzschild Dragon! Legion!"

She then threw down the card onto the Vanguard circle of her table to the left of Anne's card, a black and red coloured version of the Legion symbol briefly flashing for a single moment as a giant dark shadow began to emerge onto the battlefield. Misaki stared on as the darkness began to disappear, revealing the dragon in all of its nightmarish outlook as a dark chuckle began to boom over the area. The entire body of Schwarzschild Dragon was almost a much more evolved appearance of its previous form, Gravity Collapse Dragon before it roared loudly, landing on its feet behind Anne and sending a loud thud across the front entrance of Foo Fighter.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity and Schwarzschild Dragon/POW: 22000**

"Schwarzschild's skill!" Futase declared as one card in her damage zone turned face down before the top five cards of her deck hovered up to her view. She then picked out another copy of Schwarzschild Dragon which she revealed to everyone else before the remaining cards shuffled themselves back into the deck. "Then I call!"

She then immediately filled up her left rear-guard column with two new units by the name of Eclipse Star-vader, Charcoal and a Stand Trigger by the name of Shockwave Star-vader, Dysprosium, the two units immediately taking offensive stances the moment they appeared on the battlefield.

"Anne's Legion skill!" the Selector continued as she revealed another copy from her hand and dropped it into her Drop Zone on the table "Then, Limit Break!"

A dark red Vanguard circle flashed above both Anne and Schwarzschild Dragon before two pairs of black rings encircled both Freyja and Pure Angel, causing them to scream loudly as they were trapped in respective black spheres, locking them. Misaki could only tense her expression as she stared at the locked field that she now had from the Legion she was now facing.

"H... Hey!" yelled Ratie "Aside from the fact that Schwarzschild Dragon needs a Counter Blast of 3 for its skill, how come its Limit Break went online from you having three damage?!"

"Charcoal's skill and my own Persona Blast," Anne responded emotionlessly, somewhat taking the former Quatre Knight aback from the fact that it was her talking "With its presence, Limit Breaks mean nothing to my 'master' and my Persona Blast erases one of the costs that are required."

"Furthermore," Futase continued "By Soul Blasting, I can give Schwarzschild's extra Critical to Anne instead."

As the LRIG glowed brightly from recieving Schwarzschild's extra Critical in the dragon's stead, Misaki glanced towards the pair, knowing that she had to be very careful with how she was planning to get out of this dangerous scenario.

"Schwarzschild, Anne," the Selector spoke "Bring endless suffering to those before you as a reminder to our mistress' ideal! Legion Attack!"

Schwarzschild's eyes flashed a bright red for a brief moment as it took flight and charged towards both Yggdrasil and Norn who could only brace themselves for impact as they could also see Anne pointing her staff towards them.

"Quintet Wall!" Misaki called as she revealed Svalinn from her hand, the unit appearing in front of her Legion pair.

Five green circles flashed in front of the unit as Freyja, Shiny Angel, Kukurihime, another copy of Norn and Lot Angel, all taking defensive stances as they stared off with the oncoming Schwarzschild Dragon.

**SLD: 30000**

"Twin drive..." Futase spoke as she revealed the first card to be Promethium which she immediately added to her hand. The next card she revealed was Star-vader, Weiss Soldat once again. "I give all the effects to Dysprosium."

**Shockwave Star-vader, Dysprosium/POW: 4000 - 9000/Critical: 1 - 2**

Whilst Anne lowered her staff, seeing that the attack was not going to break through to Misaki's Legion, Schwarzschild Dragon roared fiercly and slashed across Svalinn and all the units that she had called, causing each and every one of them to vanish in an instant as it gazed upon Yggdrasil for a moment before flying back to Futase's side of the field as she immediately rested all the cards in her left column. Dysprosium, true to his name, used his orb to generate a shockwave that knocked both Norn and Yggdrasil to the floor as the next two cards from Misaki's damage check revealed themselves to be Midnight Regalia, Nyx and Regalia of Compassion, Eir.

"Heal Trigger!" she called "I recover one and add power to my Legion!"

Singularity Sniper remained outwardly emotionless, but kept a hint of annoyance under its breath as it did not have a target that was weak enough for it to even attack in the first place. Futase upon noticing this said nothing more as the turn came to a close.

**End of Turn 7**

**Misaki vs Futase**

**Hand - 3 : 4**

**Soul - 1 : 0**

**Damage - 4 : 3**

**Front Rows : Regalia of Fertility, Freyja (Locked) - Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil (Legioned with Regalia of Fate, Norn) - EMPTY : Shockwave Star-vader, Dysprosium -** **Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity (Legioned with Schwarzschild Dragon) - Singularity Sniper**

**Back Rows : Purification Regalia, Pure Angel (Locked) - Regalia of Prayers, Pray Angel (Locked) - EMPTY : Eclipse Star-vader, Charcoal - Star-vader, Volt Line - Gravity Ball Dragon**

"That was close..." Ratie sighed in relief "Misakin just held on..."

Misaki upon regaining her composure began her turn as she looked back up to Schwarzschild Dragon and Anne, knowing that there was much for her to do to overcome this great opposition. There was something however that had been bothering her since the start of the previous turn and that was concerning Futase in herself.

 _Something about this seems off..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _At that moment... her resolve wavered for an instant. Unless I'm mistaken, is it possible that...?_

"Keep up your pointless struggle."

The Genesis user blinked upon hearing the second new voice that had suddenly addressed her at this very moment.

"Given everything I've heard so far, I'm guessing that it's you this time, Schwarzschild," she spoke, her tone becoming bitter when she addressed the dragon's name.

"Hmm... not one of Takuto's chosen, but an observant one," it responded in a somewhat bold tone "A rare trait if I do say so myself."

"W... Why are the three of you doing this?" Ratie asked "Taking all of Cray's units by stripping their cards from their fighters..."

"I already told you," Futase interrupted "It's all for the sake of our mistress. That is all there is to it." She then gazed back to Misaki. "It is still your turn."

The Genesis user then looked down at her hand and took two cards from out of them and placed them down on her right column. Those were additional copies of Hemera and Shiny Angel as they gained a bright green aura to them, as did both Yggdrasil and Norn as they found the strength in themselves to stand back up onto their feet after the earlier punishment from the previous turn.

"Attack!" Misaki declared "And Legion Skill!"

**Cosmic Regalia, CEO Yggdrasil/Critical: 1 - 2**

As the Legioned pair prepared to strike their opponents together, Futase remained silent to show that she had no intention of guarding this next attack after gazing down at her hand.

"Alright!" Ratie cheered "Anne doesn't have any Soul! All Misakin needs is a Critical Trigger and it's over!"

Misaki however didn't appear to share as much sentiment with the former Quatre Knight's statement, knowing that there had to be some reason Futase was remaining this calm. Was the Selector really that confident that she would not pull a Critical Trigger to end the fight or did she have faith that she would draw a Heal Trigger to prolong the outcome for much longer? Either way, there was no time to hesitate as she immediately conducted her Twin Drive, her first check revealing a second copy of Svalinn. She then revealed her second card which glowed brightly, but didn't quite have what she would have benefited from the best.

"Draw Trigger..." she murmured as Hemera powered up from the effect.

As Ratie moaned in annoyance, Misaki drew her next card, her eyes wavering in surprise for a brief moment. Yggdrasil and Norn unleashed all of their might from a combined attack once again as it took charge towards the Legion pair. Both Schwarzschild and Anne remained motionless as if the attack did nothing to them at all as Futase's next damage checks revealed Charcoal and Volt Line, no triggers appearing to aid her at this very instance.

"Hemera!" she continued.

"Perfect Guard!" Futase responded as she revealed Promethium from her hand and discarded Singularity Sniper.

As the turn came to an end, all of the Locks around Misaki's units began to come undone one after another. The first to be freed was Pray Angel, then it was Pure Angel and finally...

"Dysprosium's skill!" the Selector interrupted "Counter Blast and moving to the Soul!"

The Lock that had Freyja trapped within it remained as it was, as if it had not been affected in the slightest at all as Dysprosium vanished in a dark blue aura that was immediately absorbed by Schwarzschild Dragon as it chuckled darkly under its breath.

"Another Omega Lock?!" groaned Ratie "Come on!"

Misaki however remained as calm as she could possibly be as she stared over at the card she drew from Lot Angel's trigger effect, a memory from the distant past stirring in the back of her mind.

_**Flashback** _

It was daylight on the boat that was taking Kai and his group back to Japan from Leon's island, after they had gone through the extensive 'training' that they believed was necessary for them to take a second shot at the Quatre Knights and talk to Aichi, unaware of what was really going on at the time. Misaki whilst thinking on the subject like almost everyone else present, had her concerns lying elsewhere for the moment. That lay with Kourin, who had sided with them after somehow recovering her memories of the times she spent around everyone she knew, after Takuto had disappeared from the world to deal with his Link Joker doppelganger once and for all. She wanted answers as to why she was helping them and why she was insistant on no one even being allowed to talk to Aichi at all.

"Hey, Misaki."

The Genesis user turned around to see that Naoki had called out to her at this very instance, curious as to why he wanted to talk to her.

"Listen..." he began "About what Kamui and I said about Kourin earlier... You were right, I was actin' out of line there."

"Ishida..." she murmured.

"I get that she hasn't been through the best of times with what happened..." Naoki continued "But still... why didn't she tell us something if she got her memories back?!"

"I'm certain she has her reasons, if she's using Link Joker on her own accord," Misaki replied, looking down to the hairband that she had held on to since 'that' day.

As she was contemplating the situation however, the Narukami user was digging through his pockets as if he was looking for something that he had stuffed in there earlier during their stay. Eventually, he pulled out what appeared to be a single card out of his right trouser pocket and handed it over to Misaki, who stared at it in partial confusion, but mostly wonder.

"I found it on that islet with Big Bang Knuckle Buster," he explained "If we come across Kourin again, I thought it might help."

"I see..." the Genesis user replied as she inspected it closely, now seeing how it could be beneficial to her in the coming struggle.

**Present**

_However... I never even made it to Kourin, to try and save her with this card._

Misaki closed her eyes for a brief moment before reopening them and gazing over to Futase who was already starting her turn, looking over her hand to consider her options, before calling a second Gravity Collapse Dragon to the rear-guard.

_If what I think is going on with Futase is true... then this time, I'll get to the bottom of this!_

"Legion Break!" the Selector announced as she revealed another copy of both Anne and Schwarzschild Dragon from her hand before discarding them to her Drop Zone.

As Schwarzschild Dragon's eyes flashed a bright red, two pairs of black rings encircled Hemera and Shiny Angel before a third pair encircled Pray Angel, immediately locking all three units at the same time. The same yellowish aura from before surrounded Anne as she powered up from the dragon's presence that was behind her.

**Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity/Critical: 1 - 2**

"Tokura Misaki, this is the end," Futase spoke "Let's go! Legion Attack!"

As both Anne and Schwarzschild Dragon took flight into the air, preparing to strike both Yggdrasil and Norn once again, Misaki looked up at the pair before taking Svalinn's card from her hand and throwing it onto the Guardian circle at the front of her table.

"Quintet Wall!" she called "And I guard with Lot Angel!"

As the two units appeared in front of the Legioned pairs once again to shield Misaki's side of the field from harm, five more green circles materialized as from each of them emerged another copy of Yggdrasil, Nyx, Norn, Kukurihime and Eir, all of which taking up defensive stances as they landed on the ground beneath them. Anne and Schwarzschild Dragon made little work of retiring them from the field, but their combined power as of yet was still not enough for them to overpower their opponents as of yet. Futase upon noticing this immediately conducted the first check of her Twin Drive, revealing Star-vader, Scouting Ferris.

"Draw Trigger!" she called "I give the power to Gravity Collapse!"

As the rear-guard Gravity Collapse Dragon grew in strength, Singularity Sniper immediately took aim at Yggdrasil after Schwarzschild and Anne retreated back to the Selector's side of the field. The Cyber Fairy pulled back on her projectile and shot it out through the three rings that it was originally inbetween.

"I guard with another Norn!" Misaki responded as the second copy of her Legion-Mate caught the attack with her urn before disappearing from the field immediately afterwards.

Gravity Collapse Dragon then generated a static orb in front of its claws before roaring loudly and hurling it towards Yggdrasil and Norn who braced themselves for impact as the sphere made contact with the ground in front of them, engulfing them in an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Misaki's fifth damage was Regalia of Fertility, Freyja. Futase remained slightly unnerved, seeing that her efforts were only successful in dealing one damage throughout the entire turn. She gazed down to her hand for a moment, recounting her options from amongst them.

 _With a Locked field, there's nothing more she can do_ she murmured in her thoughts  _Even if she can somehow build up the soul again with that one circle, I can still intercept._

Misaki then drew a card to begin her next turn before looking over to the card that she had held onto since the previous Twin Drive, believing that now was as good of a time as any to put it to good use. Before she took ahold of it, she looked over to the Selector that she faced.

"I don't know why you are doing this," she spoke "But throughout this fight, I've noticed that your conviction seems to waver. You seem uncomfortable with using the cards you have and you don't seem certain with what you are doing."

Whilst Ratie blinked in confusion, Futase raised an eyebrow for an instant, wondering why the Genesis user was addressing her this way.

"And what concern does it have to do with you?" she asked "Your entire field is still locked and I can still counter Yggdrasil's Legion skill. You have no hope remaining, Tokura."

"If you won't tell me the reason behind that, then I will defeat you first."

Misaki then took ahold of the card that she had and held it high into the air, just as it began glowing a bright white colour, much to the shock of almost everyone else present on the presmises of Foo Fighter's front entrance. Even the observer from just outside the main gates couldn't help but be in awe somewhat of what he was witnessing at this moment.

"Light of justice, descend from the heavens of Cray and bring hope to those around you!" she called "Ride!"

As Yggdrasil and Norn turned around to Misaki, nodding for a moment as they disappeared in a bright white aura, a blinding white flash engulfed the entire space of where the fight had taken place. Even Futase couldn't help, but cover the metallic lens that covered over her left eye, not wanting to risk any sort of blindness from the whole ordeal.

The figure that emerged was a Noble, much like all of Misaki's Genesis units thus far. She wore a two-piece set of robes and wore large ornamental headdress of some kind over the top of her long purplish hair. Her weapon of choice were a large and long sword and in her left hand on what appeared to be a hilt to a sword, hung a pair of scales that would be used to weigh something. Even Ratie found this unit unrecognizable from all of the fights that she and Misaki had partaken in up to this point, having seen it for the first time like everyone else around the Genesis unit as she finally announced its name.

"Goddess of Law, Justitia!"

As Justitia hovered down to the ground, Futase couldn't help but stare at the unit that had just been played, almost completely surprised by what she was now seeing.

_Justitia...? But... she wasn't in Photon's data for Misaki! Just what kind of unit is this?!_

Schwarzschild Dragon growled loudly as it stared over to the new Genesis unit, almost as if it could sense that this was going to cause some trouble for the Selector, her LRIG and itself in a matter of moments. As the bright light died down, Misaki kept her firm gaze level with Futase's faded composure, determined to bring an end to the fight right here and now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity**  
>  Grade 3  
> Twin Drive!  
> SLD: 0  
> POW: 11000  
> Clan: Link Joker  
> Nation: Star Gate  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [ACT](VG): Legion 21000: "Schwarzschild Dragon" (If your opponent's vanguard is grade 3 or greater, this unit may return four cards from your drop zone into your deck once, search your deck for the specified card, and Legion)  
> [ACT](VG): [Counter Blast (1) & choose a card from your hand named "Anne-ThiЯd, Locus of Gravity" and discard it] Choose 1 of the costs for your Legion-Mate's Limit Break 4 and that cost is nullified until the next time that ability is activated. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.  
> [AUTO](VG): [Soul Blast (1)] When a card or effect that would increase a unit's [Critical] is activated whilst your opponent has a Locked card, you may pay the cost. If you do, apply the [Critical] from that card or effect to this unit instead. This unit's [Critical] is reset to 1 during every End Phase.


	62. Arc 3 - Ride 62: The United Events III

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

"You want us... to resolve it in the battlefield?"

Aichi and Ruko blinked for a moment as the two of them took the time to understand what Kai had just told them moments earlier in regards to his requested battle with the Royal Paladin user. He kept his eyes closed for a moment as the three of them continued down the long stretch of road towards the park that would provide the quickest route back to the apartment blocks for them. The Kagero user then opened his eyes back up and looked back at Aichi, nodding to confirm his question.

"If we're going to get to the bottom of this," he spoke "Then I will need to fight you and Blaster Blade with Dragonic Overlord itself. If all else fails..."

Kai went silent as he abruptly paused near the beginning of his own sentence, though it was apparent that even he was hesistant to say his answer out aloud to the alternative that he was willing to consider. Needless to say however, Ruko was quick to interpret what he was about to say out loud to them, having been present at the conversation between him and the Kagero commander.

"Are you saying that... if this doesn't work, you'll continue in the battles without Dragonic Overlord?" she murmured.

The Kagero user replied with a single nod, which was enough for Aichi to let out a silent gasp from under his breath. He knew that Kai had been taking it hard from his initial temporary reacqaintance with Reverse in his first confrontation with both Ruko and Yuki and that some of that power remained with Dragonic Overlord itself without their prior knowledge. But the Royal Paladin user knew that even his friend would never consider the thought of 'abandoning' one of the few units that represented who he truely was as a fighter and as a pseudo-Selector throughout his adventures in this world, if only for both his and possibly everyone else's own safety. He could understand why Kai would consider such a last resort, as it was only through Tama's words and enough of his willpower that he barely escaped that nightmare before, but considering the apparent risk that now came with using Overlord within the Selector Battles thanks to this information, who knew what to expect for the moment.

As they continued onwards back towards the apartment blocks, from the very top of the stone steps that led down to the park that the three of them were passing by, a tall female kept her gaze upon the trio, remaining silent as she did so. She wore a long, but short sleeved brown trench coat whose coattails folded outwards like a large skirt or cape of some kind from the overall piece not being fastened together. Underneath the coat, she also wore a white tank top and a pair of dark black trousers, complimented by a pair of long greyish boots. Her otherwise short hair was coloured somewhat of a mix between black and dark brown, with two long curved bangs trailing down the sides of her face in front of her ears, each adorned with a ruby coloured jewel of some kind.

Her purple eyes trailed upon Ruko at first, studying her appearance for whatever reason she had within her mind before shifting her gaze over to Kai. Narrowing her eyes upon seeing his appearance for the first time, she could immediately sense that there was something about him that wasn't as 'normal' as any ordinary person she may have encountered. Needless to say, the words she uttered afterwards when he along with Aichi and Ruko departed from the park itself, answered that question for herself, confirming her suspicions.

"So this is the boy Selector..." she murmured in a somewhat stern tone as she turned and began to walk away "Will you prove yourself a worthy challenge?"

* * *

**Vanguard World: Foo Fighter**

The front entrance to Foo Fighter remained silent for several moments after Justitia had descended onto Misaki's side of the field as her new Vanguard, the Genesis unit taking up an offensive stance and clutching her large blade tightly. Futase kept a level gaze upon her opponent, unsure of why she had chosen to replace what would be considered her only offensive option whilst Schwarzschild Dragon growled under its breath, as if it had somehow recognized this unit or whatever power it could possibly wield to turn the tables in Misaki's favour. The Genesis user looked down upon the card she played before returning her own gaze towards Anne who simply hovered above the ground in front of the Link Joker unit.

"Justitia's Counter Blast!" she called as one card in her damage zone turned face down "Then I'll activate the same skill twice more!"

Justitia held up the scales in her left arm out in front of her as the four locks on the field emitted a black coloured smog that immediately filled up one of the dishes, causing the balance to tilt to the Noble's left as she radiated in a bright white aura. From the other dish of her scales, three beams of white light struck three of the Locks around the unit, causing them to shatter like glass as Prayer Angel, Hemera and Freyja all landed back on their fight, ready to take the fight to Schwarzschild Dragon and Anne once again.

"My locks have been undone?!" Futase gasped as the Cyber Dragon growled once again.

_As I thought...! She's one of Ezel's disciples!_

"Yes! Now Misakin can attack three times!" cheered Ratie.

"I retire Pure Angel and call Shiny Angel!" Misaki continued as Pure Angel disappeared in a brilliant white glow, allowing Shiny Angel to take its place "With her skill, I move three Regalias from my drop zone to the soul!"

Futase could only clench her teeth as she watched the Genesis user place the Shiny Angel she retired along with two triggers from her Drop Zone to the soul underneath Justitia's card.

"Finally, Limit Break!"

A green Vanguard circle flashed above Justitia as she held up her scales above her head, the darkness in the lowermost dish shattering in an instant as the Noble along with Hemera and Freyja were enveloped in a bright glow as their strength increased from the Limit Break.

**Midday Regalia, Hemera/POW: 9000 - 14000**

**Regalia of Fertility, Freyja/POW: 9000 - 14000**

**Regalia of Prayers, Pray Angel/POW: 5000 - 10000**

Whilst the Selector that was Misaki's opponent could only step back for a short instance, suprised that a unit that could break the Locks of Link Joker was in the possession of the Genesis user without anyone, not even Mayu having prior knowledge of this beforehand. As Anne clutched her weapon tightly to prepare for what was assumed for them to be the worst case scenario. She stared down at the six cards that she held in her hand and looked back to Misaki.

"I don't know everything that has been going on," the Genesis user spoke "But, I know that you're feeling uneasiness from using Schwarzschild. Just what is really going on?"

"This is my fate," Futase answered as she looked to Anne for a brief instance "Even if you've overcome my Locks, I can still outlast all three of your attacks. Your efforts in the end were in vain."

"Then you leave me no choice," Misaki replied as she rested Justitia's card "With a boost from Pray Angel, Justitia attacks!"

"Guard and intercept!"

Singularity Sniper, Gravity Collapse Dragon and Weiss Soldat all immediately appeared in front of Schwarzschild Dragon as it stared on towards Justitia along with Anne, waiting for what was to come as Futase looked over the rest of her hand.

_Even if she pulls a trigger, I will be able to fend off her rear-guards._

"Twin Drive!" Misaki called as she revealed her first card, Regalia of Compassion, Eir "Heal Trigger!"

"I already told you," Futase replied "Your efforts are meaningless before us! Even if you apply the power to a rear-guard..."

"I give the power to Justitia!"

The Selector's eyes widened in shock as she watched Justitia's power increase from Eir's effect, initially expecting Misaki to essentially make the 'smarter' choice of applying the power to one of her two unlocked rear-guards. Ratie was feeling rather unsure of the Genesis user making a sudden gamble on her Vanguard's attack to succeed when she had failed to finish off Futase in the previous turn, even with Yggdrasil's guard restriction skill not limited by the lack of soul for Anne's own power. Misaki herself however, was still feeling as calm as she could possibly be, knowing from the bottom of her heart that this choice had to be the correct one, otherwise all would be lost on the next turn and her units would be taken to Mayu's domain.

Picking up the next card slowly from the top of her deck, she quickly turned it over to reveal Regalia of Sight, Clear Angel which shone brightly to show that she had done it. As Ratie cheered loudly from the result, Futase gasped in horror as she stared upon the card the Genesis user had just drawn, realizing exactly what was about to come next.

"A... double trigger for her Vanguard?!" she exclaimed.

"I give all the effects to Justitia!" Misaki declared as a yellow aura surrounded her Vanguard.

**Goddess of Law, Justitia/Critical: 1 - 2/POW: 26000 - 31000**

Justitia dashed towards Schwarzschild Dragon and Anne, slashing her way past Singularity Sniper and Weiss Soldat without so much as slowing down with a large swipe of the blade that she carried. Before the LRIG could properly take a defensive stance, the Cyber Dragon behind her suddenly grabbed her with its right claw and threw out her out in front, just in time to intercept the Genesis unit's attack as she slashed down the front of her, breaking part of her visor in the process. Futase couldn't help but even feel disgusted from Schwarzschild's sudden manuever in forcing Anne to take the full brunt of the attack head on. Realizing that she still had a chance to try and stay in the fight, she reached out for the top card of her deck.

"Damage... check...!" she called as she flipped over the top card, revealing it to be Micro-hole Dracokid.

Wincing for a moment, the Selector dropped the card onto her table as the large score down the front of Anne, caused by Justitia's attack suddenly detonated, causing her to scream in pain whilst a shockwave knocked Futase down onto her back. Before the tables vanished, Misaki quickly scrambled all of her cards together before running over to her opponent, seeing if she was alright after what had just happened.

"Futase!" she called as she approached the Selector.

Schwarzschild Dragon suddenly growled as it reappeared in front of the Genesis user in an instant, prompting her to stop in her advance as it snatched up the barely conscious Futase in its other free claw.

"Tokura Misaki, this is still only the beginning," it emitted in a vocal tone as a dark red aura began to envelop the two of them and Anne "We'll fight again soon enough."

The Selector, still barely conscious from the earlier shockwave and almost unable to move from the Cyber Dragon's tight grip, reached her hand into one of her pockets. When the dark red aura obscured all of them, it immediately vanished moments after, along with the dark edges of the battlefield and the remaining units. Misaki silently cursed to herself at Schwarzschild's sudden intervention to prevent her from questioning Futase about her situation and what was really going on in the other world. Looking ahead to where her opponent was standing, she could now see that there was a folded piece of paper that was more or less dropped in the same place where her table formerly was.

Ratie ran over to the object and saw what appeared to be a card sticking out of it. She picked it up as Misaki joined her to inspect what exactly it was that Futase had left behind for them before being taken away by Schwarzschild Dragon.

"This is..." she murmured as the Genesis user took out the card, noticing that it was one that belonged to the Wixoss card game as evidenced by the White backing.

Turning it around, they could see that it depicted Anne in her normal state through the still image that was present. The familiar dress and the lack of armour that the LRIG was now encased in, this had only sent the two of them even more questions than answers hurrying about through their mind. Before they had time to consider looking into the folded piece of paper they had in their possession, they could hear a familiar groan sounding from inside of Foo Fighter, followed by a faint purple glow from some of the windows on a level above.

"That sounded like...!" Ratie gasped.

"Come on!" Misaki interjected as the two of them hurried through the front doors to the building.

When they were out of sight from the front entrance, the earlier observer stepped out into the moonlight as he looked out towards the front doors, briefly fiddling with his glasses as he did so.

"Shall I follow them inside?" he asked to seemingly no one in particular.

"No, let them be for now," the same voice from before replied as his earring lit up again "I've seen enough, Morres."

"As you wish."

The man, addressed by his name, took his leave from the premises of Foo Fighter, smiling to himself as he briefly looked back at the doors of the building before disappearing from sight around a corner.

* * *

To say that what Misaki and Ratie had discovered upon entering the building and hurrying to the first floor would be known as a beatdown was somewhat of an understatement. By the time the Genesis user and the former Quatre Knight had made it to the room where various fight tables and other equipment that were used by both members of the organization and Fukuhara High lay before them, they had discovered what could otherwise be labelled as somewhat of a massacre, in the loosest sense possible. All around the room, several fighters lay on the floor in pain, each of them marked with the same symbol that Remember had cast on Kamui's right hand and one that Misaki had recognized from before.

Several cards were scattered across the room, all of which were blank like the Nova Grappler user's Raizer deck as Miwa had previously shown to them the day before. Before either of them could question who or what exactly had done all of this, a voice caught their attention to the fight table at the far end of the room where they could see a tall man with purple hair cry out in pain as the same symbol was carved onto his right hand. On the opposite side was none other than Miyako who was no doubt the opponent he had lost to, as evidenced by her metallic right hand. In the palm of it was a deck of cards and imprinted on the very front with the borders of an LRIG card was Demon World Marquis, Amon.

"Tetsu...!"

Turning to their right, Misaki and Ratie gasped to see who was struggling up the corridor towards the entrance of the room they were standing in front of. It was Asaka, covered in dirt and scratches and much like almost everyone else within the building, was marked with the exact same symbol. Before she stumbled and fell to the floor, the Genesis user caught her by the shoulder to keep her up on her feet.

"Damn it... I'm too late!" she groaned.

"What do you mean?" asked Misaki.

"I'm what she means."

Looking back down that same corridor, they could now see who exactly it was that Asaka had lost to earlier as she smugly walked over towards them. It was Ulith as evidenced by her trademarked sneer as she pulled out a card from her pocket and flicked it with her right hand, sending it spinning it into the air. To the shock of Misaki and Ratie, it was Silver Thorn Dragon Empress, Venus Luquier, now imprinted with the borders of an LRIG card. The cruel demanored Selector immediately snatched it back as it hovered back down into her eye contact, keeping her confident and evil smile present on her lips. She then stepped out into the room of defeated fighters and approached the table where Tetsu and Miyako had concluded their fight just moments earlier. Ruko's former mother brought her gaze upon Misaki, noticing her's and Ratie's presence within the building.

"I see that Futase failed in her mission," she spoke in a harsh tone "I will see to it that Schwarzschild will give her a suitable punishment."

Misaki stared closely upon recognizing the woman's voice, having recalled what had happened the previous night after Ratie had departed from her bedroom.

"You are...!" she gasped.

"You know her?" the former Quatre Knight asked.

"It would seem that my message for this world came into your possession," Miyako replied as she clapsed her hand on the Dark Irregulars she captured from Tetsu "I suppose it is natural that one such as yourself would overcome one of our number, Misaki."

"Why is Futase involved with all of you?!" the Genesis user demanded.

"She had her reasons," Ulith replied smugly as she approached one of the defeated fighters in the room, unconciousness from the result of being marked upon their loss "I only wished at least half of Ren's 'army' would have been more capable than this." She then lifted up her left shoe and nudged the face of one of the fighters lying on the floor, remaining motionless in response to her light 'kick'.

"You...!" Asaka growled as she tried to move forwards, only to be held back by Misaki and the pain of her own minor injuries.

"Ulith, we are finished here," Miyako spoke as she brought out an empty LRIG card into her possession "I have units to summon for Mayu."

The cruel demanored Selector almost pouted in slight disappointment for the moment, seeing as if her fill of 'fun' had not been fulfilled throughout the night's events thus far. After walking up to the tall woman, she held up the card into the air and declared "Open!" in a loud tone. The card emitted a blinding glow as everyone who was conscious shielded their eyes as both Ulith and Miyako disappeared from the room and the premises of Foo Fighter altogether. Misaki, being the first to regain her foresight stared towards the table where the two were last standing, still awestruck from the power that they commanded at this very moment. Tetsu groaned as he struggled back onto his feet and over towards the pair and Ratie who in turn hurried over to him.

"Tetsu!" called Asaka as they finally regrouped with one another.

"I'm sorry..." he spoke "That woman's strength was overwhelming..." He then looked over to Misaki and Ratie. "I assume their other associate brought your attention here?"

"Yes!" the former Quatre Knight answered "And they might not even be the only ones!"

"What are you implying?" asked Asaka.

"There was one we believed to be called Kiyoi," Misaki replied "But Futase said that might not even be her real name."

As the room went silent again, Tetsu and Asaka could look down to the floor in shame, seeing how easily they were defeated by both Ulith and Miyako respectively. Whilst the news of Futase's defeat at least implied that they could be defeated in the future, it had done little to lift their spirits, especially as more units from both of their clans, including both Amon and Luqiuer through their cards were now trapped within the domain of Mayu. Misaki then immediately pulled out the piece of paper that Futase had dropped at the end of their battle and revealed it along with the static card of Anne's Level 0 form to everyone else, causing Asaka to stare at her for a brief moment.

"I believe that it was no accident that Futase dropped this after our fight," the Genesis user spoke.

"Then you believe she intentionally left behind a clue to what's really going on?" asked Tetsu.

Misaki nodded in reply, knowing that whatever they would read from this folded note would hopefully shed some more light on the mystery surrounding them and providing more answers as to what was going on in the Selector's own world.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Ruko's Apartment**

"I attack Ethics Buster Extreme."

"Ggh... I can't guard!"

Kamui groaned as he stared down at the table that he and Hatsu were seated at, having finished another practice battle to try and improve his own skills after his previous defeat to Amika and Piruluk, who he now knew as the real Kiyoi. The Nova Grappler user had requested for Ruko's grandmother to battle him by using her own Piruluk deck to see if it was possible for him to even defeat her without the backup of any Aqua Force units and to further prepare himself for the next time that he and Remember would cross paths and battle once again, this time within the Selector Battles. Needless to say however, his progress in getting any closer to accomplishing that goal however was proving to be a much greater challenge than he was anticipating.

Over from the kitchen space, Naoki and Ren who had been joined by Leon minutes earlier had been observing the long and 'painful' slaughter that Kamui was enduring to try and prove that he did have the skills necessary to overcome the tactics that were used by Piruluk and Remember respectively. The Narukami user looked on in concern, seeing that he had almost reached the breaking point a few times over, if only from not taking the blue LRIG's initial criticisms of him well and having the ability of her Selector to back them up in battle.

"That's his seventh one in row," he murmured "Just the sight of Piruluk from the still cards is really getting to him."

"Katsuragi has never been one to admit the flaws in his own pride," Leon interjected "But his determination alone still regards him as a strong fighter."

"Still, there is no denying her very presence pushes his buttons in one way or another," Ren said in a somewhat bemusing tone.

Naoki blinked for a moment before turning his attention back towards the table, watching what was happening now that the result ended in Kamui's loss, again. The Nova Grappler user clenched his fists tightly as he thought back over everything that had happened thus far since his cardfight with Remember that transpired in his arrival to this world to the point where he now found himself. Much to his annoyance though, the words of Piruluk from the end of his last battle had echoed through his head once again.

" _If you cannot defeat me, then how do you expect to overcome Remember, let alone take back the units she's stolen from you?_ "

Hatsu upon noticing his expression and thinking about everything that he had told her before their long streak of battles, decided that this was enough for the moment as she stood up from where she was and slowly walked over towards him.

"It's not just about Kiyoi on your mind, isn't it?" she asked.

Upon hearing her question and remembering that it wasn't the only reason that he was frustrated for the moment, Kamui loosened himself up as he began to recall everything that he had heard earlier at that time.

"Yeah..." he sighed "It's not just Kiyoi or my stolen Raizers I'm mad about."

"There's the matter of Amika as well, if I'm not mistaken," Hatsu spoke to which the Nova Grappler user nodded "I can understand why you're frustrated with yourself, but you need to understand her own feelings as well."

"That's not the point...!" he replied "I know her mom's in bad shape and that there's no telling how long she might have to live! I understand why she's wanting to trust Kiyoi with granting her wish, but she'll be an LRIG if that happens and if her wish gets tainted...!"

Clenching his fists for a moment, he ran the entire scenario through his head again along with everything he needed to know about the Selector Battles themselves as well as what little secrets about them had been uncovered thus far. But no matter how hard he could try to keep his frustration in check, both the sneer of Remember and the blank emotionless stare of Piruluk, the real Kiyoi, always seemed to keep entering his thoughts.

"I can see that you've been trying your hardest to think this through," Hatsu continued "But, there may be one thing that concerns me."

"And what would that be?"

"From the way I've seen you act during our games, you seem to have your attention fixated solely on Piruluk or Kiyoi as we really know her as. I'm curious to know, if it's because you want to prove something to her?"

Kamui remained silent for the moment, allowing himself to take in Hatsu's words as they sunk into his mind. As he did so, he recalled something that Piruluk had bluntly said to him during his first game with Amika, that ended inconclusively at the time. The Nova Grappler user bitterly ran through those exact words once again, knowing that if it was one thing that he disliked, it was being told that his efforts would be futile to him in the very end.

" _If feelings are all you rely on... you'll never survive in this world._ "

"I... I want to prove to her that I'm not as much of a pushover as she thinks," he said, looking up to Ruko's grandmother "I just wish there was something I could do to help Amika."

"Then calm yourself."

Kamui blinked for a moment as Hatsu handed the card of Piruluk's Level 0 form named Code Piruluk.

"Think about why Kiyoi may have criticized your way of going about things," she spoke "If you can find the answer to that, perhaps you'll be able to help Amika and regain your units from this Remember."

The Nova Grappler user looked back at the card he held that depicted the blue LRIG as a still image, trying to make sense of what Ruko's grandmother had been telling him just now. Getting up from the table, he looked towards Naoki, Ren and Leon who had been watching the whole conversation over from the kitchen area.

"Hey guys..." he began "I know this isn't really like me, but seeing as you know more about Wixoss than I do now... can I ask for your help?"

"You got it!" Naoki replied enthusiastically "I'm sure Aichi will be more than willing to help us too. We'll definitely sort out whatever's going on with Amika."

Kamui smirked in response, his confidence having finally returned back to him. He knew that whatever lay ahead for his own experiences within the Selector Battles would not be easy as he had experienced firsthand, but for the moment, he was glad to have familiar friends by his side to help him start over. He looked back down to the card depicting Piruluk, loosening his expression a little, but not becoming as frustrated as he normally would. Somehow, he had a feeling that the next time the two of them would cross paths, things would be much different than expected.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

Aichi and Kai stood at opposite ends of the single living space within the apartment, preparing themselves to begin the Selector Battle that would determine what was really going on with the power flowing through the veins of Dragonic Overlord and what this would mean for the Kagero user, given what happened the last time he had used it in battle. Ruko stood back from the distance between the two so she would not accidentally end up battling one of the two instead when they would declare the command "Open!" to bring them to the battlefield. In her hand were the two cards that contained Yuki and Tama as the girls of black and white looked over towards the two cardfighters in the room, preparing to face off in search for the truth.

"Tama doesn't know who to cheer for...!" Tama moaned, seeming somewhat indecisive in who to root for to the point of almost pulling on her pigtails.

"Remember that this isn't merely a simple contest Tama," Yuki interrupted, bringing the girl of white's attention to her as she stared at Kai "This battle will determine Kai's stance on his current dillema and whether or not he can put his own trust in Dragonic Overlord."

"Are you absolutely sure the two of you want to do this?" asked Ruko "I know neither of you have lost a Selector Battle technically, but..."

"It is fine," Kai interrupted, looking over to the Selector "Whatever happens to me or Aichi within that space will be my own responsibility."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi murmured in slight concern.

The Kagero user looked back towards him, holding one of the LRIG cards of his Kagero deck from its backing pointing in the general direction in front of him. Aichi reached into his pocket and pulled out Blaster Blade's card, looking down at it for a brief moment as he then looked up to Kai, briefly seeing an afterimage of what he was like on the day that the two of them had met each other for the first time. As the brief trip down memory lane ended, he held out the back of Blaster Blade's card towards Kai as he prepared himself for the battle. Then, after a few long tense seconds between them...

"Open!"

And with that, a series of rectangular flashes from each of the cards they held crossed over with the opponent as everything around them and Ruko went completely white.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Eventually, Aichi and Kai regained consciousness within the battlefield as they found to be seated at their respective tables, each side of their 'territory' marked by the primary colours of their decks and the clans they used. On the table with the colour of red across half of the background stood Lizard Soldier Conroe and on the other that was within the white coloured half of the field stood Advance Party Seeker, File. On Aichi's table beside his deck, Umr stood and gazed up at him, seeing that she was not going to be used throughout the battle.

"Are you certain you won't require my assistance?" she asked.

"It's fine," Aichi replied "It's Kai-kun that I'm worried about though."

Upon hearing and recognizing Umr's voice, File's right ear twitched for a moment as he immediately turned around to see the mysterious LRIG for himself, gasping for a moment.

"H... How did you get here?!" he exclaimed.

"Easy File..." Aichi replied calmly "Umr is our friend now. She's just sitting out for this battle."

"Oh, right..."

File awkwardly laughed for a moment, scratching the back of his hair with one of his two lances whilst Umr simply stared at him in partial confusion, noting his initial surprise from being within Aichi's presence having been unaware of how Takuto had helped her get to him in the first place. He then turned around to see Kai and Conroe who had been silently awaiting for the roulette above their heads to begin spinning at any moment now. The Kagero user remained still as he kept his gaze upon Aichi for a few moments before gazing down at his LRIG deck, knowing what was contained within would determine the course of what could happen next, not just this battle in general.

 _It's finally time to uncover the truth..._ he murmured as he brought up his right hand, staring into the palm as he contemplated over everything thus far  _Are you still infected with 'that' power? Or am I...?_

Resisting the initial thought to shake his head out of refusal to acknowledge the last question that was brewing within his mind, the sound of the roulette spinning immediately snapped him out of his brief stupor as he and Aichi looked up to the giant wheel. The red and white slots raced past the arrow that would mark where exactly the roulette would stop at, beginning to slow down with every few turns that it cranked by. Over from the tall tower within the buildings that acted as a backdrop to the battlefield, Ruko watched closely from the windowsill with Tama and Yuki standing side by side from in front of her. The girl of white along with her Selector seemed to grow more concerned with every passing second whilst the girl of black kept a close gaze upon Kai, knowing full well of what happened in their first confrontation that led to the dillema he now faced.

Eventually with a loud creak, the roulette came to a stop on a white slot, indicating that Aichi would determine the turn order from the beginning of the battle. The Royal Paladin user looked over to Kai as he had already come down to a decision.

"I'll let you go first, Kai-kun," he spoke.

The Kagero user nodded as he drew his single card before gazing over to his LRIG deck.

"I grow Bahr!" he declared.

In a bright orangish red glow, Conroe immediately vanished from the space on the table as Bahr took up a defensive stance, knowing that it was impossible to wage an attack on the very first turn. Immediately afterwards, Dragon Monk, Genjo appeared in the center SIGNI space as Kai made a silent gesture to show that he was passing the turn over to Aichi.

"Here I come!" he called as he drew his two cards "I grow Marron and summon!"

File vanished in an illuminating white glow as the Little Sage entered the battlefield alongside Hallowed Breath Dragon who also appeared in the center SIGNI space, preparing to face off against Genjo as evidenced by the fierce glint in its azure coloured eyes. With a fierce roar, it immediately took flight towards the Dragon Monk who remained motionless as it was immediately consumed by the emerald green flames of the Cosmo Dragon. After the card reappeared in Kai's Ener Zone, Marron opened up his book to a certain page before pointing two of his centermost fingers in his right hand towards Bahr, generating a bluish circle with several incomphresible runes around its edge before a azure coloured beam erupted from it, immediately striking down the Embodiment of Armor as it was knocked backwards by a short distance.

The first damage from that attack was revealed to be Dragonic Burnout, nothing of use to Kai at this moment from its lack of a Life Burst. The Kagero user stared down at the card for a long moment before looking back to Aichi, who despite his growing concerns for him was not allowing this to waver away at his determination within this battle. He closed his eyes as he went deep into thought from everything that the Royal Paladin user had been through in his own experiences of the Selector Battles.

 _After arriving in this world, you haven't changed a bit, Aichi_ he murmured within his mind, almost mentally smiling at that statement  _Even if Ulith had shattered your will momentarily at that time, you managed to pull through as you always have. Since that fight, we've all shared a burden with the shattered Seed, to not allow its darkness to spread from the fragments that are embedded within us. But..._

His expression then immediately tensed up as a certain memory began to make its way towards the back of his mind. It was from the morning after he had faced Ruko for the first time, recalling how destroyed he had felt from being abruptly overtaken by the same evil he had accepted once before and thought to have left behind after his final confrontation with Aichi at the very rooftop of the Tatsunagi Corporation. One part of that memory that still bothered him to this instance was the image of himself within the bathroom mirror, where he had believed to have seen his reversed self, taunting him that Reverse would always have remained a part of him no matter what.

_If I have not overcome that power as I had believed and that it still courses through Overlord... then so much as carrying it around can potentially put everyone around me at risk._

Umr glanced over towards Kai, noticing the slight tenses within his expressions, even with his eyes closed as he was deep in thoughts over everything that had been happening to him since that night. She looked over to Aichi, who could only gaze back with a concerned expression, knowing that if this was indeed an internal struggle that was transpiring from within his friend, then this wasn't going to be easy for him at all. Finally, the Kagero user opened his eyes and began his next turn, the glint in his green eyes seeming as fierce as ever.

_As long as I can prevent that darkness from surfacing again... then I will fight with everything I have!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we get our first hint of our new OC(s), debuting right in the next chapter!


	63. Arc 3 - Ride 63: The United Events IV

**Vanguard World: Foo Fighter**

Back within Foo Fighter, Ratie and Asaka, who had quickly gotten over the pain of her earlier injuries, immediately began tending to the unconscious fighters across the large room, returning the now blank cards back to respective owners as they did so. Laid out on one of the larger fight tables in the room was the very piece of paper that Futase had dropped at the end of her last fight and beside it was the card representing Anne in her Level 0 form. As Misaki and Tetsu glanced over what was now in front of them, they could see that the exact same symbol that was marked on the Dark Irregulars' user's right hand was also etched onto the bottom left corner of what they were reading as of this moment. The two of them then began reading the long wall of text from the very top.

_To the fighters who are reading this note, you already know that all is not as it appears._

_As some of you will have already suspected, the 'LRIGs' and 'SIGNI' you have seen in battle do not exist from your world or the Planet Cray._

_They belong to another kind of battle, one that is associated with my world, the card game there known as Wixoss._

_In turn, that very game is also associated with the 'urban myth' that many participants, particuarly girls, know only as the Selector Battles. Through these battles, they place their heart's desires as their wager and fight each other to become the form ideal to granting it._

"Wixoss..." Misaki murmured as she picked up Anne's still card and turned it around, seeing the backing that possessed the same name.

"You said that this Anne was also a part of Link Joker," said Tetsu "I presume you didn't encounter any other unfamiliar units that she also referred to as SIGNI?"

The Genesis user shook her head in response, causing his expression to grow somewhat grim. The two of them then immediately went back to reading the note that was on the table.

_I know not why my mistress requires the capture of Cray's units, but I can sense great anger from her in regard to even mentioning the subject to her._

_The 'General' is the only one from her ranks that can call these units to her domain in tandem with her own power, power taken from a certain individual. Before that is done, it requires extracting the cards' essence into our own blank copies, by marking the fighters that are defeated. The symbol of that mark is on the bottom of this note as I have depicted it. Whilst a fighter is marked, they cannot touch additional copies of the units they have lost or any units that belong to an 'archetype' those lost units belong to, less those touched cards are turned blank immediately._

_If a marked fighter were to defeat the one that originally marked them through some miracle however, then the process would be completely undone for all the units that were taken by that person and any effects of the mark that applied to them and all fighters that were marked by that person are also nullified._

_For now, this is all I can tell you. If you wish to defend your world and yourselves, then I would advise preparing for the worst._

"Now I see..." said Misaki, recalling seeing the symbol of the mark in Miyako's earlier message to her "They've been aiming to defeat fighters as it is the only way they can mark them and take the units back to this 'mistress'."

"Even so," Ratie interjected as she came over to join them "Why did they go after Gaillard?"

"It would presumably make sense for them since he's the current Euro League champion," Testu replied "But... I'm certain that woman I faced had her own reasons for confronting him as she told me earlier."

The former Quatre Knight gasped for a moment whilst Misaki's eyes narrowed, the two of them now realizing that the Dark Irregulars' user's opponent was indeed Miyako. It appeared that Neve's earlier warning to Ratie ended up becoming too good to be true if Ruko's former mother was capable of defeating two of the strongest cardfighters in their world with seemingly little concern and from her stance, a hint of ruthlessness if her earlier words were anything to go by. At the same time, there was also the matter of Ulith who they had finally encountered for the first time. Ratie scratched her head, knowing that this was the first time that she and almost everyone else in the room had crossed paths with her, if only for a short while in her's and Misaki's case, but there was something that was still bugging her at the back at her mind in regards to her voice. That was when she realized that voice or rather her laughter, was frighteningly familiar.

"Wait a second!" she gasped, bringing Misaki's attention to her "That Ulith's tone... it's the same as that laughter when we heard Aichi's screams!"

"Are you certain?" the Genesis user asked.

"Mhm!" the former Quatre Knight replied "I thought something sounded familiar about her!"

Whilst Asaka and Tetsu looked to Ratie in confusion, having not shared the same experience as her on 'that' evening during Aichi's battle with Ulith in the other world, Misaki could only remain silent as her thoughts delved to the three otherworldly people that she and Ratie had encountered this night. There was much to reflect on after what had transpired and she knew that Foo Fighter would not be the last place that their 'mistress' would order them to strike at.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Fashion Studio**

A group of girls were gathered in one of the larger empty rooms of a certain fashion studio to which a pair of certain Selectors had continued their day to day work. The person of their attention tonight however was Akira herself. Pinned onto the frame of one of the mirrors in the room were certain individual photographs, each of them depicting the faces of Aichi, Kai, Naoki, Ren, Leon and Kamui. Most of the group had immediately recognized Kai from his picture alone, having been the same group that had approached him to try and knock him out of the Selector Battles for Akira after she had informed them of her initial defeat to him. They however were met with opposition from both him and Futase and were defeated by both him and the Selector who was now within the thrall of Schwarzschild Dragon.

The news that there were other 'boy Selectors' besides him however had immediately caught their attention and had led to them asking their 'idol' if she had similar problems around them. She confirmed that through her recap of battling Naoki, but noted that she had not battled the other four directly.

"You need not worry Akira-san!" one of the girls proclaimed "We'll take all of them out for you as you wish!"

"Why, of course, lucky-lucky," the Selector replied in her usual 'Aki-lucky' mood "But as a request, I need you to leave Aichi-pon alone for me. I have someone that needs him unaffected for her needs."

"Your wish is our command!" another girl called.

"Very good, lovelies!" Akira said as she rose up from the seat in front of the mirror "Now, is there anything else you wish to address?"

Nervously, one of the girls from amongst the group of fangirls raised her hand, causing the Selector to look over to where she could see that raised hand.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked.

"She's... she's come back to Tokyo!" the girl answered.

"Who exactly?"

"T... the 'Queen'."

As murmurs suddenly began going around the group of Selectors, Akira's eyes widened in slight disbelief before she then clenched her right fist tightly, immediately silencing them at once. Then in the back of her mind, the appearance of this 'Queen' that one of the Selectors had brought up was beginning to reemerge from her own memories. The brown trench coat, her mixed black and dark brown hair and her fierce purple eyes made it out to be that this was the one that they were referring to and unbeknowst to them, the very same person who had briefly observed Kai as he walked back through the park earlier in the night.

"Um... Akira-san," one of the other girls in the room spoke "Who is this 'Queen'?"

"That 'Queen' you speak of..." she growled "It's that stuck-up bitch... Kōgō Noriko!"

The moment Akira had finished her sentence however, the door to the room immediately slammed open as everyone present looked to the open doorway, seeing who had intruded immediately on their 'meeting'. And from her exact recollection of what she looked like at this very moment, the expressions of a majority of the girls stood in the room combined with her own confirmed everything about the Selector that stood before them. This was indeed from both appearance and fierce expression alone as she had addressed earlier to confirm that this was indeed the one some of them had called 'Queen', Kōgō Noriko.

"Well, speak of the devil..." Akira muttered as she looked towards the person that stood before her fan group and herself "It has been a long while."

"The same could be said," Noriko replied in a somewhat bold and somewhat vexed tone as she took a step into the room "I sense a rather small change from you however. Your Selector rights don't appear to be the same as I last recall."

"You're not entirely wrong," she smirked as she pulled out Milulun's card in response.

"Lun-lun!" she greeted "I'm Milulun! It's nice to meet you!"

After recieving nothing but complete slience in response however, the blue LRIG then looked over towards Noriko's partially stiff expression as she closed her eyes and reached into her pocket, bringing out what appeared to be an LRIG card of her own as evidenced by its white backing. Turning it around to introduce whoever was inside of it to Milulun, she gazed at it to see what the LRIG Noriko had in her possession looked like.

She was within a red background, much like Yuzuki was within her own card, only this LRIG's appearance far differed from the latter. Her skin was slightly darker in comparison however and her appearance from her clothing alone was much more rugged, having beared several tatters and some small holes present in the long stockings. Scratches covered over the LRIG's arms, legs and her face, indicating that this one had more of her fair share of rough battles alongside Noriko in their fights together within the Selector Battles. She possessed a mix of orange and scarlet coloured hair and much like Umr, she also had a pair of horns protuding from above her ears, with the one to her right side being half-broken. Her gaze from her yellow coloured eyes was rather fierce as most of the Selectors within the room could already tell.

Milulun was rather surprised from the appearance of this battle-worn and torn LRIG as she gazed up towards her scratched face, she in turn lifting her head to bear her fierce gaze directly upon her. The blue LRIG upon looking into said eyes suddenly felt a hint of nervousness wash over her as she stepped back, imaging an aura of flames surrounding the person she was looking upon now, unable to speak a word.

 _Her eyes...!_ she murmured in shock within her thoughts  _It almost reminds me of... Dragonic Overlord's fierceness!_

A low and quiet, but somewhat audible growl sounded from beneath the voice of the LRIG that was in Noriko's possession, much to the surprise of a few of the Selectors unfamiliar with the nicknamed 'Queen'. It sounded fierce, making some of them second guess what exactly they had just heard with fewer believing as if it did not sound human for a moment.

"I sense fear..." the LRIG growled in a quiet and slow tone.

"Do not presume, Kaen," Noriko replied "We will see if that's truely the case."

The LRIG, addressed by her name, remained silent and said nothing more in response to her Selector, instead choosing to turn her back away from the direction of the group and Akira herself whose expression had remained almost unchanged completely.

"So, you're looking to finish our last inconclusive battle?" she mused "Fine by me. But first..."

Immediately after she had spoken those words, sneering as she did so, a majority of the fan girls that were within the group immediately blocked Noriko's path to Akira, immediately pulling out their own LRIG cards in preparation to battle her instead of the one that they aimed to please. The Selector let out a silent gesture that imitated that of a sigh as she reflected upon her current situation.

"I see that is one aspect of you that hasn't changed Akira," she spoke in her bold tone "Relying on others to do as you please and take advantage of a single weakness... That is not the sign of a true Selector."

"What was that?!" one of the fangirls snapped in response, stepping forwards as she did so.

"You dare insult Akira-san?!" another one interjected.

"We don't care if others call you a 'Queen' or whatever!" a third one shouted.

"So you do not have any soul."

Everyone in the room, but Akira and Kaen blinked in confusion as they were wondering what Noriko had meant when she had responded to the former's fangirls. The Selector herself then opened her fierce purple eyes, glaring sharply in their direction as she continued with her speech.

"If I am not mistaken, the lack of soul lies from your devotion," she spoke "The 'Queen's' battle is only true entertainment when both Selectors and LRIG show their spirit in battle. If you still wish to oppose me regardless, then so be it."

She then turned around Kaen's card to have its backing facing off towards the middlemost Selector out of the three that were standing before her. In response, that same Selector nervously held out her own card to match her opponent and mustered up as much of a confident gaze as she could.

"O... open!" she called.

"OPEN!" Noriko shouted with fierce proclaimation.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

"Stand up, my avatar! I grow Blaster Blade!"

As Marron was enveloped in a column of blinding white light on Aichi's table, the Little Sage disappeared from the battlefield as the Swordsman of Light himself descended onto the table surface. He stood tall, holding his blade pointed downwards right onto the hard surface of the table in front of the card he stood atop of, gazing towards Kai and Dragon Knight, Nehalem, the latter of which raised his spear behind his back to prepare for a defensive stance of his own. On the Kagero user's table was Berserk Dragon, Dragonic Burnout and Gattling Claw Dragon whilst Aichi currently had no other SIGNI on his own table to back up his offence with only Blaster Blade up front and center. At least, for the moment that was.

"With Blaster Blade's skill, I send Dragonic Burnout to your Trash!" Aichi called as two cards from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile.

Blaster Blade held his sword high into the air as it began gathering energy and illuminating brightly in an azure coloured aura before he swung it to his right, creating an arc of light with that same colour. That arc then swept across the battlefield and crashed straight into Dragonic Burnout which immediately disappeared in a flash of bright white light. Kai remained unfazed from this manuver, but his expression still showed that he was currently far from content as he looked to his LRIG deck once again for a brief moment.

Meanwhile at the top of the tower in the center of the buildings within the background, Ruko, Tama and Yuki all kept a close eye on the two cardfighters along with their units as they saw Aichi summon more units to his SIGNI forefront. Whilst the girl of white couldn't help but let her curiousity for a close battle get the better of her, at least not entirely to an extent, Ruko couldn't help but feel glum as she looked back to Kai, having noticed his uneasiness throughout several portions of the battle thus far. Yuki noticed this and looked back up to her Selector, having known how she was feeling about this issue.

"I understand that you're worried about Kai," she spoke "But right now, it's his battle to fight."

"Still... it's my fault that Kai's even in this mess in the first place!" Ruko cried "If had just listened to him then... your power wouldn't have overloaded the Seed fragment and left him like this!"

Tama upon hearing her Selector's self-pity towards Kai and how she was frustrated with herself for the situation he was in now turned around and jumped for a moment to grab her attention.

"Tama doesn't blame Ru!" she called "Ru and Yuki didn't mean to do it then!"

The girl of white's words did little to lift Ruko's spirits, but the Selector looked over to her LRIG, understanding that she was trying to reassure her that what happened whilst she and Yuki were affected by Reverse wasn't her own fault.

"I also share responsibility of this dillema," said Yuki "But Kai accepted that power once before, even before the fragment of the Seed was embedded in him. If something from that time is still involved with him now..."

The girl of black then remained silent, still unsure if her assumption up to this point was completely accurate. She had heard the full story from Kai of his own experiences within Reverse after he and the others talked to Hatsu about everything that was going on within the world around them. Truth be told, she considered it a miracle that he simply just staved off that power towards the end of his and Aichi's fight where he had thought that he had let go of Reverse once and for all. But when she ran the scenario through her head again, especially through the first time that she and Dragonic Overlord clashed, she realized that if the Seed in its each of its shattered fragments were only supposed to contain a small portion of the remaining power within his world as Kai would have later told her, then something didn't quite add up.

Back down on the battlefield, Gallatin and Cherin easily made short work in dispatching both Gattling Claw Dragon and Berserk Dragon from the battlefield whilst Blaster Blade and Epona charged towards Dragon Knight, Nehalem. Leaping up into the air to avoid a thrust of the dragon's head, both the Bringer of Hope and the Swordsman of Light slashed down the front of the knight's shield, causing him to stumble a little as Kai's next Life Cloth revealed itself as Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon.

"I add Dual Axe Archdragon to my hand," he spoke as he revealed the card to Aichi.

The Royal Paladin nodded to acknowledge this as his turn came to an end just as Blaster Blade and Epona returned back to his side of the field. Upon seeing that Umr was also present, the Swordsman of Light immediately drew his attention to her.

"So Umr, we meet again," he spoke.

"Likewise, Ahmes," the LRIG replied "I assume you've overheard from File of my appearance now."

"Indeed. But there's one thing that's concerning me." He then looked up to Aichi. "Why is it that you've called me here, to fight against your comrade and his own units?"

"It's because Kai-kun thinks that Dragonic Overlord is somehow resonating with the power of the Seed fragment inside of him," the Royal Paladin user replied "He said that during his first clash with Yuki, it was the reason he was reversed until Tama snapped him out of it."

Blaster Blade's eyes had narrowed the moment Aichi had concluded with his answer to his question, feeling somewhat troubled by the news that he was informed of as of now. Umr gazed at the Swordsman of Light, believing that there was something about this topic he was wanting to speak about.

"I knew there was something strange about Dragonic Overlord when we last fought each other on Cray..." he murmured "But are you certain that's really the case?"

"That's the reason we're battling."

Everyone from Aichi's side of the field looked over to the opposite side to see that it was Kai that had replied to Blaster Blade's most recent question.

"If Dragonic Overlord somehow played a part in my brief return to Reverse at that time," he spoke "Then I need to find out if that's truely the case for myself."

"Kai-kun..."

As the air went deathly silent within the battlefield, Kai begun his turn by drawing his next two cards and then looking to his Ener Zone, knowing that what he was about to do next would determine everything on his current stance. Taking two of the cards from there and moving them to his Trash Pile, he looked over to his LRIG deck before slowly reaching out for Dragonic Overlord's card, turning it over to see it for himself. Looking back at Aichi whilst doing the best he could to prevent his composure from slipping, knowing that he couldn't let any self-doubt get the better of him now as he raised the card high into the air.

"Grow the Vanguard!" he called "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash! Dragonic Overlord!"

A whirlwind of flames surrounded Dragon Knight, Nehalem as it immediately erupted into a blazing column that consumed both him and his 'steed' as the giant shadow appeared once more. As Aichi and Blaster Blade tensed in preparation for what was to come, a defeaning roar signalled the arrival of Dragonic Overlord as the flames disappeared to reveal the Kagero commander in all of its glory. It clutched its single blade in its left claw as its eye trailed upon the Swordsman of Light, narrowing as it immediately caught sight of him.

"Ahmes...!"

"Overlord."

As the two rivals stared off with each other, preparing for an inevitable clash of blades and elements to come their way, Kai kept his firm gaze upon the Kagero commander itself.

 _Nothing so far..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _But, I imagine time will tell as this battle continues._

Looking to his hand, he immediately threw out three cards into his empty SIGNI zones as they illuminated brightly upon hitting the table face-up in their Up states. Appearing one by one from left to right was Dragonic Burnout, Lintwurm and Dual Axe Archdragon, all three of which glowed brightly from the Dragon Beast SIGNI's own power being in effect.

**Dual Axe Archdragon: 8000 - 10000**

**Dragonic Burnout: 5000 - 7000**

The three dragons then roared loudly as they took flight towards Aichi's side of the field as he could do nothing but watch as Gallatin, Epona and Cherin were immediately overwhelmed by the blow of an axe and two streams of blazing hot flames respectively, forcing him, Blaster Blade and Umr to an extent to shield their faces from the intense heat. When it had died down eventually, they looked up to see Dragonic Overlord beginning to take flight as its yellow eyes trailed upon the Swordsman of Light who returned the gaze as he held his blade in preparation for the confrontation. Kai kept his eyes closed as he ran everything through his head once more as he prepared to declare Overlord's attack on Blaster Blade.

 _I'm no longer that same person...!_ he thought as several images ran through his head once again, memories of his brief return to Reverse in his first battle with Ruko playing once again.  _Right now, I will...!_

As Dragonic Overlord made a sudden loud roar and gained a fiery orange aura to surround its entire body and wingspan, a sudden throbbing feeling stung through the Kagero user as he clutched his chest in pain, a brief image of his reflection from a few days again flashing before his eyes once again. Crying out loud for a moment, Aichi gasped in horror as he looked over to his friend in utter worry.

"Kai-kun! Are you alright?!" he cried.

As he finished his question however, a familiar dark red aura began surrounding Kai once more as Dragonic Overlord growled once more, the orange aura surrounding it growing larger as it did so. The Kagero user groaned as he tried his best to resist the power that was now rising out from the Seed fragment once again, glaring up at the unit that he had called down to the battlefield just moments ago.

"I knew it...!" he called from under the strain "Your power is somehow resonating with the Seed fragment! Are you still influenced by the Void, even since then?!"

As no-one said a word for a mere few seconds, Dragonic Overlord finally turned its head around to face Kai, noticing the aura that was indeed resonating with its own power.

"When will you realize it?"

As the Kagero user stared at the dragon fiercly whilst struggling to keep himself from falling to the power that was trying to consume him the from Seed fragment once again, it glared back at him with the same fierce glint it always had in its yellow eyes.

"I told you that I dominated that power myself long ago!" it bellowed "Unless you wish to be consumed as you are, then decide to control it or let it control you!"

As Blaster Blade and Umr listened carefully to every single word that was spoken, Dragonic Overlord brought its gaze upon the Swordsman of Light once again as it flew across the battlefield towards him, before Kai had a chance to call out a command to it. Seeing that Aichi was not planning to do anything to block this attack with his own concerns to worry about, the Kagero user suddenly realized something as images from Aichi's previous battles against Ulith and their efforts to thwart Mayu's plans together began flashing before his own eyes. That was when he had a bad feeling cross both his thoughts and stomach as he clutched his chest once again, his composure and free will slipping by the second.

 _It's no good! I can't restrain it back in the fragment with Overlord's presence!_ he gasped in his thoughts  _If Aichi's fragment resonates with that power...!_

As Dragonic Overlord finally reached Aichi's table, Blaster Blade let out a battle cry as he leaped into the air and gained a bright white aura to him, swinging his blade into the Kagero commander's letting out a large metal sound. The Swordsman of Light's eyes immediately narrowed as he jumped back to avoid being hit by the dragon's Eternal Flame whilst Aichi shielded his face and ducked beneath the table to avoid being scorched, covering Umr from harm with his right hand as he did so. Seeing that he was now within range of Dragonic Overlord's next attack which would connect, he braced himself for the impact of the oncoming before it could connect, Kai cried out aloud in pain once more before he suddenly reached out for the top of his deck and placed his right hand right over the top card, just as Aichi looked back ahead to see what had happened.

"Kai-kun?!" he exclaimed.

"I... surrender this battle!" he cried.

Everyone else, even Ruko, Tama and Yuki gasped in utter shock as they heard the four words that Kai had declared under his breath, whilst still being strained by the power he was attempting to resist. As soon as Dragonic Overlord had heard what had just happened, it immediately stopped in mid swing of its blade before glaring back towards the Kagero user, infuriated with what had just happened.

"Coward...!" it growled under its breath.

Blaster Blade simply stared across towards the Kagero user, who was still trying to restrain the Reverse overflowing from the Seed fragment within him before gazing up at Overlord, noticing its displeased glint within its eyes.

 _Kai's presumption to Overlord's case in comparison to his own appears to be initially correct..._ he thought to himself  _But the cause to why, he may be..._

Before he could finish that sentence or anyone else could comment any further on the situation at hand, the entire battlefield around Kai's side immediately went completely black as a result of his surrender. The darkness then expanded until everyone could no longer see a thing.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

When everyone regained consciousness within the living space, Ruko suddenly opened her eyes and saw that the aura was still trying to consume Kai as evidenced by his struggle to hold it back. It had lessened considerably with the lack of Dragonic Overlord's presence, but with how long it was taking him to try and fully resist in comparison to before when he had been consumed rather quickly the last time it had happened, she was still worried.

"Kai!" she cried as she tried to step forward and help him.

"Stay back!" he replied "I...!"

"Kai-kun!" Aichi cried as he came up to him "Let me help!"

Before the Kagero user could question or even object to his friend's request to help him, he felt a hand immediately placed onto his shoulder as the pinkish glow of PSY Qualia immediately illuminated his blue eyes. A respective dark red aura suddenly surrounded him as he too groaned in pain, leading Ruko to believe that the problem was now escalating from bad to worse. The door to the apartment suddenly swung open as upon seeing what was going on, Naoki and Kamui immediately rushed over followed by Ren and Leon.

"Kai! Aichi onii-san!" the Nova Grappler user called.

As Aichi groaned in pain for a brief instance, a pulse of pink coloured energy suddenly surrounded Kai as he too cried in pain as the aura began to shrink further inside of him until it had eventually disappeared. Seeing that he appeared to be successful in his efforts, he breathed a sigh of relief as he looked up to Kai who was panting heavily.

"Kai-kun..." he panted "Are you alright now?"

Upon seeing that the leaking Reverse was no longer attempting to control him, Kai remained silent for the moment as he could only stare down at the floor, unable to say a word of what just happened or what was going on.

"Just what the heck was happening in here?!" exclaimed Naoki.

Kai looked up to the Narukami user and saw that he, Kamui, Ren and Leon were now present in the room, just shortly after he had surrendered the battle moments earlier. Looking back to Aichi and Ruko, he could see that they shared equally concerned expressions as the two of them came over to him.

"It's alright now..." said the Royal Paladin user "I was able to use my PSY Qualia and my own Seed fragment to keep the Reverse flowing out from yours restrained."

"I see..." Kai murmured.

"But... why did you throw the battle?"

As soon as they heard the exact words that Aichi had said, Kamui's jaw could only drop in disbelief whilst Ren and Leon could only stare at Kai in shock, knowing that such an action was uncharacteristic for someone like the Kagero user him. At the same time though, having not been present for the duration, they knew that he would never have done such a thing without a good reason behind it.

"If Dragonic Overlord's attack hit Blaster Blade and your Seed fragment had resonated the same way that mine did..." he spoke "Then... you would have ended up like me at that time. I did not want that to happen..."

"Kai..." Ruko breathed.

"But... this experience has made one thing clear for me."

Kai then looked to the floor beside him, where he could see that he had dropped Dragonic Overlord's card shortly after he had regained consciousness back in the apartment, staring down hard at it. The dragon's final words before it went off to declare its own attack on Blaster Blade without the Kagero user's consent still ringing in the back of his head.

" _Unless you wish to be consumed as you are, then control it or let it control you!_ "

"As long as I wield Overlord with this condition... then no-one is safe in any Selector Battles involving me. That much is now certain."

And with that, he placed the card down onto the empty table before turning around and walking into his bedroom, his expression being enough to tell everyone that he needed to be alone for the moment after everything that had just transpired. As the door closed immediately behind his back, Aichi could only stare at it in worry as he looked to Ruko who seemed just as concerned, if not feeling even more guilty for what had happened before.

 _Kai..._ both of them murmured in their thoughts, worried for their friend.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

"N... No way..."

One of Akira's fangirls along with her LRIG, who had black hair, purple eyes and was dressed in a large white robe stared in shock and disbelief across the battlefield towards Noriko whose fierce composure had remained unchanged throughout the entirety of the clash as Kaen on a pair of fleshed wings flew high into the air, now wielding a pair of gauntlets and gloves. The portions that covered her fingers however gave off the impression that they appeared more like claws as she opened her right hand, growling under her breath as she did so, staring down across the various SIGNI that the fangirl had in play at the moment.

"I'm disappointed."

The fangirl then looked over once again to Noriko to see her glaring directly at her opponent, displeased with how the battle had gone.

"I was hoping from your devotion to Akira that you would show that same spirit in battle. But it appears that I was wrong!" she bellowed "You lack the strength to call yourself a Selector and now you shall pay dearly for it! Now prepare yourself for the full extent of mine and Kaen's true power! Absolute Power Eruption!"

Upon hearing her Selector's command, flames immediately covered over the lower half of Kaen's right arm as she dived straight down towards the floor in the center of the battlefield before smashing her clawed hand right into it, sending several large cracks across the entirety of the field. Before anyone had a chance to react, the cracks then erupted into a large tempest of flames that covered over the entire field, banishing all of the SIGNI both Noriko and the fangirl had in play before the inferno then covered over said fangirl's table, gaining a loud scream from both her and her LRIG.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with the end of this chapter, I give you the official debut appearances of OCs Kōgō Noriko and Kaen!


	64. Arc 3 - Ride 64: That Harsh Reality

**Fashion Studio**

Long after the earlier battle had concluded, the fangirl that had challenged the 'Queen' earlier was now on her knees, just like the two beside her as they could not muster the willpower to look back up at the opponent that had defeated them effortlessly. Noriko with her eyes closed let out a small huff from under her breath before she glared towards Akira, prompting the rest of the Selector's fanclub to back away slowly from her presence. Milulun, having observed the battles that were waged within the Selector Battlefield couldn't help but stare in shock towards the card that Noriko held, knowing that it contained Kaen within it, despite not being able to see the LRIG in question at this very instance.

Recalling everything that had transpired over these last few minutes, the blue LRIG didn't have to words to describe the sheer brutality of what the two of them had displayed. She only felt even more nervous when it soon became apparent that Akira would presumably battle the opposing Selector next and that would mean she would have to overcome Kaen herself to prevent her own Selector from getting her third loss for a second time. As Noriko was about to step forward to confront her next opponent, the sound of a nearby voice broke her focus, preventing her from advancing.

"Akira, your schedule requires you in 5 minutes!"

"I'll be right over!" the Selector called back, reverting back to her usual demanor prior to the 'Queen's' uninvited entrance.

Seeing that her presence would only result in more of a hassle for both herself and the staff of the studio at this point, Noriko reluctantly glared towards Akira and Milulun before turning around and beginning to take her leave from the room, much to the inner relief of a few of the other Selectors present amongst the fanclub. A low growl sounded from Kaen's card before any of them could utter a word, prompting them to remain silent at this point. Akira herself however wasn't quite finished with what she had to say.

"I'll be lenient in letting you go this time," she spoke "After all, if what 'she' says is true, you haven't been the 'Queen' forever after first becoming a Selector, right?"

As some of the fanclub members looked to each other in confusion, Noriko stopped when she exited outside the doorway, looking back to the Selector.

"She's a resourceful one," she replied "But not the true person that inhabits Urazoe's body, for your group's interest."

And with that, she took her leave from the premises which only left even more confusion amongst Akira's fanclub, none of them knowing what exactly she had meant before walking away from them. The Selector herself though looked down to the floor and was left deep in thought.

 _So you know about Ulith-chan already, huh_ she muttered in her thoughts, smiling sinisterly for a brief moment  _I suppose the rumors of your sharp perception are true, 'Queen'._

"Anyway, if you'll excuse me lovelies," she spoke out, bringing the fanclub members to attention "I've got a schedule to keep up right now. Aki-lovely will see you all once again, same time as always."

"Right away, Akira-san!" all of them replied in unison.

Akira then hummed to herself and picked up Milulun's card before leaving the room, now heading off to attend her session for the evening, expecting that she would run into Ulith at some point during the model shoot. Needless to say, she enjoyed the presence of the cruel demanored Selector in this very instance, knowing that it was her who had helped her to recover her fashion job after being scarred initially, said scar of which was still hidden under multiple clusters of makeup on her right cheek. Bringing out a pocket sized mirror from her hoodie to double check that she had applied enough for the evening shoot, she remained inwardly confident and decided to be on her way with nothing else to worry about.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

The very next morning, after Ruko had previously departed back to her own apartment during the rest of the evening, Aichi and the other cardfighters amongst the group with the exception of Kai were gathered around the living space table, all of whom were deep in thought over what had happened over the course of the previous battle. It was clear that the Kagero user wasn't lying when he said that the overloaded power of the Seed fragment within him still posed an issue as it did resonate with Dragonic Overlord's own power, as he initially suspected after his first battle with Ruko.

But at the same time, that was what was bothering the six of them at this very moment as they knew that there had to more to the situation that perhaps they and not even Kai were even aware of. Umr from her card was also silently contemplating what had happened over the course of the battle, she too being curious as to why the Reverse within the Kagero user's Seed fragment was still interacting with Dragonic Overlord, even after Yuki had been purged of Reverse through the combined efforts of Tama and Blaster Blade or so Aichi had told her.

"Man, I still don't get everything about this 'Seed' business since you came back onii-san," Kamui said with a slight moan, still somewhat struggling in comprehending the scenario since that day "But I don't get why it's only proving to be an issue for Kai and not any of you."

"I wish I knew myself," Aichi replied, his voice seeming concerned, if only for how Kai was holding up at the moment.

"From what I gather, this sort of behavior he's exhibited lately isn't like him if I am not mistaken?" asked Umr.

The Royal Paladin user nodded his head to confirm the answer to his LRIG's question, his expression not changing in the slightest. The following silence in the room was then broken as they heard a nearby door open, to which Kai himself emerged into the living space of the apartment, bringing everyone's attention over to him.

"Are you certain that you are alright?" asked Leon.

"The Seed's power hasn't attempted to consume me since Aichi helped to restrain it," he spoke "But, I'm still remaining wary as of yet."

"And wielding the unit that represents who you are will endanger those you battle," Ren interjected "Or at least, that is what you believe."

"I don't believe Overlord is entirely at fault for the way I am now," Kai replied "When I talked to it before the battle, it said something about dominating that same power within its own veins and wielding it as its own unbound strength. If traces of that are interacting with the Seed fragment within me, then I cannot battle alongside it."

As Naoki blinked in confusion for a moment, the Kagero user approached the table towards where Aichi was sitting, holding out something that was rather familiar to everyone in the room. There were six cards that he held, each with the white LRIG backing on them and depicting Dragonic Overlord in different forms. 4 of them were copies of the End, one represented the original Overlord and the sixth represented the one with the power of a Break Ride.

"W... Wait a minute Kai!" the Narukami user exclaimed as he stared at them "Did you take them out of your deck?!"

"Until I can sort out this issue for myself, I cannot risk wielding Overlord in battle," Kai said as he looked back to Aichi, holding out the cards to him "Can I trust you to hold on to these until I can put this behind me?"

The Royal Paladin user seemed hesitant to take the six cards that his friend was requesting him to look after until he could get to the bottom of his current dillema, not just from already knowing that they as a whole represented Dragonic Overlord, but from the fact that Kai wasn't certain he could wield them as he normally could from what he was going through. Sighing for a moment in the back of his head, Aichi looked up to the Kagero user, hoping that he was making the right decision.

"Alright Kai-kun," he said "You can count on me to look after Overlord until we can sort this out."

"Thank you," Kai replied as he placed the cards down beside Umr's own card before heading over to the front door.

He stopped in his footsteps however as he heard a knocking sound echo from the other side. Wondering who it was that had planned to visit the group at this very moment, he opened the door to find that it was Ruko who has standing outside.

"Ruko..." he murmured.

"Are you alright Kai?" she asked, to which he only gave a single nod "Listen, about what happened when we first battled, I..."

He placed a hand over the Selector's right shoulder and shook his head, his way of silently telling and reassuring her that whatever happened between the two of them in their first battle was beyond her control at the time. Though he could see that it had done little to lift the Selector's spirits as her expression did not change in the slightest.

"All I'm saying is if there's anything I can do to try and fix this," she continued "Just ask."

Kai said nothing more, but silently acknowledged her concern before leaving through the doorway of the apartment, presumably leaving for the city to try and sort out this manner on his own terms. Everyone else in the room looked to Ruko, seeing why she seemed just as concerned for the Kagero user as all of them were at this very instance.

"Is something wrong?" Kamui asked, deciding to break the silence in the room.

"I don't know Kamui..." she sighed "Between whatever Kai has been going through and why my brother's been acting strangely because of my mother... I just don't know what to think."

"Tama can help!"

The Selector suddenly blinked as she heard Tama's voice call out from her card, which she immediately brought out of her pocket, along with Yuki's card as well.

"What do you mean Tama...?" she asked.

"Tama helped Kai before!" the girl of white called "Tama could help Kai again!"

As Ruko remained silent, unsure of how to respond to the LRIG's suggestion at this instance, Yuki however seemed to think otherwise as she looked over to Tama herself.

"I can understand your enthusiasm to aid Kai," the girl of black replied "But from what I've observed, this is an issue he needs to sort out on his own. That is, if what I think is true."

As everyone else with the exception of Umr, who was already deep in thought on the subject, looked over to Yuki's card, they began to ponder on what it was that she was hinting at. If it was anything to do with Kai's dillema, something that he had to sort out on his own, they knew that it was worth listening to the LRIG on what she had to share with the group.

* * *

**City Streets**

Meanwhile in a quieter portion of the city, Chiyori was hurrying on her way to wherever she had planned to be for the day. Excitement glistened from within her eyes as she hummed to herself, unable to contain the feeling that had overwritten some semblance of logic from the back of her mind as Eldora could so much tell. Her exasperated expression was more than enough for anyone to tell that even she couldn't help but question why her Selector was in this kind of mood, given that she had not bothered to tell her before leaving her home.

"Just what is it that's got you all excited?" she asked, curious as to Chiyori's excitement.

"Don't you know? It's the Selector that some Selectors around Japan call the 'Queen'!" the younger Selector replied "She's meant to be really strong on own her terms Eldora! I just wanna see her in action, even if we don't get to battle her!"

"Well if what you say is true, keeping your distance from her is probably the smartest thing you said all week."

Chiyori took no notice of her LRIG's offhand comment, not wanting to start another 'pointless' argument with her as she continued her search for this particular Selector, hoping to see her and whatever LRIG she may have in action the next time she entered a Selector Battle. As always, she seemingly wasn't concerned in the slightest with whatever the darker turns of those battles had in store for her, if only to figure out what was next from the word of Futase's novels. As she continued humming in anticipation and exitement to herself, the young Selector after looking to her left suddenly skidded to a halt abruptly in her footsteps as she saw Kai walking nearby in the distance around a near empty square of the city.

"Hey Kai!" she called as she ran over to him, catching his attention.

"Chiyori..." he murmured as he looked over to her.

"So, looking for more things about the Selector Battles, huh?" the Selector murmured before immediately pausing in her speech "Wait, don't tell me. You're looking for the 'Queen' as well!"

"Queen?"

Kai simply blinked in response to Chiyori's presumption, having not heard of or even encountered the Selector in question, unaware of her prior knowledge of him from the previous night.

"Well... I haven't actually met her in person," she replied "But I've heard word that although she's not native to Tokyo, she does travel across Japan in search of strong Selectors to challenge. Some Wixoss players I've met unofficially call her 'Queen' because she's meant to be really strong!"

"If you happen to find her first," Eldora murmured offhandedly.

"Eldora!" the Selector moaned in reply.

"I see."

The Kagero user, though more focused to the attention of his own dillema at hand, couldn't help but express a little bit of interest of this 'Queen' that Chiyori had brought up. If what the younger Selector was telling him did happen to be true, then perhaps talking to her about the truth of the Selector Battles and what was really going on behind the scenes was a possibility for debate. At the moment however, he was only relying on what was simply gossip that his current acqaintance had heard about from other Selectors that she had encountered and even Eldora had shown to express her doubts to the legitmacy of this Queen's actual existence, not to mention that he still needed to find out why the Seed fragment's power from within him was resonating with Dragonic Overlord's own power.

He knew there were options he could consider for the moment, but he knew that he had one concern that he had to deal with first and that to him was more important that whatever it was that Chiyori was interested in. But before he or younger Selector could say or do anything more...

"So we meet, Kai Toshiki."

Upon hearing the somewhat bold tone that addressed him, Kai looked across the empty square to other side of the street to see that Noriko was staring right towards him. The lower half of her trench coat flapped behind her in the breeze that had stirred up moments earlier as both she along with the Kagero user and Chiyori looked to each other.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing in response.

"I am Noriko," she spoke "I heard word that you are somehow involved with the battles that a select of Japan is amidst. If that is so true, then perhaps you will be an opponent worth seeking."

As Eldora looked at Noriko from her card, now seeing her in person for the very first time as she walked over towards Kai, something clicked in the back of Chiyori's mind as she suddenly gasped.

"Wait, Noriko?!" she gasped "As in... Kōgō Noriko?!"

"And what of it?" the Selector asked, her tone seeming somewhat vexed which only deepened Chiyori's excitement even more.

"I can't believe I didn't remember that name until now!" she gasped as she looked back to Kai "Kai, this really is her! The one that some Selectors know as 'Queen'!"

The Kagero user didn't change his expression upon seeing that Noriko was indeed the 'Queen' that she had described to him moments earlier, though Eldora was surprised to hear about this given how little knowledge Chiyori had prior to this moment. Upon seeing the sharp glint that the Selector had in her purple eyes which seemed to hold a fierce expression from amongst them, the LRIG felt it was best to try and do something to avoid any trouble between her and Chiyori, knowing how much the latter could seem oblivious to the mood of tense situations as seen before.

"Um... I apologize," she said whilst scratching her head, bringing Noriko's attention to her "I can understand if you're not in the best of moods because of my Selector."

"She still lacks experience," a voice spoke out as Noriko dug into her pocket for the card that it had come from "Such excitement gives that away."

As Chiyori tried her best to not feel offended in the slightest from the new LRIG's sudden criticism of her current state in the Selector Battles, Kai kept a close eye on the LRIG card that was shown before them, before the Selector in question turned it around to reveal Kaen, who seemed to be in just of a less pleasant mood, even with her eyes closed. Both he and Chiyori couldn't help but feel somewhat curious about the many slashes and scratches that covered over the LRIG's body as well as the tattered and torn outfit that she wore.

"Rumor says that you possess LRIGs which are more like the unsual creatures that have been appearing as SIGNI," Noriko spoke "So then, will you provide the challenge I seek? Or are you no different from most other Selectors that I have faced?"

"You wish to battle with me then," he replied "Very well then. Before we begin though, I take it that you are already aware of what truely happens in the Selector Battles. What truely happens to those that are unfamiliar with the methods of Mayu."

"And what if that is case?" she asked.

"Why is it that you seek to battle me?" he questioned "If not for upholding your supposed title of 'Queen', then what is it that you seek to achieve through battling other Selectors?"

As Chiyori pondered in confusion for a moment, now wondering about whatever it was that Noriko wished for in regards to her own participation in the Selector Battles to make that same wish come true, Noriko narrowed her eyes in response.

"I have but one desire," she spoke boldly "And I do not require 'her' methods to achieve it."

"Then what is that desire?" asked Eldora, feeling just as curious to know the answer.

"To burn the souls of myself and my LRIG Kaen to our very limits, I battle to find opponents worth my time amongst the Selectors of this world, regardless of who they are or what they wish for," the 'Queen' replied "So that I may defeat them and prove only one point to the world and to 'her'."

As Kai watched closely to see Noriko turn around Kaen's card to reveal its backing to him, preparing to initiate her battle with him, Chiyori instinctively backed away by a few steps, feeling it was best to not accidentally interfere with the upcoming clash between the two of them.

"There is only one 'Queen' and her avatar of these battles!" she boldly proclaimed "And that is us! Open!"

And with her declaration, a series of rectangular flashes enveloped Kai as everything went white, bringing him to the battlefield.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

As soon as the two of them had regained consciousness, both Kai and Noriko looked to one another, briefly noticing the colours of their respective sides of the battlefield were exactly the same as each other. As Kaen stood firmly on the table of her Selector with her eyes closed and her arms crossed, a new unit was shown on the Kagero user's own table as unlike Conroe or Undeux, this one appeared to be human. He had brown hair with eyes of the same colour and wielded a spear whose tip was covered by scorching orange flames.

Up in the tower near the center of the battlefield, Chiyori and Eldora were watching closely from the windowsill near the very top of the structure, the younger Selector of whom was just as excited to see what would unfold from the upcoming clash. The LRIG however remain pensive, sharing just as much intrigue, but mostly from her perspective of Kaen and what could have happened to recieve such scars that covered her. A creaking noise was heard as everyone looked to the giant arrow that was in the place of the roulette wheel, given that Kai and Noriko were using decks that primarily revolved around the same colour. Eventually, the spinning arrow came to a stop, the tip of it pointing in Noriko's direction.

"I give the first move to you, boy Selector," she spoke, her low and somewhat bold mannerism remaining as it was.

The Kagero user nodded as he drew his single card and looked over what was available in his opening hand for the course of the battle.

 _Certainly, I had to extensively change my deck..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _But even so, I won't allow this to hold me back. Especially since there is a more pressing issue for me to overcome._

"Grow!" he called "Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!"

A column of fire enveloped Sadegh as Bahr moments later emerged from it and took up a defensive stance on the LRIG space of Kai's table. Shortly afterwards, two Iron Tail Dragons appeared to the left and right SIGNI spaces as the Kagero user's turn then came to an end there. Kaen then immediately opened her yellow eyes and let out a low growl under her breath, the irises having shrunk down to what appeared to be almost a single line from an outsider's perspective. Noriko upon seeing that it was now her time to show off what she had to offer, immediately thrust her right hand to the top two cards of her deck.

"My turn!" she declared "I grow Kaen!"

A fiery aura surrounded Kaen as the scars covering her face glowed a bright orange, just as a pair of small dark red gauntlets with small spiked gloves materialized over her hands. This alone gave the impression that the LRIG's hands appeared to look more like razor sharp claws, like those belonging to a fierce dragon or whatever other creature of demonic malevolence had for 'hands'.

"Then I summon Servant O!"

To Chiyori and Eldora's surprise, the Guard SIGNI in question then appeared onto Noriko's center SIGNI space within a brief cloud of mist that emerged onto the field for a few seconds.

"She summoned a Guard SIGNI on her first turn?!" the Selector exclaimed.

"Strange..." the LRIG murmured "But if she is as strong as some people claim she is, then she wouldn't leave herself that vulnerable without reason."

Kai simply stared at Noriko's current field, assessing what was laid out before him. Like Eldora, he too knew that there had to be a reason that Noriko had chosen to summon a Guard SIGNI as her only lineup aside from Kaen.

"Servant O attacks Bahr!" Noriko declared.

Servant O nodded in response and flew across the battlefield on a trail of mist, before hurling a sphere of energy right into the Embodiment of Armor, knocking it off balance slighty. Kai's first Life Cloth revealed Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame, not having a Life Burst to aid him right now.

"Next, Kaen!"

Kaen flexed her hands before letting out a loud and fierce battle cry, then immediately dashing across the battlefield towards Bahr who held its blade in front of it for defense as Kai looked over the options that he had available in his hand. He then looked over to Kaen who was nearly towards his table as she leaped up into the air, preparing to strike.

"No guard," he spoke.

The LRIG growled slightly as she opened her right hand before using her left fist to knock Bahr's blade out of its hand. Then with her open hand, she let out a mighty slash which knocked the demon back slightly as the next Life Cloth flew up into the air and revealed itself to be Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon. It glowed brightly, indicating that the Kagero user had been lucky this time in finding a Life Burst to use.

"With Lintwurm's Life Burst, I add a Dragon Beast SIGNI to my hand."

Kai immediately picked up his deck and began searching amongst the cards that were present to pick the perfect one to add right to his hand. His eye immediately caught sight of Gattling Claw Dragon as he picked it out before shuffling his deck and placing it back on the table. Noriko said nothing more as her turn finally came to a close by the time Kaen returned back to her table.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kai vs Noriko**

**Hand - 5 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Kaen-One**

**SIGNI : Iron Tail Dragon - EMPTY - Iron Tail Dragon : EMPTY - Servant O - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 0**

The Kagero user then drew his next two cards before moving Lintwurm's card from his Ener Zone to his Trash and picking out a single card from his LRIG deck.

"Grow, Blazing Core Dragon!" he declared.

Bahr vanished from the LRIG space of Kai's table in an eruption of flames before Blazing Core Dragon took flight into the air and landed on the same spot, stanced in preparation to confront its current opponent. As Gattling Claw Dragon appeared in the center SIGNI space between the two Iron Tail Dragons that were still on his side of the field, it along with the dragon that was to its left glowed bright orange as the last card in his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile.

"Three sealed gods of destruction, gain the power of destructive flames and rise!" he called as he held out a new card from his LRIG deck in his free hand "Superior Grow, Blazing Flare Dragon!"

As Blazing Core Dragon flexed its wings and soared high into the air followed by the left Iron Tail Dragon and Gattling Claw Dragon who turned into bright orange streams of energy as they ascended higher and higher before they were absorbed into the glowing central circle on the unit's chest. The result caused Blazing Core to glow brightly in a blinding orange colour as its shadow became larger and changed in shape before the glow disappeared to reveal Blazing Flare Dragon emerging from a torrent of flames, the embers of which surrounded it as it came back down to Kai's table.

"So he's mastered a Superior Grow through his own dragon," Noriko muttered to herself "At least he shows taste unlike those who possess Swift Advance."

As Kaen stared towards Blazing Flare Dragon who in turn gazed back at her, a low growl sounded from underneath both of their breaths as they stared off with one another. Two columns of flames burst open on Kai's table as Lintwurm and Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame slithered from out of the heat and took up offensive stances on the table.

"Lintwurm attacks Servant O!" he called.

The Dragon Beast SIGNI was the first to attack as it slithered across the battlefield towards Noriko's table, her prey being the lone Servant O that was directly in front of Kaen. With a lash of her tail, the Guard SIGNI vanished immediately as the card representing her reappeared in Noriko's Ener Zone as she remained unfazed.

"Next!"

Dragonic Neoflame and Iron Tail Dragon took flight and charged towards the LRIG who simply shielded her face as she groaned from the onslaught of the first dragon's flames. When they dispersed, she grabbed ahold of one of the blades of Iron Tail Dragon with her right hand, clenching her teeth to endure the pain as she gazed at the Flame Dragon in its fierce yellow eyes, before violently throwing it backwards, causing it to retreat back to Kai's side of the field. A gust of wind stirred up and flipped up the first two of Noriko's seven Life Cloths up into the air before they flew back down to her Ener Zone, one by one. The first one revealed Dragon Knight, Gimel, the Quintet Wall unit that the Kagero user was already more than familiar with as it landed face-up on the table.

Before the other one had even completed halfway of its descent, it twirled around half of a full spin before briefly glowing and revealing what Life Burst Kai had set off. It was from a Level 1 Red SIGNI, one that was unfamiliar to him as well as Chiyori and Eldora as evidenced by their curious expressions. The image of the card displayed a Devil SIGNI dressed in red clothing with small black wings, a deep grin on her lips and wielding two different objects in her respective hands. In her left arm was what appeared to a large silver tuning fork of some kind whilst in her right, she wielded a relatively medium-sized blade covered in orange flames.

"Scarlet Reverberator?" the Selector murmured, having noticed the card's name "I haven't heard of that SIGNI..."

"With the Life Burst, I draw a card," Noriko spoke.

As Iron Tail Dragon flew back to its original space on Kai's table, the Kagero user himself preparing to declare his next attack of the turn as he gazed down to Blazing Flare Dragon's card on the LRIG space. He looked ahead to his opponents with a serious glint in his eyes.

"Let's go!" he called "Blazing Flare Dragon attacks Ka...!"

Before he could finish his declaration, a throb of pain suddenly rang through him as he clutched as his chest. As this was happening, the all too familiar dark red aura that he was acqainted with began surrounding him once more, leading to yet another struggle for control. Whilst Noriko narrowed her eyes upon noticing this, Eldora could only gasp as she watched from the tower windowsill.

"Hey, isn't that...?!" gasped Chiyori.

"It's the same as 'that' time," the LRIG muttered "But what's causing it?"

 _It can't be...!_ Kai groaned within his thoughts as he struggled to stave off the power that was trying to consume him  _Even without Overlord's presence, it's trying to consume me again?!_

Mustering up what little willpower he had at the moment, he groaned as the dark aura of Reverse faded out and vanished from him, for the moment at least. As Blazing Flare Dragon gazed back to him for a moment, Kai immediately resumed the command that he attempted to give earlier.

"Attack!" he called.

The Flame Dragon then turned around and aimed the two multiple barreled guns in its right hand towards Kaen who remained motionless with her eyes closed, a displeased look having crossed her initial expression. As the barrels began to whir loudly, several hot fiery bullets fired out of the weapons at high speed across the battlefield towards Noriko's table as she revealed a card from her hand.

"Quintet Wall!" she called as Dragon Knight, Gimel materialized in front of her LRIG and picked out the top five cards from her deck.

"Come and defend my avatar!" she continued as she picked out four of the cards and threw them out to the very front of the table "Scarlet Dracowing, Berserk Dragon, Servant O and Scarlet Daemon Queen!"

Out of the four green circles that were generated by Gimel's shield, the familiar two-headed Flame Dragon and Guard SIGNI appeared first before two more unfamiliar SIGNI appeared to join them. The first much like Lintwurm was a Dragon Beast SIGNI, however it had flames for its large wingspan to differentiate it from the former and much like Kaen was also covered in orange coloured slashes down its arms. The other Devil SIGNI that was named Scarlet Daemon Queen was much more humanlike in its appearance, clad in scarlet coloured armour and wielding two spheres of flames, each coloured red and black respectively in its hands. Another barrier materialized in front of the two Kagero units and the three SIGNI as Blazing Flare Dragon's attack bounced right off with no damage done at all, before all five of them vanished from Noriko's table as Kai gritted his teeth.

"Turn end," he muttered as he looked down at the table.  _If Overlord's power is not causing Reverse to appear from my Seed fragment this time... then what is?!_

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Noriko**

**Hand - 4 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Kaen-One**

**SIGNI : Iron Tail Dragon - Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon - Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 2 : 5**

Noriko who had closed her eyes earlier drew her next two cards before looking amongst her hand and seeing what options she had available to her at this particular moment.

"Grow, Kaen-Two!" she declared as she held out her hand towards the LRIG space, keeping her eye on Kaen.

The LRIG was enveloped in a bright orange glow as more armour materialized on her shoulders, each adorned with several spikes over the top, though some of them, much like the horn on the right of the LRIG's head were broken and battered. As the glow died down, Kaen stared towards Blazing Flare Dragon, flexing her hands as she did so, seeming impatient for the next clash to come.

"I summon Scarlet Lancer and Scarlet Marauder!"

In both the center and right SIGNI spaces on Noriko's table, two more unfamiliar Devil SIGNI clad in scarlet red armour and clothing appeared onto the battlefield, each of them taking up offensive stances. Scarlet Marauder had a pair of horns that pointed forwards, sharper shapes in its armour and wielded two large blades in each of its arms. Scarlet Lancer on the other hand possessed only a single horn on the center of her head, had slightly thicker armour in comparison and wielded only a single long lance covered in flames, the hilt of which was held in her right hand. Finally in the SIGNI space to the Selector's left appeared the Kagero unit that was known as Cross-Shot Garp as he took aim towards Blazing Flare Dragon who narrowed its eyes in response.

"With Scarlet Lancer's skill, when another Scarlet SIGNI banishes one of yours by battle, I can pay the cost to crush 1 of your Life Cloths as if it had Lancer," Noriko spoke "Furthermore, when Scarlet Marauder attacks a downed SIGNI after paying the cost, she can attack one additional time!"

"So Kaen's speciality is in the Attack Phase?" Kai murmured.

"That's correct," the Selector replied "I don't entirely require cheap gimmicks in my Main Phase to overcome my opponent's defences. But before I attack, I use a Doping ARTS to increase Scarlet Marauder's power by 3000!"

**Scarlet Marauder: 4000 - 7000**

After recieving the power boost from the Colourless ARTS, Scarlet Marauder pointed her left sword towards Lintwurm before letting out a battle cry and charging towards the Dragon Beast SIGNI. Before Kai could make a decision however, the same feeling from before suddenly throbbed through his chest again as he found himself trying to restrain the power that the Seed fragment was leaking from within him. Noriko's eyes narrowed once again, seeming more displeased than she was earlier in the battle.

"Ggh...! Gimel!" he called as he immediately held up the card, barely managing to prevent the same aura from before surrounding him again "Quintet Wall!"

Dragon Knight, Gimel suddenly appeared in front of Lintwurm, generating five green circles which summoned Iron Tail Dragon, Cuélep, another Lintwurm, Gattling Claw Dragon and Servant D2 to join it. A barrier formed in front of them as Scarlet Marauder swung down her left sword with all of her might. It crashed into the barrier with enough force to send sparks flying across it and the whole of Kai's table. When the summoned units and SIGNI left the presence of the Lintwurm that was attacked, a red glow suddenly surrounded the Red Devil SIGNI as she lifted up her right sword, preparing to strike again.

"So your aim was to protect Lintwurm to power up your dragons? That's meaningless!" Noriko bellowed loudly "Since Scarlet Marauder still attacked a downed SIGNI, it can Up itself and battle it again!"

"Even though I blocked the attack with Gimel, since Lintwurm is still downed..." Kai muttered. Upon looking to Gimel's card in his Trash Pile, his eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"That's right," Kaen spoke, bringing his attention to the LRIG "Since Marauder can still pay the cost once again, she can attack Blazing Flare Dragon immediately afterwards. If you had saved Gimel for then, you would have avoided more damage this way."

The Kagero user could only clench his teeth as Scarlet Marauder leaped up into the air and slashed down the front of Lintwurm, causing her to scream in pain before vanishing from the battlefield. The Red Devil SIGNI gained another bright red aura as it leaped into the air once again and slashed down the front of Blazing Flare Dragon with both of its swords this time. Before Kai could react, a spiral of flames from Scarlet Lancer's weapon struck Blazing Flare Dragon immediately afterwards, causing a large explosion that covered over a significant portion of his table. Looking to his Ener Zone, the next two Life Cloths that were crushed were revealed to be Dual Axe Archdragon and Kannya, Phantom Dragon, nothing of which could help with through their lack of Life Bursts.

"What's wrong?! Have you given up already?!" Noriko yelled as Scarlet Lancer and Cross Shot, Garp immediately made short work of Iron Tail Dragon and Dragonic Neoflame.

As Kai could only stare across the battlefield towards the Selector, he looked back to his table just in time to see that Kaen was already running towards it before taking a mighty leap into the air, preparing to strike Blazing Flare Dragon. Flames then immediately covered her right arm as she dived down towards the Flame Dragon before Wyvern Guard, Barri suddenly appeared in front of her, generating a barrier to stop her attack in its tracks. The impact of her flame coated hand was still enough to send a shockwave across the table, causing Kai to shield his face from the heat as the LRIG then retreated when it subsided.

**End of Turn 4**

**Kai vs Noriko**

**Hand - 2 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Blazing Flare Dragon : Kaen-Two**

**SIGNI :** **EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY** **: Cross Shot, Garp - Scarlet Marauder - Scarlet Lancer**

**Ener - 10 : 0**

"This battle is seeming one-sided," Eldora murmured as she brought up one hand to her chin "Especially with what Kai is dealing with now..."

"Ggh...! What's up with you Kai?!" yelled Chiyori "You don't get pushed around this easily!"

Kai could only stare towards Noriko and Kaen as he then looked over to his deck, preparing to draw to start his next turn. He picked up the next two cards before turning them over, seeing what they were. Looking over what little options that he had available to him in his hand, he took ahold of three of the four cards he now held and threw them out towards the empty SIGNI spaces on his table. One by one, Dual Axe Archdragon, Calamity Tower Wyvern and Berserk Dragon appeared from left to right, preparing to strike as the latter began charging up two fireballs in its mouths.

"Berserk Dragon's skill!" the Kagero user called "I banish Scarlet Marauder!"

Berserk Dragon roared loudly as it unleashed both fireballs from its two heads towards Scarlet Marauder, exploding the moment that they made contact with Noriko's table as the Selector in question remained unfazed by the shockwave of the blast. An orange coloured aura surrounded Blazing Flare Dragon as the first unit that Kai began with appeared in front of it.

"Furthermore with Sadegh's skill, I banish another SIGNI from your field!"

Sadegh hurled the flaming spear that he wielded towards Scarlet Lancer as it then struck the Devil SIGNI head on, engulfing her in a large explosion which briefly covered a portion of Noriko's table.

"I banish again with Burning Stone Flame!" Kai declared as the ARTS revealed itself, before a red beam shot out of it and struck Garp, banishing it from Noriko's table, leaving all of her SIGNI spaces completely empty.

"He's already cleared her field!" gasped Chiyori "Now this is more like it!"

"That's true," said Eldora "But his hand... it's almost completely empty."

After the smoke cleared from Noriko's table, Kai could see that the Selector was holding her head down with her expression having not changed in the slightest since the second time that the Seed's power attempted to consume him. Looking to his SIGNI formation, he knew exactly what it was that he needed to do next.

"Calamity Tower and Dual Axe Archdragon attack!" he called.

The two dragons of the Kagero clan roared loudly and set their sights upon Kaen who simply leaped over towards the center of the battlefield, preparing to clash with them as she flexed her sharp gloved hands like claws. Calamity Tower Wyvern unleashed a jet of fire at the LRIG as she ignited one of her hands in a coat of flames and used it to endure through most of the attack before Dual Axe Archdragon swung down the axe in its left arm straight into her, the blow being strong enough to knock her back towards Noriko's table as her next two Life Cloths revealed additional copies of Scarlet Marauder and Scarlet Lancer. Neither of which however had any Life Bursts at all to aid her at the moment.

 _Noriko still has five cards in her hand_ Kai murmured in his thoughts  _If she's not blocking my attacks on purpose, then she must be saving her SIGNI for an all out assault._

As he finished running through his thoughts, he looked over to Berserk Dragon as it snarled loudly and kept a sharp eye on Kaen who had recovered from the earlier blows. As he was about to give another command, seeing that he did not set off any Life Bursts at all, the same sharp throb in his chest began to happen once more as he gasped for breath, clutching his chest as he did so. Noriko although not looking at him by then, had only increased her hidden scowl, unbeknowst to everyone else but Kaen. As the red aura of Reverse surrounded Kai once more, he clenched his teeth as he attempted to stave it off whilst intending to continue with what he intended.

"Link Joker...!" he growled "I disowned your gift of power once before! I will not become that person again...! Berserk Dragon attacks Kaen!"

Berserk Dragon roared loudly in response as it lifted both heads, each with a fireball materializing within them as the twin-headed Flame Dragon prepared to continue the assault on Kaen. At this point, Noriko had finally had enough in remaining silent with her current displeasure.

"Pathetic...!" she growled "I use the ARTS, Phoenixian Infernal Rebirth!"

As all five of the cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile, the new Red ARTS revealed itself to everyone and spun around in a fiery tornado that swirled out and moved in front of Kaen, just in time to block Berserk Dragon's attack as it let loose the fireballs from its mouths. As Kai could only stare in shock and groan in pain from trying to strain the Reverse that was trying to consume him, Chiyori gasped in shock.

"What the...?! An Attack Phase ARTS that can be used when he attacks?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm suspecting that's not all," Eldora muttered as she stared towards Noriko, silently gasping when she noticed her expression.

"Ggh...! At this rate...!" Kai groaned as he struggled to keep the power consuming him in check.

"Weak."

He stared towards Noriko who had uttered that single word upon seeing the state that he was currently in, now hearing her sharp tone becoming much more harsh than what she sounded the first time that they had encountered each other.

"You dare show weakness in front of me... WITH THAT TREPID EFFORT?!" she yelled, raising her head to reveal her eyes in their angered state.

Kai could only look forward towards Noriko, still doing the best he could to restrain the aura that surrounded him at this very instance whilst listening to what she had to say to him.

"I approached you because I thought from word that you would prove a worthy challenge, but it seems that Kaen and I have expected too much from you!" the Selector continued, her temper having risen even further "I won't be satisfied with battling a person who holds back in any shape or form, let alone one who's dictated by their own fear to the point of making careless mistakes!"

"What are you saying?!" he muttered, still struggling to stave off Reverse.

"I can see it in your eyes! You're afraid of something and that aura I've been noticing has been connected to it in some way!" Noriko replied "So tell me Kai Toshiki... what is it that you fear?!"

"I...!" the Kagero user groaned "I do not fear you!"

The Selector simply huffed, having expected that he had not found the answer to her question as he initially believed.

"Phoenixian Infernal Rebirth has one additional effect!" she declared "I send all SIGNI cards from my field to my Trash and discard 2 cards to revive Scarlet Reverberator from my Trash!"

A column of fire erupted onto the center SIGNI space of her table as the figure depicted on the artwork of Scarlet Reverberator's card emerged from the inferno, still wielding her deep grin on her lips as she stared across to the opposite of the battlefield. As Kai could only stare at the newly summoned SIGNI, wondering what other powers it had at its disposal, the grip of Reverse around him suddenly tightened as he groaned in pain even more as an image from the past, depicting how he was when he accepted that same power as his own once before, flashed before him as his eyes widened briefly for a moment.

"Blazing Flare!" he declared, his strained voice almost sounding urgent for some reason.

As the Flame Dragon took aim at Kaen, she simply closed her eyes effortlessly as the bullets from the twin barrelled gun rocketed towards the table and exploded all around the LRIG space. Noriko's next Life Cloth revealed Servant D2 as it landed in her Ener Zone, her fierce and angry gaze having not wavered in the slightest from the latest attack. Kai could do nothing more as he continued to inwardly resist the aura around him as the turn came to a close.

"You're correct, this aura is a part of my recent troubles," he spoke "But, even so, I will not give in to neither it nor this battle!"

"You call this a battle?" Noriko muttered under her breath "You were just lucky from your own self-restraint. This isn't good enough to even be called a battle! Not whilst you are wallowing around in your own fear and dellusion!"

As Kai clenched his teeth, he focused his attention on trying to stave off the Reverse that was still trying to consume him, he looked down to the table in front of him and looked over his right arm, seeing the aura was tightening its grip.

"It seems that Overlord's words haven't even gotten through to you!" Blazing Flare growled under its breath "Are you going to control it or let it control you?!"

"I won't use it as I did before!" the Kagero user groaned before closing his eyes and recalling all of the past memories "I...!" He then reopened them and looked over to his right hand, gasping in shock immediately afterwards at the sight he was greeted with.

"What is...?! Why is my hand trembling?!"

"So we've discovered it at last."

Upon hearing Noriko's words towards him, Kai stared towards her, his composure having faded slightly since he saw that his hand was trembling without his knowledge, now feeling the trembling feeling in that same hand for himself.

"We've finally discovered... why it is that you're afraid!" she bellowed.

"It can't be...! I'm... afraid...?" he murmured as he stared down at his shaking right hand once again as it was still covered in the aura of the power trying to consume him, still in disbelief as to what he was being told and finding himself unable to close it at all.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

"Wait... you're thinking that Kai's scared of Reverse?!"

As Naoki asked the question in utter disbelief to Yuki, who had stated her earlier theory as to his behavior lately, particuarly in the last battle he had against Aichi the previous night, the girl of black closed her eyes as she continued her presumed explanation.

"I don't believe Kai is afraid of confronting that power if it is an opponent he can fight," she spoke "But the fact it is within him and trying to take him over, there's little else to say what else the cause of his late behavior is concerned."

"But if that's so... why didn't he tell us about how he was really feeling?!" asked Kamui.

"I imagine it's his own pride," Ren said, almost slipping into his usual tone "After all, he knows what he did in the past was of his own will. And the fact that the Seed fragment's overloaded power is trying to force him to do those same things again..."

"This is all my fault..." Ruko said sadly "If I didn't use Yuki's reversed form against him...!"

Unable to finish her sentence, the Selector could only slam a closed fist onto the topmost cushion of the couch in the living space, the soft fabric lessening the impact of the blow in her frustration. Tama could only stare from her card towards Ruko in worry, knowing that this wasn't the first time that she had entered such a mood throughout the course of the Selector Battles, prior to Kai's entry into this world. Whilst Aichi could only look at her in concern, Leon got up from his seat and approached her, his gaze seeming rather serious.

"I can understand your frustration in this situation," he spoke "But if what Yuki theorizes is true, then this is something Kai has to confront on his own. If becoming the person he was at that time again is what he fears the most, then it is up to him and only him about how he can overcome it."

Ruko turned to the Aqua Force user, still feeling unconvinced for the moment as she got up from her slumped position and went back to the table where everyone was sitting.

"Just what can we do?" Aichi murmured, now worried for Kai's safety at this moment.

"For the moment, we can do nothing," Umr replied "Kai was unwilling to leave you in harm's way, so attempting to battle him again may be out of the question for now."

"Yeah," he said "But... I'm also worried about Ruko."

Looking over to the Selector in question, the Royal Paladin user could see that she was seated beside him and looking down at her two LRIGs, feeling uncertain and unsure of what to do or say next to try and help them in any way. A few moments later, an idea formed in the back of his mind.

"Um, Ruko-san..."

"Yes Aichi?" she murmured.

"C... could we perhaps have a practice battle?" he asked "I know we're just as worried about Kai-kun now, but you also have the concern of Ayumu now."

"T... that's true," Ruko replied "Thinking about it... we were never able to battle one on one before that Battle Royale." Letting out a small sigh under her breath, she turned to face Aichi with what little self-assurance she had. "Alright then. If we won't use the Selector Battlefield, I'll accept."

Aichi smiled a little and nodded in response, acknowledging her brief concern for the friendly battle before looking out to the single large window in the apartment, wondering where Kai was in the city and how he was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Flame Dragon: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: When this card is placed on the SIGNI Zone, until end of turn, it gets “[Use Timing - Main Phase][Use Timing - Attack Phase]: [Pay 1 Red] When your opponent’s SIGNI card in the same column as this SIGNI is banished or sent to their Trash Pile from their Ener Zone, you may pay the cost. If you do, apply the following effect depending on which zone that card was originally in:  
> -SIGNI Zone: Choose 1 SIGNI card from your opponent’s Ener Zone, send it to their Trash Pile.  
> -Ener Zone: Choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI with an equal, lower or 1 higher level than the SIGNI sent to the Trash Pile in the same column as this SIGNI and if you do, banish it.”.0
> 
> Story Original Cards Debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Kaen-Zero**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Kaen
> 
>  **Kaen-One**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Kaen
> 
>  **Kaen-Two**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 1 Red  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Kaen
> 
>  **Scarlet Reverberator**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 1000  
> [Use Timing - Grow Phase] Pay 1 Red that is Level 3 or greater with “Scarlet” in its card name and send this SIGNI to your Trash Pile: At the start of your Grow Phase, if you have a Level 3 or greater LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, reduce one of the costs of the next LRIG you normal Grow by 2 until the End Phase.  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Scarlet Marauder**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 4000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 2 Red: At the end of the battle this SIGNI attacked your opponent’s downed SIGNI, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this SIGNI.
> 
>  **Scarlet Lancer**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 4000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Red: When your other SIGNI with “Scarlet” in its card name banishes your opponent’s downed SIGNI by an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, crush 1 of your opponent’s Life Cloths. This SIGNI cannot attack an LRIG the turn you activate this effect.
> 
>  **Scarlet Dracowing**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Living Spirit: Dragon Beast  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 8000  
> [Constant]: At the start of the Attack Phase, banish the SIGNI on the field with the highest power (if it’s a tie, you choose which SIGNI is applied for this effect). The player controlling that SIGNI may discard 1 card from their hand to negate this effect.
> 
>  **Scarlet Daemon Queen**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 12000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 3 Red: When this SIGNI attacks whilst your opponent controls 2 or more SIGNI, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 2 of their SIGNI and switch their current Power with each other until the end of the turn (any continuous effects that increase/decrease their power afterwards do not apply until the End Phase). Then if the SIGNI in front of this SIGNI has 3000 or less Power, this SIGNI gains Lancer+2 until the end of that battle (When a SIGNI with Lancer+2 banishes another SIGNI by battle, crush 2 of your opponent’s Life Cloths).  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 2 cards, then reveal them. If any of them have “Scarlet” in their card names, summon them to open SIGNI zones and send the rest to your Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Phoenixian Infernal Rebirth**  
>  Color: Red  
> Cost: 5 Red  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When your opponent’s SIGNI declares an attack on your LRIG and you have 1 or less SIGNI with “Scarlet” in its card name on your field, you may pay the cost. If you do, end the current SIGNI Attack Step, send all cards in your SIGNI and Ener Zones to your Trash and summon 2 Level 3 or lower SIGNI with “Scarlet” in their card names from your Trash Pile. The SIGNI summoned by this effect cannot attack or damage your opponent’s LRIG whilst they are face-up in the SIGNI Zones.  
> [Constant]: You cannot use Colorless cards with Multi-Ener in their effects to pay the cost for this ARTS.  
> [Constant]: You cannot activate this ARTS unless two of the cards you use for the cost are Red with “Scarlet” in their card names.


	65. Arc 3 - Ride 65: The Acceptance

**Selector Battlefield**

Kai could only remain still as he allowed the realization of his current state to sink into his mind. It was hard enough already that he was continuing to struggle in keeping back the Reverse aura that surrounded him, but the fact that he was actually experiencing what was now confirmed to be his own worst fear was something he had not anticipated as his right hand continued to shake before him. Blazing Flare Dragon simply grunted under its breath, seemingly sharing the same amount of annoyance displayed in its own expression with their current opponents on the opposite table at the far end of the battlefield. Noriko immediately started her turn as she placed Berserk Dragon from her hand into her Ener Zone before Servant D2 and it moved straight to her Trash Pile.

"Kaen, Grow!" she declared.

A whirlwind of flames swirled around Kaen as a pair of small black wings materialized on her back and the orange slashes that covered over her body illuminated brightly for a brief moment. When the fire had vanished, a bright yellow glow appeared above the empty SIGNI space to the right of Scarlet Reverberator as a SIGNI was now summoned for the first time throughout this battle. Kai immediately recognized it to be Scarlet Dracowing, recognizing its brief appearance from the Quintet Wall that Noriko had used on his very first turn.

"Next I'll use a Charging ARTS to Ener Charge and Salvage afterwards to add the other Scarlet Dracowing in my Trash back to my hand."

As the top card of the Selector's deck revealed itself as Berserk Dragon through the effect of the first Colourless ARTS, the second ARTS revealed itself and sent the revealed SIGNI card to her Trash Pile, bringing out Scarlet Dracowing into plain view. The card hovered for a few moments before she took ahold of it and tossed it out onto the table, summoning the second Dracowing as she flexed her arms and yawned loudly, albeit sounding more like a roar. As if on cue, that same SIGNI's eyes lit up as she stared towards Dual Axe Archdragon.

"Scarlet Dracowing's ability!" Noriko declared "At the start of either player's SIGNI Attack Step, the SIGNI on the field with the highest power is immediately banished!"

Kai could only clench his teeth as he knew that his strongest SIGNI as of this moment was Dual Axe Archdragon and he was already running low on the number of cards in his hand as he broke his gaze away from his trembling right hand and looked down to the cards he held.

"Since your SIGNI is about to be banished, the other part of Dracowing's ability now applies," Kaen spoke, interrupting his thoughts "You can avoid having that SIGNI banished, but it will require you to discard 1 card from your hand."

Before the Kagero user could make a decision however, the aura of Reverse intensified around him once again as he clutched his chest in pain, trying desperately to resist that power and focus on continuing the battle. His breathing grew hectic as he tried to move his right hand over to his cards, but whenever he attempted to do so, the trembling he was feeling within it had only grown stronger.

_Is Noriko speaking the truth...?_ he muttered in his thoughts  _That I am afraid of something right now? If that's so... then what is that I'm afraid of and why?_

"Now then, Kai Toshiki!" Noriko declared loudly, bringing his attention back to her "What will your choice be?! Or will you let that fear control you again?!"

_Right now, there's two Scarlet Dracowings on Noriko's field. In that case..._

"I choose... not to discard!" Kai replied as he continued to keep back the Reverse surrounding him.

The Scarlet Dracowing on Noriko's right opened her mouth and unleased a stream of flames at Dual Axe Archdragon, banishing the Kagero unit from his side of the battlefield. The Scarlet Dracowing on the left then roared loudly as she set her sights on its duplicate, a flash appearing in front of the eyes as Noriko glanced over the cards in her hand.

"I discard to pay the maintenance cost of my other Scarlet Dracowing!" she replied as she placed Scarlet Lancer from her hand into her Trash Pile.

"Eh?" murmured Chiyori "Why did she have to discard?"

"Each Scarlet Dracowing banishes the SIGNI on the field with the highest power at this timing," Eldora replied "Since Kai willingly allowed Dual Axe Archdragon to be banished by the first one, her other Dracowing made it vulnerable to that effect unless she discarded herself to keep it around to attack with."

The younger Selector quietly gasped in an "Oh!" fashion as evidenced by her realization of the scenario before she looked back down to the battlefield with her LRIG from the tower windowsill, wondering how the battle would turn out, especially given the circumstances Kai was currently trying to deal with for himself. The Kagero user could only watch on as the two Scarlet Dracowings respectively made short work of Berserk Dragon before turning their wrath upon Blazing Flare Dragon as it shielded its face from their flames with its weapon. His next Life Cloth revealed Gattling Claw Dragon as he immediately drew 1 card from its Life Burst before clutching his chest in pain once again, the aura around him continuing to intensify.

"Go Kaen!" Noriko declared.

Kaen growled under her breath as she took flight on her small pair of wings and charged towards Blazing Flare Dragon who pointed its double barreled gun towards her and fired a shower of multiple fiery bullets towards her. The LRIG weaved her way around the barrage that was aimed at her and soared a little ways above Kai's table as she clenched her right fist within the 'clawed' glove before reopening it as it was enveloped in a blaze of fire. The Flame Dragon held out the blades in its other three arms in front to defend itself as Kaen with a mighty yell punched as hard as she could with her blazing gauntlet, sending shockwaves across the table as the Kagero user noted from having to shield his face not from the heat, but the force that was sent out from the impact.

"What vigor...!" he muttered as he stared towards the LRIG who had knocked Blazing Flare Dragon backwards a little before flying into the air once again. Briefly, he clutched his chest in pain once again as the aura surrounding him continued to increase in strength. Dragon Monk, Genjo landed in his Ener Zone, the Life Burst allowing him to regain another Life Cloth.

"I've been disappointed so far!" she growled "I was told that you were meant to have more spirit than this! The next turn will be your last chance to prove us wrong!"

Kai could only clench his teeth as he watched Kaen fly back into the air and raise her right arm, the gauntlet she wielded now completely ablaze as a ball of fire materialized above the palm of her hand.

"Since Kaen's attack hit Blazing Flare," Noriko spoke "I banish Calamity Tower Wyvern and crush 1 Life Cloth as Scarlet Reverberator did not attack it this turn!"

The Kagero user said nothing as he could do nothing, but watch as the fireball in the LRIG's right hand grew even larger before she gazed down upon his table and prepared to hurl it all the way there.

"This will be a reminder of your POOR performance now!" she bellowed "Scarlet Meteor!"

Kaen then hurled down the 'meteor' as she had promptly called her large projectile, soaring down towards Kai's table before it collided with Blazing Flare Dragon, engulfing it and him in a large explosion as he cried out loud, the card Servant D2 flying past him and landing in his Ener Zone, mostly filled to the brim with Red cards throughout the course of the battle thus far. When the smoke cleared, the aura that surrounded the Kagero user had not faded as he fell forwards for a brief moment, feeling as if he could no longer hold it back for much longer, looking over towards his deck and considering his options that he had.

_If I really cannot finish this without slipping back into Reverse again..._  he muttered in annoyance as he tried to move his trembling right hand towards it _Then I...!_

"I will NOT accept a surrender!"

Kai stopped moving his arm as he looked back to Noriko who had called out to him on his attempted action just now, presumably to throw the battle to put himself and presumably her and Kaen out of danger.

"If that aura does have something to do with what you fear, then you won't accomplish anything by fleeing this battle!" she yelled "This is your final chance to try and redeem yourself now!" She then clenched her right fist tightly as she continued speaking. "Show me the spirit that those who have spoken about you said you had! Rage back against Kaen and show me, the one they call Dragonic Overlord!"

The Kagero user could hang his head down, knowing that no matter how he answered back to her, the truth was that Dragonic Overlord would not show itself in this battle as he had given all the cards representing to Aichi earlier in the morning. Then there was the fact that Noriko had called him out on his attempt to throw the battle, believing that he was just running away from his dillema and not getting closer to overcoming it. As the aura covered over him completely as he bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming, he could only close his eyes in frustration about everything that had happened to him lately.

"Kai Toshiki."

Kai's eyes suddenly opened in shock as he heard a familiar voice echo into his head and one that he had not expected to hear from again so soon since 'then'. It was definitely female, yet there was something about it that made him feel even more unnerved.

"You cannot deny it," the voice echoed "You already know that you can hear me."

Looking around for the source of it, he looked ahead to see some of the overflowing aura in front of him move to the side to reveal a pitch black 'space' as a familiar face suddenly appeared from within it. Her gentle, yet unnerving smile made it easy for him to recognize who was calling out to him now.

"Mayu!" he muttered.

"I'm really sorry you haven't managed to perform as well as you would lately, if your last battle against Aichi was anything to prove it," she spoke "But, I never thought you would think of abandoning Dragonic Overlord in an attempt to save your own skin."

"You're wrong!" Kai yelled "I haven't abandoned it...! I've entrusted it to Aichi until I can overcome my issue!"

Mayu's expression did not change in the slightest, aside from a small, yet noticable increase in her smile as she 'moved' closer towards the viewing 'portal' from where the Kagero user could see her, briefly flinching to avoid being overcome by another surge of power that was all around him.

"Entrusted, huh?" she mused "Then if that's so, I wonder why you were trying to run away again. Especially since you thought it was the reason the Seed's overloaded power is trying to consume you again. Could it be fear as the 'Queen' as pointed out? Reluctance of using that power for yourself again? Or fear that it is already beyond even your own will? But rest assured, it doesn't have to end the way you wish to prevent."

Kai simply narrowed his gaze at the mastermind of the Selector Battles, knowing from their last confrontation when she attempted to hijack Ruko's body to conquer the outside world herself that she was one that was not to be trifled with.

"I am willing remove that burden from you and declare a ceasefire from my associates' efforts on your world," Mayu continued "I will be even willing to not mark off your second loss in the Selector Battles for surrending this current battle. The condition for that... is if you surrender all your units, including Dragonic Overlord to Miyako afterwards."

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

"Yuki, grow!"

Ruko placed down the single card that represented Yuki's Level 2 form, named Iona, Half/Maiden, on top of her Level 1 form, Iona, Crescent/Maiden as she begun the start of her next turn in the friendly battle that she was currently having against Aichi, who sat opposite her on the table. On his side of the field was Little Sage, Marron as his LRIG with Hallowed Breath Dragon in the center SIGNI space. Umr, Yuki and Tama watched closely from their cards to see how the battle would progress out with the mysterious black LRIG being intrigued in the girl of black's potent, given that this was the first time she had seen the Selector use that deck in action, having not been present the last time she had used it.

Naoki, Kamui, Ren and Leon observed the current battle from one side of the living space table, knowing that it was still early on in the game itself and that there was no telling what could unfold in the coming turns.

"I summon Code Maze Triumph and down her!" Ruko called as she placed the card into the middle SIGNI zone before downing her immediately "With this, I'll add Quesal to my hand."

After revealing the Shadow Paladin unit to Aichi, the Selector concealed it amongst the remaining cards in her hand before she placed down Healing Revenger and Skull Witch, Nemain into her remaining spaces. After paying the cost for the latter's skill, she turned her attention to Aichi's current fielding, noting his stance from the first turn that he had taken previously.

"Rugos and Nemain attack Marron!" she called.

In a imaged scenario playing out within Aichi's mind, both Rugos and Nemain attacked Marron with a shower of purple lighting and a massive slash by the Darkness Revenger's larger blade. The Little Sage fell backwards a little ways as afterimages of the cards representing Knight of Silence, Gallatin and Bringer of Good Luck, Epona flew by, the latter glowing yellow for a brief moment. An aura of the same colour enveloped Hallowed Breath Dragon as it powered up from the Life Burst that had been triggered by Rugos' attack.

**Seeker, Hallowed Breath Dragon: 2000 - 7000 + Lancer**

Yuki then gathered a dark aura that manifested into a sphere which materialized in front of her two hands before she grabbed ahold of it and sent it hurtling towards Marron who had barely gotten up from the ground. A blinding white flash appeared in front of him as Shiron appeared and summoned a barrier that easily deflected the attack, much to the girl of black's slight annoyance as Aichi had imaged through Ruko's expression at the moment. Back in the apartment, the Selector could only sigh a little as she had no other option but to end the turn right there.

As Aichi drew his next two cards and looked over what he had available to him, he looked back to the Selector who didn't seem the least bit happy as her two LRIGs could tell from watching from their cards.

"Is Ru alright?!" Tama cried in concern.

Ruko blinked for a moment, seemingly unaware of how she was appearing to everyone whilst being caught up in her own scattered state of emotions, unsure of how to feel towards everyone given the events that had been occurring as of late.

"Is something up...?" Naoki pondered.

"Sorry Ishida," she spoke "I've... just had a lot on my mind lately. Not with what has been happening with Kai and onii-chan lately, but..."

"But what exactly?" asked Kamui.

"Ever since Kai freed me from Mayu... I've been able to get used to playing with Tama again," Ruko answered "But when he visited me two nights ago and even now... I'm wondering if I can even meet the expectations that Yuki had set out for me when I first used this deck."

"Ruko..." Yuki breathed, having been curious as to her performance with her particular cards as of late.

As everyone looked over to the Selector, seeing the extent of her troubles thus far in reacqainting herself with Yuki's cards without the power of Reverse fueling the both of them unlike 'that' time, Aichi moved Loving Healer's card from his hand to his Ener Zone before facing the person that sat before him.

"You're worried about letting down Yuki, right?" he asked.

"I... suppose you're right," she answered as she looked down to the girl of black, seeing that her stoic expression did hold a hint of concern amongst it.

"Um... I'm guessing Kai-kun told you about the game of Vanguard when he visited you that night, right?"

Ruko looked up to Aichi, breaking out of her brief stupor and now curious as to why he had asked this particular question.

"He did say something about it when I asked him about Cray," she replied "He said it was about using one's imagination to become a Vanguard to lead the way to victory. I... never quite understood about how it worked though."

"I know that Wixoss isn't exactly within the right context to bring up the subject..." the Royal Paladin user murmured "But if you're not battling within the battlefield as we are now... maybe you could try it."

"Try it...?"

Now the Selector seemed somewhat confused, wondering why Aichi had suggested for her to try and use her own imagination to how she was battling now, even if it was just a friendly contest that the two of them were engaged in. Then after several moments of near utter silence had passed by the two of them, something then sparked at the back of her head as she looked down to Yuki and then to the card that was currently representing her.

"Wait a second..." she murmured to herself before looking back to Aichi  _Maybe if I imaged myself as Yuki now..._ "So... I just have to image it, just as Kai said."

Closing her eyes for a moment and breathing in for a moment, the world around her seemingly faded out into white as her vision before her completely changed into one of the many rocky plains of the Planet Cray, where a majority of battles within the game of Cardfight! Vanguard were imaged in the minds of many cardfighters and in this case as of now, herself. Seeing the image that she formed in her mind, she looked down at herself to find that not only was she standing up on the ground in Yuki's current costume and attire from her Half/Maiden form in the stead of her current clothes, but that her three SIGNI were taking up defensive stances right in front of her.

In front of the four of them was the powered up Hallowed Breath Dragon and Aichi who appeared to be in Marron's own attire, even with the pair of glasses that the Little Sage wore. Upon seeing that the Selector had conjured up an image of her own, he smiled gently before closing his eyes, knowing exactly what he was going to do next.

"Stand up, my avatar!" he called "Grow, Blaster Blade!"

The Royal Paladin user was enveloped in a blinding white light as Marron vanished from the battlefield as Ruko couldn't help, but let out a silent gasp as he later reemerged in the armour of the Swordsman of Light, even carrying the very sword that he was named after. Certainly, seeing him this way through her imagination for the first time was vastly different to when she last saw him wield the Royal Paladin in battle against Hatsu, when she used Umr's deck that he now carried. The fact that the long strand of blue hair on the right side of his head had seeming grown larger to cover part of the same side of his face was also something she had not expected to conjure up within that image.

"With Blaster Blade's skill, I pass final judgement on Rugos!" he called as he held the Blaster Blade high into the air before yelling loudly and thrusting it into the ground.

A shockwave of bright coloured energy rippled throughout the ground until it hit Rugos head on, banishing it from the battlefield as Ruko was forced to cover her face from the force. Then in an instant, Cherin and Gallatin appeared beside the imaged form of the Swordsman of Light, the Knight of Silence immediately making short work of Healing Revenger before Hallowed Breath Dragon swooped over to the air above the Selector's side of the battlefield. It roared loudly before letting out a blast of azure coloured fire at Triumph, banishing the SIGNI from the field as the blaze immediately consumed her, causing her to groan in pain as an afterimage of the card Drei=Capsule flew past her, no Life Burst appearing to aid her. She then looked back ahead to see Aichi take ahold of the Blaster Blade preparing to wage his next attack, noticing the determined glint in his eyes now.

"Here I come, Ruko-san!" he called as he ran towards her.

Shaking her head to snap herself back to reality and noticing that same expression in his eyes, Ruko quickly looked down to the cards she still held and took out one of them, briefly returning back to the battle that she was still very much imaging.

"Mac Lir!" she called as the Shadow Paladin unit appeared in front to shield her from Blaster Blade's next attack.

Aichi, still imaging himself as the Swordsman of Light swung down the blade as hard as he could into Mac Lir's barrier on his right arm, kicking up dirt from the shockwave as he did so, but having no effect at all. Looking to Ruko who was still imaged as Yuki in her current appearance, he smiled gently almost in acknowledgment as he leaped back, just as the Shadow Paladin that deflected his attack vanished in a flash of black sparks. Eventually, the two combatants had regained their sense of reality as the Selector placed Mac Lir's card into her Trash Pile, her breathing having increased for whatever reason during her 'imaging' of the entire turn.

"Are you alright, Ruko?" asked Yuki.

"I... I'm alright," she replied as she eventually slowed down her breathing to a normal pace.  _I never thought imaging a battle could take a lot of focus..._

"You might just get the hang of it," Ren interjected "Though given that you're more accustomed to battling with Tama and Yuki rather than imagining yourself as either of them, it may take longer as you aren't really a cardfighter yourself."

"That's certainly true," the Selector said with a little bit of a nervous smile "But in a way... I think I might understand my LRIGs a little more."

"What exactly do you mean?" murmured Umr, she too feeling seemingly unfamiliar with the subject itself.

"When I imaged myself as Yuki, I thought about how calm and collected she could be, whilst doing her utmost to keep her faith in me," Ruko explained "I guess... I was looking at it from her perspective this way. If I'm going to figure out why my mother is making onii-chan behave the way he is, I need to have just as much faith in both Yuki and Tama as they do with me."

Aichi nodded with a kind smile in acknowledgement, seeing that his suggestion had managed to make a somewhat positive impact with the Selector on how her outlook with both of her LRIGs and the trust they shared in one another.

"By the way Aichi..." she continued "Did you give this kind of advice to Hitoe?"

"Um... I told her about it before we left the library yesterday..." he murmured "Yuzuki-san was a little more curious about the game of Vanguard whilst we talking about Cray. We didn't actually battle then."

"I see," Ruko replied with a warm smile "Either way, I'm really thankful for everything you've done for her since you came here. She's really changed thanks to you."

"Yeah," he said "She really has come a long way from what happened before and now, she's back with her closest friends."

The Selector said nothing more, silently remaining in agreement with what Aichi had to say on the subject. Now that she had gotten part of her concerns out of her mind for the moment, she decided to continue with the battle as it was, now feeling somewhat refreshed from everything that had been occurring thus far.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Kai could only stare at Mayu after she had presented him with the offer that she was seemingly willing to carry out for him. It appeared as if she was indeed willing to aid in removing the curse of Reverse from him, but at a hefty cost as he was already aware. That cost being that he would later have to surrender his units to Miyako and he knew from what she was capable of, there was no way for him to fool the mastermind as easily as one could think. At the same time, the mention of the name of Ruko's mother had immediately caught his attention, having not recieved the information from Kamui that she had briefly visited his world to claim Gaillard and Tetsu's units for Mayu.

"Miyako...?" he murmured "You can't mean..."

"That's correct. Ruko's mother, my closest friend to the ugly world outside of my domain is a part of my ranks," she replied "I never thought that Ayumu would be able to harness his willpower and imagination for the clone LRIG's potential though. But back to the point, will you choose to accept my offer and relieve yourself of your burden? Or will you refuse and continue to resist until you are forced back into that 'state' regardless?"

Kai clenched his fists as he looked down at the table, now completely covered in the aura that he was almost consumed by throughout the majority of the battle. He did not anticipate that he would battle as poorly as Noriko had pointed out to him earlier, nor did he think that he would be caught in the grip of Reverse that soon, even if Dragonic Overlord was not in his possession as he originally believed. He closed his eyes as he delved into his thoughts and memories, trying to make sense of the situation he was in.

_It's obvious. I shouldn't accept that power again!_ he ranted in his thoughts  _And yet... Why is Blazing Flare urging me to wield it just as Overlord told me before?! Doesn't it realize that the crisis I had started before could happen again?!_

The Kagero user with his eyes now closed, keeping his teeth clenched to try and resist another surge of power from the aura that completely covered over his seat at the table from which he was battling from, ran through more of his memories from this present moment in the battle all the way back to his first battle with Ruko.

" _I can see it in your eyes! You're afraid of something and that aura I have been noticing is connected to it in some way!_ "

" _It seems Overlord's words haven't gotten through to you yet!_ "

" _Unless you wish to be consumed as you are, then control it or let it control you!_ "

" _You may believe you have let go of it, but Reverse will always remain a part of you._ "

Kai then silently gasped upon remembering what his 'mirror image' after his first battle with Ruko had said to him, when he had seemingly been hallucinating after escaping defeat and the clutches of Reverse after Tama had brought him back to his senses. He loosened his expression as he remembered everything back from that time and compared it to everything he had been told now in contrast to this dillema.

_I see now...! How could I be so foolish?!_

"Well then Kai," Mayu spoke, interrupting his trail of thought there "What is your decision?"

Upon now reaching the decision he had made, the Kagero user took a deep breath to calm himself down as the aura around him suddenly began to calm itself as well, as if it was no longer 'attacking' him or even attempting to consume him as it did earlier.

"I will decline."

The mastermind of the Selector Battles raised an eyebrow in confusion as Kai sat up straight back into the seat of his table, opening up his eyes to face her properly once more. He then clenched his right fist and held it up to his chest as the dark aura that surrounded him suddenly began to swirl around him, faster and faster as it disappeared slowly, but surely into his body at a rather quick pace.

"W... What is this?!" she gasped.

"Mayu...!" Kai spoke as he glared at her "I will no longer run away from myself! And... the Kagero units that fight beside me, even Overlord who does not fight beside me now, will never be yours!"

Mayu could only clench her teeth in disbelief as she waved her hand to make the 'portal' she had viewed him from disappear as the rest of the dark aura of Reverse began to seep into him, eventually restoring his full view of the battlefield that was previously obscured during that confrontation. Blazing Flare Dragon, Kaen and Noriko returned to view as he regained his vision of his surroundings. The Selector had still kept her eyes closed with her initial angered expression, having seemingly been unaware of what just happened to him moments ago. He breathed in and out gently, just to remain certain that he was indeed still himself, much to his inner relief. With his confidence restored, he looked to Blazing Flare Dragon who stared back, now seeing the change in his 'Vanguard' compared to earlier, now not seeming as annoyed as it was before.

_It is finally at ease_ he murmured in his thoughts  _I will no longer be controlled by my own fear. Now then..._

"Final Turn!"

Upon declaring the two words that he had been known for saying in important situations, be they for cardfights and Wixoss, Noriko suddenly opened her eyes as she stared back towards the Kagero user, now seeing the change in him as of now. Kaen who had remained stoic and fierce throughout the battle couldn't help but narrow her eyes towards him.

"His spirit... it's suddenly changed...!" she muttered "Was he consumed by 'that' aura... or...?!"

"Up and draw!"

Kai drew his next two cards, gazing down at them to see that they were both copies of Dragon Monk, Genjo. Under normal circumstances, he knew that they would not help him much against Noriko's current formation. But at the same time, upon seeing that his Ener Zone was brought back up to 12 cards, he could see that there was still opportunity for him to make a counterattack right now.

"First, I'll summon!" he declared as Dragonic Neoflame, Genjo and Berserk Dragon appeared on the field from left to right "Then with Berserk Dragon's skill, I banish Scarlet Reverberator!"

Berserk Dragon opened both mouths of its two heads and unleashed fireballs that flew across the battlefield and struck the center SIGNI space on Noriko's table, banishing Scarlet Reverberator in an instant. A fiery red aura surrounded Berserk Dragon as it powered up through Blazing Flare Dragon as a result of successfully banishing the Devil SIGNI.

**Berserk Dragon: 5000 - 8000**

"Next, I use Blazing Flare's skill to trash 1 of your Scarlet Dracowings!" Kai continued.

Blazing Flare Dragon's eyes lit up as it pointed its double barreled gun towards the Scarlet Dracowing that was in front of Dragonic Neoflame before letting loose a barrage of fiery bullets that showered all over the Dragon Beast SIGNI, sending the card straight to Noriko's Trash Pile.

"Neoflame's skill! I pay a Red card to send the Scarlet Reverberator that's in your Ener Zone to your Trash Pile!"

As Neoflame growled under its breath, Kaen's eyes widened for a brief moment as she turned to the Selector's Ener Zone to see Scarlet Reverberator's card hover up into the air before moving and dropping itself straight into the Trash Pile, leaving her with no cards there anymore. Noriko however was still feeling far from impressed with the current waves of consectutive banishes and Ener trashing that her opponent had managed to chain together.

"Finally, by using Servant D2 as a white Ener, I use it to pay the white cost for the ARTS, Arc Destruct!" he declared as the white ARTS revealed itself, causing the blades that Tama was holding in the card's artwork to materialize and replace the ones that were currently being held by Blazing Flare Dragon in its other three arms.

"A... Amazing!" Chiyori called from the tower windowsill "It looks like Kai is on a roll again!"

"More importantly... it seems he's gotten rid of that aura," Eldora murmured.  _Did he overcome that 'fear' Noriko stated to him?_

"Interesting..." Noriko muttered to herself, her stern expression having not wavered.

"Noriko."

The Selector looked ahead to see Kai with his composure now fully restored and prepared to go all out with the 'Final Turn' that he had called out.

"In the end, you were correct," he spoke "I was scared of becoming the person I was when I wielded Reverse once before under my own free will. The fact that I was already overtaken by this power once before had only deepened that fear to the point of affecting my performance throughout this battle. I always knew that no matter how I let go of it, Reverse and all I did with it will remain a part of my life."

"And what does that mean for you?" she asked.

"I now understand what Overlord and Blazing Flare were trying to tell me," the Kagero user continued "They weren't implying for me to control that power to wield it as I did before. I had to control that power so that I would not unleash it nor have it take me over again. I never realized it was my own fear further stirred by my misassumption that was allowing that power to consume me and as a result, I placed all of the blame on Overlord without being completely aware."

The battlefield remained silent for a brief few moments as everyone else, even Chiyori and Eldora allowed what was just spoken out to enter their minds, now seeing the struggle that Kai had just gone through to seemingly overcome. Kai then turned his attention towards Noriko as she did not seemed fazed in the slightest, much like her LRIG who had regained her composure.

"Scarlet Dracowing's ability!" she called "You must discard 1 card or your Berserk Dragon will be banished!"

"Naturally!" Kai responded "I discard Genjo and begin my attacks!"

Berserk Dragon roared loudly before letting off a pair of fireballs that struck Kaen head on, causing her to groan loudly in pain amongst the explosion that rocked the table. The serpent like dragon that Genjo stood atop unleashed a stream of fire at the LRIG who was still obscured by the smoke, causing another explosion that engulfed the LRIG space of the table. A bright glow dispelled it immediately however as Noriko's Ener Zone revealed the crushed Life Cloth to be her Scarlet Daemon Queen, the Level 4 SIGNI that Kai saw from an earlier Quintet Wall with its Life Burst glowing brightly. Immediately into the empty zones on the Selector's table appeared another Scarlet Reverberator and Scarlet Marauder.

"Continue, Blazing Flare Dragon!" Kai called as the Flame Dragon took aim at Kaen.  _If this hits, then the next attack from Arc Destruct will end it!_

"Even if you claim to have overcome your fear, that is still not enough!" Noriko yelled as she moved Scarlet Daemon Queen's card to her Trash Pile "Quintet Wall!"

Dragon Knight, Gimel appeared in front of Kaen once again, summoning Berserk Dragon, two Scarlet Daemon Queens and Servant O, with more than enough SIGNI to block Blazing Flare's first attack as it was deflected off the shield. Kai could only frown a little to see that the third necessary attack for him to get one step closer to completing his 'Final Turn' had failed.

"Blazing Flare, stand and attack again!" he declared.

Blazing Flare Dragon aimed its doubled barreled gun at Kaen and fired off multiple fiery bullets at the LRIG, who used her small, but wide enough wings to deflect some of the bullets, effectively reducing the physical damage that she would have taken from that attack head one. Servant D2 flew into Noriko's Ener Zone, that being her last Life Cloth with no further effects in play. Kai simply kept a close gaze upon the Selector and her LRIG, knowing that there was nothing else he could do as his turn came to end.

"Aw, dang it!" groaned Chiyori "He was so close! If only he could banish that other Dracowing!"

"That's certainly true," Eldora interjected "But... something's bothering me."

"Huh?" the Selector pondered.

"Haven't you noticed?" the LRIG replied "The one unit that Kai is known for using... it's not been played throughout this battle."

"Ah...! You're right!" she gasped "Where the heck is Dragonic Overlord?!"

Kai remained silent as he knew that Noriko's turn was about to come up and with Kaen still at Level 3, he knew from previous experience that this form alone would not be the pinnacle of the LRIG's full power. The Selector huffed for a moment as she drew her next two cards before looking back to it.

"I will certainly give you credit for no longer being dominated by your fear of Reverse," she spoke "But... you've disappointed me! Not only has your performance throughout the previous turns been mediocre because of that same fear, but you've denied me and Kaen the full potential you wield!"

"You're referring to Dragonic Overlord, aren't you?" he murmured as he closed his eyes "I apologize that this battle did not satisfy your expectations and that allowing my fear to control me hasn't made it any better... but because of that same fear earlier today, you should have the right to know. Overlord right now because of my earlier actions, is not in my deck."

Whilst Chiyori gasped in shock upon learning that Dragonic Overlord had been taken out of Kai's deck because of how he was really feeling earlier in the morning, Kaen's glare had narrowed whilst Noriko's expression had slowly grown scrutinized, slowly taking in the realization that the battle she intended to settle with Kai from the start, without his fear getting in the way earlier along with his earlier actions, was no longer possible in the current situation. That was when she clenched her right fist and stared towards the Kagero user.

"Unforgivable...!" she growled, almost on the verge of accidentally scrunching the cards she held in her left hand "You mean to tell me... that YOU decieved me from the very beginning, KAI TOSHIKI?!"

Kai did not flinch in response, but even he could not help but note the very angry tone in the Selector's voice and given the way the battle had played out up to the start of his last turn, he knew that to an extent, she had every reason to be. All he could do now was see how her next turn would play out for him and to see if he had any chance of surviving what was to come.

"First, I Ener Charge with Scarlet Marauder and then use Scarlet Reverberator's ability!" she yelled as Scarlet Marauder vanished from the field, its card first moving to her Ener Zone and then a few seconds later, straight over to her Trash Pile, glowing a bright orange colour "Now the cost for Kaen's next form is reduced by 2!"

"What the?!" gasped Chiyori.

"A normal Grow with a SIGNI effect?!" Eldora interjected in equal shock.

Kai could only clench his teeth as he watched on for what was about to happen. Scarlet Reverberator then swung its blade and tuning fork into each other, creating a loud sound as it vanished into a bright orange glow that reshaped itself into a large circular ring of the same colour that floated upwards into the air and surrounded Kaen. It then rotated 90 degrees before spinning vertically around the LRIG, faster and faster until it caught ablaze and obscured her in a sphere of fire with only her shadow visible, changing slightly with every passing second.

"The Queen's resonance will now file through you!" Noriko bellowed as she held a new card into the air with the all too familiar white backing "Those before you shall take witness to your infernal power to shake the foundations of divinity itself! GROW!"

As the card was placed down onto the LRIG space of the Selector's table, a pair of even larger fleshed black wings, each littered with a dozen of spikes burst out of the flames before opening up with great force to dispell the fire and reveal Kaen in all of her glory within her brand new form. She was covered in more damaged armour, some of which had broken spikes littered across it and only one of her breastplates had an extra sheet of metal in comparison to the other. The LRIG stretched her arms and legs with a loud yell, now finally ready to take to the battle once again.

"The ravaged soul... Sorching Hellfire, Kaen-Four!"

"So this Kaen's full power..." Kai muttered to himself "Just what is she capable of now?"

The Selector then looked forwards to Blazing Flare Dragon who had shifted its posture into a defensive stance, almost as if it was preparing for the worst to come. She first revealed a Charging ARTS from her LRIG deck which moved the top card of her deck to her Ener Zone.

"Behold... this is our strength!" she declared as she swept her hand across the Ener Zone, all six of the cards there glowing brightly afterwards "Kaen-Four by using 6 Red Ener can banish all Normal Summoned SIGNI from all of our fields and for every three banished, I crush 1 of your Life Cloths!"

"What?!" Kai gasped.

"She can do that?!" Chiyori exclaimed.

Kaen's scars glowed a bright orange as she took flight once again and soared towards the top of the battlefield, almost seeming level with the tower windowsill where she caught sight of both Chiyori and Eldora for a brief moment before looking to the ground before her. Her right hand soon covered itself in flames once again as Noriko was prepared to use the same ability that she had used before against those who had faced her, including several unfortunate members of Akira's fanclub from the previous night. The Selector then snapped her fingers as she called out the name of this signature and dangerous ability once again.

"Absolute Power Eruption!"

Kaen dived down towards the center of the battlefield with her right arm ablaze before slamming her clawed hand into the ground. The force of which was so great that it sent several cracks across both sides of the field towards both tables before they immediately caught ablaze and stuck both Kai and Noriko's tables, banishing all six of the SIGNI they had present in an instant as the Kagero user cried out aloud from taking the full brunt of the effect as his final Life Cloth, Dual Axe Archdragon flew past him and landed in his Ener Zone. His scrutinized expression made it clear that was not a good sign for him and that the next attack was enough to finish it.

"It finally ends," Noriko spoke before she opened her eyes and held out her hand in a fierce manner "Kaen, final attack! Scorching Crimson Inferno!"

Kaen took flight from the spot where she had landed 'Absolute Power Eruption' and charged towards Blazing Flare Dragon, letting out a fierce battle cry as she did so. As the Flame Dragon closed its eyes, preparing to accept the inevitable result, so did Kai after he had looked down at his hand.

"No guard," he spoke.

The LRIG's gauntlets then caught ablaze as she yelled loudly and slashed down the front of Blazing Flare Dragon, leaving several fiery scores across its chest for a few moments before she flew backwards and allowed them to detonate, dealing the finishing blow needed to end the battle in hers and Noriko's victory. However, despite the feat that was achieved, she still didn't feel quite satsified with herself as she looked over to Kai who looked back to her in turn.

_He showed that spirit we desired..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _But without 'it', neither of us will be satisfied._

The battlefield then went completely dark at this point, showing that the battle had indeed concluded.

* * *

**City Streets**

As the sense of reality returned to everyone in the square, Kai could only stare down at the ground in front of him as he breathed in and out slowly to regain his composure, knowing that this was now officially his second loss in the Selector Battles. Chiyori who had been quiet since the end of the battle couldn't help but even wonder if he was going to be alright at this very moment, as did her LRIG who watched closely from her card. Noriko had remained silent as she looked down at Kaen who was clenching her right fist, still not seeming satisfied with herself despite the victory the two of them had gained.

"We acquired victory over him..." the LRIG muttered "Even after what happened to him earlier, he seems to still show that spirit we've heard about."

"However, without the presence of Overlord, this victory is meaningless...!" the Selector growled to herself as she too breathed in and out to calm herself after her initial outrage.

After looking to Kai and Chiyori one last time, she turned around from the two of them and began to walk away deeper into the city, presumably to continue whatever agenda she had in mind for participating in the Selector Battles. The Kagero user however wasn't quite finished speaking with her just yet.

"Wait," he spoke, causing her pause in her footsteps "How much do you and Kaen know about Mayu?"

"If you want to know..." she spoke, her tone still seeming vexed but a little calmer compared to earlier "Then prove yourself with Overlord in your future battles, then find and defeat me. For now, this is farewell, Kai Toshiki."

And with that, she walked off further into the city until she was out of sight, leaving Chiyori almost speechless, if only from witnessing Kaen's sheer power throughout the battle and the fact that both the LRIG and her Selector were able to defeat Kai himself. He on the other hand remained staring in the direction that Noriko had walked in, now seeing that despite the loss he had taken today, whether he was willing to admit it or not, Noriko did have an impact on him overall. She did point out that it was his own fear that was preventing him from keeping the overloaded Reverse under control from within him and that part of him did not want to accept that regardless of what he did, it would always remain a part of him. At the same time, the potential that she knew something about Mayu that he or the others did not know was all the more reason to accept to her terms and conditions for a rematch in the future. Only when they would, he would no longer be haunted by his own past.

"Until we meet again, Kōgō Noriko," he murmured to himself "Or rather, 'Queen'."

* * *

**The White Room**

Mayu slammed a closed fist onto the right armhold of her throne from where she sat, seemingly frustrated that her initial offer to try and get Kai to surrender his Kagero units to Miyako after the battle did not go as she had planned it. Looking out from one of the windows of the room that displayed the Kagero user, this one having the outside view from Eldora's card, she breathed for a moment to try and regain her composure and reassure herself that this was only a minor setback in the grand scheme of what she had planned for the future of this world. Before she could rant to her, she looked behind her to her left to see that Remember had stepped into the White Room.

"Oh... am I interrupting anything?" she said musingly, seemingly mimicking the tone of Piruluk, or rather the tone of the real person who should have inhabited this body.

"What is it that you want, Remember?" the mastermind asked, barely managing to keep her earlier frustration in check.

"I believe it is time for me to make my move," Remember replied "If I may have 'that'?"

Mayu closed her eyes for a moment before opening up her right palm and materializing a small quantity of the aura of Reverse, a pile of cards materializing amongst it as they floated down to that same hand.

"Very well then," she spoke before getting up from her throne and handing them over to Remember "Do not fail me."

Remember nodded gleefully as a nearby window opened up to take her back to the outside world and the city of Tokyo from there, so she could carry out whatever twisted scheme she now had forged in the back of her mind. After the frame to the window had closed up, Mayu looked back to Kai from the window she was originally viewed him from, still taking note of his newfound determination since the dillema he had now managed to overcome.

_Kai Toshiki. Do not think this is over._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story Original Cards Debuting this Chapter:  
>  **Kaen-Three**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 2 Red  
> Limit: 7  
> LRIG Type: Kaen  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this LRIG’s attack hits, choose 1 SIGNI your opponent controls in front of a “Scarlet” SIGNI with fewer power that hasn’t attacked, banish it and crush 1 of your opponent’s Life Cloths.
> 
> **Scorching Hellfire, Kaen-Four**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 3 Red  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Kaen  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 6 Red: Banish all Normal Summoned SIGNI on the field (min. 1 from all players). Then for every 3 SIGNI banished by this effect, crush 1 of your opponent’s Life Cloths. Your SIGNI cannot attack your opponent’s LRIG the turn you activate this effect. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you have it for today's batch of Stand Up, the LRIG! Hope you've enjoyed the story so far and I'll see you next time with the next batch being the entire Peeping Analyze sub-arc storyline before the final batch contains both the ending to Arc 3 and the beginning of Arc 4 where I am currently at in developing chapters. Until then, I hope you've had a good time with the story so far.


	66. Arc 3 - Ride 66: That Cold Heart of Anger I

**Kai's Apartment**

"Let's go, Gancelot!"

Back in Kai's apartment, Aichi and Ruko continued their current battle with the Royal Paladin user now on the offensive with Gancelot now attacking Yuki head on. On a field imaged in both of their minds, the Solitary Knight charged towards the girl of black on his pegasus as it soared towards her. Ruko, still imaging herself as the LRIG shielded her face as Gancelot slashed down the front of her, causing her to groan in pain. An afterimage of the black SIGNI, Code Anti Vimana appeared in a purple haze as she pointed a finger towards Knight of Truth, Gordon who was surrounded by an aura of the same colour before he cried out in pain and vanished from the plain as the white SIGNI God Eater and Axe stared on.

Aichi who had imaged himself as Gancelot looked back down to the spot where Gordon had vanished before resuming his attention back to Ruko, who stood alone with no SIGNI of her own.

"With Arc Destruct, I stand once more and attack again!" he declared as he grabbed the reins of the pegasus and charged with the flying steed towards his opponent.

"Mac Lir, protect me!" Ruko called as the Shadow Paladin unit appeared in an explosion of black coloured smoke, using his shields to deflect Gancelot's blade with ease.

The pegasus that he rode atop then used its wings to blow away the cloud of black smoke, revealing a Ruko-imaged Yuki and leaving her exposed to another attack. Aichi through the Solitary Knight's form then raised back the sword that he held and swung it down towards the girl of black, seeking to end the battle right here and now. Suddenly to his surprise, a familiar Royal Paladin unit appeared in front of him as he generated a barrier to block his attack as four circles generated around him. Aichi recogized the unit to be Plume Wall Angel as from those same four circles emerged Code Anti Iron, Code Maze Pyramid, Skull Witch, Nemain and Drei=Capsule.

Back to reality, Kamui and Naoki were most surprised of this turn of events, not expecting Ruko to use a Royal Paladin Quintet Wall to protect Yuki, who bore the colour of black as evidenced by the borders of the two cards.

"Wh... She can use white Quintet Walls to protect Yuki?!" the Narukami user gasped.

"It's possible," Leon interjected "As long as the card Ruko used for the cost was the same as her LRIG or had a Multi Ener effect, she can use that Quintet Wall regardless of what colour it is."

"So then... I could use a Quintet Wall from another clan or colour for my Nova Grapplers?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"Well, seeing as you're missing Shieldraizer, it might be your best option," Ren replied in his usual tone "Though I see this particular one working well for Ruko, seeing that Yuki works with both black and white cards."

As Ruko moved the four revealed SIGNI to her Ener Zone and Shiron's card along with the Revive Flare spell card to her Trash Pile, she sighed in relief in that she was able to survive Aichi's attacks and make a dent in his formation at the same time. The Royal Paladin user kept a gentle smile as he looked back over his hand, knowing that there was nothing more he could do for the turn.

"Ru did it!" cheered Tama "Ru can defeat Aichi now!"

"I share your sentiment Tama," Yuki interjected "I have been impressed this far. But right now..."

Umr then gazed over towards Aichi's side of the field, keeping her eye on the number of Life Cloths he now had. Or rather in this case, the only Life Cloth that he had left.

_If I remember Sendou as well as I do, then he's relying on Aegis Shield. Ruko will have to play carefully around this if she wishes to succeed._

Ruko drew her next two cards, looking over the options that she had available to her in her hand. She had already grown Yuki to Level 4, her maximum level now that Reverse no longer plagued the two of them. She knew that she found it difficult to play this battle out without relying on the advantage it had previously granted her, something she discovered for herself when she had previously battled Kai two nights ago to ease herself back into battling with this particular deck. But now, she no longer felt hesitant in her decisions as she took out one card from her hand and placed it onto the center SIGNI zone.

"With Vimana's skill, I send 4 Ancient Weapons back to my deck to decrease Axe's power by 10000!" she called.

Aichi then moved the white SIGNI to his Ener Zone, knowing that it would be banished from having 0 power or less through this effect.

"Next, I use my Death Beam ARTS to banish God Eater and summon Drei and Freezing Revenger!"

On the imaged field, Ruko through her vision of Yuki unleashed a black and white coloured beam from her hands that struck God Eater, banishing her from the battlefield much to Aichi's discomfort as he knew what was about to befall him at this instance. Back in the apartment, he looked to his LRIG deck and weighed his options after looking back to the cards he still held in his hand.

_I've already searched through my deck for my God Eater and Axe with Avon..._ he murmured in his thoughts  _I already know my last Life Cloth is not a Life Burst and don't have Gordon or a Quintet Wall to protect me now. Using Aegis Shield will amount to nothing._

Closing his eyes through the imaged form of Gancelot, he breathed in for a moment before looking over to Ruko who was still imaging herself through Yuki's form on the battlefield around them.

"Here I come... Aichi!" she called as her two SIGNI and Freezing Revenger charged forth towards Gancelot.

The Solitary Knight remained motionless as Drei and Vimana unleashed dark beams from swift motions of their arms that struck him head on, before a howling blizzard from Freezing Revenger that enveloped him was more than enough to end the battle. Back in the apartment, everyone on the side of the table remained silent as to what they had just witnessed before them. Even Ruko was in somewhat of disbelief after she had seen that the final Life Cloth she had crushed with the first attack was another copy of Gordon. She looked back up at Aichi who simply smiled warmly and nodded in confirmation for her.

"Congratulations, Ruko-san," he said happily, offering out one hand to her.

"I... Thank you..." Ruko breathed, unable to find the words to properly thank him as she returned the handshake with her right hand.

"Well done Ruko," said Yuki as Tama cheered loudly for joy "I believe you're now ready for what may lie ahead for all of us."

"Man, you almost had her Aichi," Naoki muttered "I think we see why it took you and Kai to save her."

"Speaking of..." Kamui murmured "He hasn't come back yet, right?"

Breaking out of their current state of mind, Ruko and Aichi soon realized that it had been a long while since they began their battle that they had almost forgotten about Kai's current absence and wondered where in the city he could have wandered off to. They looked down for a brief moment before they looked at one another once more, almost as if they knew what the other was planning to do next. Before either of them could speak, Kamui got up from the table and immediately put on his yellow short sleeved jacket.

"Are you heading out Kamui-kun?" asked Aichi.

"I'm gonna head down to that card shop Amika showed me earlier to fix my deck," he answered "Then I'm gonna see if I can find her."

"If you see Kai, just tell him that we're a little worried about him," said Ruko.

"No problem!" the Nova Grappler user replied with a toothy grin "If I see him, I'll point him back here for you!"

And with that, he left the apartment through the door that led out into the building complex. After closing that same door behind him, he dug into his pocket and brought out his deck case, just as he began walking down the first flight of stairs. He picked out the frontmost card that he held there, that being the card named Code Piruluk which Hatsu had given to him just before he left Ruko's apartment the previous day. He had a lot on his mind since their conversation in regards to the blue LRIG, but at the same time, things had somewhat begun to seem clearer for him.

* * *

**City Streets**

Later that afternoon, Amika was pondering about the streets of Tokyo around her, feeling slightly more depressed than usual. She hadn't made much progress in regards to coming any closer to obtaining the rights needed to make her wish come true and the anxiety from her mother's current state was only starting to pile up over time since her previous battle with Kamui. She eventually came to a stop and dug through her shorts to pull out Piruluk's card, the LRIG herself who was looking down at the floor of the space of said card with her usual disinterested expression.

"Hey Piruluk..."

"What is it?" the LRIG murmured as she gazed up at Amika.

"There's something that's been bothering me..." she spoke "It's about... what Remember said when we ran into each other."

Piruluk's usual expression then immediately ended up changing into somewhat of a scowl as the memory of that time burned itself into her mind once again.

**Flashback**

Earlier in the previous day, before Kamui had come across them once more, Amika was hurrying over to someplace in the city to attend to something that was on her mind. That much being said, it was on her mind because of what Piruluk had been indicating to her as evidenced by half of her focus being divided onto the card that she held as she was running about, the LRIG having had her eyes closed throughout the instance.

"Is the field still open?!" the Selector called.

"No..." Piruluk replied "But I can still sense one of the Selectors' presence moving away from it. She is..."

Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes suddenly opened in shock as she stared down at the floor of the card's space that she was within.

_Wait...! It can't be her...!_

"Piruluk, what's...?!"

Amika's question was cut off by the sound of a whistling harsh breeze that caused her to shiver as she stopped in her tracks for a moment, wondering what was wrong with her LRIG. Then looking back to what was in front of her, she could see a girl a little shorter than her approaching her with the brown hair she now recognized her as in the present day. But at this time, she had no idea of who she really was, only that there was something about her appearance in physical terms alone that seemed rather disturbing.

"Oh my," the new arrival mused under her breath "I never thought I'd come across another one so soon."

"I found you at last..."

The girl in front of Amika blinked for a moment as she approached the Selector, who simply revealed Piruluk to the new arrival, wondering if she intended to talk back to her. The blue LRIG's expression had grown scrutinized as she glared towards the person she intended to talk to.

"Mizushima Kiyoi," Piruluk muttered "Or rather... Remember!"

"Oh my!" the girl replied in a seemingly excited tone "It is you, Kiyoi-chan! It really has been a while!"

"Huh?"

Amika blinked for a moment, confused as to what the two of them were talking about. But more than that, what was more confusing was the names that the girl in front of her and Piruluk had referred to each other as. On the one hand, her LRIG had referred to the girl as Kiyoi at first, presumably the girl that she had initially warned her to stay away from and the one responsible for capturing Kamui's Raizer units. Her confusion only deepened when she had said that girl's name was rather better known as 'Remember' whilst Remember had called Piruluk as Kiyoi.

"Well, you certainly look like someone I know," she said, gazing around Amika much to the latter's discomfort, which had only served to deepen Piruluk's scowl "Who might you be?"

"A... Amika," the Selector replied nervously "Hashimoto Amika."

"Well then, 'Amika-san'," Remember spoke "I'm certain you have many questions. But rest assured, you shall now be enlightened. First of all as 'Kiyoi' pointed out, I am not actually Kiyoi to an extent. In fact, the true Kiyoi is the very LRIG you carry."

"W... What?" Amika breathed, looking down at Piruluk in a state of further confusion  _She does look similar... but what does this all mean?_

"To simply put it, this body originally belonged to her."

The Selector silently gasped for a brief moment as she allowed Remember's answer to sink into the back of her mind, still not quite understanding of how the 'Kiyoi' she was now holding was not within her own body.

"I was Kiyoi-chan's LRIG a long while ago," she continued "She acquired victory with 'my' help and she became an Eternal Girl. In exchange for granting her wish, we switched places, to an extent. I got her body whilst she became an LRIG."

Amika shook all over, the truth behind the wish granting factors of the Selector Battles now beginning to seemingly come to light as she tried to take all of this new information in. The body swap, the fact that she could become an LRIG whilst Piruluk inhabited her body in order for her wish to come true was making her very uneasy about what she was learning and making herself beginning to question herself about why her LRIG didn't tell her any of this beforehand.

"Ah! But LRIG's can't tell their Selectors the truth!" Remember piped up, seemingly back to a somewhat happy go lucky persona, if only for at least that sentence alone "It's the rules set out by the mistress and her forces about all of this. But... I feel like doing you a favour this way. Since I just spilled the beans, Piruluk-chan can tell you the rest with no further consequences to befall either of you, right?"

Piruluk kept her glare upon the person who now inhabited her very body, telling Amika everything about the truth behind the Selector Battles and what could befall her. Something that even she could not tell her initially from the way that she had been throughout her journey as an LRIG throughout this calamity all around her.

"I'm feeling extra generous," Remember spoke as she backed away from Amika "I'm willing to cut you a deal, for whatever you might wish for."

"And what might that be?" the Selector asked nervously.

"If you choose to battle me," she spoke "Then if you win, you'll have all the Wixoss Factors necessary for you to gain the right to make your wish come true."

"W... Wait!" Amika cried "D... Do I have to do it now?!"

"Oh my, I did not mean to shock you like that," Remember replied musingly "Very well then. Call for my name, whenever you feel ready to challenge me. After all, it would be nice to get ourselves reacqainted this way, right Kiyoi-chan? Or rather, Piruluk."

And with that, the person in possession of Kiyoi's body giggled to herself as she walked away from the street and turned down a corner, sneering to herself as she knew exactly how Piruluk was feeling at this time. The latter simply kept a fist clenched as she kept her gaze upon Remember, watching her disappear down a street before looking up to Amika who just stared down at the ground, still trying to process all of the information through her brain at this point.

**Present**

Amika breathed in and out to calm herself as she looked back at her LRIG, both of which having relived through that memory and knowing how much it affected the Selector's composure in general, before Kamui had found her later that day.

"Look... I don't care what happens as long as my mother is saved," she spoke "But I need you to answer this. Were... you planning to decieve me from the start?"

"Yes," the blue LRIG bluntly replied "Just as Remember decieved me for my own wish, I intended to do the same to you."

The Selector just stared at Piruluk, shocked that she was willing to hide this information about how the Selector Battles really worked as well as the fact that she also intended to help her, if only to later trick her into acquiring a new body for herself to essentially replace the original one Remember now inhabited.

"But why...?" she breathed.

"I am an LRIG of misfortune," Piruluk continued, her monotone growing more harsh by the second "To me, Selectors are nothing more than my pawns, ones that I have no issue of disposing over their foolish desires. As of a few nights ago, I suppose that also extends to the group that Kai Toshiki is now amongst, if I were to be thrown into their possession on a whim."

Amika simply stood still in the empty street, ignoring the harsh breeze around her and remaining somewhat entranced by the blue LRIG's words about the current situation and how she saw it as.

"I detest all of them," she continued "The girls outside of this very card that spout such meaningless wishes and ideals that shape their desire and those boys from that other world who still believe in the slightest sliver of hope."

"Is... is this why you've been hostile to Kamui?" the Selector murmured "All because you got thrown into the same mess that nearly everyone around us is in?"

"Not necessarily," Piruluk answered, causing her to blink "I simply despise his lack of maturity. His fate I imagine will be like most Selectors I had previously disposed of. Truth be told, I never factored in Remember coming in to tell you the truth about everything in the first place, though it hardly changes things. As long as you keep me, your misfortune will be..."

The LRIG did not get a chance to finish her last sentence as a familiar buzzing noise rang off in Amika's pocket. The Selector quickly dug her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open to find that it was her father that was calling, evidenced by the caller being labeled as 'Dad'. She pressed a button and held the phone up to her ear, proceeding to answer the call.

"H... Hello?" she asked.

"Amika," her father spoke on the other side of the line "I've went to the hospital earlier and... it's possible that your mother's condition may have worsened."

Amika gasped in shock and horror as she stepped backwards for a brief instance, allowing her father's answer to reach the back of her mind which was only setting off alarm bells there to confirm her worst fears.

"W... What?!" she gasped.

"She's currently been hooked up to life support," he continued "B... But we don't know how long it might be before the doctors could find a cure. When I pick up Shouta and Yuuki later, could you meet us at her room later?"

"Y... Yeah," the Selector murmured, trying desperately to regain her composure "I... I'll see you there later."

"That's good. Please stay strong and don't give up on her just yet. We'll pull through this somehow, together."

And with that, the call concluded as Amika stared at the ground once again, her emotions showing that she was currently in a state of turmoil. Piruluk who was normally in her calm demanor couldn't help but show a little hint of concern at the moment, seeing the Selector raise her head as she gritted her teeth, seemingly having made up her mind.

"I... I've made up my mind now," she murmured to herself as she clenched Piruluk's card tightly "Now that it's come to this...!"

"Amika, what are you doing?" asked Piruluk.

Ignoring her question and taking a deep breath, Amika looked all around her and then up to the sky in front of her.

"Remember, show yourself now!" she called "I want to battle you!"

As if on cue, the cold breeze around her suddenly swirled and increased in speed to the point of a howling wind as the Selector clutched Piruluk's card tightly and shielded her face from the harsh winds. Piruluk's concern had suddenly grown deeper as she looked up to Amika, noticing that her composure wasn't exactly in the best of states and right now, it seemed that things were not going as either of them hoped it would be. The icy cold gale eventually settled down to reveal that Remember was now standing before the two of them, holding a single card within her right hand.

"So, you decided to call upon me after all?" she mused "And here I thought Kiyoi-chan would have held you back."

"B... Before we start, there's one more thing I need you to promise me!" Amika called, almost letting her composure slip.

"And what might that be?" asked Remember.

"If I win," she replied "You'll hand back those Raizer units you stole to Kamui as well!"

"Oh, those mechanized units I took from him? Okay then, you have a deal."

Piruluk looked on ahead towards Remember, whose gentle and unnerving smile had only caused her concerns for Amika to grow even deeper as she kept an eye on the card that she held. Suddenly, an all too familiar dark red aura briefly flickered off the card she held, causing her to gasp in brief shock. Her eyes widened in horror as if she had somehow known about the appearance of 'that' from before.

_Amika may have only lost once, but if she loses to Remember with that...!_

"Amika, don't...!" she called "Throw me away if you know what is good for you!"

"I don't care about misfortune or whatever body-swap I have to go through!" the Selector cried, having not noticed the brief flicker of power from the card Remember held "None of that matters if I can at least save my mother!"

"Well then..." Remember spoke in a musing tone once again, bringing up the card into view "Shall we begin?"

"Bring it!" Amika called, holding out Piruluk's card in front of her in preparation for the battle ahead.

"NO AMIKA!" the LRIG yelled.

"Open!" Remember declared.

And with that, the dark red aura that briefly flickered from the card she held suddenly took complete form and grew larger, much to the shock of Amika as she couldn't help but watch as she and her opponent were now completely enveloped by the dark power that had covered all over them.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

When the red aura had finally settled, Amika's eyes widened in suprise through regards to this particular field, knowing that this wasn't the regular battlefield that housed the Selector Battles themselves. The fact that she seemed to be standing within what appeared to be in the depths of space as evidenced by the black void and the millions of stars around her already proved to be somewhat nausiating as she stepped back and forth for a moment to quickly regain her composure as she then caught sight of the small red file in front of her, acting as the table for this bout. Piruluk who was enlargened to the same size as a regular human through the properties of this space could only fall to her knees and punched the 'ground' beneath her as hard as she could.

_No!_ she ranted in her thoughts _I'm... too late!_

"P... Piruluk...?" Amika murmured "What's going on? Where are we?"

"I did it!"

The Selector blinked in confusion as she looked ahead towards Remember who was seemingly celebrating to herself at the far side of the battlefield. In front of her own table, also represented by a single red file, stood a white armoured bipedal creature of some kind that was unfamiliar to her. It had a short tail, four legs each with a black ring surrounding the hooves, several pink lines etched on its body, a pink horn on its head with a black aura swirling around it and black armour plating underneath its lower body and hind legs. Its yellow eyes trailed upon the two opponents it now gazed upon, remaining motionless and seemingly poised to strike.

"I was on pins and needles, but I finally did it!" Remember cheered "Honestly Kiyoi-chan, you haven't changed a bit."

"W... What are you saying?" asked Amika "And... what in the world is that thing?!"

"Oh... I'll explain in just a second," she replied calmly before her lips pursed into a sinister smile "For now, the 'thing' you currently see now is this. Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn!"

The Selector stepped back in utter bewilderment to the appearance of the creature, seeming slightly discomforted from the sight of it alone, mostly from the ominous black rings that surrounded its hooves. Not knowing what exactly it was from in the first place, she couldn't help but wonder if it was from the Planet Cray, much like Kamui's own units and if that was the case, why was she feeling uneasy from just looking at it? Upon hearing the name of that unit, Piruluk finally lifted her head to see it for herself as her despaired expression did not change in the slightest upon recognizing the overall appearance.

"Ah, if only Kiyoi-chan actually bothered to tell you the real rules of these battles much sooner," said Remember, her sneer remaining as it was "It is so much fun, baiting girls with their innermost wishes as a lure and dropping them into absolute misery and despair regardless of the outcome. I tell you, her lack of communication skills coupled with that 'hyper-loner' persona she puts up can be rather amusing. Especially since you might have had a chance of victory."

"W... What are you saying?" breathed Amika.

"Right now, there are three options you have," she continued "You win, then you leave everything in Piruluk's hands. Win and continue your status quo, hoping for a miracle. The third is acquiring the second loss you have and putting your mother one step closer to her death. Though if you want your own free will intact, I would ill advise going against surrending."

"And w... why is that?"

"Because losing here," Remember answered "Means being subjected to being reversed, pledging your eternal servitude to Link Joker that you see before you and bringing this world one step closer to its destruction."

Amika shivered all over for a moment as she began weighing her options, unsure of how to feel in this most precarious of scenarios. Now it seemed no matter which option she intended to go for, the outcome could affect her mother in one way or another and from what her opponent just told her, trying to escape with just a second loss was no longer the 'safest' option she could possibly have. Looking over to Piruluk who had finally stood back up on her feet, she knew there was something that she had to ask right now.

"P... Piruluk?" she murmured "C... can't you heal my mother when we switch bodies?"

"... I can't..." the LRIG muttered under her breath, a hint of bitterness to her tone "I'm sorry... Amika..."

"Then... if I lose now, I'll be 'reversed' or whatever that is..." the Selector breathed "But if I go through with my wish... then my mother..."

"Will die."

Amika unable to find the words to describe the situation she now found herself in. Unlike certain other Selectors and LRIGs who now knew Kai well, she still had no clue about Link Joker's involvement in the Selector Battles and how they aided Mayu in its physical construction. And now becuase of the new danger she found herself in, it was possible that regardless of what she did, it was now seemingly more and more likely that her mother could perish in one way or another. However, even she knew that there was still one way out if what Remember said to her earlier happened to be true. Picking up the cards that formed her starting hand from her table, she nervously looked back at her opponent, preparing to begin the battle.

An all too familiar creaking noise brought all of their attention up to the roulette that had appeared above their heads. The slots this time were adorned with the colour of blue and a shade of dark grey spun around and around until the wheel slowly but surely came to a complete stop. Remember sneered once again as she picked up her starting hand from the table and drew her first card, indicating that she was taking the first turn of the battle.

"Allow me to introduce you... the ones who aided in the physical construction of the Selector Battles themselves," she spoke before taking out one card from her LRIG deck and placing it on top of Dust Tail Unicorn's. The card border was mostly grey, with a few hints of dark red littered around it and the symbol representing that colour was a simple shade of dark grey, with a pair of black rings overlapping one another. "Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star!"

The same dark red aura from before enveloped Dust Tail Unicorn, causing it to vanish from the battlefield as a more humanoid like figure clad in white armour emerged in its place. It wielded two large blades in its arms, each with a black ring housed near the sharpest curves. Remember made a simple gesture to announce the end of her turn immediately with no more words or actions to follow up on that. Piruluk simply stared at the new unit, not noticing Amika already start her turn as she looked down at her cards, not seeming as composed in comparison.

"Piruluk, grow...!" she called "And summon!"

A series of flashes rose up around Piruluk, changing up her appearance by only a slight difference in her garb and the two crystal wings that materialized on her back. Upon regaining her focus, the LRIG noticed Emerald Shield, Paschal materialize directly in front of her, much to her shock and confusion as she looked back to Amika.

"Amika, why did you summon Paschal?!" she demanded.

"A... Attack!"

Piruluk's eyes widened as Amika simply ignored her question and ordered the Aqua Force sentinel unit to attack immediately. Paschal ran towards the far side of the battlefield and struck Binary Star who remained motionless in response. Remember sneered as her first Life Cloth revealed itself as Star-vader, Sword Viper as it landed in the area that represented her Ener Zone.

"Piruluk, go!"

Clenching her teeth, seeing that there wasn't much she could do about Amika's current state for the current instance, Piruluk took flight on her two crystal wings and materialized a crystal of ice between her hands before tossing it right into Binary Star. The crystal exploded on contact, but after the smoke cleared, it was clear that even after being damaged, the Link Joker unit was still unfazed as evidenced by its current stance. Remember turned over her next Life Cloth, revealing Star-vader, Nebula Captor which glowed brightly.

"With this, I draw 1 card," she spoke after placing the card in her Ener Zone.

Amika shook for a moment, but bit her lip immediately afterwards to regain what little composure she had left as the turn came to a close.

**End of Turn 2**

**Amika vs Remember**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Code Piruluk K : Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - Emerald Shield, Paschal - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 2**

Remember, keeping her eyes closed with her current smile drew her next two cards before eying over her hand. She picked out a card named Star-vader, Stellar Garage and placed it into her Ener Zone before moving Sword Viper's card from there to her Trash Pile. A dark red aura enveloped Binary Star as it vanished into the abyss once again, the shape then changing to something much more larger.

"Grow!" she called "Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon!"

An unnatural growl suddenly sounded from the dark aura as it dispelled to reveal the new arrival onto the battlefield. An armoured white dragon with several red and yellow attachments, a pair of black horns with red lines running across them along with a few smaller red spikes running across the top of the head between them and a black ring that circled around its two small wings, gazed upon both Amika and Piruluk with its yellow coloured eyes, snarling as it did so. In flashes of dark red, two more units appeared onto open spaces of Remember's field. They were different in stature, but their different weapons and armour had instantly the pair familiar to all but Amika. They were Star-vaders that normally patrolled the corridor leading to Photon's Lab within Mayu's domain, that were known as Radon and Neon.

"Attack!"

Neon aimed its gauntlet blaster towards Piruluk who could only clench her teeth as she heard the sound of the weapon charging up. Radon took aim also with its beam rifle, but fired it immediately after pointing the long ranged firearm at her. The blue LRIG shielded her face as she jumped to avoid being struck directly, but the impact of the attack had sent her flying into the air, to which Neon then fired multiple black rings towards her. They made contact with her garb, engulfing her in an explosion that sent her falling to the ground just in front of Amika's table. The Selector's first two Life Cloths flew right past her, revealing themselves as Code Art RMN and Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, both of which glowed brightly.

"Good...!" she sighed in relief "I recover one Life Cloth and discard a card from your hand!"

Remember simply sneered as one of the cards she held hovered out of her hand and landed straight into her Trash Pile. The card was revealed to be Star-Vader, Francium, a Level 3 SIGNI. She then snapped her fingers as a signal to declare the next attack with Mobius Breath Dragon, who simply roared and took flight into the air towards the middle of the space. Piruluk who had recovered from the earlier assault could only stare up at the Cyber Dragon as it opened its jaw and unleashed a beam that briefly emitted three black rings as it left its mouth.

"I won't guard!" Amika called.

"Wait, Amika!" the LRIG called.

But her warning had come too late. The beam from Mobius Breath Dragon struck the ground in front of the two of them, bringing up a large cloud of smoke as Piruluk was knocked onto her back. As the dust eventually settled, Remember began giggling to herself, much to the confusion of Amika who simply stared towards her.

"Thank you very much, 'Amika-san'," she sneered "I must admit, your 'bravery' certainly had me surprised. And now, you shall be rewarded... with Link Joker's speciality!"

"Speciality...?!" she gasped as she watched Remember point her fingers in the direction of Emerald Shield, Paschal, who she had not attacked.

"Lock!"

Before the Selector could question of what was going on, Mobius Breath Dragon howled loudly as a pair of black rings suddenly surrounded Paschal and suspended him from the 'ground' of the space. The Aqua Force unit screamed loudly as the encircling rings closed in on him, trapping him inside an opaque black sphere before the rings circled around the sphere. Amika gasped in shock as to what she just witnessed whilst Piruluk just stared at the Lock in horror, having been well aware of the trouble that the two of them were now facing. The Selector then stared down at the table and stared wide-eyed at the state of Paschal's card.

"T... The card's been flipped?!" she exclaimed, watching several red sparks fly off of the backing.

"That's correct," Remember replied "And it will remain that way until the end of your next turn. I'm guessing that 'Kiyoi-chan' was trying to warn you about that skill beforehand, was she not?"

Piruluk simply growled in response to her opponent's taunt, feeling a flare of anger from within her growing stronger by the second the more she kept her gaze upon her.

"I... I can handle this myself!" Amika replied as she drew her next two cards "Piruluk, grow again!"

The blue LRIG ignored the slight alteration in her appearance, that being the orb in her had gaining extra blades to it as well as additional crystal wings that materialized on her back, seemingly having her concerns pressed elsewhere. To both sides of the Locked Paschal appeared Tidal Assault and Code Art JV who immediately charged towards Radon and Neon who remained motionless, allowing them to be struck down by their attacks and banished as a result. Tidal Assault then leaped into the air and slashed down the front of Mobius Breath Dragon who screeched loudly in response. Amika then looked down to the face down card she now had at the table, seemingly not as concerned as she was earlier. But when she reached out to touch the card in an attempt to wage an attack, more sparks flew off as she pulled back her right hand in pain.

"W... Why can't I touch it?!" she exclaimed in shock.

"Whilst that Lock is in play, you cannot attack with that SIGNI or send it to your Trash Pile by any means," Remember interrupted with a sneer "In addition, any attacks I wage whilst there is a Locked SIGNI in front of it will be changed to a direct attack on poor defenceless Kiyoi herself!"

"But... this will only last until my turn is done!" Amika replied, trying to regain some of her lost composure "Piruluk attacks!"

Piruluk then began to materialize another ice crystal within her hands to attack with, intending to land another strike against Remember and Link Joker in general. Her opponent however, was not as unprepared as she had expected.

"Promethium!" she called as the Star-vader's Sentinel appeared in front of Mobius Breath Dragon, deploying a barrier to shield it from harm.

Piruluk reluctantly stopped the materialization of her projectile, seeing that her attack would have no effect on Promethium's barrier. After several moments had passed, the Cyberoid disappeared from the space, ending Amika's turn right there. The lock around Paschal then came undone as the rings disappeared along with the opaque black sphere, allowing the Aqua Force unit to land back on his feet once more.

**End of Turn 4**

**Amika vs Remember**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Code Piruluk M : Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon**

**SIGNI : Tidal Assault - Emerald Shield, Paschal - Code Art JV : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 1 : 5**

Remember then gleefully drew her next two cards before two more cards from her Ener Zone moved over to her Trash Pile as a dark red aura moved the next card from her LRIG deck straight into the open palm of her other hand.

"Dark purity from out of the darkness! Follow your destructive instincts and raise your voice of destruction to doomsday!" she declared " Grow! Star-vader, Dark Zodiac!"

Mobius Breath Dragon vanished in the all too familiar dark red aura that enveloped it before said aura suddenly grew in size as a pair of bright red eyes flashed from beyond the abyss. The aura then dispersed, revealing the towering white gigantic form of the Cyber Golem as it hovered in front of Remember's table and gazing ominously down towards its opponents. It also had several parts coloured in gold, dark red and black and also had what appeared to be multiple barreled cannons mounted on each of its two arms. Another copy of the card suddenly flew up from Remember's LRIG deck and landed face-up in her LRIG Trash.

"Persona Blast!" she called "I Lock two SIGNI, one from your field and from your Ener Zone!"

Amika could only watch in horror as Tidal Assault was now the next victim to succumb to Lock throughout this battle as it was trapped by the black rings that encircled it. Then to her shock, the only card in her Ener Zone, Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir suddenly turned face down as well.

"No way...!" she gasped, her legs quivering from the shock of it all "It can affect the SIGNI in my Ener Zone as well?!"

"Dust Tail Unicorn's skill! I Lock another SIGNI!"

The Selector then looked to her right just in time to see Code Art JV succumbing to being Locked as well, just as the black rings encircled her as well. Looking ahead just in time to see an afterimage of Dust Tail Unicorn fade away, her worst fears only continued to skyrocket as another Radon, Neon and a new Cyberoid by the name of Astro Reaper as evidenced by its weapon of choice appeared in Remember's empty SIGNI spaces. All of which had black rings that either encircled around parts of or floated around the backs of their cybernetic bodies. As Amika's breathing became hectic, Piruluk turned around to face her Selector.

"Amika, stay focused!" she called "You can overcome this!"

"... You're lying...!" the Selector cried to herself "You said it yourself earlier, that I was just another disposable pawn like the other Selectors you were with!"

Piruluk could only grit her teeth, knowing that it was earlier words that had shattered Amika's confidence right now. She knew that she had to focus on defeating Remember for the two of them to escape, but right now, it seemed it was proving to be an almost impossible task. And she knew with the way she had been acting in an attempt to have Amika abandon her for her mother's possible safety had now backfired horribly with disasterous consequences.

"I won't give any more excuses," she spoke "I used many Selectors in an attempt to claim my revenge on Remember and that I saw you as just another one."

Amika remained silent, seemingly not in the mood to listen to her LRIG's words just yet.

"However... when I met you, my will wavered. My wish as a Selector was almost the same as yours now. That being... 'to save my friend.'"

The Selector's eyes then widened in surprise, now seeing that Piruluk's wish as Kiyoi appeared to be almost exactly one in the same to her current wish right now. But she didn't seem quite convinced yet, given the trouble that they were now in.

"B... but your friend was saved, right?" she asked nervously.

"That's right," Remember interrupted, bringing both of their attention back to her "I granted it. I granted it so perfectly. After all... I freed Sakaguchi for you."

Piruluk did her utmost to restrain herself from screaming out aloud, only succeeding in glaring directly towards her opponent as if to wordlessly say otherwise in regards to the way she had seemingly granted her wish for her.

"You know that death is the only true release from 'eternal' suffering, right?" Remember continued musingly "I did you a favour that you should be thanking me for. Even if you claim that it wasn't exactly... ethical, I still saw her off with your own two hands, Kiyoi-chan."

"Remember...!" the LRIG growled under her breath, having now been pushed to the brink of almost losing her temper, rationality and quite possibly her sanity completely.

Amika could only stare at Piruluk, now seeing why she was angered towards Remember for the way her wish was granted. But the question that remained was why this had something to do with her own wish and why did it relate to her own?

* * *

**City Streets**

"Man... I really should have just asked Ishida-sempai for directions...!"

Kamui groaned to himself as he ended up wandering through yet another unfamiliar part of the city, starting to regret his decision on rushing out of the apartment and not asking Naoki or Aichi for the quickest way back to Card Luck, having thought he had remembered where it was on the day he arrived in this world. Where he was walking through now was much quieter compared to other busier areas with little to no people around the pathway he was now treading, much narrower compared to the other streets he had walked through previously with only the occasional whistle within the breeze around him for company every so often. All around him, he could see multiple stone monuments with several inscriptions carved into them and several of them held flowers and other objects such as pictures on several smaller podiums in front of the inscriptions.

It didn't take long for the Nova Grappler user to soon realize upon taking the time to look to his left and right the kind of area that he had stumbled into in his earlier haste as he stopped in his footsteps to contemplate the situation.

"Great, so I took a long turn into a graveyard of all places..." he muttered before immediately shaking his head upon realizing the mistake in his choice of words "Damn it! My grammar's really been getting out of hand lately...!"

Deciding that ranting to himself wasn't going to solve the problem at all, he sighed and decided to move on and away from this 'graveyard' as quickly as possible, the thought of remaining here any longer having sent a small chill across him as he tried to ignore the various names enscribed on the stone monuments. Suddenly, he stopped in his run when he saw a name that definitely sounded familiar amongst one of them.

"Sakaguchi Ayumi..." he read out from the stone grave before he blinked for a moment "Hang on... isn't that the dead girl I mistook for Amika?"

Taking a step up to it and looking at the photo beside the flowers on the podium in front of it, there was definitely no mistake about what he just remembered from the previous day. He knew when he first laid eyes upon it and when Sakaguchi's parents had corrected him on the 'mistaken identity' that the physical resemblance between her and Amika was rather uncanny or rather almost scarily to the point of being almost completely identical. As he was about to leave however, he saw what appeared to be a piece of paper that was rolled up and somewhat wedged between both the stone monument that made up the grave and the smaller stone podium in front of it. Reaching down, he picked it out from the gap and unfurled it, seeing what was written on it.

_Mizushima Kiyoi_

_If you are reading this, then we hope that this message finds you well._

_None of us foresaw the tragic circumstances of our daughter from that accident and we know from our earlier conversation days before she had died that we still do not blame you for what happened 'then'._

_A_ _yumi always chased after you with love in her heart, right until the very end. She always talked about you, in spite of the many friends she already made at your school and how she hoped to one day call you one as well. She was always fond of the Wixoss card game and hoped that you would be able to try it beside her._

_We understand how you felt, given that you were there when 'it' happened and that she risked her own life to save yours._

_All we can request is that for her wish and her memory, please stay strong._

"Huh... Kiyoi knows about her?" Kamui murmured as he finished reading the piece of paper.

Now that he knew that the blue LRIG had a connection to Sakaguchi, the only question that remained was why the deceased girl's parents had left behind a message for her when Remember was currently in control of her body, not that they knew of this fact. What did intrigue him was the fact that the message indicated that Sakaguchi was also a player of the Wixoss card game before Kiyoi even had the chance to try it out for herself, before whatever accident that had happened to her took its course, eventually also taking her life. Or at least, that was what it had appeared to be.

"Wait a second... didn't Aichi onii-san and Ruko say something Selectors becoming LRIGs when they have their wish granted or something like that...?" he pondered as he looked back at the paper before he suddenly looked back at an earlier portion "Unless... did Sakaguchi have something to do with Kiyoi's wish?!"

Rolling up the piece of paper and furling it up into his jumper pocket, he immediately hurried out of the graveyard and hopefully back onto the right path back to Card Luck where he would need to make the necessary modifications to his deck to confront Remember once again. But right now, he knew that adjusting his Beast Deity deck was the least of his concerns from what he had just read.

_Once I've finished sorting out my deck, I gotta find Amika!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _If Kiyoi was a Selector before Sakaguchi died, there's a lot we're gonna have to squeeze out about this and Remember!_

Little did he know, the very Selector he had in mind was already beginning to experience the full story between Kiyoi and Sakaguchi as well as Remember's own personal involvement for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-Adapted Cards Debuting in this Chapter:  
>  **Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Gray  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> Grow Cost: 0  
> Limit: 0 Gray  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Pay 1 Gray SIGNI and Exceed this card from underneath your current LRIG: If your opponent has a Locked card, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one SIGNI card from your opponent’s SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
> **Hollow Binary Twin Blades**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> Grow Cost: 0 Gray  
> Limit: 2
> 
> **Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> Grow Cost: 1 Gray  
> Limit: 5  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing: Attack Phase] When this card’s attack hits and damages an LRIG, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI cards in either their SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
> **Star-vader, Dark Zodiac**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Gray  
> Grow Cost: 2 Gray  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> [Legion] “Star-vader, Astro-reaper” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card, and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 11.)  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] Pay 1 Gray: When this LRIG Legions, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent’s Locked cards do not unlock during their next End Phase.  
> [Action] Choose a card named “Star-vader, Dark Zodiac” from your LRIG deck and send it to your LRIG Trash: If this LRIG is in Legion, you may choose to discard a card from your hand named “Star-vader, Astro Reaper” to nullify the cost of this ability for its next activation. Choose 1 SIGNI card from both your opponent’s SIGNI Zone and Ener Zone and Lock them. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.
> 
> **Star-vader, Nebula Captor**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyber Fairy  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
> **Star-vader, Stellar Garage**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Bursts at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
> **Barrier Star-vader, Promethium**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard: (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Gray LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
> **Mana Shot Star-vader, Neon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Star-vader” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
> **Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> Power: 6000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI attacks, if your LRIG has “Star-vader” in its card name, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
> **Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Blue  
> Class: Aquaroid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
> **Differences between original FF publication**  
>  *Shiron was switched with the correct card, Plume Wall Angel as that had the Quintet Wall ability.


	67. Arc 3 - Ride 67: That Cold Heart of Anger II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wixoss Rulings for Lock:
> 
> *Locked cards are turned face down and cannot be turned face up until the end of the owner's turn.
> 
> *Any cards that were stacked beneath a Locked card through effects (such as Charms) are sent straight to the owner's Trash Pile.
> 
> *Locks are unaffected by card effects that do not specifically state that they affect Locked cards.
> 
> *If a SIGNI declares an attack whilst a Locked SIGNI is in front of it, it is changed to a direct attack on the opponent's LRIG.
> 
> *Locked SIGNI cannot be moved to the Trash manually and Locked Ener cannot be used to pay any costs. However, during the Ener Charge Phase, a player may choose to move a Locked SIGNI from their SIGNI Zone to their Ener Zone. The moved card however will continue to remain in a Locked state for that turn.
> 
> *As of the Lostorage era, Locked cards are also marked with Lock counters to avoid confusion with Aya's Trap mechanic.

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Piruluk was thrown backwards across the field as she was blasted back towards Amika's table by Radon, the Star-vader remaining almost robotic in its movements and not uttering a sound as it did so. It pulled back its beam rifle and leaped to the side, just in time for her to hear the sound of Dark Zodiac's arm mounted cannons charging up for the Cyber Golem's oncoming attack. Amika who had been sweating throughout the previous attacks looked down at her hand and immediately threw down a card in response to the offensive coming her way.

"Servant D2!" she called.

The colourless Guard SIGNI appeared in front of Piruluk and projected a barrier in front of the two of them, prompting Dark Zodiac to cease charging its cannons as the noise died down and it hovered back down towards Remember's table. The LRIG in possession of Kiyoi's body simply kept up her sneer, seemingly not fazed by Amika's successful guard to keep Dark Zodiac at bay, at least for the moment. Servant D2 vanished from the space as Piruluk struggled to stand back up onto her knees, almost falling back down as she did so. The Selector herself on the other hand could only sigh in relief in that she had managed to keep down the number of successful hits on her LRIG to just two, but even then, she knew her situation was more dire than it appeared.

The three Locked cards she had on her table continued to have red and black sparks flying off of them, having not helped calm her nerves in the slightest at all, even after seemingly learning of all of the properties of Lock so far. She looked over to Piruluk who had turned her attention back to her, though her gaze was directed more down towards the 'ground' of the space they were standing in.

"Um... Piruluk..." she murmured "I know I still don't quite get the full picture with what happened between you and Remember... but what does this have to do with me?"

"It's because... you're like 'her'. You're like... Sakaguchi Ayumi."

Amika blinked in confusion for a brief instance, still not quite understanding just yet of what the LRIG was trying to tell her. She had a feeling however that things were about to become more clear in just a moment.

"When I saw you desperately trying to save your mother, I realized that I was put into the exact same situation as 'that' time," Piruluk spoke "Only this time... I'm trapped in Remember's deed. I didn't want her to suffer the same way that Sakaguchi did... and in the end, it appears I have failed. If I had told you the rules sooner, I might have forced you to give up then."

"Piruluk..." the Selector breathed, having not considered how she was really feeling during their entire time together.

"Although I initially saw you as a replacement for Sakaguchi, not necessarily by your similar physical appearance... the more time I spent with you however, I realized that I really wanted to be with you. To stay by your side. However, my feelings of hatred towards Remember for what she did to Sakaguchi continued to burn away inside of me and as a result... I only continued to decieve you."

The blue LRIG looked up towards the towering form of Dark Zodiac, taking note of its rather silent, yet unnerving and somewhat intimidating gaze from its seemingly blank faceplate with only a pair of eyes shining behind the sheet of crimson red glass. She smiled to herself, but in a very bitter mood as she recounted everything that the two of them had gone through up to this point.

_As much as it pains me to admit it, if my suspicions were correct... even Kamui for all of his immaturity was trying his hardest to get you to stray from where we are now._

She then turned around to face Amika, her usual cold appearance having faded away from her expression as the latter could tell from her gaze and the way her eyes had appeared.

"I'm sorry Amika..." Piruluk murmured "In the end, I'm not your friend. I am just... 'The LRIG who brings misfortune'."

* * *

**Card Luck**

By the time Kamui had arrived in Card Luck after finding his way out of the Graveyard, he managed to find Kai who had been sitting in the store with Chiyori and Eldora after his battle with Noriko. Before the two cardfighters could properly share their views on the day's events so far and bring each other up to speed, the younger Selector was all too eager to tell the Nova Grappler user of Kai's 'subpar' battle with the 'Queen' and Kaen, chatisizing him a little of his performance before the last few turns of the clash between them. The Kagero user however, whilst mentally noting that his performance at that time had not been his best, took no notice of Chiyori's one or two quips as Eldora and Kamui sweatdropped, wondering if she was overexaggerating it a little.

"In any regard," he spoke "I have finally managed to overcome the issue that has been plaguing me since last night."

"You mean... you managed to sort out the problem with that seed fragment thingy stuck inside you?" asked Kamui.

"It seems so," Eldora replied "It appears that the power inside had sensed Kai's fear of using that power and used it as an opportunity to try and take him over. However... it seems that he just had to accept that it would always be a part of him, regardless of whatever he did in the past and he's now using that power to prevent it from spreading out of him."

Kamui, though unsure of how to take all of this information in at once, seemed to however at least get the basic idea. Though Reverse was a power of the Void that could never be used for good intention, Kai's acceptance and previous experience in dealing with this power had allowed him to keep it under control, to the point where it wasn't attempting to possess him again. At least, for the moment.

"That reminds me..." he murmured "I'll need to dig around the cards here to fix up my deck. Onii-san and Ruko might have given me an idea of where to start."

"Are you intending to go after Amika and Kiyoi again?" asked Kai.

"I've got to," Kamui replied "Sure I don't like the LRIG, not that I hate her guts or anything, but she knows about Remember better than any of us."

"Oh, so that's what Piruluk's really called," Chiyori pondered, having now learnt of the blue LRIG's name for the first time "I only wonder how strong she really was before she ended up like that."

The Nova Grappler user didn't reply, almost not wanting to know the answer to that question for himself. He then went up to the counter to see the cards that were currently available for purchase, hoping he could find what he would need to patch up his deck. As he was doing so, he pondered back to his previous answer to Kai's question, knowing that information on Remember wasn't all he was looking for.

_Besides, there's still some questions I've got to ask her about. Amika said Kiyoi had Remember as her LRIG and she knew Sakaguchi who played Wixoss before she died. But then... what was her wish as a Selector?_

As Kamui was busy looking through the displays available to him behind the glass, Kai simply kept his gaze on him, knowing how often it was for Kamui to not keep his emotions in check which explained to him how he faltered against Piruluk, or rather Kiyoi, for the very first time. Feeling a chill run across his back, his eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked over to the stairs leading down to the shop's entrance. Chiyori and Eldora looked to him, wondering what had made him feel on edge at this very instance.

"What's up Kai?" asked the Selector.

"Stay here," he answered in a serious tone as he got up from his seat and went over towards the exit.

"Is something amiss?" murmured Eldora.

Kai, though still uncertain of why he was feeling this way, turned around to see the LRIG and nodded in agreement. He hurried down the steps and opened the door, seeing what appeared to be a small group of girls walking down the street, three or so in each row as they advanced slowly in their movements. The Kagero user narrowed his eyes closely, knowing that their behavior in this manner seemed very off and from his longer experience in this world compared to his friends, he could tell from part of this feeling that they were Selectors. As he watched them closely, a flicker of red suddenly came from one of their heads as he clenched his teeth in response. Before he could say anything however, Chiyori had quickly hopped down the stairs and joined himself outside of the store entrance.

"What's up with them?" she murmured out aloud.

"Wait Chiyori...!" he quietly called, trying to hush her immediately.

As she blinked in confusion with a rather loud "Huh?", the group of Selectors suddenly stopped in unison and turned their attention towards him. Their smiles seemed to appear very unnatural as the all too familiar dark red aura fully surrounded them as a pair of sharp curved markings of the same colour appeared beneath their eyelids. They slowly marched towards the pair, slightly unnerving Eldora.

"We've been spotted...!" he muttered.

"Kai, are those...?" the LRIG murmured.

"Selectors," he answered in a hasty interruption "And they're all reversed...!"  _But who instigated it?_

"Well, if they're looking for a battle, I'll give them one!" Chiyori replied confidently as she turned around Eldora's card, preparing for battle.

"Don't be foolish Chiyori!" Eldora replied as Kai grabbed her arm "If the rules for the Selector Battles are still in effect and you lose, not only could your wish be tainted, but I can't imagine how being Reversed as well would affect it!"

"Ugh...!"

Chiyori pouted for a brief moment as the Kagero user looked ahead to the group of reversed Selectors who were advancing much closer towards him and the young Selector who stepped back a little, just as Kamui came out into the street. He looked over towards them and gasped in surprise.

"Whoa! Are they...?!"

"Kasturagi, get Chiyori away from here!" Kai called as he let go of the Selector's arm.

"You're gonna take them on alone?!" he gasped.

"If you battle with him now, we'll be left exposed to them!" Eldora argued.

Kamui groaned for a brief instance, knowing that the LRIG was correct in her reasoning, given that Chiyori was indeed one loss away from having her wish tainted. Even if she could get a lucky victory against one of them, there was still several more for her to deal with. Sighing for a moment, he looked over to Kai and nodded in compliance as he started running away.

"Come on Chiyori!" he called as she reluctantly nodded and began chasing after him, looking back at Kai as she did so.

"Kai, don't you dare lose!" she called "We still have things to settle ourselves!"

The Kagero user didn't respond with words, but briefly glanced back at her to assure that he had not forgotten of the promise that he had made to her. Once Chiyori and Kamui were far away from the entrance to Card Luck, he looked back to the group as they had stopped in their advance in front of him, the aura of Reverse having grown noticably stronger.

"Someone go after those two!" one of the girls called "Kiyoi had orders to bring the spiky haired boy to her!"

As one of the other girls near the front of the group was about to pursue them, Kai simply stepped forward once to send a mental message that he had no intention of letting any of them pass by him that easily.

"If Katsuragi's intuition was correct, it seems you've really been reversed by Remember," he muttered, having not expected the former LRIG to be responsible for this whilst still unaware of her current battle with Amika and Piruluk or the fact that she had a Link Joker deck in her current possession. "But for those of you that are fully set on becoming the ideal form that grants your wish, are you really certain that power will really help you in that endeavor?"

His comment towards their now driven intent of using Reverse as an extra bonus in becoming an Eternal Girl was enough to gain several glares pointing from all of the Reversed Selectors in his general direction. Kai could now see that he had hopefully succeeded in drawing their complete attention away from Kamui and Chiyori and that he could focus on battling them, if only for the sole purpose of undoing their Reverse and returning them to normal. He knew that with Dragonic Overlord already out of his deck for the time being, this was going to be more of a challenge for him to overcome. But then again... the thought of a difficult challenge had caused him to inwardly smile for a moment as he prepared to face off with the power that had been formerly acting as his inner demons.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

The space that formed this current battle remained eerily silent as Piruluk simply gazed at Remember, who held her calm and collected sneer whilst Dark Zodiac, Radon, Neon and Astro-reaper all remained motionless, as if they were silently observing everything that would happen in the coming turn. After knowing that her 'nemesis' had managed to steal the advantage already with a somewhat emotionally crippled Amika not helping at all, her head was hung down in contemplation of what had lead up to this turn of this events. And after everything she had revealed to her Selector, who could blame her for feeling this way in the first place. Or at least, that was what she had assumed.

"Piruluk... no, Kiyoi..."

Piruluk turned back around to face Amika who brought up her head to face her.

"I was just thinking... is it possible for me to change my wish?" she asked.

"No," Remember interrupted "Once a wish is made from the bottom of the heart, it can only be changed from there. Simple empty words will not suffice, as 'she' had told me beforehand. Given how much you're desperate in 'saving' one insignificant life, I don't see how you could muster up a stronger desire than that."

Amika groaned bitterly, seeing as her last ditch attempt to keep her mother out of danger because of her original wish would simply do no good for her. However, there was something about her opponent's answer that had disturbed her and that was from what she learnt of Kiyoi's own wish earlier. Piruluk herself simply remained motionless, having known about that answer for herself.

"Insignificant...?" she murmured as she clenched her open fist "Is that how you saw Kiyoi's friend when she TRUSTED you to save her?!"

Remember simply said nothing more, remaining as smug as she was with her eyes closed, as if she had no regrets in regards to what happened when she had 'granted' Kiyoi's wish after she had first become the LRIG known as Piruluk. The blue LRIG herself on the other hand, though not showing it in her expression was inwardly surprised that Amika felt that strongly about her mother's life now that it was hanging precariously in the balance and how upset she was with her 'former' companion for ending Sakaguchi's life in some twisted way of granting her wish.

"Amika..." she breathed.

"And as for you...!"

The blue LRIG blinked for an instance, now seeing that Amika had something to say to her and she did not seem the least bit happy about her either.

"If you were really feeling this way... why didn't you say anything?!" she yelled "'LRIG of misfortune?!' Give me a break!" The Selector then closed her eyes, almost on the verge of crying. "Why did you try to bear all of it by yourself? We've both been after the same goal... you're in the same spot as Remember was then... but I know you're nothing like her!"

Piruluk simply remained silent in surprise, having not expected Amika to really feel this way after everything that was just revealed between her and Remember as well as almost all of the necessary truths and turns of the Selector Battles themselves. Taking a deep breath for a moment to regain her briefly lost composure, she coughed quietly to bring back her Selector's attention to her.

"Amika."

"Yes?" she asked.

"Let's escape this nightmare... together," the LRIG spoke.

And for the first time since the space had been opened, Amika finally let out a geniune smile in response to her companion's answer, as did Piruluk for a brief instance before turning around to face their opponents once more. The Selector drew her next two cards and eyed them closely before looking amongst her hand and the Locked cards that were in play.

 _Remember said that I can't move the Locked cards to my Trash..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _But what if I...?_

Moving her hand towards Code Art JV's card that was still Locked, she was initially met with resistance from the black sparks flying off of it in retailiation, stinging her hand in pain. Gritting her teeth, Amika bit her tongue and forced her palm onto the card.

"I... Ener Charge with this Lock!" she called.

Remember suddenly opened one eye as she watched the Locked card move straight into her opponent's Ener Zone, its face down state however having not changed in the slightest. The black rings and the orb did however vanish from the field, leaving that SIGNI Zone open once more, as if nothing was occupying it at all.

"Oh... so you figured the way around it, I see," she mused "I expected you to take longer than this though, so credit to you where it is due."

"So Amika still has her way to fight around Lock..." Piruluk murmured to herself "This is now seeming more hopeful."

"Grow!" called Amika as she moved two of the non-Locked cards in her Ener Zone to her Trash.

A series of radiant white flashes enveloped Piruluk as her form changed to Level 3, gaining yet another two wings on the back of her garb to the four that she had possessed in her prior form. A blue gem appeared at the top of her garb, just below her neck as she looked towards Dark Zodiac, who simply remained motionless, not uttering a simple sound in response to the sudden change in her appearance.

"And now," Amika continued "Swift Advance! Superior Grow!"

As the colourless Spell card illuminated upon being activated, a bright glow enveloped the blue LRIG once again as her form changed drastically once again. This time, Amika had managed to draw the one card to grant her instant access to Level 4 and it seemed that hopefully, this would factor into turning the tide of the battle in its current state. Piruluk emerged once more with her garb having undergone a bit of a change and her crystal wings having gained a more icy like texture to their outward appearance.

"With Piruluk Omega's skill, I discard Medical Officer to discard from your hand!" the Selector called.

Piruluk pointed her fingertips in the direction of Remember as a large projectile made of ice materialized beside the blue LRIG, then immediately soared towards the opposite side of the field, crashing into one of her opponent's cards and causing it to shatter. It then re-materialized in the Trash Pile to reveal that she had knocked out Companion Star Star-vader, Photon.

_Not bad... Kiyoi-chan actually improved her aim in my absence._

Immediately after this sudden turn of events, Code ART WTC and Code Art SMP both appeared in Amika's empty spaces that she now had on the board with the exception of the Locked Tidal Assault.

"With my SIGNI, I freeze Neon and take a look at your hand!" Amika declared.

As Neon was immediately imprisoned in a cluster of ice, preventing it from moving at the start of Remember's next turn, the latter on the other hand calmly showed her hand to the Selector and Piruluk, whose eyes narrowed at the options available. From what they could see, their opponent held Star-vader, Rejection Dragon, Star-vader, Sword Viper and Star-vader, Francium. The Level 1 card hovered into the air for a brief instance before landing in her Trash Pile.

"All right, we've got rid of her Quintet Wall!" she cheered.

"Good," replied Piruluk "Now keep up this momentum."

Amika looked over to the blue LRIG for an instance, seeing that this wasn't just the first time she had been giving her advice outside of her usual monotone, it appeared as if she was trying to act supportive towards her in this dangerous scenario, knowing that it was her own fault that they were in this trouble in the first place. Regardless though, she knew Piruluk had made her point and that she couldn't afford to let up at this point.

"I got it!" she called "SMP and WTC attack Astro-reaper and Radon!"

The two Electric Machine SIGNI wasted little time in heading over to their opponents on the far side of the space and making little work of banishing them from the battlefield. Once they had returned back to Amika's side of the field, Piruluk began materializing multiple spears of ice around herself before motioning her arm forwards, causing them to soar through the air and crash right into the motionless Dark Zodiac who was engulfed in a cloud of smoke as a result. Remember's next Life Cloth revealed a second copy of Photon, no Life Burst being available to aid her this time. The Lock around Tidal Assault came undone as all of Amika's Locked cards turned back face-up.

"Good, it's a start at least!" she said before she looked over to her opponent "All right Remember, show me what you've got!"

"Naturally," she spoke as she drew her two cards and moved Neon's card to her Ener Zone, causing the Cyberoid on her field to vanish as she held a hand above Dark Zodiac's card.

"Seek mate!"

Three of the cards in Remember's Trash Pile hovered up into the air and arranged themselves face down on the top of her deck whilst the Dark Zodiac in her LRIG Trash placed itself on top of her LRIG deck. A file of light then scanned through the large stack that was her main deck until it pulled out the card she sought and brought it into her other hand.

"Astro-reaper, bring the darkness of despair to those that stand before your 'leader'!" she called before throwing out the card onto the table "Legion!"

As a dark red coloured version of the Legion symbol briefly flashed before everyone's eyes, Astro-reaper appeared once again onto the battlefront, this time hovering beside the imposing Cyber Golem that was Dark Zodiac as the two glowed an ominous dark red. Piruluk clenched her teeth upon seeing that Remember had managed to master a technique from Kai's world this quickly as evidenced by her smirk. And if what Link Joker had demonstrated to them before was a reminder of that fact, she knew that there was worse to come.

"First the Legion skill," Remember spoke as she moved Neon's card to her Trash "Then I use Dark Zodiac's Persona Blast again!"

Amika could only groan as she watched Code Art SMP become captured by the Lock that was cast upon her whilst a card in her Ener Zone turned face down once again. Then appearing on Remember's field, much to Piruluk's disgust, were even more sentinels of Link Joker that their opponent had called forth to oppose them at this very instance. One of them was yet another Radon and another was Francium as evidenced by the shape and style of her two blades. The third one however was Singularity Sniper, a unit that Futase had previously used in her cardfight against Misaki in Kai's world.

"Finally, I shall use Salvage to place Rejection Dragon back into my hand."

After she did so, the Cyber Fairy in her formation was the first to take aim as it pulled back on its bow and aimed its arrow at Piruluk who braced herself for impact.

"If Singularity Sniper's attack hits Piruluk," Remember explained "I can pay the cost to choose any SIGNI card on your side of the field, regardless of what zone it is in and Lock it!"

Upon hearing that Remember was intending to Lock another SIGNI on the formation this way, Piruluk could only clench her teeth whilst Amika looked at the cards she held in her hand.

"Not gonna happen!" she called as she revealed Icefall Dragon from her hand "Quintet Wall!"

The Tear Dragon appeared in an instant and generated five circles that revealed Code Art SMP, Code Art JV, another Icefall Dragon, Code Art KEY and Emerald Shield, Paschal who joined it immediately with the shield being enough to deflect the projectile.

"How annoying..." Remember muttered in a bored tone "Fine then... Francium! Radon! And Legion Attack!"

The four remaining Link Joker units flashed their eyes as they all came charging in at once towards Amika's remaining SIGNI and Tidal Assault, making short work out of them whilst Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper each took aim at Piruluk. The blue LRIG could only shield her face as the Cyber Golem unleashed a barrage of purple fiery projectiles whilst Astro-reaper created a solid arc of purple light from its scythe that came rushing towards her. Both attacks exploded the moment they made contact, causing her to scream as she was thrown back towards Amika.

"Piruluk!" she gasped in horror.

The blue LRIG was quick to get up onto her knees after recovering from the attack, much to the Selector's immediate relief as she watched Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper hover back to Remember's side of the field as the turn came to a close.

**End of Turn 7**

**Amika vs Remember**

**Hand - 4 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Code Piruluk Omega : Star-vader, Dark Zodiac (Legioned with Star-vader, Astro-reaper)**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - Code Art SMP (Locked) : Singularity Sniper - Star-vader, Francium - Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon**

**Ener - 9 (1 Locked) : 5**

Amika let out a sigh of relief that she had managed to pull through the turn without as much of a problem as she believed as she had anticipated. Drawing her next turn cards, she immediately pushed out her right hand over the Lock in her SIGNI Zone, cringing in pain as she was just able to force it over to her Ener Zone so that she now would have three SIGNI attacks available to her this turn. Piruluk noticed this and quickly turned around.

"Amika...!" she called.

"I'm... alright!" the Selector replied as she turned attention back to the cards in her hand.

Her expression however didn't seem to convince the blue LRIG as unbeknowst to her, one of the two cards that Amika drew into was a second copy of Swift Advance. The card was now seemingly useless to her as Piruluk had no further Levels to ascend to or so she had believed and was nothing more than 'dead weight' now that she had used up her Ener Charge on the Lock earlier. Looking over what little options she had available to her in her hand, she tried to think of a way for her to turn the situation around, especially since there was no telling about what other surprises Remember had in store for her. Trying to calm herself down for the moment, she looked ahead to her LRIG.

"Hey Kiyoi..." she murmured "I was just wondering..."

"About what?" asked Piruluk.

"How old are you?"

"14."

"I see..." Amika smiled a little to herself for a brief moment with this newfound information. "So you're younger than me... I didn't think you were around Kamui's age."

The blue LRIG chose to pretend that she had not heard the last portion of the brief comparison, having not felt interested about anything in regards to the Nova Grappler user in any shape or form, even if the fact that he knew of Sakaguchi's name alone did bother her a little. The thought of this however had caused her to briefly turn around to face Remember.

"Did you tell him?" she asked sternly "Are you the reason Katsuragi knows about Sakaguchi?"

"Oh my, so you're saying that Kamui knows about her. I'm afraid I can't take credit for what you claimed," Remember replied whilst playfully shrugging in response "After all, I haven't met him in person since our fight, nor had I spoken about who I really was at the time."

Piruluk didn't entirely react to this answer, having partially expected that there was a possibility that Kamui could have learned about the deceased Sakaguchi Ayumi from someone else, unaware that he had only learned of her name through her parents whom he briefly encountered. Wanting to dwell on the subject no longer and knowing that Amika's safety was still her top priority, she turned back around to face the Selector who was considering her options for the turn ahead.

"You are aware that even if we escape, there may be other Selectors looking to challenge you."

"I know..." Amika replied "But even if I don't battle or I choose not to go through with this 'oath'... all I can do is just have faith in my wish and pray that my mother can be saved. And right now, that means I need to have faith in you. Piruluk... no, Kiyoi... do you have faith in me?"

"I do," she answered, having closed her eyes.

Before anyone could speak out, a blinding glow began to envelop the blue LRIG, causing Amika to gasp and Remember to shield her face to prevent herself from being blinded by the intense light radiating from her. Even Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper could not help but move a little in what could be percieved as some motion that conveyed the emotion of surprise. Amika then looked back to her hand to see that her second Swift Advance card that she held was also glowing brightly as she looked over to her Ener Zone and decided to follow through with something she hoped would work.

"I pay the cost to activate my second Swift Advance!" she called, revealing the card to everyone else.

"I... Idiot!" Remember gawked as she struggled to regain her foresight through the light Piruluk was suddenly emitting "There's only been two LRIGs in history that can acquire that power and Kiyoi-chan isn't one of them! So sorry to disappoint you Ami..."

"Is that so?"

The former LRIG's dumbfounded expression only grew when she had heard Piruluk interrupt her mid-sentence as if she was planning to say otherwise in regards to this move. The blue LRIG smirked for an instant, briefly stifling a "Ki-shi-shi" or something of an awkward laugh of some kind as she was completely enveloped by the blinding light for several more moments before it died down to allow her to remmerge in a completely changed state. Her blue garb had mostly transformed into a beautiful dress bearing a majority of the same colours and designs of her previous form, the wings on her back were only half of the previous form's number only appearing less ice like and more elegant and in her hands now was a new weapon of choice. This time, it was a long staff with a giant blue orb hovering above the inverted arc at the top.

"W... What is this?!" gasped Remember "How did you acquire this kind of power?!"

"Amazing..." breathed Amika "I didn't know... this kind of thing was possible."

She then looked down to the table to see that a new card had materialized over the top of Piruluk's Level 4 form. This new card was Level 5 and was named Code Piruluk ACRO, the image displaying the very form that she was now seeing before her as she looked back out to the blue LRIG herself, who was already facing her with a sincere smile.

"Our desires are the same..." she spoke "That's why I am like this. Now then Amika, let us win."

"Right!" the Selector replied as she continued with her turn "I'll summon Code Heart VAC!"

A new blue SIGNI of Level 4 appeared into the very center spot of her formation in front of Piruluk, taking up an offensive stance in preparation for battle as she held out one of her giant gloves towards Remember. She gasped as the only card in her hand entered her Trash Pile without any warning whatsoever, having not expected such a SIGNI to be in Amika's deck.

"M... My Quintet Wall is gone without Peeping Analyze...?" she murmured "Damn it!"

"I'm not done yet!" Amika called "I'll summon another Code Art SMP and freeze Radon!"

As ice formed around Radon, imprisoning the Unrivaled Star-vader to hinder Remember during her next turn, she turned to face the Selector and Piruluk, picking out a card from her LRIG deck.

"At this moment, I use the ARTS Retaliation Snare on its Spell Cut-In timing!" she called as she revealed the grey ARTS "I Lock Francium and SMP to draw three cards!"

Two pairs of black rings suddenly encircled Code Art SMP and Francium, trapping them both as the cards on both her's and Amika's tables turned face down before she then drew her three cards per the effect of her card. She then sneered upon seeing what she had managed to gather from her efforts, even at the cost of what she viewed as a measly sacrifice from her field for the turn.

"She's replenished her hand just like that and Locked me out of an attack!" Amika muttered.

"Stay calm Amika," Piruluk spoke in reassurance "Our turn isn't finished yet."

"Yeah," she replied as she looked to her remaining cards and looked out to the field she had available before taking out one of them "I summon Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir and activate Crystal Seal!"

No sooner did the Aqua Force unit appear onto the field did the blue Spell card's effect surround it in a watery veil as he then turned to light and flew across to Remember's side of the field, crashing straight into Singularity Sniper. No sooner did the collision happen was the Cyber Fairy banished from the field in a massive explosion that forced Remember to shield her face, her sinister expression however remaining unchanged. Another card was pulled out of her hand and moved straight into her Trash Pile, that being Star-vader, Sword Viper. Amika not noticing this however continued with her turn and summoned Tidal Assault to the spot where Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir formerly stood.

"So you've used up the last of your hand?" Remember spoke "You must be desperate to finish it this turn."

"I wouldn't be quick to judge Remember," Piruluk interrupted as she looked back to Amika who nodded.

"With Piruluk's skill, I can draw until I have six cards in my hand!" she called.

Remember blinked in shock for a brief moment as all five of the cards that were stacked beneath Code Piruluk ACRO's own card flew out from underneath and briefly circled around the LRIG herself as she glowed a bright blue for a brief instance. The five cards then landed in her Trash Pile as the Selector then immediately drew her six cards from the top of her deck and eyed them closely.

 _Alright!_ she cheered in her thoughts  _Even if I don't finish Remember this turn, I still have a shot of getting through!_

"Finally, I'll use Peeping Analyze!" she announced as the all too familiar blue ARTS revealed itself to all "Let's go Piruluk!"

Piruluk's eyes illuminated a bright blue as she gazed towards Remember harshly whilst the latter closed her eyes and smirked deeper, holding out her remaining two cards to the blue LRIG and Amika from the back, feeling somewhat confident with what was about to transpire. Amika ran the scenario through her head as she recalled which cards had been played and discarded throughout the entire battle. She then took a deep breath and prayed deeply that the choice she was about to make would be the correct one.

"Level 1!" she declared.

As several waves from Piruluk's eyes emitted and her gaze was further trained on Remember, the latter then opened her eyes with a new devillish glint within them. Suddenly, the glow from the LRIG's eyes somehow blinded her for a brief instance as everything around her then faded out to reveal nothing but a blank pitch black space where she had now found herself face to face with her opponent. Remember was now in the form that she had taken whilst she was Kiyoi's LRIG, the same figure depicted on the cards she had previously used against Kamui as evidenced by her cunning and calm smile.

"You haven't forgetten your purpose, haven't you?" she asked in a somewhat curious tone, blended with a hint of her sneer underneath it.

"What are you talking about...?!" Piruluk growled as she clutched her staff that she still wielded in her current form on the battlefied. Remember then closed her eyes and spoke out once again through her lips.

"The LRIG that brings misfortune. It is time for you to fulfill that."

The blue LRIG's eyes suddenly widened in shock and horror as to who had spoken out at this instance. It wasn't Remember who had said those words, despite her lips seemingly moving in time with the voice to seemingly mimmick what it was saying in her own silence. Then from out of the darkness behind her, emerged the tall and unnerving presence of an all too familiar unit who wielded its giant scythe and held its own unnerving smile as it gazed down upon Piruluk who simply stepped back upon seeing who it was that had 'reminded' her of her supposed purpose she had labelled earlier to Amika.

"Chaos Breaker Dragon...?!" she gasped.

The Clown let out a dark chuckle from under its breath before raising up its weapon and swinging down the sharp tipped curve all the way down towards her. The blue LRIG then closed her eyes and held out her staff in front, hoping it would be enough to shield her from a majority of the coming impact.

"Piruluk! Are you alright?!"

Amika's voice suddenly brought Piruluk's senses back to reality as she looked around to see that she was back on the battlefield and that Remember in her original body was still standing in front of her table with her cards held out. Seeing that she no longer needed to keep up her act any longer, she smirked deeply and revealed her cards as Servant D and Companion Star Star-vader, Photon, neither of which were Level 1 as Amika had declared moments earlier. The Selector although visibly annoyed immediately regained her composure as she knew she had more than enough options available to her thanks to the extra six cards that she drew. Before she continued with her turn however, she looked over to her LRIG, now worried about whatever it was that she had experienced.

"Hey... are you okay?" she asked "What happened there and... who's this Chaos Breaker?"

"... I'll explain later," the LRIG replied, still feeling nerved as she glared over to Remember who remained as she was, briefly imaging the cruel smirk of Chaos Breaker Dragon and Mayu's omnipotent presence that lay right behind her.

"Okay then," Amika murmured "Tidal Assault attacks Dark Zodiac twice this turn!"

The Aqua Force unit then charged towards the Cyber Golem as Astro-reaper suddenly hovered out in front, preventing him from advancing any further as he slashed down the front of the Cyberoid. Seeing his chance, he pushed forward on his jet-pack with a torrent of water, knocking back the Legion-Mate and allowing him to slash past Dark Zodiac who reacted in pain for a brief instance. Remember remained motionless as her next two Life Cloths revealed themselves as Singularity Sniper and Servant O, allowing her to Ener Charge. The card that was next placed into her Ener Zone was Star-vader, Astro-reaper. Code Art VAC then ran across the space towards Dark Zodiac and let out a mighty right hook which knocked it onto its back.

"Let's go Piruluk!" called Amika.

Piruluk nodded in response as she took flight on her wings towards the downed Dark Zodiac who remained motionless as she soared across the space. Astro-reaper then intecepted her as the two were locked in a stalemate, scythe to staff as each was looking to overpower the other. Piruluk with all of her might pushed back Astro-reaper and pointed the orb of her staff towards Dark Zodiac, unleashing a large aqua blue coloured beam with a streak of yellow in the middle towards the Cyber Golem. Servant D then appeared in front of the downed unit to shield it from her attack, deflecting the blue LRIG's beam with the greatest of ease using the barrier she generated in front of her.

"Grr... I couldn't finish it!" Amika groaned to herself as she clenched her teeth.

"Stay calm!" called Piruluk as she returned to the Selector's side of the field "This battle hasn't ended yet!"

The Selector nodded as she held up her six cards to consider her options for the upcoming turn whilst the blue LRIG gazed over towards Remember who was remaining as smug as ever.

_All we need is another turn to finish Remember! I won't allow her to bring that same sorrow to Amika's family! More importantly... why did I feel the presence of Amika's wish when she played Peeping Analyze?_

As the turn came to a close, Amika silently gasped as she realized something wasn't quite right. Whilst the Lock that Remember had cast on Francium for her earlier ARTS had worn off, all of her own Locked cards had not been affected in the same manner.

"W... What's going on?" she murmured "Why aren't my cards unlocking?!"

"How quickly you forget," her opponent interrupted "Did you remember when I paid a single grey card for the Legion Skill of Dark Zodiac?"

"D... Don't tell me...!" Piruluk muttered.

"That's right! When I used that skill, any cards that I Locked before your turn's End Phase would be Omega Locked! In other words, they don't unlock until the turn after!"

The blue LRIG and Amika could only clench their teeth upon seeing that their scenario was now much worse than either of them had anticipated in the first place. Remember giggled to herself as she drew her next two cards and concealed them in her hand, her smile deepening and the glint in her eyes seeming somewhat crazed as the all too familiar aura of the Star-vaders surrounded her intensely.

"Final Turn!"

Whilst Amika and Piruluk's eyes widened in shock, the ice around Radon shattered in an instant, the Cyberoid then faded away into a dark red aura as its card was moved over to Remember's Ener Zone. As it and Photon's card moved to her Trash Pile, another card from her LRIG deck moved straight into her hand as the aura of Reverse spread out across the space in large quantities.

"The timber of silence that resonates in darkness... Strike, dance of destruction that invites despair!" she called before throwing down the card on top of Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper "Star-vader, Venom Dancer!"

As Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper were enveloped in the darkness of that power once more, only this time using it to take their personal leave from the battlefield at this point, a new shadow rose up in the bleak red that covered a majority of Remember's field. It dispelled to reveal a new Cyber Golem in its place that looked much more sleeker and slimmer in shape and had several black rings with strange markings that werearound its body, the largest one of which had ten points sticking outwards behind the tall menace. Several other black markings across the armour of Venom Dancer as will as the horns and top of its head ressembled the shape and outlook of eyes as it gazed down upon its victims.

"Venom Dancer...?" Amika breathed nervously.

"Seek mate!"

Once again, upon her declaration, four cards from Remember's Trash Pile rearranged themselves onto the top of her deck as a file of light scanned through the stack to pull out the needed card for her.

"Sword of darkness that soundlessly slashes, return space and time to nothingness! Star-vader, Sword Viper! Legion!"

As she threw the card onto the LRIG space to the left of Venom Dancer's card, the black and red coloured version of the Legion symbol flashed before everyone once again as Sword Viper materialized onto the field beside the Cyber Golem. It had several pairs of wings styled similar to Piruluk's own in addition to its black ring behind its back, only they had pink markings littered upon them that seemed to ressemble demonic eyes of some kind. It also had what appeared to be a stinger tail of some kind attached to its back and wielded a large blade in its right hand. Remember snickered loudly as she gazed viciously upon Piruluk who could only remain unnerved in response.

"Now I don't want you ruining this with Don't Escape, right? Venom Dancer's skill," she said musingly "I Lock a SIGNI in your Ener Zone and repeat the effect!"

Amika gasped in horror as she watched the only two face up SIGNI cards in her Ener Zone become flipped face down with sparks flying off of them. Remember then giggled once again as another Sword Viper materialized onto the space where Radon formerly stood before she then held one more card out, closing her eyes for a brief instance.

"Allow me to show you... the one who gave Kiyoi-chan her signature gaze," she spoke as she held up the card "Come forth, Companion Star Star-vader, Photon!"

Upon hearing the name Photon, Piruluk gasped in shock as the Star-vader that Mayu was most commonly seen with appeared onto the field before her, clenching both of its thin black swords tightly in his hands. The commander quietly smiled to himself as he pointed one of his blades towards Code Heart VAC who was then trapped by a Lock that he had managed to cast.

"Piruluk... what is she saying?" breathed Amika.

"Photon...!" the LRIG growled as an unsettling image briefly flashed before her eyes, a memory from long before that involved the Star-vader to the point where she was now.

"Now then..." said Remember "Sword Viper!"

Sword Viper then soared across towards Piruluk who could only hold out her staff in front of her to defend herself. Whilst she was busy doing so however, she failed to notice the stinger tail of the smaller Cyber Golem approach her from behind until it was too late. The sharp tip stabbed itself into her back as she screamed in pain, feeling numb all of a sudden from the blow she had taken.

"Piruluk!" screamed Amika as she ignored the next Life Cloth that flew past her line of sight before gasping in horror to see Tidal Assault becoming Locked as well.

"Next," Remember spoke in a gentle, yet unnerving tone.

As Photon and Francium both dashed across the battlefield towards Piruluk, ignoring the Locked unit and SIGNI they ran past, Amika upon seeing that her LRIG was still in pain from Sword Viper's earlier attack took out two cards from her hand.

"Icefall Dragon!" she cried out loud.

The Aqua Force unit then appeared onto the battlefield in front of Francium, summoning out Code Heart VAC, Code Art JV and Emerald Shield Paschal to block the attack. Photon on the other hand continued on his way to Piruluk, preparing to slash down the front of her when Icefall Dragon suddenly appeared in front of him.

"One more!" Amika declared as Code Art SMP, Tidal Assault, Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir and Servant D2 prevented the Cyberoid from attacking her LRIG.

Photon did not frown however as it kept a neutral expression before retreating back a few steps to halfway across the battlefield, much to the confusion of Amika and a pained Piruluk who coughed for an instance as she struggled to keep her foresight.

"Legion Attack!"

The declaration of Remember's next attack was enough to snap her out of her brief stupor as she watched Venom Dancer and the other Sword Viper approach her from her opponent's side of the field at a very quick rate. Amika however was not planning to see her LRIG suffer any further as she took a hold of one of her remaining four cards and slapped it down onto the front of her table.

"Paschal, protect Kiyoi!" she declared.

The Aqua Force Sentinel unit then appeared in front of Venom Dancer and Sword Viper, projecting a barrier to stop their advance towards Piruluk who was trying her best to stand her ground in this most dire of situations. Then without warning, the Legion Mate then slashed down the front with its blade, effortlessly smashing the barrier to pieces as the two units and all of the other units that Remember had summoned as SIGNI glowed an omnious dark red.

"Are you okay Piruluk?!" cried Amika.

"Y... Yeah..." she groaned "We can still finish Remember on the next turn! I won't let your mother die because of me!"

She then clenched her teeth as she glared towards her opponent who did not seem the least bit concerned with what was about to happen next.

"You've put up a brave show, my two," she said whilst increasing the depth of her smile "But now... this is where it ends. Venom Dancer's Legion skill!"

Venom Dancer then raised its right hand as a pinkish cloud then began to cover over Amika's half of the battlefield, much to her's and Piruluk's shock as the LRIG suddenly coughed from inhaling some of it by complete accident.

"What... is this gas?!" she coughed.

"Venom Dancer's Legion skill!" Remember's voice echoed "After the attack ends, I reconduct my SIGNI attack step and Up 1 SIGNI I have for every two of your Locked cards!"

Piruluk gasped in horror upon realizing exactly what those words had meant, especially in the predicament that she and Amika now found themselves. The Selector shared equal horror on her expression as she gazed down on her field and discovered what this had meant for her.

"B... But I have 7 Locked cards...!" she exclaimed "That means...!"

Remember said nothing more, having already seen the answer to that realization herself. She then placed her right hand over each of her SIGNI, upping them one at a time and spoke out their names, almost in similar fashion to Kiyoi's own monotone. However, the undertone to her imitation though appeared to sound much more sinister in comparison.

"Viper. Photon. Francium."

Photon, Francium and the other Sword Viper, the first of the former two stood back up and pointed one of his twin black swords towards Piruluk who could only clench her teeth upon seeing the 'worst case scenario' that had now transpired.

_Amika doesn't have a single Quintet Wall in her hand...! We're finished...!_

Looking down at the ground of the space, the blue LRIG could only close her eyes for an instance, images of all the times she spent with Amika and how worried she was about her mother's condition now flashing before her eyes. All of it was now jeporadized and now, Amika was about to lose and join the services of Reverse along with her, her wish now hanging even more precariously as it was. She looked across herself, frustrated that their efforts at her newly acquired Level 5 form now appeared to be all for naught.

 _Was this power just meant to be nothing more than a power boost that did nothing?!_  she groaned as she ran the previous turn through her scenario again, up to the point where Amika had activated Peeping Analyze. Upon recalling the feeling she also picked up from Amika's presence before her 'encounter' with Chaos Breaker Dragon, her eyes widened in realization. _There is a way...!_

As Amika could only stare towards the five Star-vaders that were preparing to carry out their onslaught once again, now feeling shaken and hopeless that there was nothing more she could do, she could only close her eyes and cry as tears dropped down onto the table.

"Is this the end... for my mother?" she sobbed.

Before she could cry any further, a faint white aura suddenly surrounded her as she opened her eyes to see Piruluk pointing her staff towards her, the blue orb at the very top glowing faintly as she kept a determined gaze upon her Selector.

"Piruluk, what are you doing?!" gasped Amika.

The LRIG ignored her words as her eyes flashed blue as they normally would from the use of Peeping Analyze, only this time she was scanning through her heart for something of great intent. Remember watched on as she observed Piruluk continue her action on Amika, curious as to what it was she was trying to pull and not feeling bothered to let it go on any longer.

"Finish it," she spoke, snapping her fingers as a command to attack.

All five of the Link Joker units that she commanded soared and dashed across field towards Piruluk who looked back briefly for a moment before refocussing her attention onto Amika who remained both startled and confused from what was going on now.

 _I'm almost there...!_  she murmured in her thoughts  _Just a little longer and her wish...!_

She couldn't complete the process of her thoughts however as she felt Sword Viper's stinger tail stab her in the back for a second time, causing her to lose her 'Peeping Analyze' glow from her eyes as she cried in pain. Then without warning, the second Sword Viper's tail coiled itself around her right arm and threw her over across the field, causing her to drop her staff to the ground, the orb shattering into pieces as it did so.

"No!" Piruluk cried as she landed on her front halfway across from where she stood between Amika and the group of Star-vaders, who were now directly upon her.

"Piruluk!" cried Amika as she watched on in horror before the aura of Reverse suddenly enveloped her, causing her to scream loudly in pain.

The blue LRIG, helpless to do anything, could only stare in horror at her Selector's exposure to being Reversed as Venom Dancer grabbed her by the head and brought her up to its face. She growled for an instant as she looked past the Cyber Golem to see Remember in her smugness vanish from the battlefield to leave her and Amika to their fate, now that she had emerged victorious.

"That's right," her voice "Never forget that horrifying image! That will be all that fuels you from now on!"

Before Piruluk could question what was about to happen next she looked back to Venom Dancer's face as the eyes on its forehead and horns glowed a blinding pink colour. As could only stare into the glows before her, the pink cloud of gas from earlier covered up her foresight and vision as she felt her body going numb once again, just as a memory flashed before her eyes.

* * *

**Flashback**

That memory displayed Piruluk who was gazing in horror at one of the windows in the White Room that displayed the outside world to Mayu. She could see that Remember was standing beside the hospital bed that housed the comatose Sakaguchi, smiling in her usual manner. She had removed the tube to her breathing mask and the only noise the sounded throughout the room was the machine that it was connected to. This had only meant one thing for the blue LRIG and after falling down to her knees in anger and tears, she could only confirm it for herself. She had been betrayed and her wish to save Sakaguchi was not granted the way she had intended it and now, the tone that echoed throughout her ears had confirmed it. Sakaguchi had been killed by the very LRIG she had put her trust in.

All she could do at this point though was scream loudly in her uttermost frustration, the noise echoing off of the many walls and expanses of the White Room.

* * *

**City Streets; Present**

After the image had faded out, the battlefield had already closed up and Amika was now standing emotionlessly on the ground, holding out Piruluk's card in front of her. The Selector's eyes had transformed into a dull shade of their former colour, showing that her subjection to Reverse had put her under the complete control of that power and that anyone who came near her now would be in serious danger. Or at least, that was what the basics on the subject had appeared as in this particular case. The sky above her had dark grey clouds forming over the city of Tokyo, casting a gloomy haze over everyone else who happened to be walking outside of the lonely street at this very instance.

Meanwhile within the card, Piruluk had both of her fists clenched after having to relive through that 'horrifying image' of a memory that Remember and Venom Dancer forced her to experience it all over again.

"Remember..." she uttered in a harsher version of her usual monotone "Mark my words... no matter what I sacrifice to find you again, I will make you regret handing to me the very power you have... as the 'LRIG of misfortune'."

And with that, she opened up her eyes and lifted her head to reveal that everything aside from her pupils and irises had been dyed in pitch black and that a marking of an eye similar to the ones on Venom Dancer had appeared in a vertical stance on her forehead. She then gazed up to the emotionless Amika who did not respond in any shape or form, despite the aura of Reverse flowing through her.

"Go. You know what must be done as I command."

Unconditionally, the reversed Selector obeyed Piruluk without saying another word, leaving the empty street and preparing to help her carry out her original desire of revenge on Remember. By any means necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Star-vader, Venom Dancer**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Gray  
> Grow Cost: 2 Gray  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> [Legion] “Star-vader, Sword Viper” (If your opponent's LRIG is Level 3 or greater, this LRIG may return four cards from your Trash and/or LRIG Trash into your main deck and/or LRIG deck once, search your deck and/or LRIG deck for the specified card, and Legion. Then shuffle your main deck. Whilst in Legion, this LRIG’s Level becomes 4 and its Limit becomes 11.)  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Gray: At the end of the battle this LRIG attacked whilst it was in Legion, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 Gray SIGNI you control for every 2 Locked cards your opponent controls and Up it.  
> [Action] Pay 1 Gray SIGNI: Choose 1 SIGNI card from your opponent’s Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
>  **Singularity Sniper**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 4000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI’s attack hits and damages an LRIG, if your opponent has a Locked card, choose an opponent’s SIGNI card in their SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
>  **Star-vader, Sword Viper**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase]: When this SIGNI’s attack hits and damages an LRIG, if your LRIG is in [Legion] and your opponent has a Locked card, choose an opponent’s SIGNI card in their SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
>  **Star-vader, Astro-reaper**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Grey or Exceed 1: When this SIGNI’s attack hits and damages an LRIG whilst your LRIG is in [Legion], you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 SIGNI card that is your Legion-Mate, look at the top five cards of your deck and add up to one card of the same name as that SIGNI to your hand. Place the other cards on the bottom of your deck in any order.
> 
>  **Companion Star Star-vader, Photon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: If your LRIG has “Star-vader” in its card name and your opponent has a Locked card, choose 1 SIGNI card in your opponent’s SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it.
> 
>  **Star-vader, Francium**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyberoid  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Gray: When this SIGNI attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, this SIGNI gains 3000 power until the end of that battle.
> 
>  **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Retaliation Snare**  
>  Color: Gray  
> Cost: 3 Gray  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] [Attack Phase] [Spell Cut-In]: When a SIGNI you control is targeted for an effect whilst you have a Level 4 or greater LRIG, you may choose a card in your SIGNI Zone other than the targeted card and Lock it. Choose 1 of your opponent's SIGNI with the same Level or lower as the Locked SIGNI, Lock it and if you do and the number of cards in your hand is 2 or less, draw cards equal to your Locked SIGNI's Level. During your opponent's End Phase, Unlock the SIGNI on your field that you Locked with this effect.  
> [Constant]: You can only activate 1 “Retaliation Snare” per turn.


	68. Arc 3 - Ride 68: This Vengeful Soul

**Vanguard World: Card Capital**

As midday broke in this world at last, the weather seeming less moody than it did back in the world of the Selector Battles, Misaki and Ratie were sat on a bench outside of Card Capital in the side alley to the left of the store. Joining the two of them was Miwa and Shingo as well as Neve who had arrived in Japan earlier in the morning, the three of them now being caught up to speed from what had happened the night before. Misaki told them all about her previous fight with Futase and Anne, believing that the former seemed to be forced to battle the way she did under the baleful gaze of Schwarzschild Dragon, even confirming that Kamui was in the same world as the one Aichi and Kai had gone to, before she and Ratie recieved her note and entered Foo Fighter to discuss what happened.

"We then found this woman with a metal hand of some kind who beat Tetsu," the younger Quatre Knight continued "It looked like she was the one that led the attack on Foo Fighter."

"Metal hand...?!" Neve murmured in shock, bringing everyone's attention to him "Then that must have been...!"

"The same person who defeated Gaillard," Misaki muttered, now piecing everything together "She must have been Miyako."

"Well... it seems we now have a lot on our hands," said Miwa, unsure of how to make out the events that had occurred "But at least, we now know where Kamui is."

"Still though..." Shingo pondered as he re-read Futase's note which Misaki had given to him "I wonder why they've gone through the trouble of coming here when Sendou-kun is in that world. I just hope Ishida's keeping everything under control over there after I agreed to stay back."

Before anyone else could add anything to the discussion, the sound of footsteps caught their attention towards two people who were coming towards the alleyway they were in. The first one was a tall man with black hair, wearing a dark red bandanna that was wrapped around the top of his head whilst his accomplice, who was considerably much shorter than him. Both of their expressions seemed downcast as they approached the group, the man being the first to speak out aloud.

"Have you had any luck in finding Kamui yet?" he asked.

"No Gouki," Misaki replied "But we might have an idea of where he's gone."

"I won't give up looking for Kamui-chan!" the younger girl cried out "He must be all lonely in wherever that Kiyoi dumped in, waiting helplessly for my love!"

Miwa and Ratie couldn't help but sweatdrop in response to her desperation to finding Kamui, knowing that this was how she usually behaved in regards to any subject involving the Nova Grappler user. As the two of them looked over the pair, they gasped in shock to find the 'Mark of Penalty' engraved on their right hands.

"Wait a minute...!" called Miwa as he looked over the mark "Did...?!"

"Yes..." Gouki sighed as he raised his right hand "Kiyoi busted into Shop Handsome this morning and defeated all us, even showing no mercy to Nagisa. She then marked us and took all of our units with blank cards of her own before high-tailing it out of there."

"She even said that I'd never find Kamui-chan again...!" Nagisa growled "Just wait until I give her one of these and...!"

As Gouki gently used one arm on her shoulder to try and restrain her anger, Misaki's thoughts trailed back to the fight she had with Futase, where she had recalled the Selector calling Kiyoi 'Remember' for some reason, unaware that the latter was really the LRIG of the real Kiyoi, now currently known as Piruluk. One thing however was now clear in that Miyako's group were now targeting other teams who were into the game of Cardfight! Vanguard and capturing their units for whatever purpose Mayu had in mind for them. What that purpose was however was a mystery still to be revealed as she looked at Anne's still card which Futase had left behind.

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

By the time Kamui and Chiyori managed to escape the sight of the reversed Selectors long enough for Kai to distract them in battle, they had come to a stop in a different park than the one that they had first met within, this one being much more involved with the city atmosphere itself. The two of them were seated on a pair of swings with the Selector having got rid of her boredom by swinging back and forth, humming to herself as she did so whilst the Nova Grappler user was busy going through his deck, glancing over the last second changes that he made in Card Luck before he found out from Kai that there were reversed Selectors outside of the shop. A quick adjustment with one or two cards later however, he seemed fairly satisfied with what was now holding, even seeming somewhat surprised about some of the cards he had obtained.

At this moment, Chiyori had managed to finally quell her boredom for a long enough as she hopped off her swing and came alongside him, peering over his shoulder to see his readjusted deck.

"Wow, so you're mixing in another colour?" she pondered "Even I think that's a little gutsy."

"Well, it's not like I have a choice at the moment," Kamui replied "If I'm gonna get another shot at Remember, I'm gonna need to take advantage of whatever I can find in Wixoss. Besides, if Ruko could handle a hybrid colour deck, who says I can't?"

"I can't say that I can blame you," Eldora said as she looked over his cards "With the fact that your Nova Grappler's colour was otherwise non-existant in Wixoss until you came here, much like Ishida's yellow Narukami units until his own arrival, it's not surprising the physical card game could not have any ARTS or Spells to compliment them."

"Yeah, about that..."

Kamui shuffled his cards around until he reached the backmost one, showing it to Eldora and Chiyori who were surprised to say the least, the LRIG moreso having now been curious as how Naoki had even had the Spark Crash ARTS in his deck on the night he arrived in this world. The Nova Grappler user put then his deck back into the case before placing it back into his pocket and hopping off the swing that he had been sitting on for the past few minutes.

"At any rate, I better find Amika and hope she's still alright," he spoke "Especially with her mom hanging in there..."

"Then we'll leave things to you," Eldora replied "Let's go Chiyori. And try not to bring the attention of any reversed Selectors to us, alright?"

"Fine, I got it Eldora!" Chiyori huffed in reply as she stuffed the card she held back into her jacket "See you around, Kamui!"

And with that, the younger Selector hurried off into the distance once again, leaving Kamui on his own as he looked up to the darkened sky for a brief moment, wondering if Kai was doing alright with the small group that he was now battling against. He knew from his recount of his battle with Noriko that Dragonic Overlord was currently with Aichi, meaning that he would not be able to battle as effectively as he would normally do so.

"Ah, who am I kidding," he muttered to himself with a smile "If there's one thing I know about Kai now that he's back to normal, there's no way he'll lose that easily."

Turning around to try and begin his search for Amika and Piruluk, he soon discovered that he wouldn't have to start a long trek across the city once again after all. Gasping for a brief instance, he could see the Selector in question slowly walking down the street beside the park swings, seeing that her head was hanging down, her expression currently hidden from the distance he currently was away from him. Clutched in her hand was a single Wixoss card with a white backing, immediately giving him a sign that she was currently holding Piruluk's card.

"Oi Amika!" he called as he ran over to her "Are you okay?!"

The Selector suddenly stopped in her tracks and lifted her head as she looked to her left to see Kamui. He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he saw that her eyes were completely blank, almost lifeless in appearance as she paid almost no attention to his presence. Then, an all too familiar aura began to surface as he gasped in horror upon realizing what had happened to her.

"Oh no...!" he gasped "They got to you?!"

"Not they. Remember."

The Nova Grappler user blinked to hear that it was Piruluk who had answered his question as the emotionless Amika unconditionally turned the card around to bring her into view for him. Kamui could only stare at the blue LRIG, taking not of her blackened eyes, reverse markings and the 'third' eye marking that was on her forehead as a result of Venom Dancer's own powers.

"So we meet once again, Katsuragi Kamui," she spoke "What is it you're after?"

"I was hoping to find you whilst you weren't reversed!" he replied "That Reverse is messing with your heads! And why is Amika not saying anything?!"

"This enhanced power I recieved has given me full control over Amika," the blue LRIG replied "Her free will no longer exists."

Kamui groaned upon realizing that it was Remember who was responsible for reversing the two of them in the first place and presumably the group of Selectors that Kai was currently battling back at Card Luck. Now this had further complicated things for him as he knew he would have to battle them to undo their state and from the way he battled the last time, his chances didn't appear to look hopeful. Piruluk's usual disinterested expression remained as it was as she continued to speak out for herself.

"It is ironic, that the very power she infected me with will be the same power that I will use to destroy her," she said, a hint of musingness underneath her monotone "Amika is simply a disposable pawn, just like all the other Selectors who have possessed me prior to this moment. If taking her body is another sacrifice required to reach Remember, then so be it."

"But then... what about all the other Selectors and LRIGs you'll reverse?!" the Nova Grappler user exclaimed "Are you really fine with what happens to them?! Are you fine with what happens to Amika?!"

Piruluk then stared right into Kamui's eyes, her harsh gaze remaining trailed upon him as she did so.

"Yes."

He hissed under his breath for a moment as he dug into his pocket to bring out his deck, preparing to battle both her and the motionless Amika who remained still, not uttering a single noise or action as she held Piruluk's card.

_Hang in there Amika! I'll definitely save you!_

"Let's go Piruluk... no, Kiyoi!" he called.

The blue LRIG, now addressed by her true name, smiled for a brief instance as Amika held the card still for an instance as she gazed down at Kamui emotionlessly, the harsh breeze around them stirring up a small gust for a second. The sky above them seemed to darken a little as the Selector finally uttered two words from under her breath, in an emotionless monotone similar to Kiyoi's very own.

"Open..."

And with that, the dark red aura of Reverse spread across Amika and Kamui, bringing them both to the specialized battlefield that awaited both them and the LRIG in question.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

When Kamui regained his foresight, he could see that he was indeed in the exact same field he fought in against certain reversed fighters throughout the duration of Link Joker's invasion of his home world. He had never expected it however to also be a Selector Battlefield for those wielding the power of Reverse or a Link Joker deck in general. Looking over to his table, he could see that his starting hand and Life Cloths were laid out for him, before looking ahead to see Beast Deity, White Tiger in front of him and that Piruluk was standing front of Amika's table, the Selector having already picked up the five cards that formed her starting hand. An all too familiar creaking noise sounded as the Nova Grappler user looked above him to see the roulette spinning.

Eventually, after several long and tense moments had passed by, the wheel stopped on a blue slot, much to the Nova Grappler user's annoyance as he looked back towards the blue LRIG.

"There is one more thing you should know," she spoke "In this battle, Amika will only be my liason for 'my' cards. The sole opponent you will face is me."

"What are you saying?" he asked, confused by her statement.

The eye marking that was on Piruluk's forehead then flashed a bright pink as Amika then drew a single card to begin the first turn of the battle. As the LRIG kept her eyes closed, images of the cards that the Selector held in her hand flashed before her as she then made her decision on what to do.

"I grow."

A swirling red aura enveloped her as her garb underwent a small change in appearance whilst two crystal wings materialized behind her back, showing that she had now grown to Level 1. She then gazed upon Kamui with a harsh outlook, sending a message to him that it was all she was going to do for the turn. Trying his best to not get frustrated with her usual outlook, even if she was being influenced by Reverse to some degree, he drew his two cards to start his turn before picking out the top card of his LRIG deck and placing it on top of White Tiger's.

"Let's go! The great Kamui Grows Tough Boy!" he called.

White Tiger vanished in a white glow as a new Battleroid that didn't belong to the Beast Deities descended onto the battlefield. It was bulky with multiple silvers and greys, mixed with several small yellow plates of metal as five shield like circles covered over both of its arms and its back. Tough Boy landed on its feet in an offensive stance as to the left and right in front of him, Max Beat and another Beast Deity with teal coloured lines and littered in yellow armour and spikes joined it on the battlefront, ready to face off with the reversed LRIG in front of them.

"Desert Gator, Max Beat, take it to Kiyoi!" Kamui declared.

The two Beast Deities rushed over towards Piruluk who remained completely motionless as Desert Gator slashed down the front of her whilst Max Beat smacked her with its staff. The first two Life Cloths were revealed to be the Spell PICK UP whilst the other was Code Art SMP.

"Amika, am I getting through to you?!" the Nova Grappler used called as he tried to reach out to the Selector. It was no good however as Piruluk recovered immediately whilst Amika once again remained motionless to what was going on around her.

"Damn it," he groaned "Tough Boy attacks!"

"Naive," Piruluk interrupted as Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon materialized in front of her "Quintet Wall."

In front of the Tear Dragon appeared five green circles and from each of them emerged Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, Tidal Assault, Code Heart VAC, Code Art SMP and Code Art WTC, their combined number being more than enough to prevent Tough Boy from being able to land a hit. The Battleroid emitted a tone of annoyance as it stood down before the SIGNI and units in front of it vanished from the field. Kamui clenched his teeth, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy to try and knock some sense into both Piruluk and Amika this early on.

"Turn end!" he huffed.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kamui vs Kiyoi**

**Hand - 5 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 7 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Tough Boy : Code Piruluk K**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Desert Gator - EMPTY - Beast Deity, Max Beat : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Ener - 0 : 6**

The Selector then drew her next two cards emotionlessly as Piruluk's 'third eye' illuminated once again, allowing her public knowledge to the cards that she had just drawn for her next turn. Kamui couldn't help but feel frustrated, knowing that he couldn't reach either of them in time before Amika had decided in her earlier haste to challenge Remember out of fear for her mother's safety. Suddenly, he soon remembered that Amika's wish wasn't the only thing he had planned to see to in his earlier efforts to search for the two of them.

"Hey Kiyoi, if you were a Selector before, you must have had a wish!" he called.

"And what interest does that have to you?" she replied bluntly.

"Does the name Sakaguchi mean anything to you?!"

Upon hearing that name once again, a brief instance of anger flared through Piruluk's thoughts before she immediately calmed herself. Her eyes narrowed as she stared back at the Nova Grappler user.

"So what Remember said was true then," she murmured in her usual monotone "You know about Sakaguchi's name without her telling you, yet nothing of what had really happened."

"What are you saying?" asked Kamui.

"You always seem insistant on answers, aren't you. Very well then. I shall give them to you."

The 'third eye' on Kiyoi's forehead then glowed a bright pink, blinding Kamui for a brief instance as he felt the space around him fade away into obscurity.

* * *

**...**

Kamui eventually regained his line of foresight, just in time to see that he was seemingly in the domain of the White Room, only knowing of its existence prior through word from Aichi, Kai and Ruko, despite them having not visited the place themselves. Looking around to see exactly where it was he was standing in confusion, he looked ahead to see Piruluk recovering consciousness from the floor in front of him. Before he could run over to see what had happened, he gasped in shock as the physical form of Mayu seemingly phased right through him, blinking in utter bewilderment for a moment.

"Right now, you are in the confines of my memories," Kiyoi's voice echoed harshly "So I suggest you pay close attention if you want to know the truth."

"Fine, I got it!" Kamui groaned in reply.

He ran over towards where the past Piruluk and Mayu now stood, keeping his distance from the two as he watched closely. The blue LRIG looked around in confusion, wondering where it exactly it was she had regained consciousness within.

"You have awoken I see," Mayu said gently "Nice to meet you Kiyoi-san, I am Mayu."

Upon hearing the name that was given to him, Kamui soon realized that this was the mastermind of the Selector Battles that Aichi and the others had explained to him earlier, now seeing her for the first time despite it being from Kiyoi's own memories.

"So she's the one behind all this...?" he murmured.

"W... What is this?" the past Kiyoi spoke as she looked down at herself in confusion.

"From this point forward, you will be an LRIG."

The now blue LRIG blinked in confusion as she looked up to Mayu upon hearing the answer that she had now recieved. The mastermind of the Selector Battles smiled gently as her throne materialized behind her back before she jumped back into it.

"This 'White Room' you see is part of a crevasse between this world's reality and the dark dimension that lies outside," she began "All girls who win their required Selector Battles and successfully conduct their oath, as you and Remember did so, come to this very realm. It is all a process of how one enters your world's reality from the cards that are dispersed there."

"What are you saying...?" Kiyoi murmured "What about my wish coming true? What do you mean about becoming an LRIG?"

"Rest assured, your wish will come true any moment now," Mayu replied with a smile "However, you won't be the one to grant it. That task, has fallen to Remember."

"Then... Remember has my body?"

"In exchange for embracing your wish," she continued "You performed the oath, otherwise known as the 'Ritual of Consent'. Your body becomes the possession of your LRIG and whatever is left of you is then turned into the LRIG you are now. Remember is now the being that will grant your wish, but there was one requirement that was needed and that was to not tell you the truth."

Kiyoi could only remain still as she took in all of this newfound information that was being thrust upon her whilst Kamui simply watched in silence, wondering what exactly was happening in front of him. He now had a vague idea of how the whole 'body-swap' that occurred in the oath took place and that this memory he was being shown was of the first time she had become the LRIG known as Piruluk. Mayu tilted her head slightly, curiously gazing at the motionless Kiyoi.

"You act considerably calm," she murmured "Most girls usually cry by now of their LRIG's 'deception' or how they were tricked."

"I... was always alone," Kiyoi spoke "Sakaguchi said she liked me so much... and yet, I made her suffer. I made a vow with Remember that I would do anything to save Sakaguchi. That's why..."

"That girl will never know your sacrifice," Mayu interrupted "Is that really alright with you?"

"I hate it... but still," the LRIG continued, smiling bitterly "If Sakaguchi was at least saved, then it doesn't matter anymore. Remember told me she would grant my wish and I have faith in her."

Kamui couldn't help but stare at the past Kiyoi, surprised that she wasn't concerned with being stuck as an LRIG if it had meant Sakaguchi could be saved as she was telling Mayu. But the question that remained for him however was how did she die in the first place? He had a bad feeling however that he was about to discover the answer to that same question.

"You really have faith in her? Interesting."

The blue LRIG stared at Mayu for an instant, confused about the sudden change in her tone.

"Yes..." she answered "She is... my friend. However, I have no interest in becoming an LRIG."

"And why is that?" the mastermind asked.

"After listening to what you told me, I've figured out how these battles are supposed to work" Kiyoi answered "They're bound... by these terrible rules. By winning in battle and becoming an Eternal Girl, an LRIG, you gain the power to grant another girl's wish. Remember gained control of my body and just like how I've become an LRIG, she must have been in that situation once before. Those girls gain special powers as LRIGs and use them to grant their Selectors' wishes in order to return to the real world in swapped bodies."

"Very perceptive," Mayu replied calmly "There may have not been a single lie told, but after Selectors after enticed by the saccharine and tricked into becoming LRIGs, they are bound by the rules and coerced into betrayal."

As Kamui couldn't help but clench his teeth, now understanding that Kiyoi was just as much of a victim in the Selector System's twisted rules as the other LRIGs he had met in this world, including the ones that Aichi and Kai had managed to befriend, his previous perception on the blue LRIG had started to change a little. The past Kiyoi then clenched her left fist as she then turned around to face Mayu once more.

"This... this isn't the Wixoss that Sakaguchi loved!" she muttered "I will never decieve anyone just to return to the outside world! Not on my life!"

"So then..." Mayu spoke "You're the first girl in years who has decided to stay in the world of cards of her own will... that poses quite the complication for my game."

"Game...?" Kiyoi murmured, her eyes narrowing upon hearing that word.

"You are under a misconception," the mastermind continued as she got up from her throne and walked over towards the window that was behind the blue LRIG "Wishes do not come true, they are granted. Just as I told you before, your LRIG may be the one granting the wish, but since they now possess your body, their right to their previous powers is revoked as I decree."

Kiyoi then suddenly blinked in confusion, wondering why it was that Remember no longer had her powers as an LRIG when she had taken over her body to grant her wish. A sudden thought then crossed the back of her mind, causing her expression to grow in concern.

"Most of these wishes are from ungrantable," Mayu explained "Common sense and 'self-protection' obstruct the realization of a wish. An LRIG is unbound by those can fulfill a wish."

"But if that's true, then..." the LRIG breathed "Sakaguchi won't wake up immediately?"

"Even the doctors have given up, if what I heard is true."

"What are you saying a simple child can do?!" cried Kiyoi "Unless a miracle happens...!"

Mayu then smiled once again, placing a hand over the LRIG's shoulders to 'reassure' her that her wish would indeed be coming true, one way or another.

"The oath requires that wish must either be granted or maintained," she spoke "If an LRIG fails to uphold that in a certain period of time, they will disappear and that body within 24 hours will wither away and decay. I will ask you once again. Do you still believe in your LRIG?"

As Kiyoi began to waver in her state of rationality, she snapped her fingers as the frame of the window beside them began to open with both a blinding white glow and a loud creak. Kamui ran over to the windowsill to see what it was that Mayu was trying to display to them at this very moment. The image displayed on the window now showed Remember in Kiyoi's body, now standing inside of Sakaguchi's hospital room. Her gentle smile suddenly turned into a slight sneer as she moved closer towards her face. The blue LRIG's expression slowly turned to utter horror as she stared at the scene unfolding before her.

"Remember...! What are you doing?!" she screamed.

"I did a bit of preparation so no one would interfere," the former LRIG spoke in a seemingly gentle, yet sinister tone "Who am I to disappoint her? Now then... enjoy your peaceful rest."

And with that, she immediately removed the tube to the comatose girl's breathing mask, causing both Kiyoi and Kamui to gasp in shock and horror. A loud noise emitted from the machine beside the hospital bed, starting off in steady blips before increasing in speed at a steady pace.

"That girl is saved," Mayu spoke.

"Stop fooling around!" cried Kiyoi "If Remember doesn't put that back, Sakaguchi will...!"

"Yes... she was released from her eternal suffering, by her death," the mastermind interrupted "Congratulations, your wish was granted."

Kiyoi could only stare back through the window towards the hospital room, the sound of the machine beside Sakaguchi's bed and the sight of Remember's sneer in her body becoming engraved into her mind as the blips continued to grow louder and louder until they reached a single loud tone that echoed across the walls of the White Room. As she screamed loudly in agony, the realization that Sakaguchi was now dead being a iron-clad fact to accept, Kamui couldn't help but utter out a loud growl from under his breath, unable to think of anything to say about Remember's actions right now. He watched as Remember switched off the machine, ending the noise before exiting the room, leaving behind a dead Sakaguchi as its only inhabitant. He gritted his teeth, trying his best to not explode in anger at what he had just witnessed through the blue LRIG's memories that were being shown to him.

"Man... no wonder Kiyoi's wanted Amika to stay away from Remember!" he muttered to himself, recalling the 'warning' she had given him and the Selector when Amika had left Card Luck on the day they first met "She murdered her friend in cold blood!"

His thoughts were then interrupted as Piruluk, in a fit of rage, screamed loudly as she turned around and ran towards Mayu, attempting to throw a punch with her right fist in retaliation as to what she had just witnessed. The mastermind of the Selector Battles remained motionless as suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, a large point suddenly came down between the two and struck the floor hard enough to send the blue LRIG flying back and crashing into the nearest wall. Before Kiyoi could recover completely, the point, now revealed to be a razor sharp blade was immediately held up to her neck, preventing her from being able to move at all. She then looked up and silently gasped as to the new sight she was greeted with, upon seeing that the blade was part of a scythe, her eyes trailing up the pole to see its owner.

Chaos Breaker Dragon stood above Mayu from behind, gazing down at the new blue LRIG as of this moment, a glint in its eyes giving a very unnerving presence to those who would dare cross in its path or ambition. Kamui couldn't help but gasp in surprise at what he saw, having reconized this very unit from before.

"That's the unit Kai used...!" he exclaimed "But what is it doing here?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mayu spoke, her gentle demanor seemingly remaining as it was "She did it for her own sake."

"You lie...!" Piruluk shouted "I wanted to save Sakaguchi, not end her life!"

"No trickery. No cheating," the Clown spoke in a seemingly gentle tone, unnerving the blue LRIG "Remember simply fulfilled her quota of your wish as you had requested. And that exact quota as Mayu recalled was to end Sakaguchi's suffering."

"Who are you?!" she demanded.

"Oh yes, further introductions are in order," the mastermind interrupted "Kiyoi, I would like you to meet the 'Clown' or if you would rather... Chaos Breaker Dragon."

Kiyoi could only stare up at Chaos Breaker, not just in utter displeasure of being pinned to the wall by its scythe, but the fact that it seemed to be working with Mayu and all of the rules that she had set up in place for her world. The image and sound of Sakaguchi's death still fresh in her mind, brimming it to the point of pure anger, she turned her attention back towards the one that stood beneath the Cyber Dragon.

"Is this what you have been doing the whole time?!" she exclaimed "Then there's no way I'll...!"

Before she knew it however, Mayu had immediately appeared in front of her, holding her face from her right cheek as the cold steel from the scythe sent further discomfort across her.

"There is one more thing you should know," she spoke "Even with my rules and my enforcement, as you have now seen, there is really no punishment for LRIGs who tell the truth to their Selectors."

"What?!" gasped Kiyoi, as did Kamui.

"They hide the truth, so that they avoid the risk of not being able to escape from their card and back into the outside world," Mayu explained "They will use every trick in the book, acting devoted, encouraging them to battle, coerce you towards a wish."

"So then... Remember intended on killing Sakaguchi from the start?"

"That is indeed correct," Chaos Breaker spoke, its unnerving grin coming closer towards Kiyoi "Your exact quota fitted all too well with her intentions. A whim of fate as some beings may call it."

The blue LRIG hung her head down as multiple thoughts began running through her head, back to a time before she knew Sakaguchi or even Remember from her recollection.

_Again... I placed my trust in someone... and look what happened!_

"Your former compatriot is however, still responsible for what you now saw," Mayu continued in a seemingly soothing tone "And now without a care in the world, she now lives on in your body, whilst you accept your solitude and eternal darkness within a card."

"I don't mind being fooled...!" Kiyoi growled "But... Sakaguchi never did anything to incite Remember's actions now!"

"There is one way you can meet her again."

The blue LRIG stared up at Chaos Breaker Dragon once again, its tone having now been filled with a similar gentleness to that of Mayu's voice, only there was something different about that kind of tone.

"All you need to do is acquire a Selector's body and return to the real world," the Clown explained "Then perhaps, you could acquire that revenge I can see you now desire. But first..."

Before Kiyoi could question about what the Clown meant, the sound of footsteps brought everyone's, even Kamui's, attention over to the distance of the White Room, where Photon was walking across the endless expanse towards her, clutching something gently in his right hand. His expression seemed neutral as evidenced by his lips, furher unnerving the blue LRIG as she realized that she still couldn't move whilst her neck was pinned by Chaos Breaker Dragon's scythe. Mayu looked over to the Star-vaders' commander as she smiled gently in his presence.

"The preparations are complete," he spoke "Shall I begin?"

"But of course Photon," she replied "Your 'subject' is waiting here right for you."

The blue LRIG then tried to move her hand to underneath the blade of the scythe, hoping to knock it a little off balance so she could free herself, but a pair of black rings suddenly materialized around both of her wrists and legs, binding them both together as she felt her eyelids being forced up to the point where she couldn't even blink. Photon then opened his hand, revealing what appeared to be translucent pieces of a material she wasn't familiar with, but what greatly disturbed her was that they appeared to be shaped like eyes, the very front of her eyes to be exact.

"W... What are you doing?!" she exclaimed as Photon hovered the 'lenses' up with a small aura of Reverse before slowly pushing them forwards towards the LRIG's eyes.

Unable to stop the Cyberoid's actions or even move her head or close her eyes, Kiyoi could only scream loudly in pain as he began pushing the lenses right onto the very front of her eyes, blinding her as she did so. Kamui couldn't help but even look away at the somewhat gruesome sight, disgusted as evidenced by his disturbed expression that Kiyoi had to endure through this kind of torture after witnessing her friend die at the hands of the very LRIG she had put her trust in. When Kiyoi's screaming had finally ceased, she could close her eyes as she rapidly blinked to try and get her foresight working again, fearing that she had been somehow permanently blinded by the lenses that Photon had just implanted onto the front of her eyes.

When she eventually did, she felt her eyes were stinging a lot, indicating that it would take a long time for her to get used to having to live with her eyes now changed to the way they were now. Outwards, they still appeared to be the same to all who saw her, minus a trickle of blood that leaked from each of her eyelids, a presumed side effect of the sudden installation. She glared up at Mayu, wondering if other LRIGs had somehow gone through similar treatments from her two companions as she had just now.

"You will be granted the power of an LRIG, plus the one that Photon has given you through these lenses," she spoke "Use them to guide your girl to victory, then bring her here. I will always be waiting."

At this point, a window suddenly opened up as Kiyoi found herself being pulled up from the ground and sent flying through it into the dark dimension that lay outside. Before Kamui could relax however, he too found himself being swept up as he cried out aloud, flipping backwards through the air until he caught up to the blue LRIG as Mayu's voice echoed in the distance.

"As you are an LRIG, a new name may be required. Piruluk I believe will do nicely."

And with that, Piruluk clenched one fist as her thoughts now delved deeper into more anger and resentment that she still held towards Remember for her earlier actions.

_I will never forgive her...! Ever!_

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

As the trail of memories ended, Kamui finally regained his sense of vision as he found himself back on the battlefield, still in shock from what Kiyoi had shown him over the past few minutes. He could now see the full picture between Kiyoi, Remember and Sakaguchi and how things had seemingly progressed to the point where the two of them now found themselves. The eerie silent atmosphere of the space still lingered as he looked to see that Tough Boy was now taking a defensive stance before seeing that the will-less Amika was still standing blankly at her side of the field whilst Piruluk's stern gaze was still trailed upon him.

"So you see now Katsuragi," she spoke "All this time, my 'Penetrating Eyes' was actually a power issued by these lenses whenever my Selector activates a Peeping Analyze card. Photon claims that it is a 'parting gift' for me not being able to see how Sakaguchi felt, before her demise at Remember's hands."

The Nova Grappler user didn't know what to say to her at this instance, still trying to comprehend all of the details that were shown to him through his brief trip across the LRIG's memories of that day.

"Ever since that day," Piruluk continued "I have used countless Selectors in my attempts to claim my revenge on Remember for what she did to Sakaguchi, who never did anything to incite that atrocity, each attempt ending with their worthless wishes crushed and broken. But right now, Amika has proven to be the one that I will use to obtain my 'new' wish. If I must play with Mayu's little game to reach Remember, any sacrifices that I make will contribute to that cause. I cannot heal Amika's mother when she becomes an Eternal Girl, therefore she will be another sacrifice to make this possible."

"Are you insane?!" Kamui exclaimed in shock "You don't care if you kill Amika's mom to get another shot at Remember?!"

"Someone such as yourself would not understand the hardship of one such as myself," the blue LRIG replied in her monotone "You fight carefreely in your little realm, having no experience in the cruel meanings of reality. You were a fool to think that you could change anything in this world or the hidden laws that envelop it."

The Nova Grappler user could only grit his teeth as he watched the 'third eye' on Kiyoi's forehead illuminate once again in a bright pink colour as Amika noiselessly and unconditionally began her next turn. Upon seeing what cards her Selector held in her hand through this power, the blue LRIG held up one hand above her as she gave her next command.

"Grow," she spoke.

The swirling dark red aura of Reverse enveloped her, changing the appearance of her garb slightly as two more crystal wings materialized behind her back. Two of Amika's cards then suddenly hovered from her hand over towards the blue LRIG as the one on her left revealed itself as Swift Advance.

"Superior Grow!" Kiyoi called as her appearance was altered once more, this time with a pair of red glasses materializing over her along with a golden star shaped brooch with a green jewel embedded in it at the very top of her dress, just below her neck. Her eyes flashed red for a brief instance as one of Kamui's cards floated high into the air before shattering and reforming in his Trash Pile to reveal that it was Beast Deity, Brainy Papio, much to his annoyance.

"She's going off it already?!" he moaned.

"Stay cool partner!" Tough Boy called, bringing the cardfighter's attention back to the battle.

Kiyoi however remained unfazed by what was happening as the next card beside her revealed itself to be a second copy of Swift Advance, indicating that she was about to perform a Superior Grow. Amika took out two cards from her LRIG deck, the first of which had itself covered in the overflowing aura of Reverse.

"By taking Code Piruluk ACRO from my LRIG Deck and stacking it beneath my form," the LRIG spoke "I can use my second Swift Advance to Grow into this form as a Level 4 LRIG."

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Kamui as he could only watch the dark aura swirling around Kiyoi before pouring straight into her body.

"Oh pitch black darkness and cold desire of vengeance!" she called "Meld your conflicting powers onto thyself and descend upon this unfulfilled world! Superior Cross Grow!"

From the darkness, the blue LRIG emerged with her garb resembling mostly that seen in her Level 5 form, Code Piruluk ACRO, but with several differences as far as anyone could tell. The white colouring on the main dress remained as it was before whilst the rest of the garb retained a much darker shade of blue with colours of black and dark red splashed onto it. Several pointed metal plates dangled from the bottom edge of the garb like razor sharp knives as a black ring materialized behind her back, glowing in the ominous dark red aura of Reverse that now flowed through her. Her stained black eyes opened up once again as she opened her right hand, a staff similar to the one she wielded in her Level 5 form appearing, only the large orb was replaced by what appeared to be a smaller sized standard Lock.

"Right now, I am... Black Heart Avenger, Code Piruluk Яeverse!"

"No way...!" Kamui gasped "She's already at Level 4?!"

He didn't have time to remain in awe however as he looked ahead to see two Code Heart VACs appear on the left and right SIGNI spaces, staring off against their opponents in front of them. The one on Kiyoi's left fired a large blue projectile that struck another card out of Kamui's hand, this time being Beast Deity, Solar Falcon.

"PICK UP..." she continued as the Spell card revealed itself "I discard your entire hand, then both of us draw equal to the number discarded."

The Nova Grappler user groaned as he placed his remaining three cards into the Trash Pile before drawing the same amount from his deck whilst Amika emotionlessly threw away her remaining cards, immediately drawing the same amount as he did. Tidal Assault then appeared in the center SIGNI space as the aura of Reverse then began to spread across the Selector's side of the field.

"I thought you would have learned to stay out of my affair with Remember," Kiyoi spoke harshly as she hovered into the air "However, it appears telling you that isn't enough. Attack!"

Kamui could only look down to the cards he held, trying to make a decision on what to do next. He shook his head, affirming that he wasn't ready to take action against the blue LRIG just yet. Both Code Heart VACs made easy work of dispatching both Max Beat and Desert Gator who were banished after taking might hooks from their large fists. Tidal Assault then slashed down the front of Tough Boy, revealing Kamui's first Life Cloth as Yamatano Drake, much to his disappointment. He then looked up just in time to see Piruluk hovering high into the air and holding up her staff above her, charged by the energies of the black ring that was behind her back as she then immediately pointed it right in his direction.

Large chunks of ice then suddenly materialized and started crashing down towards the Nova Grappler user's side of the field as Tough Boy was knocked down and buried under a few whilst Kamui gasped in panic and resorted to leaping and ducking to avoid being struck by the more leeway of the projectiles. He quickly moved to the side to avoid being grazed by the final one as he ran back to his table to find Weapons Dealer, Govannon as his next Life Cloth.

"All right!" he called as he saw the Life Burst being triggered "I draw 1 card!"

Kiyoi seemed hardly fazed by this as she hovered back down to Amika's side of the field, knowing that she had done everything she could possibly do for the turn. She had no concern plastered anywhere within her expression, now that she had managed to secure a somewhat dominating lead in this battle.

**End of Turn 2**

**Kamui vs Kiyoi**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 5**

**Current LRIGs - Tough Boy : Black Heart Avenger, Code Piruluk** **Яeverse**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Heart VAC - Tidal Assault - Code Heart VAC**

**Ener - 4 : 0**

As Tough Boy dug itself free from the ice that it had been buried under, Kamui let out a brief sigh of relief as he drew his next two cards to begin his turn. Looking amongst them and back to his Ener Zone, he decided that Ener Charging would not be worth it at this point, especially given the overwhelming advantage that Piruluk now held over him.

"Let's go!" he called as he picked out a card from his LRIG deck "The great Kamui grows Beast Deity, Damned Leo!"

Tough Boy vanished in a flash of light as a black lion, covered in red and yellow armour appeared onto the battlefield, standing on its two hind legs as if it were human or some other human-like being. He then looked over the other cards that he held in his hand for the time being, trying to make a decision.

 _Right now, I can't overpower her two Code Heart VACs..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _If that's the case...!_

In front of Damned Leo appeared Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos who immediately took to the offensive by charging towards Tidal Assault and knocking it out with a mighty punch to his face. As the Aqua Force unit disappeared, Piruluk remained unfazed as Damned Leo roared loudly before unleashing a ball of fire from its jaws that came hurtling towards her. She stayed motionless, even as the attack hit her square on as she observed the next Life Cloth through her eyes as Code Art KEY, causing Amika to unconditionally draw a card without making a sound.

"White Tiger's skill!" Kamui called "I Up Hatred Chaos and attack again!"

Hatred Chaos' eyes flashed for a brief instance as it ran across the battlefield and this time landed a mighty kick on the blue LRIG. Piruluk still remained unfazed as she smiled for a moment, just as the unit retreated back to Kamui's field.

"It's your move..." he huffed.

"Naturally," she replied as Code Art KEY materialized between her two Code Heart VACs before she pointed her staff towards it.

"Limit Break!" she declared as a black vanguard circle above her flashed "I Lock KEY!"

A pair of black rings surrounded Code Art KEY before trapping her inside of a black sphere with the same rings encircling it.

"With this, I can activate one of my three new powers."

"Three powers?!" Kamui muttered in surprise.

"Right now I will activate my first ability," she explained "I will Freeze Hatred Chaos and make it so you cannot summon more copies or move it to your Ener Zone during your next turn."

A large column of ice enveloped Hatred Chaos, trapping it inside as the card on Kamui's table was also covered in solid ice that he could not break in the fashion he was familiar with in their previous battle. He gritted his teeth as he looked over towards Amika who still remained emotionless towards him and the battle thus far.

"Hey Amika!" he called "Are you really fine with this?! Don't you care about what happens to your mom?!"

The Selector remained still, not responding to his question as evidenced by her blank eyes and expression. Before Kamui had time to speak any more, both Code Heart VACs had landed a punch each onto Damned Leo who roared out aloud in pain as it fell to its knees. The next two Life Cloths revealed themselves as Brainy Papio and God Eater, Ultimate Sword, much to his annoyance. As Piruluk hovered up into the air, she pointed her staff in his direction once again, this time summoning what appeared to be ice spears as she gazed harshly towards the Nova Grappler user who stared up at her.

"You keep speaking about worthless hope, when you have had no experience in what I and perhaps many have endured," she spoke in a harsher variant of her usual monotone "Someone like you, especially one who has a worthless crush as their wish, would never understand one's feelings of resentment."

And with that, the multiple spears of ice came rushing down towards Kamui and Damned Leo, the latter of which was able to use its firery breath to melt away some of the projectiles. Before the rest of them could strike however, a Servant SIGNI suddenly appeared in front of the two, shielding them from the rest of the barrage as they crashed into the green barrier it projected.

"T3..." Piruluk muttered  _So he has changed his deck slightly. But that still means nothing before me._

"Hey Kiyoi!"

The blue LRIG blinked as she looked to Kamui who had a fist clenched whilst keeping his head down.

"You were right about one thing..." he said "I didn't get that you were like some of the other LRIGs who were Selectors before because your attitude really got on my nerves. You reminded me too much of someone who used to act a lot like you."

"What are you insinuiating?" she muttered, unaware of the person she was being compared to.

"But I totally get why you're mad at Remember!" he continued "If she did the same thing to someone I cared about, I would be angry too! I agree we can't let her get away with this, but how is sacrificing Amika's mom going to change anything?!"

"I already told you," Piruluk replied harshly "Amika like everyone Selector who has wielded me is nothing more than a disposable pawn, as is her wish as well. Someone as obstinate as you has no right to question my actions or my reasons."

Kamui gritted his teeth as he glared towards the LRIG who had been pushing his buttons a little in the midst of their brief argument as he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Would Sakaguchi really be happy if you got rid of Amika's mom just to get revenge?!" he called.

Piruluk's eyes widened in response to his question, seeing a memory of Sakaguchi and her innocent smile flash before her eyes. She was feeling hurt that he would dare even mention Sakaguchi's name in regards to questioning her intentions of claiming her revenge on Remember for killing the latter as well as her lack of care of what happened to the people around her if it came to that.

"How dare you speak about her like that!" she yelled, keeping her angered gaze upon the Nova Grappler user who continued to stare off with her, the aura of Reverse flowing furiously thoughout her body.

"Here I come!" he declared as he drew his next two cards "The great Kamui grows Beast Deity, Ethics Buster!"

Damned Leo vanished in a veil of flames that covered over part of the space on Kamui's side of the field before Ethics Buster itself swung out both of its arms to extinguish the fire and reveal to all its splendor on the field of battle. It gazed over towards Piruluk, instantly recognizing the blue LRIG that was tainted by Reverse, which also stirred something within as evidenced by its low growl.

"So the Clown made a cheap shot on you too," it muttered "But... I haven't forgotten about the last time we've clashed."

"Another child's metal toy," Piruluk spoke in her monotone, still nerved from Kamui's earlier question even if it wasn't visible to all "If dooming you to this power is the method I need to remove you all from my path to Remember, then so be it."

"Kiyoi, I'll definitely beat the Reverse out of you and Amika!" Kamui called "I'll... definitely not let her mom die!"

Upon hearing the words that were just spoken, Piruluk had immediately regained her usual composure and began her previous laugh in what sounded like "Kishishi" which caught his attention.

"Foolish boy," she spoke "Even if your intention is noble, the outcome for Amika's mother has already been decided."

"What are you saying?!" he exclaimed.

"Even if you were to free Amika from Reverse," she spoke "This will officially count as her third loss. Then, what do you think will happen?"

Kamui's eyes widened in horror to the newfound information that he had just learned about, realizing what this could have meant for both Amika's wish and her mother's safety.

"Are you saying that no matter what happens...?!" Ethics Buster muttered.

"That's correct," the blue LRIG spoke "Regardless of what he does, her mother's fate, as part of the sacrifice to confront Remember once more... has been decided. The question that now remains is by whose hands and intentions does she perish by."

Kamui could only turn his gaze towards the reversed Amika, horrified by the circumstances he was now faced with. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was now left with a single choice, one that could very well determine his fate as well as everyone that was around him in this world. And not only were the options not in his favour, but it appeared that whatever decision he made would lead to almost the exact same result. If he won, Amika would have her wish tainted but if lost and Piruluk became an Eternal Girl to grant her wish, he would be trapped in the service of Link Joker once again, just as he was before. And her mother's fate in a very likely stance, regardless of whatever happened, was possibly all but sealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Tough Boy**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 0 Silver  
> Limit: 1  
> LRIG Type: Nova Grappler
> 
>  **Beast Deity, Damned Leo**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Silver  
> Grow Cost: 1 Silver  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Nova Grappler
> 
>  **Weapons Dealer, Govannon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: White  
> Class: Gnome  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Black Heart Avenger, Code Piruluk Яeverse**  
>  Level 5  
> Color: Blue  
> Grow Cost: 3 Blue  
> Limit: 12  
> LRIG Type: Piruluk  
> Effect:  
> (Grow) Choose a card named "Code Piruluk ACRO" from your LRIG Deck and place it underneath your Level 3 LRIG: If you would Grow a Level 4 LRIG, you may pay the cost instead. If you do, this card's Level becomes 4 and its Limit is reduced to 11 the next time you Grow it. These changes last whilst this card remains on the LRIG Zone for your next two turns.  
> [Action] Limit Break (This ability is active whilst you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) Pay 1 Blue and choose 1 of your SIGNI and Lock it: Activate one of the three following effects until the End Phase of this turn;  
> * Choose 1 of your opponent's SIGNI, Freeze it and then Down it if it's in an Up state. During your opponent's next turn, they cannot move that SIGNI to their Ener Zone during their Ener Charge Phase, nor can they summon SIGNI with the same name as that frozen SIGNI.  
> * Activate 1 Blue ARTS from your LRIG deck without paying its Ener cost. If you do, you cannot activate other ARTS or Spells for the rest of this turn.  
> * Activate only if you have already played the other two effects at least once during this game. Freeze as many SIGNI your opponent controls up to the Level of the Locked card and all of your Blue SIGNI gain Lancer for their first attack until end of turn. Until end of turn, this LRIG also gets "[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Blue: At the end of a battle this LRIG attacked whilst your opponent controls a Frozen SIGNI you may pay the cost. If you do, Up this LRIG. You can only use this effect up to the number of Frozen SIGNI your opponent controls and you cannot Up this LRIG through other card effects for the rest of this turn."  
> This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.  
> [Constant]: If you have a Level 3 or greater 《Piruluk》 LRIG other than an LRIG of the same name stacked beneath this card, all of your Blue SIGNI gain +2000 power


	69. Arc 3 - Ride 69: That Firm Resolution

**Link Joker Fight Field**

The air of the space surrounding Kamui and the emotionless Amika went eerily cold as the Nova Grappler user stared down at the surface of the table, trying to make of the situation before him. The Selector, despite being reversed was still under the jurisdiction of the rules of the Selector Battles, meaning that even if he were to defeat her, if only to free her from that power, he would still end up tainting his wish and presumably bringing the worst to befall her mother as a result. At the same time however, he knew if he were to throw the battle, he would end up being reversed himself and with what Kiyoi planned to do about her wish, the same result would apply.

"Amika has already lost twice," Piruluk spoke in her usual monotone "No matter what you attempt, the outcome will always be the same. Regardless of whether her wish is tainted here and now or she becomes an Eternal Girl, her mother will die. That will be all to it."

"Damn it all...!" Kamui growled as he slammed a closed fist onto the table in front of him "Just what am I supposed to do now?!"

He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, trying desperately to think of a solution to the deadlock that he and Amika had now seemingly found themselves trapped in, the stakes already being far too great for either one to end up dismissing completely. Ethics Buster gazed back at the cardfighter, noting his turmoil on the moral implications of what could happen next before staring back at Piruluk, who remained almost as disinterested as she would normally appear.

"How can you be certain that outcome will come true?" it emitted in a vocal tone.

"I already told him," she coldly replied "I have disposed of several Selectors to reach this point. Whilst I may not have been there personally after their losses to witness their tainted wishes, each of my suspicions were already confirmed by Mayu or one of her companions."

The giant Nova Grappler unit's eyes narrowed in response to the LRIG's answer, sensing that there was at least some credible truth to her words just now. Kamui meanwhile was still trying to think around of the danger that was presented before him.

 _There's gotta be a way out of this for both of our sakes!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _Think Kamui! There has to be a loophole or something in what Mayu said to Kiyoi!_

He groaned as he ran the situation through his head again and again, unable to think of a way around the Selector System if it had meant Amika's mother would not die as a result of tainting her wish if it had meant freeing her from Reverse. Ethics Buster clenched a fist as it turned around to face the cardfighter, sensing the discord in the difficult decision that he now had to make.

"Partner, if we don't stop her now, she'll Reverse us and continue to do the same to whoever else is in this world!" it called.

"I know that!" Kamui replied "If only Amika hadn't gotten reversed by Remember...!"

Upon uttering the name of the former LRIG and recalling that Piruluk mentioned that she was the last opponent they faced, a memory suddenly flashed in the back of his mind to the day that he had arrived in this world. And it was something that the blue LRIG had said to both him and Amika on that day before she had left him on his own for her mother.

_I will only warn you and Amika once. For the sake of your wish and safety... do not involve yourselves with Mizushima Kiyoi._

"Wait a second..."

Looking back to his hand, he immediately summoned two Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake onto the field in front of Ethics Buster and alongside the frozen Hatred Chaos who remained trapped in the icy column that enveloped it. Piruluk remained unfazed, not seemingly caring for what Kamui had planned to do next whilst Amika remained motionless, still with a lack of free will from what had happened prior.

"And here's my own ARTS!" Kamui called as he picked out a card from his LRIG deck. The artwork depicted the image of a unit that he had not used in a very long time. "Azure Dragon's Roar! I put White Tiger back under Ethics Buster and double the power of all of my Beast Deities!"

As the eyes of all the heads on both Yamatano Drakes flashed for a brief instance as power from the newly acquired Silver ARTS surged through them, the ice around Hatred Chaos began to crack before shattering all at once. The once frozen Beast Deity leaped into the air and took up an offensive stance, it too receiving a power surge from the ARTS.

"Oh...?" Piruluk murmured quietly to herself, having partially not expected this turn of events.

"Let's go everyone!" the Nova Grappler user declared loudly.

Both Yamatano Drakes unleashed multiple torrents of fire that struck down both Code Heart VACs on Amika's side of the field, banishing the most powerful SIGNI that she had available to her in the entire deck. As Hatred Chaos banished Code Art KEY with a large kick after taking a massive leap across the dark space around the combatants, Piruluk simply gazed ahead to Ethics Buster who was reeling back its right fist and letting out a mighty roar as it swung it forwards towards her. The blue LRIG simply closed her eyes as Servant D2 appeared in front of her, shielding her from the attack much to the unit's annoyance.

"Darn it, I couldn't damage her...!" Kamui muttered as he watched Amika wordlessly draw her next two cards.

As Code Art WTC appeared onto the battlefield, Hatred Chaos was once again trapped inside of a large column of ice which materialized around it. Code Art DEF then joined the SIGNI before using her shield's cross marking to shatter the ice and banish the Beast Deity from the field, much to Kamui's annoyance. Piruluk then pointed her staff at DEF, Locking her inside of a pair of black rings as her eyes became obscured by a flash of a whitish light shade of blue, gazing towards the Nova Grappler user himself.

"This time, I will use my second power," she spoke "I use one Blue ARTS this turn without paying its cost."

"Then you're using...!" Ethics Buster exclaimed, having recalled what had happened in the previous clash.

"It's 'that' card!" Kamui muttered, looking over what he held in his hand.

Indeed, it was as both of them had just feared. Hovering out from Amika's LRIG deck on the aura of Reverse and revealing itself to all was the Peeping Analyze ARTS as evidenced by the rippling visibility of the bright light over Piruluk's eyes.

"I intend to teach you a lesson that hope does not exist in this reality and just as 'she' said, wishes can never come true," she spoke harshly "Perhaps if you weren't so quick to choose your own, you might have a better understanding."

"But you still have to guess!" the Nova Grappler user called as he held out the cards he held "And I'm definitely prepared this time!"

The blue LRIG ignored his response and began analysing her options based on what she had already known of Kamui previously and from what he had already played throughout this battle.

"Earlier, you seemed desperate to find a solution to Amika's dilemma," she continued "However, it seems that you've chosen to already accept her mother's fate."

"No way I'm doing that!" Kamui replied, causing her to raise an eyebrow slightly "I know that I don't want to taint her wish and I know there's still a chance her mom could die, win or lose...! But, that's also got me thinking of something."

As Piruluk continued to remain silent in response with a blank stare, he breathed in for a moment to regain his composure, briefly bringing the attention of Ethics Buster itself back to him.

"Kiyoi, you said that you wanna get revenge on Remember," he began "You even warned me and Amika to stay away from her, but then all of this happened. If you really didn't care about Amika's mom... you would have lost on purpose, right?!"

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"If you really wanted Amika to stay away from Remember... you wouldn't really want her mom to die, right?!" he asked "How do you know that wish would affect Amika's mom right away whilst you've just got your sights set on Remember?!"

"And...?"

"What I believe my partner is saying is... I think you're just saying 'that' because you're scared of losing to us, meaning you'll have to start all over again to get another shot at this Remember!" Ethics Buster declared, pointing one finger from its right hand towards the blue LRIG.

Piruluk didn't appear to be shaken or visibly unnerved by the Battleroid's words at this moment, but the sight of her eyes narrowing was enough to tell that they were enough for her to briefly change her current stance.

"What nerve..." she spoke coldly "I told you once before. Feelings alone would result in your self-destruction and knowing how primitive you have behaved, your fate has already been written. I know your deck and stratagem, therefore it stands to reason that the Level I will declare... is 2."

Upon finishing her declaration, the blue LRIG gazed at the cards Kamui held, a blue aura surrounding his arm and forcing him to turn them around to show them to her. His expression seemed scrutinized as he knew that there was a high chance of her destroying what little defences he had leftover to keep in within the battle as the cards slowly turned over to reveal themselves. As Ethics Buster kept an eye on the cardfighter, it saw his expression suddenly change to a smirk as Piruluk suddenly gasped for a brief instance. She had managed to discard a single copy of Hatred Chaos from his hand through the ARTS effect, but the lineup she saw was not as she had initially predicted.

"Impossible..." she muttered "He had Guards as I suspected... but all of different Levels?! And a white Quintet Wall...?"

"Alright! I'm still in this!" Kamui called as he concealed what wasn't discarded from his remaining cards, now that the ARTS's effect had come to an end. "I suppose you won't bother looking at my wish, even if I don't plan to use some 'Ritual' or whatever to get it myself. Someday, no matter how long it takes... I'll make it to Emi-san, with my own feelings!"

Piruluk clenched her teeth slightly, showing that despite being surprised at the changes that the Nova Grappler user had made to his deck, her composure was still mostly intact and that she intended to keep it this way.

"Because I used Peeping Analyze at no cost... I can no longer use Spells or ARTS for the rest of this turn..." she muttered "But..."

Tidal Assault then materialized in the middle SIGNI column on her side of the field before priming his blades and leaping over a jet of water towards Ethics Buster who shielded its face with its arms. The Battleroid screeched in pain for a moment as Kamui then revealed his next Life Cloth as Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny, the card glowing as it was turned face up.

"Alright! I recover one Life Cloth!" he called as he moved the top card of his deck to the pile.

"Tidal's skill..." Piruluk spoke "I decrease his power and attack Ethics Buster again!"

The Aqua Force unit landed back on his feet, only to leap high into the air once more, this time succeeded in slashing down the front of Ethics Buster, leaving a massive score down the front of its chest.

"Hang in there!" cried Kamui.

"This is nothing...!" the unit replied "I've been through worse! Much worse..."

Its voice had turned bitter at the last two words it said, glaring back towards Piruluk, briefly imaging the form of Chaos Breaker Dragon standing behind her as the aura of Reverse continued to flow through her. *****  Kamui although concerned for the state of his 'partner' knew there was more pressing concerns to worry about as he revealed his next Life Cloth, that being Servant D.

"Yes! Things are starting to shape up now!" he cheered "I Ener Charge!"

Piruluk remained unfazed as she took flight on her darkened crystal wings into the air once more, materializing even more ice spears around her which were pointed in the direction of her two opponents. This time however, larger clusters of ice began to also take form amongst the thinner and sharper spears that were about to be fired. The blue LRIG glared directly at Kamui as she sent all of the projectiles flying towards the other side of the field, Ethics Buster immediately bracing itself for the worst to come before it.

"Come on in, Plume Angel!" he called.

The Royal Paladin unit then appeared in front of Ethics Buster, generating a barrier to shield it from harm as Desert Gator, Govannon, Servant T, Hatred Chaos and Rescue Bunny appeared from the five green circles that were generated behind him. Each of them managed to deflect the icy projectiles with ease as Kamui quickly stepped to his right to avoid being struck by one that was aimed right for him. Ethics Buster looked back for a moment before gazing back at Plume Angel who vanished along with the units she briefly summoned to the defence.

"Being saved by Royal Paladin in this situation..." it muttered to itself as it closed its eyes "Honestly..."

 _This boy..._  Piruluk muttered in her thoughts as she looked over his table _He's gotten fortunate through two Life Bursts and he took advantage of the Quintet Wall mechanic's lack of a colour restriction on the LRIG. Just what is he planning with White Ener in that deck...?_

The Lock that trapped Code Art DEF came undone as her turn immediately came to an end.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kamui vs Kiyoi**

**Hand - 2 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Beast Deity, Ethics Buster :** **Black Heart Avenger, Code Piruluk** **Яeverse**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake - EMPTY - Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake : Code Art WTC - Tidal Assault - Code Art DEF**

**Ener - 4 : 3**

"The great Kamui Ups and draws!"

Kamui immediately got together his next two cards after drawing from his deck and looked over the field before him. Taking out Beast Deity, Desert Gator from his hand and placing it in his Ener Zone, he summoned Brutal Jack into the center SIGNI space. The large black Battleroid appeared between the two Yamatano Drakes as the three of them roared in unison, sending a slight gale across the battlefield. As Ethics Buster took up a stance in preparation for the next attack, the cardfighter looked over to the motionless Amika.

"Amika, can you hear me?!" he called "I'm not giving up on you, Kiyoi or your mom yet!"

Whilst the Selector did not answer or move, this however had managed to get the attention of Piruluk back to him as she kept her harsh gaze trained upon him.

"Why are you ignoring reality...?" she murmured "I already told you that whatever happens, her mother will be sacrificed as a result of her wish."

"There's no way I'm just gonna accept that right away!" the Nova Grappler user replied "Even if it's just a hunch I have... I still won't hold back!"

The LRIG narrowed her eyes as both Yamatano Drakes and Brutal Jack roared loudly as they were about to wage their attacks on the SIGNI she had assembled in front of her. She held out her staff as another card from Amika's LRIG deck revealed itself as Don't Move, the ARTS immediately activating as it did so. Several coils of energy wrapped around Brutal Jack and the Yamatano Drake on Kamui's left, much to his annoyance as the cards downed themselves.

"My other Drake attacks!" he declared.

The Yamatano Drake on his right pointed all of its heads towards Code Art WTC and roared loudly, unleashed a torrent of fire that engulfed the Electric Machine SIGNI, banishing her from the battlefield as the embers flew past a non-interested Piruluk.

"Ethics Buster, throw her for a loop!"

Ethics Buster nodded in response to Kamui's command and dashed across the battlefield towards the blue LRIG, its left claw glowing as it did so. It then leaped high into the air, reeling back that same arm in preparation to land the coming blow.

"Tell me something...! Are you really satisfied with allowing that 'false' power to control you?!" it yelled as it dove down towards Piruluk.

"Quintet Wall," she calmly spoke in response.

In a bright flash, Icefall Dragon materialized in front of her, summoning Code Heart VAC, Servant D2 and Code Art KEY to its aid to block the attack. Ethics Buster growled loudly as its fist crashed into the barrier that was now in front of it, seeing that its attack wasn't doing any damage to its opponent. When the barrier expired, it retreated back to Kamui's side of the field, much to his disappointment as the SIGNI and the Aqua Force unit vanished from sight.

"Come on... No damage again?!" he groaned as he clenched an open fist, knowing that there was nothing more he could do this turn.

Piruluk kept her eyes closed as Amika once again drew another cards from her deck, remaining otherwise motionless as she did so and not emoting a sound or a word. The 'third eye' on the LRIG's forehead illuminated brightly as she raised her staff into the air, a black Vanguard circle flashing above her as she did so.

"Limit Break!" she declared "I Lock Tidal Assault to activate my third and final effect!"

Once again, a pair of black rings surrounded the Aqua Force unit as he screamed loudly in pain before being Locked. As Ethics Buster narrowed its eyes towards its opponent, she then pointed her staff towards Kamui's side of the field. To his shock, both of his Yamatano Drakes were encased inside two separate columns of ice, indicating that she had somehow frozen all of his SIGNI at once. He looked down at the table to see the cards covered over in a sheet of ice as well to confirm that suspicion.

"All of my SIGNI gain Lancer when attacking a Frozen SIGNI," Piruluk spoke "And I can Stand up to the number of frozen SIGNI."

"You can Stand because you froze my SIGNI?!" he cried.

"It is over," she replied harshly "You couldn't change fate, just as I said. You'll be reversed because of my efforts, Amika's mother shall be sacrificed and I will come one step closer to settling things with Remember myself."

As she finished those words, Code Art JV appeared to the far left of her formation before another ARTS hovered out of Amika's LRIG deck. It revealed itself as the red coloured ARTS, One Rule, Two Birds that the Selector had used to defeat Kamui previously. A fiery aura enveloped Piruluk as she gazed upon Kamui and Ethics Buster with a harsh glare.

"It's the end of this pointless struggle," she spoke "You've learned nothing and as such... even if you are saved from Reverse, the same result will apply to you as it would to Amika if you won."

"Hey Kiyoi!"

The blue LRIG narrowed her gaze as Kamui looked down on the table before reaching out for one of the cards in his LRIG deck and looking at it closely.

"If you think I haven't learned anything... think again!" he replied as he revealed the ARTS Doping "I power up my left Yamatano Drake!"

As the card illuminated brightly, the eyes of the frozen Yamatano Drake on his left flashed, indicating that it had powered enough to endure the next attack that Code Art DEF would throw its way, much to the Electric Machine SIGNI's annoyance as evidenced by her expression. In retaliation, Code Art JV leaped into the air and unleashed two large blue coloured beams from the floating appendages on either side and struck the other Yamatano Drake. The column shattered in a large explosion, sending large chunks of ice flying across the whole battlefield.

Several of them crashed into Ethics Buster who screeched in pain as Kamui's next Life Cloth revealed itself as Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos. Before the Nova Grappler user had time to assess the situation properly, he looked ahead to see a large chunk of ice that was coming in his direction. Unable to react in time, the large piece crashed right into his abdomen, causing him to cry out in immense pain from the impact as well as dropping all of the cards that were being held in his hand. Falling to his knees and clutching where he had just been struck, Ethics Buster looked back in utter concern and began to run over towards his table.

"Worthless effort," Piruluk spoke in her monotone.

The reversed blue LRIG then immediately hovered up and took flight on her darkened crystal wings in pursuit of the Battleroid, materializing multiple spears of ice around her. Ethics Buster glanced behind itself and came to a stop, turning around to intercept the attack whilst standing right in front of Kamui's table, in the hope of shielding him from any more leeway shards of ice like the large piece that had struck him. Piruluk then unleashed the multiple projectiles around her at the Beast Deity, forcing it to shield its arms as it cried out in pain, falling onto one knee as it did so.

"E... Ethics Buster!" cried Kamui.

He winced in pain as he struggled back onto his feet after placing his dropped cards face down onto the edge of his table, clutching his stomach as he did so. He looked down to see that his final crushed Life Cloths were Brutal Jack and Servant D2, clenching his teeth in annoyance at the lack of Life Bursts that were present. The Nova Grappler user looked up the tall form of Ethics Buster, noticing the gashes in its armour caused by the endless attacks it had to endure from both Piruluk along with the SIGNI and units Amika had commanded in her deck. The blue LRIG hovered high in the air above the two of them, materializing even more spears and large chunks of ice in preparation for the next attack.

"No Life Bursts," she murmured as she briefly gazed upon the table "Now vanish."

"Not yet...!"

She blinked for an instance as Ethics Buster rose back up onto its feet whilst Kamui looked over the cards he had previously dropped, the two of them now ready to take one final stand in the most dire of situations throughout this battle. He clenched his teeth before gazing up at Piruluk, now seeing that she was prepared to finish the two of them off along with any chance of saving both her and Amika once and for all.

"Don't you see you're just doing what Remember wants you to!" he yelled "Would Amika be happy that her mom died just so you get revenge?!"

"And why do you still persist on that?" she asked coldly.

"You're just gonna do the same thing to her as what she did to Sakaguchi!"

As soon as the Nova Grappler user had uttered that name once again however, Piruluk's gaze suddenly wavered, if only for a brief moment as the memory of Remember's cruel act flashed before her again. Regaining her focus once more, she clenched her left fist and twirled her staff, summoning multiple large chunks of ice alongside, her furious gaze now trailed upon Kamui. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Amika's otherwise emotionless gaze wavered for a brief instance, almost as if the Nova Grappler user's words to Piruluk were having an effect on her as well.

"Again...!" she growled under her breath "You say that name... when you know nothing about Sakaguchi!"

"I know enough that she's important to you!" he replied "But if you were looking to kill Amika's mom just to make yourself happy... you wouldn't have bothered trying to win against Remember or even warn me and Amika about her, right?!"

"You're incorrect...!" the blue LRIG yelled "I...!"

Before she could begin her next sentence, she clutched her head in pain as memories from her last stand against Remember and the Link Joker units she commanded began flashing through her head. She remembered her saying to herself that she wouldn't allow her hated nemesis to bring despair to Amika or her family before the memory changed back to the day where she and the Selector left Kamui to their own accord. This was of course not without the prior warning that she had given them, as the Nova Grappler user had briefly reminded her of. As the flashbacks ended, she clenched her teeth in seething fury and pointed her staff straight towards the seemingly defenceless Ethics Buster who shifted its stance a little.

"Unforgivable...!" she growled as the aura of Reverse intensified around her "How dare you... insult her memory like that!"

All of the shards and chunks of ice then immediately came hurtling down towards Ethics Buster as it braced itself for the worst possible outcome to befall it. Kamui however was prepared this time for the offensive.

"Guard!" he declared, briefly cringing in pain from his earlier injury.

Servant T materialized onto the field once again as she projected a barrier large enough to send all of the icicles crashing into it alone, the sharp projectiles shattering on contact as they did so. A surge of black flames from the effects of both Reverse and presumably the side effects of One Rule, Two Birds enveloped the reversed Piruluk, making it clear that she was now almost beyond the point of reasoning.

"This will end it!" she declared as she pointed down her staff and flew down towards her target "DISAPPEAR, KAMUI!"

"Not gonna happen!" the Nova Grappler user replied as he placed down Servant D.

As the guard SIGNI materialized in front of Ethics Buster, creating another barrier in front of the weakened Beast Deity, Piruluk smashed the 'Lock' of her staff into it as hard as she could. But it was to no avail as she found that her attack was having no effect on any of Servant D's own powers whilst the unit she was protecting looked back at its opponent with a forlong gaze. The blue LRIG scowled deeply as she retreated back to Amika's side of the field, the Lock around Tidal Assault coming undone to signal the end of her turn.

 _Wait... why am I feeling this pressured?!_  she ranted within her thoughts _I have three Guards of my own and three Life Cloths... Katsuragi's fate has already been sealed._

Kamui sighed in relief in that he was able to keep Ethics Buster safe for another turn to give him one final chance of determining the battle's outcome once and for all. He took a deep breath as he recalled everything he had been considering in his options up to this point in the battle, even factoring in the supposed 'determined' outcome for Amika's mother in regards to whether or not the Selector's wish was tainted. At this point, he once again recalled a memory that he had of the subject at hand.

**Flashback**

On the previous night where Aichi and Kai's battle had come to an abrupt end, whilst the Kagero user was alone in his room as a result of what had happened previously, everyone was gathered at the kitchen table in thought over the situation. Or at least, almost all of them. Kamui himself was still pondering about everything the group had told him about the Selector Battles which Chiyori had left out in her battle with him. Everyone around him knew now that he was concerned for Amika considering the state of her wish and what consequences it could have on her mother if she were to have it tainted. At the same time though, that did raise a bit of a curious question in regards to the subject itself.

Looking over to Ruko who sat beside Aichi, he recalled the cardfighter he referred to as 'onii-san' or 'big bro' at times had told him about how the Selector's LRIGs were the very first Mayu had created in her imagination before the Star-vaders had assisted her in the physical construction of the Selector Battles. Seeing that Tama and Yuki's cards were on the table beside him, he felt now was the time to ask a question that had been bugging him since the end of his previous battle.

"Hey... Yuki was it?" he pondered.

"What is it, Katsuragi?" she replied.

"You know all about whatever goes on in these battles?" the Nova Grappler user asked.

"It's about Amika's wish, I presume," the girl of black spoke to which he nodded "If her mother is indeed ill and this Selector is aiming to save her through this wish... then a tainted wish would definitely affect Amika's connection to her in the least."

"Then... do you know what will happen to her mother if that happens?" asked Ruko.

"I cannot tell," Yuki answered "I only know from how tainted wishes work in that they definitely affect the Selector depending on what kind of wish they made. I haven't seen any other people involved with those wishes affected directly because of them."

Kamui sighed for a brief instance, having expected that a vague answer was all he was going to get in regards to the topic he had at hand. Now pondering on the subject as well, Ruko suddenly remembered something from her initial run of the Selector Battles with Tama by her side.

"That reminds me..." the Selector breathed "When I tried to touch Hitoe when her wish was tainted, those sparks only seemed to be flying off her."

"Tama remembers that!" Tama called out "Tama didn't sense anything strange with Ru before that!"

"So there's a chance we could still do something for Amika's mom if something like that happens to her?!" asked Naoki.

"I'm still uncertain as to the exact conditions," Yuki answered "But if her wish to save her mother does get tainted... the only thing I could suggest doing is preventing her from making contact with her ill mother until she recovers, that is, if she is still alive. Even so... the chances of her possibly dying immediately as a result of losing could still be very likely."

**Present**

Recalling the last of Yuki's words to the group on that night, Kamui looked over to the Selector in question, seeing that her otherwise emotionless gaze was slightly wavering, presumably as a result of Piruluk losing her temper at him on the previous turn as well as some of the restraint she had kept over her. Ignoring the pain that he still felt in his abdomen from the leeway ice fragment that struck him, he knew that he had to make a decision that even he still had uncertainty with carrying out, given the possible risk that came with it.

"Just hang on a little longer Amika!" he called "I'll get through to you and Kiyoi on this turn!"

"You should cease your worthless prattle," the blue LRIG interrupted bluntly "Endless despair... false hope... playful deceit... That is all what awaits her mother and she should already realize that it is futile throwing yourself away for a single life that will pass away anyway."

"Then is that what you really thought when you were trying to save this Sakaguchi?!" Ethics Buster questioned fiercely.

Piruluk raised her eyebrows in response to the Nova Grappler unit's question, wondering what it was that it and Kamui were trying to tell her at this very moment.

"You said you were always trying to go about things alone from your memory!" the cardfighter continued "You just had some rotten luck that Remember had other plans for your friend, but that's no excuse to take it out all out on Amika or her mom!"

The blue LRIG remained unfazed at first, struggling to keep her composure as she glared at the Nova Grappler user, thinking of what to say next to him. Before she could however, everything around her seemingly faded away as more memories flashed before her eyes. This time, they were various memories depicting the times she had remembered Sakaguchi Ayumi being around her, with her innocent smile, trying to befriend the girl that was now trapped within the very power the Star-vaders commanded. The first image she saw was Sakaguchi trying to get her into the game of Wixoss, promptly declaring that "I've made my decision! I won't stop until you played Wixoss with me!". The second image Piruluk experienced was when she in a fit of anger was not paying attention to her surroundings as she stumbled onto a road, until it was already too late.

Looking up at the truck that was speeding straight towards her, knowing that she could not leap to the other side in time, she felt herself being pushed there as her eyes trailed to her right. Time seemed to slow down as she witnessed Sakaguchi shove her to safety, just as the front of the truck collided with her body. The memories that Piruluk was seeing once again was causing sparks to fly out from her eyelids, presumably having some effect on the lenses that Photon had 'given' her. Opening up her eyes once more, she could see an afterimage of Sakaguchi herself seemingly standing in front of her SIGNI formation on the battlefield.

"S... Sakaguchi...?" she breathed.

The imaged Sakaguchi then turned around to face her 'friend', a hint of disappointment seemingly present in her expression as her eyes were shadowed out of view from the way her head was gazing. The afterimage then began to fade away, as the blue LRIG then tried to reach out to her.

"W... Wait..." she breathed, now seeing the image in front of her disappear "I..."

Kamui simply stared at the seemingly broken Piruluk, initially confused as to why as she was seeming talking to herself as he did not witness the afterimage at all during her brief trip through her memories. It wasn't until he heard her mention Sakaguchi's name did he immediately realize what was going on, the aura of Reverse around her seemingly growing slightly weaker from what was happening. Taking a deep breath and drawing two cards to begin his next turn, he placed Solar Falcon into his Ener Zone before taking it and two other Silver cards he had there, a bright glow coming out from the LRIG deck.

"Go! Burning Fire! Roaring Thunder!" he declared "The great Kamui Crossbreak Grows Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme!"

In a bright flash of neon green light, Ethics Buster began to change into its strongest form once again as evidenced by the extra armour and the floating bits that now hovered around it. As soon as the transformation had been completed, it landed back onto the 'ground' of the space with a loud thud that was enough to shake the area. Amika although still stripped of her free will was able to emote a silent and slow gasp of some kind as she gazed upon the familiar evolved Battleroid in all of its defining glory as it took up a stance in preparation for battle.

"So you're using that form again..." Piruluk muttered, having seemingly recovered a bit of her lost composure "It seems that I was correct in you learning nothing."

"I already told you, I'm not the same person you beat before!" Kamui replied "And I'm about to show you that now!"

After Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos materialized onto the empty spot on the far right of the Nova Grappler user's formation, the blue LRIG seemingly gazed at Ethics Buster, having been more than familiar with its tactics, wondering why her opponent was even bothering to use the same tactics from before that she endured. Nothing was seemingly out of the ordinary, this being the same old strategy she had overcome before.

"Wait..." she murmured, looking back at Kamui's table "Those white cards!"

"Let's go!" Kamui called out loud as he picked out another card from his LRIG deck, this time being a White coloured ARTS "I use Arc Destruct!"

As the card illuminated brightly, a white coloured aura mixed with the neon green that already enveloped Ethics Buster, seemingly strengthening the evolved Battleroid in preparation for the next attack.

"You ready to do this partner?!" it asked in anticipation.

"You got it!" the cardfighter replied "I release Brutal Jack's restraint and Hatred Chaos attacks!"

Piruluk remained still, knowing that Ethics Buster's Cross Grow bonus was more than enough to allow Hatred Chaos to overpower Code Art JV who tried to land a kick on the charging Beast Deity. In response, it moved to the left swiftly before uppercutting the Electric Machine, banishing her from the field.

"Ethics Buster attacks!" Kamui declared, downing the card "Break Grow skill, I Up Jack and Hatred Chaos and I choose not to activate Ethics Buster's Limit Break!"

"Guard!"

The blue LRIG declared this out aloud, causing Amika to unconditionally use Emerald Shield, Paschal from her hand to block the attack. Ethics Buster swung its right fist right into the barrier, throwing the Aquaroid off balance before smacking it to the side with its left fist. A white aura surrounded it as Tough Boy and Damned Leo's cards were Exceeded from beneath it and sent to Kamui's LRIG Trash, allowing him to Up the giant Battleroid.

"I already told you... Hope is nothing more than an illusion!" Piruluk shouted "I am already aware of Arc Destruct's properties and that you can attack with Ethics Buster two more times, but your efforts will not come to pass!"

"We'll see about that!" Kamui replied "Go, Jack and Hatred!"

Whilst Brutal Jack unleashed a giant orange laser from its jaws towards Tidal Assault which could do nothing to block the assault, being vaporized in an instant as it made contact, Hatred Chaos leaped high into the air towards Piruluk who held out her staff in front to reduce the damage of the blow. Her next Life Cloth revealed Code Heart VAC, triggering its Life Burst. Kamui remained unfazed as he simply threw the last card he held into his Trash Pile before looking down to Ethics Buster's card.

 _This is it…_  he murmured in his thoughts  _So it could be Amika's mom… or this world. I don't wanna be labelled as a murderer if her mom does die… But if I don't stop Amika and Kiyoi now, there may not even be a world for them or anyone to live in…!_

Ignoring the slight welling feeling that was increasing in his heart by the second from the potential weight of the decision, he looked back to Piruluk and Amika, doing the best he could to battle like he always had before.

"Go, Ethics Buster!" he declared.

As Ethics Buster charged towards Piruluk with its left fist clenched, Emerald Shield, Paschal appeared once again between the reversed LRIG and Ethics Buster's right fist, blocking the attack with the greatest of ease through the barrier he projected before disappearing moments afterwards.

"This is the end..." she murmured.

"Not yet! Arc Destruct and then the Break Grow skill!" Kamui replied "I stand Jack and Hatred Chaos again and get another attack step with them!"

This time, it was Piruluk's turn to be shocked at what was happening as she could only watch as both Brutal Jack and Hatred Chaos stood back up, preparing to attack once again.

"Wha... That skill can be used more than once this way?!" she gasped.

"You've got that right!" Ethics Buster boldly proclaimed "And once I attack you after those two for the last time...!"

"Then... between the Break Grow skill and Arc Destruct..." the LRIG breathed in horror "He's managed to acquire another five attacks?!"

Kamui nodded briefly to confirm her suspicions, briefly wincing in pain once again as he clutched the part of his abdomen where the earlier injury had landed for a brief instance. He then looked up to the tall and proud form of Ethics Buster who hovered into the air, preparing to do battle for the last time when the next LRIG attack step would come to his cardfighter. Piruluk, having realized that there was nothing she could do to stop the coming assault that was about to befall her could only stare up at Ethics Buster, briefly dropping her staff as she did so, the Lock on it smashing into pieces at it hit the 'ground'. When this happened, the pinkish aura that was previously around Amika began to fade away along with the dullness to her eyes. Tears began falling from her eyelids to the floor for a brief instance, seemingly recalling everything about the stakes that Piruluk and Remember had laid out to her previously.

"I... I've failed..." the blue LRIG murmured, the black colour in her eyes fading out "I couldn't save Sakaguchi... nor could I even save Amika's mother..."

Kamui breathed in for a moment as he looked over to Piruluk, wondering if he was starting to break through the power of Reverse to her and the Selector that was on the far side of the field. As he reached out for Brutal Jack's card, he suddenly found the welling feeling in his heart course through him again, this time with the same amount of pressure he felt when the reversed LRIG had laid out the 'deadlock' that was in effect to him.

"Partner..."

He looked up for a brief instance to hear that it was Ethics Buster itself who had called out to him.

"Even if 'that' does happen... we won't turn our backs on you," it spoke "In the end... sometimes to do the right thing, we've just gotta do everything we can."

"... I got it," the Nova Grappler user replied, not in the usual energetic mood he was in, having accepted that what would happen next would be determined solely by his own hands.

Brutal Jack roared loudly as it unleashed another orange coloured laser that crashed straight into Piruluk, causing her to scream in pain as the blast pushed her further back towards Amika's table. Using her 'third eye' forehead marking, she immediately saw that the next Life Cloth was Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, the Life Burst being useless as she had one Life Cloth whilst Kamui had none. As got up, she was too late to see Hatred Chaos land a large kick right into her stomach, causing her to gasp in pain whilst the shockwave destroyed part of the black ring that was behind her back.

"Now to see what happens next..." Kamui murmured as he placed two fingers onto Ethics Buster's card "Let's go Ethics Buster! The great Kamui's last strongest attack!"

Upon downing the card, Brutal Jack and Hatred Chaos' cards upped themselves to indicate that even if the attack was blocked now, they would be more than enough to finish the battle there and now. Piruluk could only stare at the tall form of Ethics Buster as it dove down towards her, closing her eyes in frustration to accept the inevitable outcome that was about to befall both her and Amika. Knowing this was his last shot of ending things here and now, Kamui looked back towards the pair, hoping his words this time would be enough to break the spell that they were cursed by.

"Wake up! Amika! KIYOI!" he yelled.

As if his words had acted as a trigger of some sort, Piruluk's eyes suddenly returned to their fully normal appearance as she looked forward amongst the neon green glow that was emitting very brightly from Ethics Buster to see that a figure both seemingly and suddenly appeared from in front of Kamui. This girl was one that the blue LRIG had already been more than acquainted with throughout her time prior to the Selector Battles and the one person that she had felt she had failed all along, for more reasons than one.

 _Sakaguchi… I'm sorry..._  she breathed within her thoughts as the figure representing Sakaguchi vanished immediately.

When this happened, Ethics Buster stretched out its arms and legs with a triumphant roar as the floating bits around the Battleroid shot out several neon green lasers that struck and engulfed the LRIG in a series of small explosions. The black ring behind her cracked in several places before shattering into pieces and the lenses in her eyes flew out with small trickles of blood before also shattering in the brilliant neon green light. That in turn caused Reverse to flow out of both the LRIG and the formerly emotionless Amika, both of whom who cried out from the force of the power being drained right out of her as both the Reverse markings on her cheek and the card representing Piruluk's reversed form vanished in burning red embers.

Kamui shook all over for a moment, knowing that the battle was finally over and that hopefully, Reverse would have left both Piruluk and Amika for good. But the question that remained now was at what cost? He knew that the LRIG, even though she was reversed, was indeed correct. The Selector had already lost to Remember, marking it as her second loss and right now, he had contributed to the third. Before he could even contemplate on what could have happened now, he looked over to the far side of the space to see Piruluk, no longer stained by Reverse struggling back up onto her knees and looking over to Amika who was unconscious.

"Kiyoi!" he called as he ran past Ethics Buster who simply stared on at the sight from where it was hovering.

As he was about to pass Amika's table, Kiyoi looked over towards him and held out one hand as a motion for him to stop.

"H... hand me the Peeping Analyze card... quickly!" she called as she fell back onto her knees from her lack of strength.

Kamui, though unsure of what she was trying to tell him did not think twice before picking out the aforementioned card from the table and throwing it towards her. Though the card landed a little ways in front of her, the LRIG quickly picked it up as she was illuminated in a faint blue aura as her eyes lit up as she gazed towards the unconscious Amika who had remained motionless since the final attack. After a few moments, her tensed expression suddenly loosened as she let out a silent breath of relief for whatever reason she had on her mind. She then looked back to Kamui who was staring down at the space, wondering if he had made the right decision in what he had just done.

"Why are you about to cry…?" she murmured, her monotone having returned to her usual mannerism.

"You're one to talk!" he snapped, briefly clenching his right fist "I just saved you two from Reverse and Amika's wish is...! Because of that… how I can I face everyone right now, especially Aichi onii-san… after I might have just killed…"

"That won't happen."

Kamui blinked for a moment in response to the blue LRIG's interruption, wondering what she had just meant when it was seemingly clear that Amika's wish was indeed tainted.

"Amika isn't aware of it herself," she explained "But when she lost to Remember, before we were reversed… I used the power I had then in an attempt to change her heart's desire, which in turn changed her wish without anyone even realizing it. I was interrupted before I could properly finish, but it appears I managed to affect her heart enough so that her wish would be change on its own."

"Then… what did Amika's wish change to?!" Ethics Buster demanded.

"Before we were reversed," she murmured "It appears I was able to change it... to her wanting to lose her mother…"

"Wait, would this tainted wish would mean…"

"The exact opposite… With that, it should hopefully be impossible for her to lose her mother because of her own hands whilst she remains in care."

Kamui did everything he could to prevent his jaw from dropping over the fact that Amika had been very lucky that Piruluk had succeeded in saving her mother for the moment at the very last minute. He wanted to rant over the fact that he had seemingly been panicking over what was almost nothing but following the risk of Reverse this entire time, but given that the LRIG had no knowledge of her success in her last ditch effort until the conclusion to their battle, even he knew that this wasn't the time to be acting annoyed. Before he could comment on the whole matter now that it was behind them, he looked back to Piruluk who was looking down at herself, surrounded by a white aura.

"Good grief. Passionate feelings…" she muttered to herself, smiling bitterly afterwards "I didn't think they would hold that much power on their own…"

"Kiyoi," said Kamui "What's gonna happen to you?"

He stared on to see that although she had acknowledged his concern towards her at this moment, she believed that he may already figure out the answer.

"I finally understand…" she spoke, closing her eyes "The Sakaguchi I loved… would surely get angry if I told her about all this revenge and Reverse."

She then reopened them and struggled back up onto her feet, treading carefully towards Kamui in an effort to keep her balance.

"Kamui… I know you have your own score to settle against Remember," she murmured "That's why… I'm entrusting everything to you. I'm not requesting for you to continue my intended revenge, but I want you to stop her. For all the people that have been hurt by her and the units that were stolen by her hands. If she discovers that things did not go as we initially thought, she'll likely 'finish' what she thought would happen, by any means necessary."

"Huh?"

Piruluk then leaned towards his left ear and began whispering quietly into it, causing him to remain still as absorbed the information that she was telling him at this very instance. As soon as she had finished after a long few moments however, he immediately gasped, now understanding why it was important that she had whispered all of this to him instead of speaking out aloud.

"Wait... you're thinking she might do that?!" he exclaimed.

"I'm not certain if she is listening at this instance as I think she is, but you must hurry," she spoke "Once she discovers that all is not as she expected, especially with Amika's mother still in a vulnerable state as Sakaguchi was..."

"You don't need to tell me twice!" Kamui replied "I'll get there and stop her myself if she tries to do anything!"

Piruluk didn't change her expression, but the glint in her eyes was enough for anyone to tell that she was somewhat relieved that the Nova Grappler user was now understanding how dire the circumstances could be now and that she was now putting all of her faith in him. It was a bitter pill for her to swallow, given the rough quips and harsh comments exchanged between the two of them and the fact he would be the last person for her to give this kind of request. But now that he had gone out of his way to save her and Amika, even understanding the relationship between her and Sakaguchi Ayumi, she felt that maybe this was the right thing for her to do. As the glow around her intensified, she faded away from the battlefield, much to Kamui's surprise.

"I've already whispered everything you need to know," her voice echoed "I'm counting on you... Katsuragi."

"You got it Kiyoi!" Kamui called as the battlefield went black "I'll save Amika's mom, for both of your sakes!"

* * *

**City Streets**

When reality set itself all around them, Kamui hurried over to Amika's unconscious body and caught it just before she hit the ground, the now empty LRIG card that formerly housed Piruluk now dropping to the pavement. He knew there wasn't much time before Remember would suspect that something was indeed off about what the presumed result of the now changed tainted wish would occur and would be looking to do something about it to torment both Amika and Piruluk by whatever twisted scheme she had in mind for them. Looking to a nearby bench, he heaved her over to it and laid her down, hoping that it wouldn't be too long before would have recovered from the experience she had gone through.

"Kamui!"

His ears suddenly twitched as he looked behind him to see Hitoe running over to where he was. The Selector gasped slightly as soon as she saw Amika, recognizing her from the time she helped her carry Kai to the hospital after he had been previously wounded by Akira. Midoriko and Yuzuki looked out from their cards towards the latter, curious as to why she was like this.

"Hey... what happened to her...?" the green LRIG breathed.

"Do you any of you know where the hospital is?!" Kamui asked desperately.

"Um... about 5 minutes away from where we are now in that direction," Hitoe murmured, pointing just ahead in the direction of where one of the pathways exited from the park "What is...?"

"I don't have time to explain, but I need you to keep an eye on Amika for me!" he exclaimed as he began to run off.

"Wait Kamui!" called Yuzuki "What the heck's going on?!"

"I'll talk later! I've gotta hurry there!"

And with that, the Nova Grappler user ran in the direction that Hitoe had pointed to him earlier as fast as he could, hoping that he could reach the hospital and Amika's mother before Remember had realized something was off. Whilst she looked over to the currently unconscious Amika, still unsure of why she was in such a state before she had arrived, Yuzuki and Midoriko just stared on to watch Kamui as he continued running towards the hospital from the direction that their Selector had given him, wondering about what it was he had to go there for.

After rushing across a footbridge that crossed over the busy traffic on the road below, Kamui leaped down the stairs and continued along his way towards the hospital, praying that he at least had some kind of head start over Remember's awareness on the subject. He briefly winced in pain, clutching the part of his abdomen where one of Piruluk's wayward attacks had struck him previously, but ignored it and pressed on.

_Kiyoi... I don't know where you've gone now... but for you and Amika... I will definitely protect her!_

After finally seeing the familiar red cross on a nearby building in sight, just ahead from where he currently was, he sped up his pace and rushed down the streets, barely managing to avoid bumping into any large crowds of people that were nearly in his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Azure Dragon's Roar**  
>  Color: Silver  
> Cost: 1 Silver, 1 Colourless  
> Limiting Condition: Nova Grappler LRIGs only  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase]: Activate only if you control a Level 3 or greater LRIG with "Beast Deity" in its card name. Double the original power of all SIGNI you control with "Beast Deity" in their card names and if you do, Up all your Downed SIGNI, but you cannot Up your SIGNI with other non-LRIG card effects for the rest of this turn. Then you may choose up to one 《Nova Grappler》LRIG card from your LRIG Trash or LRIG deck and stack it beneath your current LRIG. You cannot activate other ARTS or Spells during the turn you activate this card.


	70. Arc 3 - Ride 70: This Faint Closure I

**The White Room**

Meanwhile in the area where the Selector Battles were born from, Remember slammed a closed fist into the wall of the window where she and Mayu had been previously observing the battle. Her expression was twisted with both annoyance and anger, feeling utterly foolish from not noticing Piruluk's last ditch attempt to 'rewrite' Amika's wish sooner and now the outcome in regards to the Selector's mother would not turn out as she would anticipate it. Or at least, how it would turn out without any possible interference.

"Damn you Kiyoi!" she growled "Do you really think I will let you escape your despair that easily?!"

As if on cue, one of the various gates surrounding a window of the White Room opened up as a strong gale threw an uninterested Piruluk to the floor before it immediately closed up. She absent-mindedly gazed towards Remember who turned around and stormed over to the blue LRIG, only to be held back by the wave of a hand from Mayu, who had appeared behind her. Reluctantly, the former LRIG stepped back in compliance as the mastermind of the Selector Battles walked until the two were at a short distance from one another.

"To be bluntly honest, I can't tell whether I should be angry or happy right now," she muttered with somewhat of a forced smile "Certainly, I never expected you to develop a new power to the height of Kuro and Shiro. But managing to rewrite an entire Selector's wish... is something I cannot simply accept on a whim."

"I simply followed the rules you laid out for me," Piruluk replied in her usual monotone "If something like that was unexpected to you or your forces, then it is your own mistake that allowed this to happen."

"Indeed, perhaps enhancing the mental powers you received with those lenses may have been a miscalculation on Photon's part," Mayu continued "You truly have become an LRIG whose existence has now proven to be most dangerous to my game. And as for you... consider yourself fortunate that Miyako has not witnessed your latest blunder."

She then glared back towards Remember, presumably as a sign in that she was unhappy with her 'subordinate's' careless oversight in how things had really unfolded before Kamui had challenged the reversed Piruluk and that she was somewhat lucky in that she did not have Miyako present in the White Room to witness the battle herself, less the former LRIG faced the unrelenting wrath of Ruko's former mother. Remember frowned for a moment before recovering her composure, giggling to herself much to the displeasure of the blue LRIG in front of her, who did everything within her own power to not act recklessly in attempting to throw a blind eye to caution if it had meant not being restrained again in her current scenario.

A cold air then filled the area of the White Room as Photon entered the premises once more, briefly glancing at Piruluk who returned a wordless glare in response as the Cyberoid approached Mayu and Remember. Following the commander whilst being watched closely by the two Radons that trailed behind it was a figure that was unfamiliar to the blue LRIG as she immediately assumed from what details she could see that the new arrival was from the Planet Cray. It appeared to be some kind of humanoid skeleton covered in dark blue and purple coloured robes with lighter blue and dull yellow highlights and patterns present. A single black ring bound its wrists together, restraining it from using any of its powers in retaliation.

"I assume it's finished, right?" Remember asked musingly.

"The preparations are complete," Photon answered, holding out a single card in his free hand "Do not fail us."

"But of course," she replied as she took it from him in one swift motion "I have the perfect subject to test your little toy on and if he's heading there as Kiyoi kindly informed him, then everything is falling into place."

Piruluk tensed in her expression, realizing that Remember now knew that Kamui was heading for the hospital room that held Amika's mother on life support, in almost the exact same circumstances that Sakaguchi was in at that time. The skeletal figure attempted to move towards the group, only to have both of the Radons turn their beam rifles upon it, much to its annoyance as evidenced by a low growl from beneath its teeth, obscured by the drape in front of its face.

"Now then, Cocytus," Remember spoke, addressing the Granblue unit by its name "You've proven to be most useful to our cause. Perhaps you should remain with Kiyoi-chan and watch the efforts of your 'cooperation' unfold. But... I would ill advise spoiling the surprise I have... for her sake."

The blue LRIG raised an eyebrow in confusion, wanting to question her former compatriot in what she meant, but a gate from a single window in the White Room opened up, causing a gale to sweep her off her feet and transport her back into the outside world. Piruluk looked up to the window Remember had disappeared through and sighed inwardly in relief, seeing that it did not transport her directly to the hospital. But now, the situation had escalated into a race between the former LRIG and Kamui to determine the fate of Amika's mother and she had no idea if the Nova Grappler user was anywhere near the building and from what she had just said earlier, it would appear that even if he had gotten there before her, there would still be one final confrontation at hand.

"I heard your final words to him by the way," Mayu spoke, breaking her out of her trail of thought "I thought you despised him, given his carefree nature. I wonder why you chose to have faith in him, given your past, present and your low opinion of him. Unlike Sendou, Soryu or Suzugamori, perhaps even Kai, he does possess not any kind of power that they may have."

Piruluk turned around to face both the mastermind and Photon, having not expected either of the two to question her intent on entrusting the safety of Amika's mother to Kamui of all people, given the scrapes that the two of them had been involved with whenever he and the now former Selector encountered each other. Sighing inwardly for an instance, not that neither of her hosts could notice, she finally had an answer she could tell them.

"I never liked Katsuragi for his carefree and immature behaviour," the blue LRIG replied "Such mannerisms have reminded me all too much of naive Selectors I had both served and encountered in the Selector Battles. Under those conditions, he shouldn't have even made it this far."

"Yet, you believe he is not like them?" Photon murmured.

"That's correct," she answered "As much as it even pains me to admit it... I can tell both of us have learned much from each other. Whilst he understands the dire circumstances of how deep one can be driven to their intent within these battles, I've also learned that perhaps I was too quick to judge him on his outlook alone. Even if he isn't the most intelligent person I know in this game, his sense of justice and his loyalty to his companions and friends is something I can respect. That's why... I'm betting everything on him now."

"I wouldn't be too certain," Cocytus spoke from under its cold breath "If he really does not possess any power like those 'otherworldly' humans I've heard about... he is as good as finished."

Piruluk glanced towards the Granblue unit, noting its opinion on the current scenario whilst also stirring another question in the back of her mind. What was so important to her to the point that Remember ordered it to remain silent about until the right time? As she pondered on this, Mayu turned over to Photon.

"Go and fetch Tatsunagi," she spoke "I believe this will be of most intrigue to his presence."

The Cyberoid commander silently nodded before leaping into an open gap of the White Room and disappeared, presumably to head to the Pit and recover the Cray Being to bring into their presence. The air remained a cold silent as Mayu gazed out to one of the windows, her gaze turning stern as she kept an eye on Remember who calmly walked towards the hospital.

_Do not disappoint me again Remember. Or else..._

* * *

**City Hospital**

As Kamui approached the entrance of the hospital, panting to catch whatever breath he had lost on the mad rush to the building for a brief instance, he took the time to recall what else that Piruluk had whispered into his ear before the battlefield had closed. The pain from the earlier injury he sustained in the previous battle stung him much harder because of the fact that he had ran the entire distance from where Amika was now currently resting, but he ignored it and approached the doors to the building, running those words that the blue LRIG had told him before she had been recalled to the White Room.

_Amika's mother is hooked up onto life support for the time being from what I heard. Her room should be number 25 on the fourth floor of the building. Whatever you do, do not touch any of the equipment, even if she shows signs of recovering, but focus on defending both it and her from Remember if she appears._

"Right... 25..." he murmured to himself, repeating the number in his head so he wouldn't forget which room he had to go to.

The Nova Grappler user got closer and closer to the entrance gates, preparing to step foot inside of the premises and hoping that he would reach the room that held Amika's mother before Remember could carry out her 'other' plans that she had in mind for the Selector's ill parent. As he passed the open gates, just a few hundred meters from the front doors, an unfamiliar voice yelled out towards him.

"Hold it right there Katsuragi!"

Upon hearing the voice and another sound that sounded like something was being shot out from behind him, Kamui instinctively jumped to his left. He caught a brief glance of what almost caught one of his arms as the cuff he saw was attached to a red and black cable before being reeled back. Landing back on the ground and wincing briefly from his earlier injury, he turned around to see that it was Ayumu who had attempted to attack him, though the cardfighter had not seen him before having only heard mention of him and his intentions before.

"Hey! Who are you?!" the Nova Grappler user demanded.

"Who I am is not of your concern!" Ayumu replied harshly "Now in the name of my mother, you shall disappear!"

"Mother...?" Kamui murmured in confusion before suddenly piecing everything he had previously heard together "Wait... you're not Ruko's older brother, aren't you?!"

"You catch on quick," he spat as the cable reeled back into the device on his arm "Your 'ally' may have defeated me once, but I can assure you that she won't succeed in her evil ways again. My next target for reclaiming mother's love as I have found now is you!"

"I don't have time to deal with you now!" the cardfighter yelled as he began to turn around and run towards the entrance "There's someone here I gotta protect from...!"

"You think that excuse will save you?!" Ayumu roared as he aimed the cuff towards him.

Kamui gasped for an instance as he began to run for the cover of the hospital doors, just as the cuff launched at a high speed from the cable that was reeled to his arm bound device. As it appeared that the Nova Grappler user was about to be reeled into a forced battle, panic ran through his mind knowing that if he was to be held back now, Remember would surely take advantage of the situation and kill Amika's mother right on the spot. Then, from atop the entrance wall to his right, he could see a tall girl jump down into the front entrance and leap forwards between the two of them just in time to catch the cuff in mid-flight with her right hand.

"You bitch...!" Ayumu growled "Who are you to get in the way?!"

Kamui simply gazed at the tall girl, not knowing from the brown coat as well as her eyes and hair colour that it was this particular Selector, otherwise known to many as 'Queen' who had chosen to intervene at this very moment. But why exactly she was seemingly helping him was a mystery that not even he could think of.

"I can assume 'she's' given you my name," she spoke in her low harsh tone "But it seems you don't remember me, Kominato Ayumu."

"You know who I am?!" he muttered in shock, confused as to how she even knew his name.

Noriko did not answer for the moment, simply taking her time to observe the cuff that was caught in her hand and inspect it along with the cable and the device that it was connected to.

"So this is that stuck-up woman's toy..." Kaen's voice echoed, her card still inside of the brown coat "It's rather crude, even for her design."

"Hey... who are you?!" called Kamui, bringing the Selector's attention to him.

"I am Noriko," she spoke vexedly "More importantly, didn't you say you had someone to protect here?"

The Nova Grappler user briefly gasped to himself, realizing in his distraction that he had nearly forgotten that he needed to be at the hospital room of Amika's mother and quickly.

"Ah, that's right...!" he exclaimed "Um... thanks for the save!"

Noriko remained silent as Kamui continued on his was through the doors to the hospital, his mission now taking full priority once more. There was many questions racing through his head, now seeing that this was the same Selector that defeated Kai earlier in the day, but he knew there was more pressing concerns for him to be dealing with right now and that finding those answers was something he could worry about later. Ayumu glared in the direction of the closed doors before resuming his attention on the 'Queen'.

"I believe I should be the one asking the questions," she spoke harshly "What is Miyako planning? And why now after those six years?"

"I see no reason to tell you," Ayumu spat "Anyone who opposes my mother's will is my enemy!"

"Very well then," Noriko muttered with a sigh to follow. She then held up the cuff before placing it over her right wrist, triggering its function to trap her. "If this is responsible for the Wixoss factors Kaen sees around you, then through this I might pry those answers from you."

"Noriko, huh... I see now. The one my mother calls the 'traitor' Queen has decided to play her hand?" he mused, having regained part of his composure "Interesting, I shall deal with you first."

The Selector remained silent with only a silent but noticeable huff under her breath, gazing directly upon Ruko's older brother as the two of them prepared for battle. Little did either of them know was that a certain person had been gazing from around the front right corner of the hospital gate, waiting patiently to make her move as evidenced by her smile.

* * *

**...**

Kamui opened the doors to the hospital entrance and hurried inside, much to the confusion of some of the workers present who simply stood still and watched him as he searched for the nearest stairs he could take to the fourth floor. He knew there was no telling where Remember could be at this very instance and that he had very little time to waste in ensuring Amika's mother was still safe. Finally catching the sight of some stairs, he yelled out loud and made a mad run towards the floor he needed to be at. Feeling the pain of his earlier injury getting to him once again, he clutched his abdomen with one hand and heaved himself quickly up the steps with the use of the rail to his left.

Luckily for him, little to no people appeared to be present on the way up or at the fourth floor as he saw the sign up ahead and ran out into the corridor before him. Looking to his left as he continued onwards whilst clutching his abdomen, he kept an eye on the room numbers labelled on each door he passed until he skidded to a stop in front of room 25, panting to catch his breath as he did so.

"This is it..." he said "Please don't be here already...!"

Reaching out for the knob, Kamui turned it to the right and opened out the door in front of him. Entering the small room that he had arrived at, he could see that a woman with the same hair colour as Amika was lying motionless in her bed. Now he could see why Piruluk had said that she was in almost a similar state to Sakaguchi, in that much like the LRIG's friend, she was also hooked up to a life support machine through the mask and breathing tube that were over her face. The machine emitted steady blips in a series of slow bleeps, almost unnerving him from the fact that he had seen what Remember had done through Piruluk's memories during their battle. He quickly peeked around the room, trying to see if the former LRIG was hiding in the shadows, but to his relief, it appeared that wasn't the case.

"Phew... that was a close one," he sighed.

Kamui then took out a nearby chair from the room itself and went back to the side of the bed, returning back to the task at hand of keeping guard over Amika's mother until she would hopefully overcome her illness and awaken from her precarious state. As he kept a close eye over her motionless form before him, he clasped his hands together tightly, recalling everything he had witnessed through Piruluk's memories of 'that' day. What angered him more than the fact that Mayu had claimed that the unethical method was a legitimate way for Remember to grant the blue LRIG's wish was the fact that she not only smiled throughout the whole scene but also clearly did not have a care in the world for what she had done.

Then there was the possibility of what Piruluk also told him, now that she had managed to buy Amika's mother some time for the moment which only made him feel even more infuriated with the fact that her former companion had no issue in carrying out the exact same actions to said mother in her current state in the same way she did to Sakaguchi then.

"She think she's got the right to take someone's life because of Amika's wish not being tainted the way she wanted...?!" he growled to himself "There's no way I'm letting her do that!"

"Who tell?"

Upon hearing the voice that address him, Kamui immediately jumped up from his seat and turned around to see that Remember was now at the doorway to the hospital room, her calm and collected sneer having returned back to her expression after her initial disbelief from earlier in the White Room. As she took a step forward, the Nova Grappler user moved in front of the side of the bed, holding out his arms spread wide, preparing to do anything he could to defend Amika's mother from harm.

"Remember...!" he muttered.

"I see you haven't changed a bit since we last met, Katsuragi Kamui," the former LRIG spoke musingly as she took another step forward "And here you are, playing slave to Kiyoi-chan who seems a little unhealthy with her grudge."

"There's a lot of things you gotta answer for!" he yelled as he pointed a finger from his marked right hand towards her "First you kill Kiyoi's friend, then you come to my world and steal my Raizer units, throw this mark on my hand which still stings like hell, then you go ahead and Reverse Amika and now this?!"

Remember simply smirked in response, unfazed by his addressing of the 'crime' that she committed with Kiyoi's wish, using her body no less to achieve that means under the guise of her wish which Chaos Breaker Dragon had previously stated was to "end Sakaguchi's suffering."

"I don't see why you're bothering to do this anyway," she said "After all, Amika will outlive her sooner or later, that is if this world even lasts that long. More to the point, I believe protecting her mother isn't the only reason you're planning to see me."

"You've got that right!" Kamui replied as he brought out Ethics Buster's card from his jacket.

He briefly winced in pain from having to bend over to his right from the earlier injury, but pressed on with the fact that what he did next would determine everything that was currently around him. Unbeknownst to him as he was getting out the card, Remember briefly glanced at the spot where his injury had happened as evidenced by a small tear in his jacket and shirt caused by the ice, sneering deeply as she did so.

 _My... he really must have made Kiyoi-chan mad..._ she mused to herself  _Perhaps this won't take as long as I thought._

"Very well then. But before we begin, I believe we should recount what's at stake here."

"I already know that!" Kamui interrupted "It's not just my Raizers on the line, but Amika's mom as well!"

"I wasn't just talking about just them."

The Nova Grappler user briefly blinked in confusion before witnessing the former LRIG pick out one card from her pocket and turning it around to face him. He gasped in shock as he soon realized how it was that both Piruluk and Amika were reversed in the first place. The card that Remember displayed to him was Star-vader, Venom Dancer, the final trump card she had used to defeat her opponents previously.

"So you've got a Link Joker deck...?!" he muttered in annoyance "That's gotta be why Kai's dealing with those reversed Selectors!"

"I may have had a few 'sacrifices' to test the deck in its previous state," she replied as she turned the card around, showing she was prepared for battle "But... even Kiyoi doesn't know about my true ace. At least, not yet."

"Bring it, Remember!" Kamui called as he turned around Ethics Buster's card to face her.

"OPEN!"

Upon declaration, the dark red aura of Reverse enveloped them both, bringing them to the 'stage' that would act as their battlefield to determine the fate of Amika's mother. As the aura grew even larger, the door to the hospital room suddenly slammed shut with the sound of a click and the motionless form of the woman almost seemingly stirred for a brief instance.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field  
**

Upon returning to the all too familiar battleground that he was more than acquainted with in previous fights as evidenced by the appearance of the deepest reaches of space that seemingly was painted as its background, Kamui chose not to comment on his surroundings or the situation he was in as he stared right at both Remember and Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn who stood at the ready for battle. Beast Deity, White Tiger growled under its jaw as it tensed up upon recognizing the Link Joker unit at the far end of the battlefield.

"To think we'd have to deal with these accursed demons again...!" the Battleroid muttered.

"You tell me...!" Kamui interjected as he gathered together the cards that formed his starting hand "But there's more than just getting Reversed we've gotta be worried about!"

"Yeah," White Tiger replied "We heard everything when boss bot was trading blows with that reversed girl. Back us up and we'll do the same for you."

The Nova Grappler user nodded in confirmation and agreement as he looked over the cards he currently held, his eyes widening in slight horror as he discovered what he had drawn. From everything he could see, he did not hold a single Level 1 SIGNI to help with either offence or defence in the opening few turns and he knew that this wasn't good news in the slightest. Much to his further discomfort, Remember had noticed his panic and sneered deeply in response.

"Oh? A terrible hand I see?" she mused "It's unfortunate that the rule of a mulligan in Wixoss is completely forbidden in the Selector Battles. Or is that something you couldn't even wrap your head around when Amika taught you everything?"

"Let's just get this thing over with!" Kamui growled in response as he raised his right fist, before wincing briefly from his injury.

As if on cue, the giant roulette wheel appeared above their heads bearing both the silver and dark grey colours in each of its various slots as it spun around and around until it slowly came to a stop. Much to the cardfighter's relief, it had landed on a silver slot as he began considering his current options given the terrible state of his hand at the moment. Before he could contemplate on this, Remember giggled quietly enough to catch his attention.

"I hope you are prepared," she spoke as her eyes glowed a cyan blue "For yet another misfortune!"

Kamui could only remain still everything went white around him once again, changing the very appearance of the field around him until it faded out to reveal a battered and damaged Ethics Buster standing in front of him. He could only gaze up at the unit in shock, realizing that this was the exact same tactic that Remember had pulled on him during his cardfight against her and back then, the misfortune he would suffer from that vision turned out to be true. Looking up at the tall shadow in front of the Beast Deity, Kamui gasped as he looked across the features that it sported. From appearance alone, the metal giant in front of the two of them was definitely the Battleroid that resembled Ultimate Raizer, Mega-flare from the armour placement and similar shape alone, but something was different about it.

For one thing, black rings surrounded each of the leg and arm joints along with a larger one that hovered behind its back. Secondly, the seemingly reversed Raizer had now sported colours of white, black and dark red in opposition to its original red, gold and white colours along with a menacing dark red glint to its eyes. Finally, what was noteworthy of the corrupted unit's appearance was the cockpit canopy window, where they would not doubt be someone or something piloting the mechanical giant. For some reason, the glass appeared to be smashed as a shadow was visible from amongst the damaged window, but Kamui couldn't make it out from both the distance he was away from it and the darkness obscuring it. A creaking sound was heard as the corrupted Raizer then aimed both of its new cannons towards both him and Ethics Buster before charging them up.

As everything began to go white once more, Kamui kept his gaze on the cockpit area of the unit to see red sparks flying across the visible silhouette before a strange scream or shrill noise of some kind filled the air. As the vision came to an end as evidenced by his foresight bringing both Dust Tail Unicorn and Remember back into view, he wasn't just angry with what he had just witnessed, but furious at what she had seemingly done to his ace Raizer unit from amongst the cards she had taken from him. Before he could unleash his explosive temper in a rant at the former LRIG, she opened her eyes and chose to speak up.

"Well, there you have it!" she announced in a triumphant fashion "My Future Sight has given you the first part of my surprise... Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer!"

"Necro Raizer...?!" he gasped "You guys defaced Ultimate Raizer... and turned it into that?!"

"But more to the point, there's a reason why I chose to allow you to reach that room before me," she spoke.

"You allowed me...?" Kamui murmured in confusion.

"But of course," Remember replied with a playful shrug of some kind "I don't feel like doing the deed just yet, at least, not when I can still have some fun with you. Second, it is more fitting this way given the fact you know what part of the surprise is in my 'Future Sight', the fortune I have planned for you this time. And finally... with what said surprise also contains will be most befitting as Kiyoi's final greatest failure."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded.

"Think about it," she continued "She's in the exact same situation as before. And I have no further use for the body after it's done, so Kiyoi can have it back. For all the good it will do her when she returns to said room."

Kamui ran the current situation through his head once again, knowing that Remember seemingly had to have known the ins and outs of the Selector Battles herself before stealing his Raizer units and deceiving Piruluk when she was still known as Kiyoi. Then, recalling he had opened the battlefield in the room where Amika's mother slept and how Remember said she no longer needed the blue LRIG's real body, a terrifying thought had just crossed his mind, knowing that becoming Reversed was now the least of his worries.

"You're planning to kill Amika's mom to grab everyone's attention, throw Kiyoi back into her body in the room and have her framed for it?!" he exclaimed.

"My, it seems you weren't as minuscule in your intelligence as Photon's initial records suggest," Remember replied "Now then, I believe you were going to decide the order?"

"I usually go second, but I'll make an exception this time!" Kamui called as he drew his single card. Glancing at it, he could only scowl in response as it was Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake before placing it into his hand.

 _Where the heck are all my Level 1's?!_ he groaned in his thoughts  _Remember's definitely going to go all in on the next turn and I thought I had just had Lock to deal with!_

Ignoring Remember's sneer for the time being, he picked out the one card he needed from his LRIG deck and placed it on top of White Tiger's.

"Grow!" he called "Tough Boy!"

As White Tiger vanished from the space in blinding white glow, the mostly dull grey coloured Battleroid landed on its feet as it stared at Dust Tail Unicorn, also feeling unnerved by the Link Joker unit's presence. Remember drew her two cards to begin her turn as she too immediately performed the same action as Kamui, causing Unicorn to vanish in a dark red haze and Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star to appear on the field in its place. To the left and right spaces in front of the Cyberoid appeared Star-vader, Nebula Captor and Mana-shot Star-vader, Neon who took up offensive stances in preparation for their coming attacks. Kamui gritted his teeth in response, knowing that he was already off to a bad start and that things would only get even more rough for him if Link Joker's capabilities of Lock had not escaped his mind from the few times he saw it in person.

"Attack."

Upon hearing Remember's command, Neon aimed its gauntlet blaster at Tough Boy who took up a defensive stance in response. The Cyberoid fired several black coloured arcs shaped like boomerangs which crashed right into its opponent whilst a stray one missed the grey Battleroid and came hurtling straight towards Kamui who immediately weaved to his left. He didn't move far enough however as a significant portion of the projectile grazed against the area where his injury was present, causing him to cry out in pain whilst Tough Boy was struck by even more projectiles from Nebula Captor's own attack. Looking to his Ener Zone, he could only growl at the fact his first two Life Cloths were both Beast Deity, Max Beat, neither of which had any Life Bursts to aid him in this situation.

"Next!" Remember declared with glee as Binary Star then dashed across the battlefield towards the defenceless Tough Boy who braced itself for the impact at hand.

"Guard!" Kamui called as Servant T appeared in front of the Nova Grappler unit, just in time to catch the Cyberoid's blades with ease.

After the Guard SIGNI vanished, Binary Star then disappeared in a flash of dark red before reappearing in front of Remember's table at the opposite end of the space, the latter having not lost her smile even if her third attack was easily blocked.

"My, your pain really does touch me," she said musingly "I wonder if you annoyed 'her' more than I was ever capable of."

"It's gonna take more than a bash of ice to keep me down...!" the Nova Grappler user declared as he clutched the spot where the pain of his now worsened injury had finally caught up with him.

Remember simply kept her sneer, feeling amused at Kamui's struggle to contend with not just the bad start he had to the battle, but the injury that was now inflicted upon him as she previously witnessed.

_Ah... if only she realized it sooner. Fight back so that my little surprise for Kiyoi-chan won't be for naught... before I crush the two of your wills with 'her'._

* * *

**The White Room**

Meanwhile back in the White Room, Mayu sat calmly in her throne as the window in front of her, Cocytus and Piruluk as well as the two Radons guarding over the Granblue necromancer displayed the battle between both Kamui and Remember before their very eyes. Everyone was more than somewhat eager to see what would unfold in the coming turns. The blue LRIG knew that she was now betting everything, on the guaranteed safety of Amika's mother and her very life on the Nova Grappler user in the struggle that he now faced before him. At the same time, this had brought up her own concern of Amika, now that her Selector rights had disappeared, praying that Kamui had left her with someone he could trust so she could eventually recover on her own.

But the thought of her former Selector was the least of her concerns as she saw clearly from Remember's sneer and where exactly her gaze was directed upon. She had always been one to accept her fate as it was, as she had previously declared when she tried to save Sakaguchi with her wish, but being framed for the murder of Amika's mother after Remember did the exact same deed as before was something she could not accept and for a fact, neither would Kamui. As the view of the window changed to his side of the field, just as Beast Deity, Damned Leo appeared in the place of Tough Boy, she stared at where he had previously been clutching at with his right hand, the hole in his jumper and shirt being much larger thanks to Neon's earlier attack, now making the gash on his abdomen visible to everyone that was watching.

"When did he...?" she murmured to herself.

"It would appear your 'final bet' was somehow injured..." Mayu interrupted "I wonder if he will even fight it through to the end, even if it should get... worse."

"When did this happen?" Piruluk muttered, turning around to face the mastermind "How did Remember...?"

Thinking back over the course of what she had just witnessed, she paused mid-sentence as she immediately realized what had happened for this gash to appear on Kamui in the first place. Her mind suddenly flashed back to when he had rushed over to her at the end of their previous battle, soon recalling that he had limped, albeit briefly, on his way over to the other side of the field. Then, further back into the battle whilst she was still reversed, she recalled a loud cry of pain from him after one of her SIGNI's previous attacks had damaged Ethics Buster. That was when the blue LRIG finally realized what exactly she had done.

"Don't tell me..." she breathed before turning back to the window to see Kamui declaring his attack with Damned Leo.  _Did I actually wound him then?!_

"Indeed, it would appear that was the case," Mayu spoke, causing Piruluk to wonder if she had somehow knew about this from the very beginning "Just as your 'hyper-loner' persona as Remember described to me brought Sakaguchi into the way she eventually ended up, you've sabotaged your own chances again by injuring Kamui before you even warned him."

Feeling her frustration starting to get the better of her, the blue LRIG turned back around and walked closer towards the window displaying the battle, the view of which still remained on Kamui as he tried desperately to ignore the pain of the gash that was inflicted upon him, now worsened by Neon's earlier attack. She knew deep down as the battle would go on, if her previous experience against his opponent was anything to go by, the attacks coming his way would more often than not be more deadlier than the last, making her wonder if even Ethics Buster could at least shield him from the impact of Dark Zodiac and Venom Dancer to prevent his injury from getting any worse.

Piruluk for the first time in a long while, couldn't help but feel absolutely gutted that someone she had been willing to trust had been hurt by her own actions once again and now Kamui was starting to suffer for it. And she knew that if he couldn't overcome this very obstacle that stood in his way, not only was all hope of saving the Raizer units and their crew for naught, but Amika's mother would then perish by Remember's hands and the blue LRIG would be forced back into her body just to be framed for the murder.

"I sense desperation..." Cocytus muttered under its breath as it stared at her, quietly enough so no one else would hear.

 _I hate it..._ Piruluk muttered in her thoughts, closing her eyes as she did so  _This feeling of helplessness... the same feeling from 'that' time... I hate it! And yet, there's nothing more I can do to stop Remember!_

Opening her eyes once more, she heard the roar of Mobius Breath Dragon on the battlefield displayed before her as its attack came closer towards Damned Leo, with Plume Wall Angel stepping in to save Kamui this time. As Brutal Jack, God Eater, a second Plume Wall Angel, Rescue Bunny and Max Beat appeared to join the defence, the barrier formed was enough to shield Damned Leo and the Nova Grappler user as the beam ricochetted off into the distance, detonating a long way behind them. Seeing that he had managed to prevent a Lock from hindering him for now, the blue LRIG had a rare instance of sharing a hidden sigh of relief, seeing that Kamui was not as wary of Link Joker's powers as she had initially believed.

_But right now... he's only one I can count on!_


	71. Arc 3 - Ride 71: This Faint Closure II

**City Streets**

Eventually after a long and hard struggle, Kai had finally managed to defeat the last of the reversed Selectors that he had been facing off against for some time now, feeling a heavy sigh of relief that none of them had taken the opportunity to pursue Kamui or Chiyori, unaware of the former's current struggles with both Remember and the gash that was inflicted on his abdomen. The Kagero user kneeled down as he observed the unconscious Selector who was currently motionless from the ordeal as those who had chosen to remain after having their Reverse undone watched on nervously for a brief moment. Eventually after a few tense seconds, she opened her eyes and stared up at him, seemingly both confused and in slight pain as they clutched their head.

"Ugh... what was I doing...?" she murmured in confusion before blinking and looking at Kai.

"Do you remember anything before you were Reversed?" he asked.

The Selector, though confused shook her head in response to his question, in truth feeling that she could not recall anything before she had been Reversed. The two of them stood up as the girl walked over to the remainder of the unreversed group, murmurs of confusion going around all of them as they eventually took their leave from the area, leaving Kai on his own just outside of the front of Card Luck. He noted one of the girls mentioning the name Yuragi, having recalled meeting the girl on the first night he arrived in this world with Mako and the voice he had heard then, which he now presumed was one of their LRIGs. He didn't have time to ponder on this any further as he saw Aichi and Ruko run up to him.

"Kai-kun!" the Royal Paladin user called.

"Are you alright?!" the Selector asked.

"Yeah," he replied as he gazed up to the darkened sky, made clear by the much darker clouds that were still present amongst the top of the various buildings surrounding them "It seems you've noticed it too."

"Yuki sensed that there was Reverse nearby here, but it looks like you took care of it," Umr murmured from her card.

Kai nodded in confirmation to the black LRIG's presumption, much to the hidden relief of Aichi and Ruko who looked at each other with a happier expression before turning their attention back to their friend.

"But... who could have reversed them all?" the Royal Paladin user pondered.

"Just one," Kai replied as he recalled what one of them had said earlier "The LRIG who currently possesses the body of one we know as Piruluk and one who Katsuragi intends to confront again. Remember."

Before anyone could comment any further on the subject, a buzzing noise went off in his pocket as he pulled out the phone that was inside his jacket pocket. The Kagero user stared at the screen for a moment to see that it was Hitoe who was contacting him at this very moment as he tapped an icon to accept the call, wondering what she wanted to talk about.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We've got trouble!" Hitoe's voice called out "Amika's wish has been tainted and Kamui's gone to the hospital!"

"Is she alright?!" gasped Aichi.

"We have a problem on that..." Midoriko's voice sounded out "She took off immediately after not recognizing us and we lost her."

"Her mother..."

Ruko immediately brought out Yuki's card from her pocket upon hearing the LRIG's assumption to the issue. The girl of black's gaze was hardened, having now realized the dire situation that Amika's mother was in.

"If her wish is tainted, then Kamui must be trying to save her mother himself," she spoke "Or at the very least, trying to find a sign of her recovering so he can reassure Amika."

"What should we do then?" asked Yuzuki, her voice echoing out from the speaker of Kai's phone.

"There's still the possibility of Remember reversing more Selectors in the city," he replied as he looked back to Aichi and Ruko "Head to Hitoe and look for Amika."

After the Selector nodded in agreement with his statement, he began to walk off before the Royal Paladin user raised a hand out of concern.

"Wait Kai-kun!" he called "About the Seed fragment... did you...?"

The Kagero user simply nodded in reply to his friend's question before Aichi reached into his pocket and tossed a small box to him, which he caught almost effortlessly. He opened it to find Dragonic Overlord and all of its forms as well as Burning Horn Dragon and Dragonic Burnout placed all together inside of it as he then looked back to the Royal Paladin user, silently thanking him for being able to return Overlord to him as soon as he could. He then turned around and began walking off in search of Remember, not knowing where she presently was for the time being.

"Be careful Kai!" called Ruko, to which he waved back in response to reassure her.

"Let's go and find Hitoe," said Aichi, to which the Selector nodded in agreement, hoping that they wouldn't be too late to assist Amika in her current state.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Ethics Buster growled vocally as it stared towards the pair of Dark Zodiac and Astro-reaper, now that they had finished their current onslaught for the time being. Sharing in the Battleroid's annoyance at their current situation was Kamui, seeing that two of his SIGNI and a single card in his Ener Zone had become Omega Locked from the earlier Legion skill. He was thankful that he was able to dodge any leeway attacks that had come his way during Remember's most recent turn, if only for the sake of his injury not getting any worse than it already was. By some miracle, if he could even call it one however, he had managed to last out long enough for his opponent to tie the battle with both of them on 3 Life Cloths each with him having the greater amount of Ener available.

"It's your turn now," Remember spoke with a smile "I wonder if my earlier 'advice' on that troublesome Lock will actually help you?"

Kamui simply gritted his teeth as he drew his next two cards from his deck, managing to just ignore the pain of his injury as he pulled back his right arm. He recalled earlier on the previous turn that she had felt 'generous' in telling him on how he could simply skip his Ener Charge by moving one of the Locks he currently had to his Ener Zone. He knew there had to be a reason she had no problem in exposing this to him and with the way she had previously played both him and Piruluk for fool in the past, he had to be extra careful.

"Here we go!" he declared as he reached out for the Locked card on the left SIGNI space of his table, cringing in pain from the sparks as he tapped it.

The card remained face down, but moved over to his Ener Zone as a result, confirming to him that what Remember told him thus far happened to be the very truth. Taking out one card from his LRIG deck, he decided that now was the time for him to go all out.

"Go! Burning Fire! Roaring Thunder!" he declared "The great Kamui Crossbreak Grows Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme!"

In a bright neon flash, Ethics Buster underwent its familiar transformation as shinier plates of armour covered over its body and various floating bits appeared all around it as it took up an offensive stance onto the battlefield. Shortly afterwards, both Max Beat and Hatred Chaos joined it on the battlefield on the spaces which weren't occupied by Remember's Omega Locks, the former LRIG still remaining smug and rather calm considering what was unfolding before her.

"I'll definitely won't let you get away with what you did then!" Kamui called as he brought out a card from his LRIG deck "Arc Destruct!"

A brilliant white glow enveloped Ethics Buster as it received the swords that were depicted on the white ARTS' artwork, Remember sneered in response to the situation that she now found herself in.

"So that's your trump card?" she murmured as she reached into her LRIG deck "Impressive, given Ethics Buster's power. But, I'm not so easily unprepared!"

After revealing the card, two cards named Servant T3 and D2 moved from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile as a giant hammer began to materialize within Dark Zodiac's claws. When the weapon became physical, the Cyber Golem swung the large weapon back before hurling it straight into Ethics Buster, crashing into the Battleroid and knocking it down to the 'ground' of the space. Sparks flew across it as it screeched in pain, much to Kamui's shock. He looked back to see that Remember had activated her own white ARTS, this one named Baroque Defense.

"With this, Ethics Buster cannot declare an attack during this turn!" she declared "So sorry to ruin your quick attempt to finish me!"

"Oh, come on!" he groaned.

"Did you really think I wasn't aware of Arc Destruct's properties with Ethics Buster's Break Grow skill?" Remember chuckled "I saw every single card in your deck when you battled with Kiyoi!"

"So you really were watching then!" the Nova Grappler user muttered as he looked to Ethics Buster, still weakened by the ARTS the former LRIG played "But, my other units can still attack!"

With a simple scoff from underneath Remember's breath, Hatred Chaos and Max Beat immediately took to the charge and immediately banished both a motionless Neon and Astro-reaper, who vanished in a series of black sparks as their cards were moved to her Ener Zone. Kamui could only clench his teeth as his turn came to an end and the Locks he had remained as they were.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kamui vs Remember**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme : Star-vader, Dark Zodiac (Legioned with Star-vader, Astro-reaper)**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Brainy Papio (Locked) - Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos - Beast Deity, Max Beat : EMPTY - EMPTY - Star-vader, Francium**

**Ener - 3 (2 Locked) : 4**

The former LRIG giggled to herself, much to the Nova Grappler user's obvious discomfort as she drew her next two cards. Looking to her LRIG deck and taking a single card out from it, her smile suddenly grew even deeper than it had ever been. Holding it up into the air, the dark aura of Reverse poured out from it as she gazed directly upon Kamui, a crazed glint present amongst the eyes that were rightfully Kiyoi's.

"Kiyoi-chan, I know you're watching!" she called "Now is the time for me to bring about the surprise I saved for you and your 'final hope' over here!"

"Ngh...! It's coming!" Kamui groaned, upon realizing what exactly was about to show itself.

"Dark titan of ultimate might, overlap yourself with a lost soul and crush those who oppose you! Grow, Level 5!"

After slapping the card down on top of Dark Zodiac, as Astro-reaper's card moved to her Ener Zone as a result of the action, a dark surge of Reverse enveloped her entire side of the field as the two Cyber Golems vanished from the battlefield and an all too familiar sized metal giant descended onto the conflict. As Ethics Buster stared on to the abyss before it, its eyes narrowing as a result, the aura dispersed to reveal the 'surprise' Remember had been saving for everyone. The black rings and colours, the familiar amour shapes and the two large cannons mounted on its arms made it clear this was the exact thing that the Nova Grappler user saw in his earlier 'fortune'. A glow faintly emitted from the green glass covering the canopy as the tall Battleroid descended onto the field, as the former LRIG announced its name once again.

"Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer!"

"My Ultimate Raizer...!" Kamui growled.

His annoyed expression clearly showed he was still angry over the fact that the Star-vaders had 'defaced' one of his favourite units and transformed it into the indomitable titan that stood in his way of defeating his opponent. Then with a snap of her fingers, Remember remained still with a sneer as to her left and the cardfighter's right, a purple aura appeared on the side of the battlefield, fading a little to show an image of Piruluk who was watching the battle from the White Room. Both she and Kamui gazed at one another for a brief moment before turning their attention back to Remember's field as both Nebula Captor and Photon appeared in her empty spaces. The Cyberoid commander pointed one of his swords towards Hatred Chaos and trapping it inside of a Lock in an instant as it struggled in vain to avoid being captured.

"Another Lock?!" Kamui gasped.

Remember kept her calm and collected sneer present on her lips as she downed of her SIGNI in one swift motion over each of her cards. Whilst Photon easily slashed through Max Beat and banished it from the field, Francium and Nebula Captor were immediately upon the weakened Ethics Buster as it leaped to avoid the Cyber Fairy's shots from her crossbow. But it was immediately downed by Francium's two blades as it fell back to the ground once again. Kamui stared on in worry as he looked back to his crushed Life Cloths as both Servant D2 and Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny landed in his Ener Zone, the latter glowing upon landing there.

"Phew!" he gasped "I recover one Life Cloth!"

"Necro Raizer..." Remember breathed "Attack."

As the corrupted Battleroid's eyes lit up, a faint red glow emitted from the canopy behind the green glass as well as a shrill screech that was familiar to Kamui as he suddenly compared it to the one he heard in his 'fortune'. Whilst Piruluk stared on in confusion, the noise having caught her attention as well, Necro Raizer raised its cannons and charged them up before firing them in two large dark red coloured beams. As Ethics Buster braced itself for the worst, Solar Falcon materialized in front of it and deployed a green circle in front of it in an attempt to deflect the attack. Though the attempt was successful, both units found themselves being forced back from the impact of the attack before it eventually dispersed.

As Kamui breathed heavily in relief that he had blocked the onslaught for now, a quiet but noticeable laugh from Remember had immediately put him back on edge as she immediately revealed a second copy of Neon from her hand before dropping it into her Trash Pile.

"Limit Break!" she declared as a dark red Vanguard circle flashed above Necro Raizer as its eyes flashed once again "Each turn, I can discard 1 card for every non-Locked SIGNI space you have and Up this LRIG!"

The Nova Grappler user gasped in shock as Necro Raizer began charging its cannons once again and aimed them towards both him and Ethics Buster as he knew with grim acknowledgement that he could not block the next attack. Before the weapons had reached their complete charge, he heard the exact same shrill noise from the cockpit as he gritted his teeth.

"That sound from before..." he muttered "It's gotta be whoever's piloting it."

Seeing Ethics Buster take up an offensive stance, the two glanced at each other as if they knew what the other was thinking and planning at the same time.

"Go, Ethics Buster!" he declared.

"What would be the point of that?" Remember murmured musingly "You can't damage my Life Cloths in the middle of my attack."

"Maybe... but we can still see who you've got flying about in that 'hollow' machine!" the Nova Grappler user called "GO NOW!"

Ethics Buster immediately took flight and charged towards Necro Raizer who suddenly held out one of its cannons in self-defence to block the 'supposed' attack coming its way now. The non-corrupted Battleroid reeled back its right fist before smashing it as hard as it could onto the exposed portion of the glass canopy, before before being swatted away by Necro Raizer's other arm. The blow was enough to damage a portion of the glass as it cracked from the top and slowly started to do so towards the bottom.

"Katsuragi, just what was your intent?!" Piruluk's voice called from the 'portal' on the battlefield.

"It's just a hunch I've got!" he replied "You've heard that noise as well, right?!"

The blue LRIG then began to ponder on what he had just addressed, now seeing that he had a reason to try and unveil the 'pilot' of Necro Raizer, to see who exactly Remember may have forced to fight inside the cockpit of the corrupted Battleroid. There was something indeed that bothered her about the shrill noise, but she still couldn't quite put her finger on why. As the two of them looked back to Necro Raizer, the noise for the charge of its cannons unexpectedly died down as one shard of glass began to break off of the canopy frame, then another and another. Seeing that his efforts were successful, Kamui watched closely as the canopy glass began to fall off, but the deathly silence beside the shattering glass was still having him on edge with Remember's sneer not helping in the slightest.

Eventually as the final panel cracked even more, the rest of the shattered glass fell apart, revealing a human like figure that was hung from the frame of Necro Raizer. It appeared to be female as evidenced by her body shape and cables from the frame of the Battleroid appeared to be plugged right into her arms, legs, back and the very back of her head. But what had suddenly turned both Piruluk and Kamui's expressions to utter shock and possible horror was the brown hair, the way it was stylized and the figure's 'face'.

"What the...?!" he gasped, upon seeing who or what was attached to the cockpit "A... Amika?!"

"No, that's not her!"

Upon closer inspection though, Kamui could soon see why Ethics Buster had suddenly concluded that the 'person' hanging from the cockpit of Necro Raizer was not the former Selector in question. He could soon see that despite sharing the same coloured eyes and a similar hairstyle, the body was in fact not quite 'human' to say the least. There were hints of it being so through the otherwise emotionless face and the hair present, but the rest of the 'person' before him seemed to appear more metallic, almost like the Cyberoids around Photon's Lab, particularly the commander himself. Then, upon seeing where exactly the stylized ponytail was present, Kamui soon realized that there was only person who looked like whatever it was that was before him.

"If that's not Amika..." he murmured "Then that looks like...!"

"That's right!" Remember answered in both a gleeful and sinister tone "Kiyoi-chan! Katsuragi Kamui! I give you... the new and improved, Sakaguchi Ayumi!"

* * *

**The White Room**

"W... What?!"

Piruluk's face went pale as she stared into the window displaying the battle in disbelief, now seeing that it was viewing 'Sakaguchi' as the cybernetic body loosely hung from the inside of Necro Raizer through the cables she was fused to. Mayu kept a calm smile on her lips as she kept an eye on the blue LRIG, before turning around to see Photon return into the premises of the White Room, this time with Takuto reluctantly walking in front of the commander much to his displeasure as his wrists like Cocytus' were also bound by a single black ring. When they came up to the mastermind's throne, the Cray being suddenly noticed Cocytus, noting it as another unit that must have been captured before seeing Piruluk and how she appeared to be.

"This isn't possible..." she breathed "Sakaguchi is dead! All of us, even Katsuragi saw it with our own eyes!"

Takuto could only stare at the scene that was shown to everyone currently present in the White Room, having been unaware of the entire conspiracy between the blue LRIG and Remember in regards to the person that was seemingly dangling in the cockpit of Necro Raizer. Looking out through the window where she had been watching the battle from, he could see both Kamui and Remember along with both Ethics Buster and the corrupted Battleroid in front of it. But he knew from her reaction that this was something that his opponent had planned for her and he wanted to know exactly just what was going on.

"Ah, good timing Takuto," Mayu spoke in a gentle tone "I believe have come to witness our latest triumph regarding the capture of one of Cray's units and his... cooperation."

"Cooperation...?" he questioned before looking back to Piruluk who looked over to the group.

"Why are you saying that's Sakaguchi?!" she demanded "She's been dead for nearly an entire year since that day...!"

Takuto listened carefully to the blue LRIG's words before looking back at Cocytus and suddenly fitting the entire puzzle together, the picture forming in his head having only disturbed him even further. He would not have a chance to explain it all to her however as their 'guest' had quickly beaten him to that.

"She forced me to resurrect that girl's spirit from limbo so they could accomplish what you see now..." the Granblue necromancer growled under its breath, staring through the window displaying the abomination that was now on the battlefield "Had it not been for Photon's intervention... I could have banished this room's mistress in return. Instead, that girl's spirit is trapped inside the very body wired to that twisted piece of Star Gate technology."

Piruluk couldn't help but feel her legs shake upon hearing the words come out of the unit's skull, almost as if she was quivering with slight fear in confirmation to her worst suspicions. From what she could assume, Remember had defeated and marked a fighter in Kamui's world to enable the capture Cocytus from Cray before forcing him under Photon's gaze to revive Sakaguchi's spirit from the dead. This was all just so the Star-vaders could capture it and trap her inside of the Cyberoid body that was directly fused to the cockpit and the main systems of Necro Raizer which the Nova Grappler user now faced on the field of battle.

Shaking in disbelief and horror, she could only look back to the window displaying the battle, the view now zoomed in on the 'body' Sakaguchi's spirit was imprisoned inside of, the blank and lifeless eyes further disturbing her.

"Why are you upset?" Mayu asked in a seemingly gentle tone "I had one of Cray's underlings bring back Sakaguchi for you, at least in spirit. Didn't you want to see her again, even if she is now a machine, after Remember 'granted' your wish?"

"Do you believe desecrating the spirits of the deceased and turning them into soldiers for Photon will make them happy?!" Takuto growled.

In response, he was knocked onto the floor by Photon as the Cyberoid pointed one of its blades towards him. Piruluk stared at Photon for an instant before looking back through the window to the one on the field, a suspicion in the back of her mind now confirming itself. But she knew that was a subject being the very least of her concerns as she decided to voice her opinion to Mayu's question. As she did so, tears began to leak out of her eyelids.

"It's true... I always wished to speak to Sakaguchi again, to tell her how much she really meant to me and to apologize for my ignorance that resulted in that coma and her death," she spoke, her voice on the verge of breaking "But... I never wanted to desecrate her spirit to achieve this!"

"What a shame."

Piruluk walked back towards the front of the window, now seeing that it was Remember who had chosen to speak out at this very moment.

"After all the trouble we went through for you, this is the thanks I get?" she said be-musingly "But do not worry, once this battle concludes, I can assure you that you and Sakaguchi will get along once again just fine, right?"

"Shut your mouth!"

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Blinking her eyes for a moment, Piruluk looked at Kamui who had angrily clenched an open fist tightly upon hearing everything that was just spoken from both the small viewing portal of the White Room and Remember herself. A low growl from Ethics Buster showed that it too was sharing a similar opinion over everything that the two of them and the blue LRIG had now learned.

"How can you just say stuff like that when you were the one who killed Sakaguchi in the first place!" he roared "Did you even give two toots about Kiyoi's feelings when she trusted you to save her like she wanted?! Heck, do you even care about Amika or her family since you're gonna kill her mom next?!"

Piruluk was clearly not in the mood to correct Kamui on his grammar once again, assuming that he intended to say 'hoots' instead of 'toots' to a certain degree. But at the same time, she couldn't help but find a somewhat new-found respect for the Nova Grappler user in the face of the danger that was in front of him. Just like her, he clearly did not want to stand for everything Remember had done to Sakaguchi from her death to her 'resurrection' and what she planned to do after the battle to Amika's mother, simply as retribution for the former Selector's wish being rewritten.

"Honestly, the two of you can be such a pain with your words," the former LRIG yawned "But I believe we've got a battle to finish and my attack isn't over yet."

Snapping her fingers, red sparks surged across Sakaguchi's Cyberoid body, the latter letting out a shrill screech as she forced her arms forward. In turn, Necro Raizer also moved its arms forwards, aiming and charging the cannons towards both Ethics Buster and Kamui. He stared at Sakaguchi for a moment, now seeing that she was clearly in pain from the declaration of the attack just now, but the question that remained was why.

"Sakaguchi, stop this!" cried Piruluk "You're not a machine, nor are you the pilot of that corrupted Raizer!"

"It's useless," Remember replied "Hardwired to 'my' Raizer, Sakaguchi only answers to me. In fact, I believe the correct way to describe this situation is that she isn't really the pilot... she is Necro Raizer!"

"You think you can take me and Ethics Buster out with a defaced Raizer and a dead girl's spirit?!" Kamui called as he looked to his hand for a brief instance "Do your worst Remember!"

"As you wish!" she gleefully replied.

At that moment, the left cannon of Necro Raizer fired a larger dark red beam towards his side of the field as Ethics Buster braced itself with its arms folded out and crossed together in front of its face. The Battleroid was knocked back by the impact of the attack as it exploded on contact before its opponent then fired a second beam from the right cannon this time. This time, it struck the ground right in front of Kamui's table as the following explosion was even larger than the last, engulfing both the cardfighter and Ethics Buster in the blast as they cried out loudly in immense pain, the former's injury now worsened even more as they were both sent flying into the air.

When the smoke cleared, both were flat on the ground as the Battleroid was only just able to attempt to stand back on its two feet, bits of armour having broken off from both blasts of Necro Raizer's second attack. Kamui however was in much worse shape as he had to crawl to his table under worsened pain of his injury, too tired to notice that small trickles of blood were starting to drip from the open wound he had received earlier. Heaving himself up onto his table, he could see the next crushed Life Cloth was Weapons Dealer, Govannon, glowing to indicate its Life Burst going into effect. Wordlessly, he weakly reached out for the top card of his deck and drew it before adding it to his hand, barely able to ignore the pain.

Whilst Remember remained smugly silent as the turn came to an end, unbeknownst to everyone present on the battlefield or those watching from the White Room, from the Cyberoid body that had served as a prison for her disturbed spirit, a single tear trickled down Sakaguchi's cheek from her otherwise emotionless left eye.

**End of Turn 7**

**Kamui vs Remember**

**Hand - 3 : 3**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 3**

**Current LRIGs - Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme : Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Brainy Papio (Locked) - Beast Deity, Hatred Chaos (Locked) - EMPTY : Companion Star Star-vader, Photon - Star-vader Nebula Captor - Star-vader, Francium**

**Ener - 7 (2 Locked) : 1**

Panting from just being barely able to stand back on his own two feet, Kamui looked over towards Ethics Buster, relieved to see that it was still just about able to fight on. Right as he was about to begin his turn however, his vision started to blur as he stumbled backwards a little ways, clutching onto his blood soaked injury. Taking his right hand off and shaking all the blood off of it, he began to reach out for his deck before his vision suddenly became hazy again as he found he couldn't keep his eyes open for any longer.

"Damn it..." he groaned weakly "Not... now...!"

And with that, he lost complete consciousness as he fell backwards flat onto the ground behind the table, laying motionless without a single sound coming out of his mouth.

* * *

**The White Room**

Takuto stared out through the view of the window in shock and horror, now seeing that Kamui had fallen and succumbed to his injury, now visible to all who were watching the battle. Whilst Mayu, Photon or Cocytus' expressions had not changed in the slightest, Piruluk on the other hand could feel panic rising through her after witnessing what had just happened and having discovered about this from just a few minutes earlier, guilt from her earlier actions in the previous battles had only increased as she couldn't help but open her mouth at this point.

"Katsuragi!" she cried.

Running towards the very edge of the window, Mayu immediately saw what the blue LRIG was attempting to do before a purple aura enveloped her right hand. Holding it out towards said window, she closed that hand as solid gates materialized in front of it, preventing Piruluk from running through it or whatever it was she tried to attempt. Immediately, she grabbed ahold of the gates and tried desperately with all of her might to pry them open with what little strength she had to offer. When she saw her efforts were in vain, she knew that the 'viewing' portal on the battlefield still allowed everyone present there to hear her.

"Get up Katsuragi!" she called "You're the only one who can save Sakaguchi and Amika's mother now!"

But no matter how much she called to him, Kamui still remained motionless, having blacked out from the extensive pain to his injury. All sense of sound drowned out as Piruluk fell to her knees in defeat, the last thing she registered hearing at this moment being Ethics Buster desperately calling for the Nova Grappler user to wake up so they could continue the battle. Takuto, who was no longer pinned by Photon's blades heaved himself back onto his feet and walked over to the blue LRIG. Before he could speak with her, Remember's voice echoed out from the battlefield, directed towards her.

"I can already tell what you want to say next," she spoke before suddenly changing her tone of voice to mimic that of Piruluk's own"'Please Mayu! Let me take his place and finish this battle to the end!' I'm afraid that even if I allowed you to go there, intruding on Kamui's side would disqualify him from the battle immediately and then, I believe you know what would happen next."

"Remember...!" the blue LRIG growled.

"Katsuragi Kamui has 5 minutes to get back up or he will be disqualified!" Mayu declared.

Takuto clenched his teeth upon seeing that the situation for both Kamui and Piruluk had gotten far more dire than it already it was and right now, it was seemingly hopeless out there. The Nova Grappler user was unconscious on the floor, time was ticking away until he would be disqualified by Mayu's decree and if what Remember said was true, there was no way Piruluk would be permitted to enter the battlefield without disqualifying him immediately. And even if she was, the gates were blocking her only way into the battlefield, if his previous attempt to escape with Tawil and Umr had taught him. He knew the mastermind herself was somewhat of an enigma, using the allure of granting wishes and employing LRIGs, sometimes against their will, to deceive those outside into playing the game the way she desired. She had set up these rules, rules that she would never allow to be broken unless she otherwise permitted it for her own goals.

Just then, an idea had suddenly formed in the back of the Cray being's mind and he knew that with time running out, this was the only chance he had to put it into effect, even if he had to rely on some blind cooperation.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Meanwhile in a different battlefield that had been opened up at the hospital entrance earlier, both Noriko and Ayumu were still in the midst of their current battle at the end of the eighth turn. Kaen was already at her strongest form with her large black wings and the gauntlets she bore as well as a SIGNI lineup of Scarlet Marauder, Scarlet Daemon Queen and Scarlet Lancer on the 'Queen's' field with two cards in her Ener Zone. On the other side however, Ruko's brother had no SIGNI, two Life Cloths and the clone LRIG he wielded this time around had taken on the form of a bulky creature covered in red armour with purple and gold coloured spikes. Held in its right arm was an object shaped like a ball belonging to a certain Earthworldy sport, only it too was littered in a variety of spikes and was also made of hard steel to account for its durability.

"Well, I can certainly see why mother calls you a 'traitor' or a fallen Queen," he spoke "But to think you had a hand in Ruko being scary six years ago...!"

"I didn't think you would be that weak."

Ayumu suddenly blinked for a moment as he stared at Noriko who had chosen to otherwise rudely interrupt what he had to say to her at this point, from his perspective of what happened six years ago.

"I knew on that day you were reluctant to question your loyalty to Miyako, but I didn't think you would be that cosy with her," she spoke "Then again, you were always outside of the criteria of the Selector Battles until Kai Toshiki first came to this world."

"You... you dare to question my loyalty to mother?!" he growled.

"Yes," Kaen interrupted "That is all."

Gritting his teeth, Ayumu pulled the next two cards from the top of his deck to start his turn before taking two of the cards from his Ener Zone and placing them in his Trash Pile. Sparks began flying off of him once again as the unit's form disappeared to reveal the clone LRIG who also had red sparks flying off of him. Only this time, he did not seem to be in as much pain as he was when he previously battled Ruko and Tama.

 _It's funny. You actually get used to it after a while_ he mused within his thoughts as he took out his next card  _Watch me mother! With my skill, I'll wring in your secondary problem from that time as well!_

"An indomitable force with the ability to demolish all in its path! Allow me to harness your form and bring justice to my opponents! Break Grow!"

Throwing down the card on top of the one on the LRIG space named Bad End Dragger, the clone LRIG glowed a bright red before the giant form of his next copied unit appeared in its place. Like Bad End, this new unit appeared to be an ogre of some kind as evidenced by its bulky mass and horns as well as the dozens of teeth from its jaw that was visible. It had two large shoulder armour plates littered with large spikes and had an ammo belt wrapped around itself across from the left shoulder. Much like Bad End Dragger also, this copied unit also wielded a ball like projectile that was also littered with multiple spikes, making it a dangerous weapon to use on the battlefield. The unit's name was finally announced by Ayumu when the transformation was stabilized.

"Bloody Ogle!"

"So this is his copied trump card..." Kaen murmured.

As Noriko gazed at the copied Bloody Ogle, seeing only a hollow form covering over the clone LRIG from her perspective, Ayumu held out his hand wide to declare his next action.

"Seek mate!" he called.

As a bright glow shone over his side of the battlefield, four cards hovered up from his Trash Pile and set themselves on top of the deck before a file of light scanned through it and pulled out the card he wanted to his free hand. Sparks flew over him once again as well as he held it high into the air.

"Smash all in your path and bring us to victory! Come to me, Frozen Ogle! Legion!"

After throwing the card onto the table beside Bloody Ogle's card, the Legion symbol flashed to all before the copied Frozen Ogle appeared beside its 'leader', both letting out a fierce roar coupled with a mechanical shriek from the clone LRIG itself. Neither Noriko nor Kaen were fazed by the opposition that faced them now, even after three more units materialized onto the table. In the center space appeared another Frozen Ogle and to both sides of it appeared two more units, each of them appearing just as bulked up with similar armour and a helmet stylized with a skull like design that had had a long spike pointing out the 'forehead'.

"Attack!" Ayumu declared as Frozen Ogle charged into a dash towards Scarlet Daemon Queen "With Bad End's Break Grow skill, add 10000 power! Then with the Legion Skill, add another 5000!"

**Frozen Ogle: 5000 - 15000 - 20000**

With a mighty roar, the ogre covered itself in a dark purple aura before ramming itself straight into the red Devil SIGNI, sending her flying into the air and seemingly on the verge of being banished. At first, it seemed like Ayumu's attack had been successful, but then a bright red glow enveloped the field as a new unfamiliar winged SIGNI caught Daemon Queen and helped her back down to the ground, the Devil SIGNI seemingly recovering her strength before her 'savior' suddenly vanished.

**Scarlet Daemon Queen: 12000 - 22000**

"What the...?!" exclaimed Ayumu.

"I discard Scarlet Carbuncle from my hand," Noriko spoke, the card now visible to him "Until the End Phase, Scarlet Daemon Queen cannot leave the field by effects and it gains 10000 power."

"No matter," he huffed "Frozen Ogle, return to my deck!"

The blue coloured ogre then vanished in a flash of purple light as its card moved straight to the bottom of Ayumu's deck.

"Juggernaut Maximums, charge!"

Both of the Giant units then let out bellowing roars of their own before dashing over towards Scarlet Marauder and Scarlet Lancer, knocking them back with a swing of the chains that hung from their 'wristbands' before ramming themselves into the two Devil SIGNI. After both were banished from the field, the two Juggernaut Maximums also vanished in purple glows as their cards also moved to the bottom of Ayumu's deck.

"This will end it! Bloody Ogle attacks!" he called "With its skill, Superior Call Frozen Ogle from the deck!"

With a bellowing roar, the copied Bloody Ogle charged towards Kaen with Frozen Ogle following closely behind it as they left the table, just as a second Frozen Ogle appeared on the leftmost space there.

"Summoning a SIGNI from the deck this way..." Noriko murmured quietly to herself "Frozen Ogle serves more than just a Legion-Mate..."

Taking one card from her hand and throwing onto the center of the table, she remained silent as both members of the Legion pair leaped up high into the air and hurled each of their respective ball like projectiles at Kaen who folded her wings in front of her in a defensive stance. The projectiles made contact and detonated, causing a large explosion on the table and bringing up quite a bit of smoke as Ayumu watched on.

"Good," he said "Next, I will..."

His confident smile suddenly faded when the smoke cleared much quicker than he anticipated, revealing the presence of Rampart Dragon who stood in front of Kaen to protect her from the damage of the blast, a green circle generated in front of the Kagero unit having deflected most of the backlash. After a few short moments, the dragon vanished from the battlefield, much to the annoyance of Ruko's brother.

"Persistent, aren't you?" he muttered "No matter, my next three attacks will finish this battle right now, then the two of us can pay mother a little visit."

"Three attacks..." Kaen spoke from behind her wings "I see now!"

Noriko nodded in agreement, though kept her gaze down on the table, seemingly not even feeling bothered to address the situation that she and her LRIG were now in. Roaring loudly, Frozen Ogle charged in a mad rush towards Kaen who remained motionless as it rammed itself into her wings. Though her face was concealed from everyone on the battlefield, she quietly growled to stave off the pain of the armoured spikes from the ogre.

"Frozen Ogle's skill!" Ayumu declared "When it finishes an attack, I pay the cost and move it to my Ener Zone to summon any SIGNI I want from my deck!"

And as if on cue, the second Frozen Ogle that attacked turned into purple light as the card moved to his Ener Zone, just as yet another Frozen Ogle emerged onto the field as the card slid out from the deck into the exact same SIGNI space. Ayumu kept a grin on his face as wordlessly, he pointed towards Kaen as the Ogre unit rammed itself into her again, crushing yet another Life Cloth as the 'switch-out' happened once again. One Frozen Ogle vanishing only to be replaced by another, this time being the fourth and final one. And just like before, this one threw itself right into Kaen's wings, this time knocking her back just a little before disappearing.

"Now who should I pick?" Ayumu murmured as he began considering his options on what to summon with the fourth Frozen Ogle's skill. It didn't take long for an idea to form in his head "Ah, you'll do just fine. I Superior Call Lilith, Recurring Nightmare!"

And with that, the Level 4 Black Devil SIGNI materialized into the space that was formerly occupied by the three Frozen Ogles that had now finished all of their consecutive attacks.

"This will end it!" he declared "Lilith!"

Lilith giggled sinisterly as she received power bonuses from both Bad End Dragger and Bloody Ogle before taking flight on her wings across the battlefield towards Kaen who had remained in a defensive stance, despite choosing to unfurl her wings now. As the axe was brought down on the LRIG, it was immediately greeted and deflected by a bright flash, much to Ayumu's shock as Dragon Knight, Gimel along with several Scarlet SIGNI and Gattling Claw Dragon appeared to repel the attack successfully. Lilith pouted before returning to the bottom of the deck, now that her attack had finished.

"No matter," he huffed "I still have everything I need to last through you turn and finish you off on the next. I'll switch out to a different Legion and reset 3 of my Frozen Ogles whilst using Salvage to recover the fourth. You never had a chance against my mother's will, fallen Queen."

At this moment however, Noriko had finally chosen to raise her head back into sight and her gaze was not just showing she was unhappy, but that she was also seemingly ticked off.

"Kominato Ayumu... Is this all you were capable of?!" she bellowed.

For the first time in the battle, Ayumu couldn't find any words to respond to her question, almost as if he was somehow frozen not just by her fierce gaze or words, but the tone in that she addressed him by.

"S... So what?!" he snapped "The battle has already been decided. You know I have a Quintet Wall from Mecha Trainer's skill earlier! In the name of my mother...!"

"I see," she interrupted.

"What...?"

"It seems in the end, you were just a waste of time in my search for answers," she growled before drawing her last two cards and having Daemon Queen vanish into her Ener Zone. "Kaen, Level Down!"

A column of flames enveloped Kaen as her wings shrunk in size and some of her armour vanished, revealing that she had gone back down to Level 3 for whatever Noriko had in mind.

"W... What was the point in that?!" Ayumu gasped in disbelief.

"For this," Noriko answered as she revealed yet another card from her LRIG deck "Phosphorescent Samsara!"

The older brother of Ruko stared in confusion at the card, wondering why it was that his opponent, the 'fallen' or 'traitor' Queen that Miyako had referred to her as, had decided to play this card after downgrading her own LRIG to yet another copy of her Level 3 form. Then after analysing the cards that were played throughout this entire match, he suddenly found his answer.

"Shit!" he gasped as Noriko's lineup was immediately filled to the brim by 2 Scarlet Marauders and a single Berserk Dragon, all of whom snarled under their breaths as they gazed upon the opponent who was on the verge of panic.

"Ayumu, you said you would easily end the battle on the next turn," Noriko spoke harshly "Well this is reality!"

With a loud roar from Berserk Dragon, it launched two fireballs straight at the copied Legion Pair with both Scarlet Marauders dashing across the field towards their intended target.

"Q... Quintet Wall...!" Ayumu called as he revealed a card named Baron Amadeus, summoning the unit who deflected the attack of Berserk Dragon along with two Juggernaut Maximums, Highspeed Brakki, Sky Diver and Reckless Express.

That didn't stop the two Scarlet Marauders in their assault however as they simply dashed past the commotion on their respective left and right before catching the defenceless Frozen Ogle and slashing past it, the impacts briefly revealing the true form of the clone LRIG for just a brief moment. Ayumu flipped over his next two Life Cloths in worry, knowing from searching his deck with Frozen Ogle and Mecha Trainer that he had burned through all of his Life Bursts and Kaen was now next to attack, powered up by the ARTS Noriko had played. Speaking of whom, with a loud growl, the red LRIG was already taking flight through the air with her right gauntlet already ablaze and a fierce look in her eyes as if the irises themselves had somehow narrowed in intensity.

"Kneel before the Queen's avatar!" Noriko declared "For my ARTS, I declare Levels 1 and 3, Exceed for Triple Crush and the ability to Stand! Scorching Crimson Knuckle!"

Kaen dived down towards the now defenceless Bloody Ogle, immediately opening up her flame covered right hand before slamming it right into the abdomen of the clone LRIG, disabling its function that camouflaged itself as the Spike Brothers' ogre. As it let out a mechanical shriek in pain, red sparks flew all over it and Ayumu who also cried out in pain.

"GAH!" he groaned "This is...!"

Before he had time to process his thoughts, the back of his head suddenly started throbbing in immense pain as he screamed out aloud, images flashing right before his eyes. Though it was for only a brief instance, the details for one of them were all there for him to register in the very back of his mind and for some reason, these images felt almost... familiar. The only one he could fully make out was how it depicted both a younger Ruko with glowing eyes and a pained expression whilst a younger Noriko had landed a hard punch on the gemstone embedded on the metal hand of Miyako, whose head for some reason was almost blurred out in the vision. Back in reality, Kaen glanced at Ayumu as she eventually ceased her attack to end the battle, taking note of not just his pained, but utterly confused expression as well.

Immediately, she flew back on her wings over to Noriko's table, who had been watching the entire spectacle for herself. When the LRIG arrived back, she glanced back up at her Selector.

"Just as we suspected," she spoke "That clone LRIG of Miyako's is messing with that boy's mind!"

"Indeed, that seems to be the case," Noriko replied "But considering the role 'she' has in the Selector Battles, the question that remains is why?"

Before anyone could ponder on the subject, the entire battlefield went pitch black.

* * *

**The White Room**

Back in the White Room, Takuto had now finally decided to put his last ditch plan into effect, silently praying that whatever it was he intended to carry out now, especially with time running out for both Kamui and Piruluk, would hopefully succeed. He immediately brought everyone's attention over to him as he made a loud cough to start it off.

"What do you have to say Tatsunagi?" Mayu pondered.

"I must admit, it is a bit of a shame to be honest," he began in somewhat of a musing tone, much to the confusion of everyone present "Remember is fighting a battle she cannot even win and she is decided as the victor because of a handicap Kamui was forced to endure?"

"And what are you insinuating?" the mastermind questioned curiously.

"You heard me," he said with a smile "Allowing things to go as they are would only prove one thing. She can't win against him, that this method would be the way out for a coward unless you have anything to object to that."

As Mayu raised an eyebrow in confusion, Photon simply kept a sharp gaze upon the Cray being, suspecting that there was something more to his words at this very moment. Even Piruluk couldn't help but ponder about what it was that Takuto was talking about, saying that Kamui was already stronger than Remember from the start given the circumstances. Whilst everyone else was busy pondering in their confusion, Takuto quickly turned to the LRIG and winked to her, praying that she would hopefully understand the meaning behind what he was saying soon enough. Piruluk blinked for an instance as she continued to wonder, before suddenly realizing that he too had witnessed everything that unfolded from Remember's last turn alongside her as well as her desperation to head onto the battlefield to aid Kamui.

"Interesting..." Remember's voice echoed from the field "Are you saying that I'm only going to win because of his injury now and not by my fortune?"

"Yes," he replied "I've heard whispers about how sketchy some of these... fortunes could be. If you win against Kamui this way, then that means you were wrong about your abilities and your entire fortune telling for your battles was a sham. Am I wrong?"

"T... Then what's the point?!" she growled, clearly showing she was unnerved of her 'fortunes' being called into question.

"What I'm saying is, if you want to prove that point," the Cray being concluded "Then allow someone to finish the battle in Kamui's place."

"And who would that someone be?" asked Mayu, clearly intrigued by what he was saying.

Takuto, loosening his smile a little, turned over towards Piruluk whilst raising his bound hands the best he could before pointing his fingers at her.

"I suggest we allow..." he began "Kiyoi, was it?"

"Y... Yes," she replied, a little surprised from the sudden motion.

Then, everything started to click into place for the blue LRIG as she then turned to face Mayu on her throne. The mastermind fiddled with her fingers on the right armrest of her throne in ponder, wondering why it was that Takuto was making this offer.

"Mayu, I request that I finish Katsuragi's battle through to the end!" she called "I have something of my own that I want to settle with Remember! If she wins, the Beast Deity units he commands are yours to keep and I shall resign my fate to her next crime!"

"Very well then Kiyoi," Mayu replied "I shall make an slight exception, but only this once. I'll give you three turns to end this battle, starting from what was Kamui's Draw Phase. Fail to do so and you and he will lose immediately."

Moving her right hand to the sealed window, she opened up the gates and caused a suction of wind to emerge from it. It pulled the blue LRIG into the window itself as she disappeared in a flash before the display showed her reappearing on the battlefield, just a few inches away from Kamui. Takuto then looked to Cocytus who nodded discreetly, knowing what exactly it was that the Cray being had planned for them. He then looked through the re-sealed window to watch how the final three turns of the battle would play out, hoping that his efforts for this 'exception' would not go to waste for neither Kamui or Piruluk.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Piruluk, now standing firmly on the battlefield ran over to Kamui as Ethics Buster struggled back onto its feet and looked over to her, the jets on its back that allowed the Battleroid to make a large jump or hover for a few moments having been damaged by Necro Raizer's previous attack. Looking to the long 'sleeve' of her garb, she immediately tore a large piece off of it and began wrapping it around the wound and his upper body just beneath his chest like a bandage, hoping it would be enough to stop any further bleeding. Much to her further relief, it appeared that he was still breathing, albeit slowly as he still couldn't regain consciousness in his current state.

"To think I hated you for the way you behaved..." she muttered "I despised you for your immaturity and yet... you went out of your way to try and help Amika, even standing up to Remember when I warned you not to."

She then looked over to the cards beside him that made up his current hand, presumably dropped when he lost consciousness and fell backwards to the ground and took ahold of them as her own.

"You've done everything that I asked of you as best you can," she murmured "I may not know why this Takuto convinced Mayu to give me this one chance... but right now, that doesn't matter. I'll finish everything now."

Walking back to the table that had been left unoccupied, Piruluk could see that Remember's expression had reverted back to her calm smile, now that she had regained her composure after Takuto had brought her very own fortunes into question. Ethics Buster turned around to face the blue LRIG as she gazed up at the head of the tall Battleroid.

"Ethics Buster," she spoke "I understand we haven't been on the best of terms and that you won't forgive me for previously harming Katsuragi. But right now, I need your strength to free Sakaguchi's spirit from Remember!"

"You got it!" the unit replied as it turned around to face Necro Raizer.

The corrupted Battleroid's eyes flashed to signal its impatience to battle whilst Remember sneered for a brief instance, through the lips of the body that once belonged to the blue LRIG.

"It's just you and me, like old times," she spoke.

"Indeed," Piruluk replied "But right now, we're finally face to face, just as I initially wanted when I thought of nothing but revenge."

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she thought back to all of the times she spent around Sakaguchi for the amount of time when she was still alive, Amika who she initially viewed as another pawn only for her to become her first friend in nearly a single year and Kamui for all the times they had butted heads with one another over their views on their respective situations and how they came to understand one another after she had shown him the memory of 'that day' and after she had been un-reversed. Opening her eyes once more, she gazed up at the Cyberoid body that housed Sakaguchi's spirit, silently vowing that this time, she would do everything in her power to save her and allow her to rest in peace once more where she could no longer be disturbed again.

"Here I come, Remember!" she declared as she drew her next two cards, knowing that the battle would now be decided on her choices from now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this chapter**  
>  *Spike Brothers Cards (as the total characters there exceed this note's limit, here's a link to them instead: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FXviSsM3UaWb92DBgwvs8y3qrnDuHG2TNux_7k8xOz4/edit?usp=sharing)*
> 
>  **Story Original Cards debuting this chapter:**  
>  **Scarlet Carbuncle**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Image Spirit: Devil  
> Limiting Condition: Kaen LRIGs only  
> Power: 2000  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Red SIGNI and discard this card: When your SIGNI with "Scarlet" in its card name attacks or is attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, that SIGNI gains 10000 power and cannot leave the field by card effects until the End Phase.
> 
>  **Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer**  
>  Level 5  
> Color: Gray  
> Grow Cost: 3 Gray  
> Limit: 12  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Ultimate Break (This ability is active when you have 1 or fewer Life Cloths): [Pay 2 Gray] When this LRIG is Upped due to its own effect, you may pay the cost. If you do, the turn state becomes your Main Phase again. This ability cannot be used for the rest of this turn.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active when you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): [Discard 1 card from your hand for every non-Locked SIGNI space your opponent controls] At the end of the battle this LRIG attacked, you may pay the cost. If you do, Up the LRIG. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.  
> [Action]: [Pay 1 Gray and choose a card named "Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer" from your LRIG Deck and send it to your LRIG Trash]: If your opponent has no Locked cards, choose 1 of your opponent's SIGNI and 1 SIGNI card in their Ener Zone, Lock them.


	72. Arc 3 - Ride 72: The Final Reqiuem

**City Hospital Entrance**

Ayumu fell to one knee as the cuff detached from Noriko's wrist and reeled back into his device via the cable it was attached to, still shaking from the image that was displayed in his memories. He wanted to deny it had ever existed, given that according to his own perspective, this was the first time in his life that he had even seen such a moment. But at the same time, there were dozens of questions flying around in his head, like why was it unfamiliar and yet so real and why it felt like this memory was almost... six years old. Much like before when he was previously defeated by Ruko, all of the cards in the holster of his device, barring the one representing the clone LRIG spilled out onto the floor before burning up in a series of small dark red embers.

"To think she would even manufacture counterfeit cards as well," Kaen murmured to herself "I see your suspicions on one aspect of Miyako hasn't changed."

Before Noriko could approach Ruko's older brother to further question him, a dark red aura erupted in front of her as it rose up to just a little over her height. A shadow materialized within the darkness as the aura began to disperse, revealing who it was that had travelled over to the place where the battle between the 'Queen' and Ayumu had been declared earlier. Before anyone could question who it was in front of them, Noriko gazed to her left as she saw Kai emerging through the hospital entrance, stopping just a little ways of a distance from the source of the aura.

"This is...!" he muttered before looking to Noriko and then seeing Ayumu as a new glint of fear was displayed in his eyes, one that even the Kagero user had not seen before.

At last, the aura disappeared to reveal the form of Miyako to all who stood before her very presence, the remaining embers swirling around her before being absorbed into the gemstone of her metal hand.

"So she fixed it up after all," Noriko bluntly said to herself.

"M... mother, I..." Ayumu stuttered in fear.

His response however was met with Miyako walking over to him before grabbing him by the neck with her metallic hand and throwing him across the courtyard and straight down to the ground just a little ways in front of her.

"What is with your incompetence you miserable vermin?!" she growled, her tone becoming venomous on the word 'vermin' as she snatched the clone LRIG card which had fallen to the ground "I will make myself clear in that I shall no longer tolerate another failure! Await my further instructions, then confront my former daughter once more. And this time, bring her two LRIGs... to ME!"

Ayumu, only offering a nod in compliance, nervously tapped a button on the device attached to his wrist and disappeared from the area in a flash of dark red, leaving only Noriko and Kai standing in the presence of the tall woman that stood before the two of them. A howling wind sounded over the area as the Kagero user came alongside the 'Queen', who simply gazed briefly at him before refocusing her attention to Miyako who turned around to face the two of them at last.

"'Fallen' Queen," she spoke "After all these years when we initially presumed you had perished at 'her' hands, you continue to be a thorn in our side." She then gazed upon Kai who seemed curious to the apparent connection between the two of them. "And I see that we meet at last... student of the Clown."

Upon hearing the name that was otherwise addressed to Chaos Breaker Dragon, Noriko glanced harshly at Kai, recalling that in their previous battle he had been struggling to stave off Reverse until the very end. However, the fact that he had his own connections to the Link Joker commander itself had already drawn up further suspicions on her judge of his character, despite the fact that he no longer served Reverse or it in any shape or form. The Kagero user on the other hand was unnerved to discover that Miyako, who he now was face to face with for the very first time, already had prior knowledge of his previous affiliation and as everyone he knew feared, was indeed responsible for Ayumu's change in behaviour since the night all of them had brought Ruko home.

"So you are Ruko's mother," he murmured, narrowing his eyes "Just what is it that you're planning? And what exactly is that clone LRIG you gave to Ayumu?"

The woman brought up her metallic hand towards the right edge of her coat's hood and in one swift motion, tore the large piece of fabric right off, revealing her face to those before her at last. To say that Miyako was harsh enough from her earlier outlook to Ayumu for losing to Noriko was somewhat of an understatement. Her dark brown hair which had unfurled around the back was enough to reach the very end of her coattails and her eyes which shared a similar shade of light brown to her daughter's had a much harsher tone to them. It was a pair of eyes with a gaze that told both Kai and Noriko that she showed utter discomfort for almost anything and anyone that dared to stand before her. What was more unnerving than just Miyako's gaze was the pieces of white coloured metal that were attached to several portions of the front of her hair as well as the edges around the back.

"I had my reasons for utilizing Ayumu," she spoke "However, it seems my vermin requires some further rehabilitation if he wishes to make himself useful to Mayu's cause."

"You're serving Mayu?" Kai murmured.

"She's more than just a servant," Kaen's voice echoed, leading him to glance at the LRIG in the card Noriko held in her hand "That woman... is Mayu's General."

"The rebellious LRIG..." Miyako spoke as she too glanced at the card "I had my initial suspicions when we discovered that your holder was still alive, but I never thought you would have also survived." She then looked back up to Kai. "As for your question, my clone LRIG has been an absolute necessity, recording the data thus far from both Shiro and Kaen for our own purposes. She is no human if were curious, nothing like the wretched vermin of both of our worlds."

"Then why did you have him attack Ruko?!" he demanded.

"That is of little concern," she harshly replied "Ruko had her chance to be beneficial to the 'reset'. But... it seems in the end, she was just like the rest of them. A worthless waste of flesh, who was incapable of fulfilling her role. And yet, she now possesses the girls of black and white."

Whilst Noriko did not utter a emote or a response of some kind to Miyako's words just now, presumably from possibly enduring or seeing whatever previous experiences she had around her, Kai couldn't help but feel a hint of anger flare off inside of him. He knew that there would presumably be some truth from Hatsu's words as to what Miyako may had been like before she had left both Ruko and Ayumu in the elderly relative's care, but the fact that she seemingly had complete disregard for their very existence, referring to them as both 'vermin' and a 'waste of flesh' respectively for whatever reason she had in mind had only confirmed his earlier suspicions about the woman that stood in front of him.

"Kai Toshiki," she spoke once again, this time being enveloped in a familiar dark red aura "When the Clown returns to our domain, I shall deal with you personally. For now, await your former commander's retribution in your final moments."

After she had finished her sentence, her very physical presence was now gone from the hospital entrance leaving only Kai to gaze upon that spot, knowing that there was much in the coming hours that he and his companions had to prepare for. He then looked to his left to see that Noriko was leaving the premises, now seeing that whatever was going on involving Miyako had some ties to her and Kaen as well. She stopped briefly in her footsteps to face him.

"I already told you," she spoke "Unless you defeat me, then I have no intention of revealing anything else about myself to you at all."

"That option is very much still in play," he replied "But if you have any intentions of your own for Ruko..."

"I have no interest in Miyako's daughter," Noriko interrupted "But now that you address her, I will only give you one hint. Look to what happened six years ago. The answers for my involvement in her past lie there."

And with that, the 'Queen' had finally left the entrance to the hospital, leaving Kai on his own with even more questions about the scenario than he had answers. How had Miyako come across Mayu in the first place and became her 'General'? Why was Ruko important for a role she had in mind before discarding her and Ayumu into Hatsu's care? And what did Noriko have to do with the Selector's past six years ago that everyone else was already in the dark about? He knew that when Chaos Breaker would eventually return, just as Ruko's former mother said it would, the time for answers would most certainly come. Realizing that he was now at the hospital, he recalled that Hitoe said Kamui would be here and felt it would be best to investigate the place for the Nova Grappler user's presence.

Before he did so, he looked back to the hospital entrance to see Amika panting as she fell to her knees, clearly out of breath from running all the way over to the very building her mother was resting in. Kai knew from Hitoe's words that the Selector's wish was tainted, putting her ill parent in potential risk whilst the two of them were also unaware of Piruluk's prior and successful efforts to change her wish unknowingly. He walked over towards her in an effort to help her to her feet, only for her to look nervously at him in response.

"W... Who are you...?" she asked.

 _It's as I thought..._ the Kagero user murmured in his thoughts  _Like that 'other' Selector from long before, she has no memory of me, Kiyoi or any of us from having her wish tainted._

"My name is Kai Toshiki," he began, feeling that a re-introduction would be the best way to try and jog her missing memories "And if I recall... your full name is Hashimoto Amika."

"That's right," the former Selector replied "But how did you...?"

"There's no time to explain everything now," Kai replied "Right now, it's possible that your mother's health here might be at risk."

"That's right, I came to check on her...!" she gasped "How did I... forget that?"

"We must hurry. There's no telling on what her current condition may be," he spoke.

Leaping back onto her knees, she immediately made a run for the hospital doors and motioned for him to follow closely. Once the two were inside, they began making their way up the stairs towards the hospital room where Amika's mother was being held. All whilst this was happening, she couldn't help but ponder on something in both her concerned and confused state. Why was Kai's voice familiar to her and why did she feel like trusting him at this instance?

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Back within the battlefield, both Piruluk and Remember stared off with one another after the former had drawn her two cards to begin the first turn of the battle in Kamui's stead. The latter who was still unconscious because of his worsened injury, remained motionless with the piece of the blue LRIG's garb acting as a bandage of some sorts in an effort to prevent any further bleeding or worse from taking place. Standing on Piruluk's side of the field was Ethics Buster in its strongest, yet damaged form with only two Locks present for the company it had whilst Remember had a field full of Link Joker's forces along with the corrupted Necro Raizer, still acting as a prison for the reawakened spirit of the deceased Sakaguchi Ayumi who also remained motionless for the present moment.

Piruluk herself knew that she was very lucky that Takuto had managed to convince Mayu to give her this one chance to continue the battle in the Nova Grappler user's stead, but she knew she could not be complacent or overconfident at this point. Remember still had a commanding lead, even with the effects of Dark Zodiac's Omega Locks starting to wear off and if she did not do something this turn, there was a chance her formerly trusted LRIG could finish her off now, with the disturbed spirit of the very friend she desperately wanted to save nearly a year ago. She clasped one hand on her chest as she gazed up at the Cyberoid body housing the spirit which remained connected to the main systems of Necro Raizer.

 _I wish the circumstances between us never came to this_ she murmured in her thoughts  _But... if setting your spirit free is one of the only things I can do to make up for my sin... then I will fight on!_

"Come, Kiyoi-chan," Remember spoke gently in amusement as she held her three cards tightly.

"Don't underestimate me, even if this isn't my deck," Piruluk replied as she looked to her field "I Ener Charge the Locked Hatred Chaos!"

Moving her fingers towards the Locked card, she cringed for a moment as she forced it to the table's Ener Zone as she then looked back into her hand to consider her options. Recalling that Kamui had not used some other ARTS before he blacked out, she took the time to glance through whatever cards he had leftover. Her right eye blinked for an instance as she could see that there were two ARTS he had not used in their previous bout and Remember had claimed she had seen every single card in his deck in the previous battle between them.

"Your predictions were always bold Remember," she spoke as she took out one card from amongst them "I remember that very much from my time as Kiyoi. But... that was only because you schemed to have them come true in your own twisted view with your own hands."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the former LRIG asked in a hint of sarcasm.

"Nothing is absolute, I understand that now," the blue LRIG replied "And in order to defeat you..." She then revealed the Colourless ARTS Salvage, making Remember go "Ooh" in brief surprise. "I must prove that now! With this ARTS, I add Solar Falcon back to my hand!"

"Bolstering your defences, eh?" she mused "You already know that Necro Raizer can Stand once per turn thanks to its Limit Break."  _And that's not the only surprise I have in store._

Piruluk chose to ignore her former compatriot's words as she immediately placed down two cards onto the empty SIGNI spaces of the table, causing the units displayed on them to materialize onto the field in front of Ethics Buster. They were Beast Deity, Max Beat who twirled its staff before landing on its feet and Beast Deity, Brainy Papio who had taken up an offensive stance as it glared towards the 'other' Photon that was directly in front of it. Both glowed bright orange as they received a power bonus from the continuous skill of Ethics Buster itself as it stood tall and proud once more in the face of the dark adversary before it.

"Max Beat attacks!" Piruluk declared.

Remember remained motionless as Max Beat easily struck down Nebula Captor with a flash of yellow lightning that came from its staff. Brainy Papio fired a volley of missiles that soared into the air upon Photon as the former LRIG then sneered before revealing a card from her hand.

"Star-vader, Rejection Dragon!" she called.

A roar was heard as a small Cyber Dragon appeared in front of Photon, summoning a green circle in front of it in addition to two copies of Star-vader, Stellar Garage, Barrier Star-vader, Promethium, Mana-shot Star-vader, Neon and a second copy of Rejection Dragon to the defense, easily blocking the attack with ease. Ethics Buster growled for a brief instance before looking down to Piruluk who shared a single nod in agreement.

"Ethics Buster attacks!" she called "Limit Break!"

A large orange Vanguard circle flashed in front of Ethics Buster before it began dashing towards Necro Raizer on its two feet as the corrupted Battleroid took up a defensive stance as Sakaguchi unconditionally held out her arms in front of her face, motioning the cannon arms to protect the cockpit itself. Seeing that Remember was making no effort to guard this attack in the slightest, Piruluk knew she had to take a chance with what she had available to her.

"Twin Drive!" she called, revealing the top card of Kamui's deck as God Eater, Ultimate Sword. Much to her brief displeasure, she immediately place the card on the bottom of her deck. Moving her hand to the top once again, she gazed at it for a brief moment, closing her eyes.

 _Katsuragi, I've inherited your will to fight to the end_ she murmured in her thoughts  _Now for Sakaguchi... and all of the units Remember has captured... please respond!_

Opening her eyes once again, Piruluk pulled the top card of her deck and placed it up onto a small space in front of the deck to confirm what she had pulled. It was Beast Deity, Yamatano Drake.

"Ethic Buster's Limit Break activates!" she declared "Paying the cost, I stand Max Beat!"

An orange glow enveloped Max Beat as it took up an offensive stance once again, feeling refreshed despite having made its own attack earlier in the turn. Then, much to Remember's surprise, she watched on as it glanced over to Brainy Papio who also glowed orange and leaped back into the air as its own card upped itself on the table that belonged to Kamui.

"What the...?!" she muttered.

"When Max Beat stands due to a card effect," Piruluk interrupted "By paying the cost, a different Beast Deity stands back up. Furthermore, when Brainy Papio's attack damages Necro Raizer, Max Beat will stand as it is the only target available on my field."

"But the path for it is blocked by Photon!" she called before narrowing her eyes, having not expected the two cards to have such effects in tandem with one another "What are you scheming...?"

"If you knew Katsuragi's entire deck as you claimed, you should already know what is next."

Before Remember had time to answer, she gasped in shock to see a blue aura now enveloping Ethics Buster as it came closer and closer towards Necro Raizer which remained in a defensive stance. She then glanced towards Piruluk to see a similar aura now glowing around the blue LRIG as well, almost as if what little of her own power that she still possessed in this state was being transferred or being synchronized in tandem with the Beast Deity itself.

"Wake up, Sakaguchi!" she cried.

Ethics Buster reeled back a fist as it leaped high into the air before thrusting it as hard as it could in tandem with a large roar straight into the top of the cockpit of Necro Raizer. With a loud clang, it crashed into a screen at the very top, before a large explosion detonated at the top, forcing the Battleroid to retreat as red sparks flew across the Cyberoid body that contained Sakaguchi's spirit as a shrill screech was heard from her. Then, unbeknownst to anyone on the field, Sakaguchi's eyes suddenly closed as a cable suddenly broke off and detached from the frame of the cockpit. At the same time, Kamui's right eye began to stir, if only for just one instance before he remained motionless once more.

"Brainy Papio!"

Upon hearing Piruluk's declaration, Brainy Papio unleashed another volley of missiles, this time that Photon who remained motionless as he allowed them to strike him, banishing them from the field. Remember simply gazed over to the cards that were over on Kamui's table, still trying to find the meaning behind them since she believed she had forced him to waste his trump card, Arc Destruct. However, upon glancing at the LRIG zone and recalling what she saw in the previous battle from the White Room, she immediately realized her mistake.

"C... crap!" she gasped as she saw an afterimage of White Tiger appear in front of the charging Max Beat.

"This will end it, Remember!" Piruluk called as her next attack came closer towards Necro Raizer.

"You... I won't let you ruin my fortune!" Remember yelled "Star-vader, Turndown Dragon!"

This time, a different Cyber Dragon in a shade of grey appeared in front of Necro Raizer and hurled two black rings from its arms straight at Max Beat. The rings exploded on contact and sent the Grade 1 unit flying all the way back to Piruluk's side of the field as she groaned and stared at Turndown Dragon who vanished in an instant.

"She blocked my attack without a Quintet Wall?" she muttered in confusion.

"When there are two or more Locked cards on your field..." Remember spoke "Turndown Dragon stops a direct attack on my LRIG or gives 10000 power to any SIGNI for one battle only!"

Piruluk could only clench her teeth, seeing that her plan to make a combination attack around the effects of White Tiger, Max Beat and Brainy Papio had failed. But she looked down to the cards she held, including the recovered Solar Falcon, feeling she was more than prepared for whatever Remember had to throw her way as the turn came to an end, as too did the Lock on the other Brainy Papio and the three cards in her Ener Zone.

**End of Turn 8**

**Kiyoi / Kamui vs Remember**

**Hand - 3 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 1 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme : Death Star-vader, Necro Raizer**

**SIGNI : Beast Deity, Brainy Papio - Beast Deity, Max Beat - Beast Deity, Brainy Papio : EMPTY - EMPTY - Star-vader, Francium**

**Ener - 5 : 7**

As the smoke from the cockpit began to clear up at last, Piruluk could see that the Cyberoid body of Sakaguchi hung a little lower, thanks to the lack of a cable that was keeping her attached to the frame of Necro Raizer. Sparks flew from the cockpit as the body remained motionless for now, making her wonder if she had somehow deactivated it and if so, was Sakaguchi's spirit still trapped inside?

"Don't you see it's hopeless?" Remember spoke, having regained a fraction of her composure "You and Katsuragi are about to lose to two of the very things you hold dear. A unit he sees fit to use in his world's game and the very spirit of Sakaguchi, all thanks to the cooperation of Cocytus."

Piruluk did not respond as she just kept her gaze up at the body to see if there was still any signs of life within it after Ethics Buster had severely damaged the cockpit with its mighty punch in tandem with her remaining power. Then suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a moan was heard as the body began to raise itself under its own will and looked over to the blue LRIG. Only this time, her eyes were no longer displaying a lifeless blank shade of their former self when she was still alive.

"W... What is...?" she groaned.

"Sakaguchi!" called Piruluk, bringing the spirit's attention to her.

"K... Kiyoi...?" she murmured in brief confusion, almost not recognizing her friend from the blue colours in her hair before gazing across her cybernetic 'prison' and the 'body' she was a part of "That's right... I remember now. I should be dead... why am I stuck in here?!"

"Just hold on a little longer!" the blue LRIG called, feeling hopeful that she had managed to break Sakaguchi's spirit free of Remember's control "All I need is one more turn and I can free your spirit! The being that revived you was forced to do so by forces beyond our comprehension!"

"Okay..." she breathed, or in a sense she tried to before seeing the unconscious Kamui behind Piruluk "Oh... what did I...?!"

"Just stay calm and trust me!" she cried, holding her head down, a few tears falling down as she contemplated the situation.

Before Sakaguchi could say anything more, red sparks flew across the Cyberoid body as she screamed out aloud in pain whilst Remember growled whilst staring up at her.

"To think Ethics Buster broke the cable that allowed me control over her mind!" she snapped "No matter, once I'm done here, you'll remain my eternal servant and Kiyoi-chan will pay for her final greatest failure." She then regained her usual smirk, glancing back at Piruluk. "I wonder what other spirits I could have Cocytus revive, so I can turn the other Raizers into similar soldiers of my own!"

"But in order to do that, you must prove your fortune isn't as false as Takuto claims," the blue LRIG replied "In fact, would you not mind showing me given I haven't been familiar with it now I'm battling in Katsuragi's stead. After all, it has been a while since you gave me one personally."

"Very well then," Remember replied confidently, as her eyes lit up a bright blue "Now, behold your... huh?!"

She gasped in shock as instead of displaying the exact same fortune she had given to Kamui to Piruluk as well, a different image was shown, this time to herself. It showed Ethics Buster glowing in a bright orange glow and on that same table behind it was not just the blue LRIG herself, but the Nova Grappler user who was somehow standing back on his feet, almost alive and well. When the image faded, Remember stumbled back in disbelief, gazing down at the 'ground' of the field.

"The fortune... changed...?!" she gasped, even surprising Piruluk to a degree.

The former LRIG, shook for a brief instance before regaining her footing and drawing her next two cards, directing a rather angry gaze towards the former Selector she had previously used as her pawn.

"Final Turn!" she declared.

Piruluk gritted her teeth, realizing that her opponent had enough with her after her fortune had changed and was looking to end the battle right now, in order to prove her initial fortune was the correct one all along. The former LRIG moved a card from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile before taking a second copy of Necro Raizer from her LRIG deck and throwing it straight into her LRIG Trash.

"Necro Raizer's skill, Lock!" she called.

The hollow titan growled loudly as it pointed one of its cannons towards the Brainy Papio in the center space on the far side of the field before shooting a pair of black rings that trapped it in an instant. At the same time, one of the cards in the Ener Zone of Kamui's table turned face down as Piruluk stared at it for an instant, sensing that this wasn't the only thing that Remember had in mind from her agitated expression, now that her powers of fortune-telling were seemingly starting to fail her. Immediately in an instant, as Francium vanished from the field, a new unit by the name of Imaginary Orthos and a second copy of Photon appeared onto the battlefield as the former LRIG pointed at the other Brainy Papio.

"Again, I Lock!" she declared.

A pair of black rings enveloped the Battleroid before trapping it inside of a black sphere and turning the card on Kamui's field face down, as Piruluk was beginning to realize things were now going from bad to worse.

"With Orthos' skill," Remember continued "I move a Life Cloth to my Ener Zone!"

She picked out the one at the far end beside the Trash Pile before turning it face up to reveal a second copy of Star-vader, Francium before it was placed into her Ener Zone. The former LRIG then showed her two of her own copies of Salvage as the Francium and Servant D in her Ener Zone moved to the Trash as she picked out a two copies of the same SIGNI in her Trash Pile and added it to her hand.

"Our little game has finally come to my end..." Remember giggled, albeit slightly more crazed from being shaken earlier "Photon attacks Ethics Buster!"

The commander of the Star-vaders dashed forwards across the field towards Ethics Buster as Piruluk gazed at the two cards she held in her hand, knowing what she had in her Ener Zone also wasn't enough to help her for any ARTS at this moment. After Photon had slashed across Ethics Buster, forcing it onto one knee, the blue LRIG picked up the final Life Cloth that was left over and turned it over, revealing Beast Deity, Rescue Bunny.

"With the effect, I regain another Life Cloth!" she declared as the top card of the deck moved into that spot.

"Why you...!" Remember growled "Orthos!"

Imaginary Orthos growled loudly, leaped into the air and dived down towards Ethics Buster, slashing past it once again as the new Life Cloth revealed itself as Servant T, the Life Burst moving the next card from the top of the deck to the Ener Zone as well, that being a second copy of Weapons Dealer, Govannon. Piruluk could only gaze at the precarious situation she was in as she looked back to the other side of the field as Remember then snapped her fingers, causing Sakaguchi to move her arms forward against her will, Necro Raizer in turn charging its cannons to the maximum energy output and pointing them towards both Ethics Buster and the blue LRIG.

"Necro Raizer, attack Ethics Buster!" the former LRIG declared as the corrupted Battleroid unleashed all the energy it had towards its opponents.

"Kiyoi! I can't stop myself...!" Sakaguchi cried, unable to do anything physically to stop the attack.

"I won't stand for Remember using you like this!" the blue LRIG replied as she then revealed the card she added back with Salvage "Solar Falcon!"

The familiar falcon-like Battleroid appeared between the two titans once again, deploying a barrier to block the attack the best it could as the force of the impact was enough to send Ethics Buster and Piruluk moving back a little. At the same time, as the shockwave continued throughout the battlefield, Kamui began to stir as he was showing a sign of trying to open his eyes back up. A groan at the very least, though a quiet one, had managed to escape his open lips.

"You've grown so persistent!" Remember growled "Even though you're just another one of my pawns... even though I had you as I did all those years ago!"

"All those..." Piruluk murmured to herself, before blinking for a brief instant "Wait... is she actually...?!"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence as she watched the former LRIG discard a single card from her hand before placing two fingertips of her right hand on top of Necro Raizer's card on the LRIG space of her table.

"Necro Raizer stands!" she declared before moving two cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile "Then with the Ultimate Break, the current turn state jumps back to my Main Phase!"

Piruluk could only clench her teeth as sparks flew across Sakaguchi once again as she screamed in pain, the dark red eyes of Necro Raizer flashing as the corrupted Battleroid aimed its cannons towards Ethics Buster.

"I retreat Orthos and Photon and summon!" Remember called.

Both Imaginary Orthos and Photon vanished from the battlefield as two copies of Star-vader, Francium appeared to the left and right of Necro Raizer as the three of them took up offensive stances. Piruluk could only stare at the three units in shock as she realized the two cards she had leftover in her hand at this moment was only going to save her once and she was completely outnumbered thanks to the unexpected Ultimate Break that had been unlocked thanks to Imaginary Orthos' earlier skill. She glanced up at Sakaguchi who had a panicked expression on her face as she felt the energy for Necro Raizer's cannons beginning to charge up again and there was nothing the spirit of the deceased girl could do to stop it.

"No...!" Piruluk cried as she slammed her fist onto the table in front of her "I... I can't let it end like this...!"

"Kiyoi...!" cried Sakaguchi as she stared at her friend helplessly before gasping for a brief instance.

"Hmm?" Remember pondered as she turned her gaze from the Cyberoid body back towards the opposite side of the field and gasped as well. "H... How is this...?!"

Piruluk brought her head up in confusion and looked to her right to see Kamui, heaving himself onto the table and reaching out for a single card in his LRIG deck, taking it out.

"Katsuragi, what are you...?!" the blue LRIG questioned in shock.

"A... ARTS...!" he called as he revealed it "Xeno Multiple!"

Staring at the card he was now attempting to play, Piruluk suddenly looked back to his Ener Zone, realizing that the condition for the card's cost was now available to her. Servant D, Govannon, God Eater and Servant T moved from the lineup of cards present there to the Trash Pile as the figure on the card's artwork appeared in front of the two of them and Ethics Buster in a radiating white light. She had a bright white one piece outfit with matching coloured gloves, armoured stockings and bluish white coloured hair and eyes.

"You, back to her hand...!" Kamui called under the strain of his earlier pain as he pointed to one of the Franciums "And, Necro Raizer can no longer attack!"

The figure displayed on Xeno Multiple nodded to his command and unleashed two beams of white coloured energy towards his intended targets before she disappeared from the field itself. One beam struck Francium who disappeared in a flash whilst her card reappeared in Remember's hand whilst the other stuck Necro Raizer directly, shutting down nearly all of its systems and cancelling out the red sparks that were going across Sakaguchi's Cyberoid body.

"Impossible...!" Remember gasped "You shouldn't be able to...!"

"I can...!" Kamui replied "It's the start of the SIGNI attack phase for this to go off, just like Amika taught me... Right Kiyoi?"

"That's right..." she breathed upon realizing the flaw in Necro Raizer's Ultimate Break before glancing at the card in his LRIG Trash Pile  _He knew what his own units were capable of when they were in Remember's hands... did he plan for something like this to happen beforehand?_

"You...!" Remember growled as she downed the only other card that was on her table "Francium!"

With her attention focused back onto the battle, Piruluk looked forwards to see the remaining Francium charge towards Ethics Buster and leap high into the air, intending to end the battle once and for all.

"Plume Wall Angel!" she called as she revealed the very last defensive card she had been holding onto for Kamui.

The top five cards of the deck revealed Solar Falcon, two Yamatano Drakes, Servant D and a third Brainy Papio. All five units and the Guard SIGNI jumped to the defence as they easily repelled Francium's attack and knocked her back to Remember's field. The former LRIG was fuming in that not only was her fortune not coming as true as she wished, but her Final Turn had failed completely thanks to Kamui's unexpected recovery.

"At the end of the turn..." she huffed "Orthos' skill returns an Ener to my deck and I recover 1 Life Cloth."

Sighing in relief, both Piruluk and Sakaguchi were glad that they were able to prevent Remember from succeeding this turn, but they knew they weren't in the clear. The blue LRIG knew that two turns had passed since she stepped into the battle, meaning if she failed to defeat her opponent and set the spirit of the deceased Sakaguchi free by then, Mayu's decree would come into effect and she and Kamui would automatically lose by the coming turn's End Phase. The Nova Grappler user winced in pain for a moment as touched the spot where his injury would be, only to feel the piece of Piruluk's garb that she had used to bandage it up.

"Katsuragi, you shouldn't be standing!" she exclaimed as he turned his attention away from his injury.

"T... This is my battle too you know!" he groaned before calming down "But... I owe you one there."

The blue LRIG said nothing in response as the two of them looked ahead towards Necro Raizer and to the corrupted Battleroid's cockpit where they could see Sakaguchi who was looking down at them.

"So... are you two friends?" she asked.

"Well... I wouldn't exactly say so..." the Nova Grappler user replied, now seeing that her eyes were no longer appearing blank to him "But right now..."

"He is."

Kamui almost dropped his jaw in disbelief at what he had just heard at this very instance as he looked to the blue LRIG, seeing that her gaze was down at the table at first before looking back up to Sakaguchi.

"Under any normal definitions, this shouldn't even be the case," she spoke "Katsuragi is rather loud, far too upbeat for his own good and a rather rash individual and as a result... I ended up completely distrusting him. But at the same time... he came this far just to save the life of another friend's mother as well as your spirit and he's not willing to stand for the injustice that Mayu has placed on the players of this world!"

"Kiyoi..." he murmured as he blinked for a brief moment.

"How touching..." Remember muttered "But don't forget about Mayu's agreement! If you don't defeat me this turn, you two will instantly lose!"

"We lose by then...? How long was I out for?" the Nova Grappler user pondered as he looked back at Piruluk.

"Forget about her words," she spoke "Right now, there's one thing we must do."

Kamui flashed a smile back at her as if to say that he now understood what he had to do now. Seeing that the blue LRIG was handing back control of the battle to him, now that he had regained consciousness, he reached for the top two cards of what little was left of his deck.

"Here we go!" he called out loud "The great Kamui and icy Kiyoi...!"

"'Icy...?'" Piruluk muttered, struggling to resist the urge to raise an eyebrow at the fact he tried to give her what he at least thought was a 'cool' nickname.

"Hey, I had to work with something!" he pouted for a brief moment before looking to what he drew, smiling brightly as he continued from where he left off in his speech "Ener Charges a Lock and summons Solar Falcon!"

As the Sentinel from the previous turn made its appearance onto the battlefield once again, this time taking to the offensive alongside Max Beat who had no other Link Joker units blocking their path over towards Necro Raizer and Sakaguchi, Remember gasped in panic as she stared at the Francium that Kamui had returned to her hand thanks to Xeno Multiple, now useless having lacked any defensive properties.

"No... this must be a mistake...!" she gasped "My fortunes... they're always absolute!"

"Here we go, Remember!"

She looked back ahead to see Kamui and Piruluk look to one another in agreement as they each held one hand over both Max Beat and Solar Falcon respectively as they downed the cards together to signal their attacks. The two Beast Deities' eyes lit up as one by one, they took turns in dishing out their own means of damaging the corrupted Battleroid before them as Solar Falcon slashed through more of the cables attached to Sakaguchi's Cyberoid body whilst Max Beat's staff sent a volt of lightning that struck the entire frame of Necro Raizer. Sakaguchi winced in pain as her eyes began to flash, indicating that there wasn't much to go before all of the systems imprisoning her spirit would shut down.

"I... I still have a chance from Orthos' skill!" Remember called "D... Damage Check!"

She flipped over her first Life Cloth which revealed another copy of Star-vader, Nebula Captor, prompting her to draw another card whilst the second card revealed Star-vader, Stellar Garage.

"Heal Burst!" she called as the top card of her deck moved to her Life Cloth zone "It's over! You've lost!"

"Not a chance!" Kamui called "Paying the cost, White Tiger's skill activates!"

"Max Beat stands!" Piruluk declared "And with Max Beat's skill, Solar Falcon also stands!"

The two units then immediately set their sights upon Necro Raizer once again as the corrupted Battleroid was barely able to move thanks to the extensive damage that it had sustained over the last few turns and the current battles that were being waged.

"T... Turndown Dragon!" Remember cried as the dark Cyber Dragon immediately intercepted Solar Falcon's attack.

Then immediately after the Sentinel unit retreated from Turndown's range, the dragon vanished to allow another volley of lightning from Max Beat's staff to strike the frame of Necro Raizer as Sakaguchi beared through the pain again. Remember nervously touched the next Life Cloth and picked it up, gasping in panic to reveal that it was a fourth copy of Photon, with nothing more to help her.

"N... No...!" she cried "I can't lose!"

Kamui smirked as if to finally say to the person who had taken his Raizer units and the one who had also made Piruluk and Amika's current lives a nightmare through her deceptions that he had finally got her right where he wanted her.

"This is the showstopper!" he boldly declared as he raised a fist into the air, barely ignoring the pain from the earlier injury before briefly glancing to Piruluk as they both reached out for Ethics Buster's card. "The great Kamui and..."

"... the icy Kiyoi's..." the LRIG muttered in a deadpan tone, clearly still not a fan of the 'nickname' he had given her. But at this point, she knew that the larger issue was still pressing right in front of them.

"Strongest attack!" they declared as they both downed the card together.

Ethics Buster let out a triumphant roar as the jets on its back ignited back to life once again. It dashed across the field towards the downed Necro Raizer before leaping high into the air with both of its claws glowing a bright neon green as it did so. As the Battleroid's shadow was cast over Remember who was still panicking over the outcome that was about to befall her, Sakaguchi simply stared up at it before gazing down at Piruluk, closing her eyes and preparing to accept her fate.

"You really have changed... Kiyoi..." she said, smiling gently to herself.

Ethics Buster then landed in front of Necro Raizer before thrusting both of its claws into the corrupted Battleroid, cleaving through the thick armour and most of its main systems as sparks flew out from the damaged electronics. The Beast Deity then leaped back as explosions erupted from the points where it had stabbed through the armour and eventually covered over the cockpit, destroying the Cyberoid body that housed Sakaguchi's imprisoned spirit at last. Remember feel to her knees in utter disbelief, that she had not just been defeated by both Kamui and Piruluk, but her efforts involving the use of Sakaguchi and his strongest Raizer unit as a combination ultimatum had ultimately gone to waste because of that.

"I didn't think you'd roll with it..." he said.

"Just this once," she replied, her tone having reverted back to her usual monotone "Don't even think of speaking about it to Amika when you find her."

Kamui sighed a little for a moment, having not expected the blue LRIG to revert back to her usual self in regards to what he attempted to do. But at the same time, even he couldn't help but smile a little in response.

"Some things never change, do they...?" he replied before losing consciousness once more.

Piruluk immediately caught him by the shoulders and gently lay him back onto the ground, knowing that his attempt to stand up for the rest of the battle had tired him out. But at the very least, his injury had not worsened as a result, despite a small stain showing on the piece of garb she had used to bandage up the gash on his abdomen. Ethics Buster gazed back to the pair, concerned for the Nova Grappler user's current state once again.

"He'll be fine," the blue LRIG spoke "He pushed himself to get back up, a little too much in my view."

Both of their attention were then immediately caught by a small, but faint glow a little ways in front of Kamui's table as Piruluk could see from what features were displayed to her that this was indeed the spirit of Sakaguchi Ayumi, now free of the mechanical monstrosity that Remember and Photon had previously bound her to. Both of them knew that it wouldn't be very long before she would vanish from this plane of existence so that her disturbed spirit could finally move on. She smiled kindly, exactly as Piruluk remembered it from long ago before fading away from the field in a faint glow of light, indicating that it was finally over. She and Kamui had finally succeeded in setting her spirit free from the corrupted Raizer and allowing her to finally rest in peace once more.

"Goodbye Kiyoi..." her voice echoed for one final time "Promise me you'll be happy, wherever you go from here."

"Farewell, Sakaguchi..." the blue LRIG whispered, unable to mask away the sadness in her voice.  _May you find peace and hope that they won't disturb you again. Never again...!_

Remember got back up onto her knees, clearly infuriated with Piruluk as she saw that the unconscious Kamui was seemingly defenceless and tried to run over towards him, only for Ethics Buster to jump out in front, intending to block her path. Growling in response, she clenched her fist angrily before suddenly falling back to the floor, a strange feeling coursing through her.

"W... What is this?!" she coughed.

A faint glow then suddenly illuminated on Kamui's right hand as Piruluk looked back to see that the mark that was previously imprinted there began to vanish, shattering like glass as it left his skin. Then, after Necro Raizer's card had disappeared from Remember's table in a series of burning dark red embers, the heavily damaged giant was glowing a bright orange, the light somehow dowsing the flames that had started from the prior explosions before it began to vanish from the field, causing the former LRIG to turn around in shock, unable to believe this was happening. Then, she brought out the remaining Raizer cards in her pocket, seeing that they too were also vanishing into several embers.

"No...!" she screamed as the final card vanished "I won't be denied...! I won't be denied what is mine!"

* * *

**The White Room**

Mayu stared out of the window from her throne in shock, seemingly in disbelief that not only had Remember lost to both Kamui and Piruluk, but the fact that Necro Raizer had now seemingly disappeared from the battlefield without any warning whatsoever. Takuto kept a smile as he looked onto the window, seeing that his efforts were not in vain and that they managed to accomplish this feat together. Looking behind him, he could see a similar glow beginning to envelop Cocytus as the black ring that shackled its wrists together shattered in an instant. The Granblue Necromancer, now free of his bindings, turned around to Mayu with a glare that seemingly told her that 'it wasn't over' before disappearing from her sight, just like Necro Raizer.

Before she could exclaim further disbelief, a blank window suddenly changed its view to that of Schwarzschild Dragon, who seemed just as furious from what was going on.

"Mistress... prisoners from the Pit are suddenly vanishing!" the Cyber Dragon called "The Raizer units we have in storage are also...!"

"Secure them quickly!" she demanded "We cannot lose even a fraction of Miyako's current assets to our conquest!"

* * *

**The Pit**

Meanwhile in the dark and gloomy prison within the mastermind's domain, several members of the Raizer crew in addition to several of Cocytus' forces looked down upon themselves, wondering where the sudden glow was coming from. Several of the Liberators as well as other units from various clans gazed upon the glowing units as one by one, they all began to disappear. One of the Raizer pilots seemingly panicked for an instant before he too vanished, leading Huey and Kate to wonder what was going on, before they too shared the same fate. As the last of the glows died down, from higher up the tall walls of the prison, two more units who had been shackled up there observed the whole event closely.

One of them was an Elf recognizable otherwise as the ace unit of Asaka's deck, before Ulith had defeated her at Foo Fighter headquarters back in her own world. Her whitish hair with hints of red colour amongst it along with her heterochromatic red and blue eyes made it easy for nearly all on the ground of the Pit to see that it was indeed Luquier. On the other side of the prison walls, bound in even more shackles was a much larger demonic looking unit with a single eye on its grotesque head, a large pair of wings and a 'second mouth' or what it appeared to be like with a purple orb in the center with an eye marking of some kind etched onto it. This was one of the units Miyako had claimed from Tetsu known as Amon. Both were initially confused, wondering why this was possible and if so, where exactly had they disappeared to?

* * *

**Vanguard World: Card Capital**

Inside the almost empty store, the current group that consisted of Misaki, Shingo, Miwa, Gouki and Nagisa were pondering on what to do next in the midst of the current calamity when suddenly, the marks on the latter two began to disappear, in the same manner that Kamui's mark had also disappeared earlier.

"T... this is...!" the Granblue user gasped before suddenly looking to his pocket.

As he and Nagisa pulled out their respective decks, they could see that the once blank cards they held earlier in the day were now gaining colour and life back to them. Everyone around them gasped from this sudden turn of events, wondering how it was that their stolen units were now returning back to normal and how their marks were now removed.

"Our units are back...!" Nagisa exclaimed.

Seeing a faint glow emit from his pocket, Miwa suddenly brought out the 'remnants' of Kamui's Raizer deck which had remained blank ever since he had been 'dropped off' by Remember into Ruko's world.

"T... this is..." he murmured as he saw colour and life returning back to the cards as well.

Misaki couldn't help but look back at Futase's note which she still had on the table, now seeing that a part of what she had previously jotted down was beginning to make sense.

"Someone that 'Kiyoi' marked must have defeated her," she murmured as she re-read the text closely.

"You think it might have been Kamui?" Miwa pondered.

The Genesis user remained silent in uncertainty, with all of them including herself completely unaware of the achievement that he and Piruluk had managed to accomplish together.

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Hospital**

"Argh! Open up!"

Amika cried desperately in vain as she tried and failed to turn the doorknob to her mother's hospital room so she could check on her health at this instant. But no matter how hard she attempted to turn the handle or pull the door towards her, it refused to budge even an inch as red sparks flew off the handle once again, shocking her for an instant before prompting her to pull her hand away from it.

"Damn it...!" she cried "My mother's in there...! Just why...!"

Kai who had been standing beside her in the midst of her attempts gazed at the handle where he saw the sparks flying from, then he looked upon the edges of the door. To his discomfort, he could see what appeared to be a faint dark red aura around the otherwise easily accessible door, as if it was acting like a 'Lock' of some kind to prevent them from entering and those inside from leaving. Looking to Amika, he motioned for her to stand back, to which she did so whilst wondering what it was that he had in mind.

Placing his hand on the handle, he could immediately sense the dark power that had previously been preventing the former Selector from opening the door in the first place and that it was now beginning to resonate with the Seed fragment within him. Clenching his hand on the doorknob tightly, he began to turn it as hard as he could, sparks flying across his arm as he did so. As this happened, the aura slowly began to fade away from the door itself as he eventually managed to pull it open, much to the surprise of Amika.

"H... how did you...?" she breathed.

The two of them then immediately looked inside to see her mother still motionless in her hospital bed along with the machines keeping her alive for the moment, right next to a disturbing dark red aura that was presumably the source of the earlier disturbance. As the former Selector moved over to her mother, wanting to be beside her more than ever in this instant, Kai kept his trail upon the source of the aura, gazing closely at it. As Amika raised her head to ask what was going on, he held a hand back in response to prompt her to keep away at this instance. Bringing out Dragonic Overlord's card towards the source of the disturbance, he knew he would be going in blind on instinct. Yet he felt for some reason, this was the only way to see to the issue at hand in this very room.

"Open!" he declared.

And with a bright flash, he was immediately drawn into the aura as Amika gasped for a moment after he disappeared, wondering if he was alright. Turning back to her mother with the sound of the machine behind her making her feel uneasy, feeling that she had no option but to trust him in what he was doing whilst she kept an eye on the one she fought for during the Selector Battles, even if her memories of that time were no longer present.

* * *

**Link Joker Fight Field**

Back within the battlefield which had still not closed for whatever reason despite the conclusion of the earlier confrontation, Remember scowled deeply as she glared back at Piruluk and the unconscious Kamui that lay beside her feet. The former LRIG stood up in a hunched state as she began chuckling darkly to herself, causing the blue LRIG on the opposite side of the battlefield to raise an eyebrow in confusion before she lifted up her head to reveal herself in an highly crazed state of laughter.

"I lost to you two, so what?!" she called as she raised one hand into the air "You may have ruined my plans... but I can still carry out my retribution!"

"What are you saying?" Piruluk muttered as Ethics Buster took up a defensive stance.

"Don't you get it? I still have the Link Joker deck!" her opponent goaded "I still have... it's power! Since our battlefield is still connected to the hospital room, I'll just summon Amika's mother here and do the deed anyway!"

She raised one hand into the air as Reverse began pouring throughout her side of the battlefield in what appeared to be streams of energy that began tethering itself to the ground of the battlefield. Piruluk could only clench her teeth in panic as she saw Ethics Buster vanish from the battlefield, the battle it needed to partake in having come to a close. Realizing that there was possibly no time left for the battlefield to close on its own with her presence still here and no card to return to, she knew she had to do something to stop the former LRIG from her last ditch effort. Needless to say however as she glanced on ahead, she soon saw in surprise that she wouldn't need to do anything.

As Remember cackled madly from the prospect of her 'retribution' towards both Piruluk and Amika for the former altering the latter's wish with her own power, even if she had never noticed at first, she never noticed a free hand grab onto her her raised one. That is, until she suddenly began to feel that power seeping away as the 'tethers' that were latched onto part of the hospital floor which had materialized in mid-summon, broke away and caused said portions of the floor to return back to the outside world, much to her shock. Then, the hand that had grasped her wrist had tightened its grip, preventing her from breaking free as she turned around to find the source. She stared at him in shock, as if she knew who he was despite being face to face with him for the first time.

"No way...!" she gasped "My power's... but you're...!"

"It seems that this was your final plan all along, Remember," Kai spoke, having more than enough knowledge and sense to tell this was the former LRIG inhabiting the body of Kiyoi "Even if we all do return now, I will make certain that you won't harm Amika's mother as you intended."

"Kai Toshiki..." Piruluk murmured as she gazed at him, inwardly relieved that he had prevented Remember's final retribution.

The Kagero user looked back towards the blue LRIG, upon hearing her voice mention his name out aloud.

"Piruluk... or rather, Kiyoi," he replied, addressing her by the fact that he now had knowledge of her real name before gazing down to Kamui in his unconscious state. "Is he...?"

Before the blue LRIG could answer his question, the purple coloured portal on the side of the battlefield suddenly expanded a little and began sucking almost everything towards it. Kai lost his grip on Remember as she was sent flying and screaming straight into the vortex before Piruluk suddenly found herself being pulled up from the strong currents and also sent flying into the giant vortex, much to her sudden shock before the two of them disappeared from the field, just as the portal close up. The Kagero user upon regaining his footing, stared at Kamui's unconscious form as the battlefield went a complete black.

* * *

**City Hospital**

Amika after staring over her mother's still motionless form for a long while, decided to look back towards the aura that Kai had used in tandem with Dragonic Overlord's card to enter the battlefield that had now finally closed up. She wondered if he was still alright after he had just disappeared like that in front of him, despite having no memory of their interactions prior to their reunion just several minutes ago at the hospital's entrance outside. Soon, she could see that the aura was beginning to fade away in a bright flash as a familiar shadow along with another began to emerge from it. As the light died down, the former Selector could see that Kai and Kamui were now back in the room, with the latter still unconscious.

"Kai..." she breathed before looking down at Kamui in confusion, having not recognized him either "And... who's that?"

The Kagero user remained silent as he knelt down to see the unconscious Nova Grappler user was still breathing to an extent before then seeing the reason he was still in such a state. Amika joined him as the two of them could still see part of Piruluk's garb was bandaging up his injury with the two of them still in the dark as to how it happened in the first place. Curiously, as if for some strange reason she felt that there was a familiarity to the young cardfighter, the former Selector moved her right finger forward towards the piece of garb and tapped it with her right finger. When she did though, she suddenly widened her eyes as she fell back onto the floor and clutched her head in pain.

"Amika, what's wrong?" Kai asked, noticing her pained expression.

"W... What is this...?!" she gasped as she closed her eyes to try and stave off the pain.

Numerous voices echoed at the back of her mind, all of which came from lost memories that had been forfeited as a result of her tainted wish. They were words from Remember, Chiyori, Kai himself, Kamui and the LRIG that she once had in her possession. As she finally recalled the names of those voices, images flashed before her very eyes from the times she had spent with Piruluk before her initial first encounters with Aichi, Kai and Hitoe before finally several memories of Kamui flashed by. Even the ones from when she was both Reversed and under the corrupted LRIG's control at the time flashed by as he declared that he wouldn't let her mother die as he also called for her to wake up then.

Realizing that these were indeed memories that she had lost, she silently gasped in shock as she looked down at Kamui's motionless state as she then assessed the situation in front of her.

"Kamui!" she cried as she shook his shoulders "Are you alright?! Where's Kiyoi?!"

Kai immediately placed one hand on her shoulder to stop her in the midst of her panic.

"He's no longer in serious danger," he spoke "And it would seem that Kiyoi made sure of that for him... and your mother."

Amika blinked in confusion as she looked back up to the hospital bed, recalling that her mother despite being motionless, was indeed in a stable condition for the moment. Running back through her recovered memories, including the ones where she and Piruluk were reversed, she began to count up the battles she partook in.

"So I lost to Chiyori..." she began "Then I was reversed by Remember... and if Kamui unreversed me..." She then blinked once again. "Wouldn't it mean my wish would be tainted?"

Kai remained silent for the moment, unsure of how to answer to the whole debacle himself for not being present throughout all of Kamui's recent battles up to this point. But from what information he had learned from him earlier in Card Luck, it would seem that having Amika's wish tainted would also mean the end of her mother's life, given her condition. But having recalled that Piruluk was on the battlefield by his side opposing Remember for the few moments he was present there for, he knew there had to be a reason that she was still alive. He did not have time to fully contemplate any possibilities as they heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards the room.

"Dad, the door's open!" a boy's voice called.

"Hurry Yuuki!" a man's voice replied.

Amika immediately hurried to her feet, realizing they along with her other sibling Shouta would be bound to question both Kai and Kamui's untimely presence in the hospital room at this moment. By the time Kai had gotten up to his own feet, the three of them had arrived by the open doorway, staring at the scene that was in front of them as they gazed at who they saw in front of them.

"Amika!" her father called "Has there been any change?" He then gazed at both Kai and Kamui, confused as to their presence and why the latter was lying on the floor. "And who are they?"

"Mom's still the same way..." Amika answered in a slightly downcast state "And this is Kai I talked about some time ago..."

"Who's the guy on the floor?" Shouta asked in curiousity, studying the Nova Grappler user's face.

"That's Kamui," she replied "You know... the boy I talked about a little while ago."

"That's all well and good Amika," her father spoke "But just what is going on here? And why haven't you answered my calls for some time?"

Amika suddenly sweated for a brief instance, realizing that in the midst of her temporary amnesia, she had not answered any of the calls from her phone when she had ran away from Hitoe.

"Um... that's..." she stuttered, trying to think of something she could say to him.

"Amika had a case of memory loss when I found her," Kai interrupted calmly, causing her to turn to him "As for Katsuragi's earlier presence here before any of us arrived, we can only assume that he was here to defend your mother from someone who had taken the guise of a close friend of your daughter, with malicious intent planned for all of you."

Amika soon realized that the Kagero user was telling her father and her two younger brothers everything he knew from what he could assume had happened before their arrival to the hospital room, minus any details on the Selector Battles or her personal involvement with them at all. Although they seemed fairly unconvinced at first, she soon found something that she could add to the conversation.

"What Kai is trying to say is," she continued "If it weren't for Kamui getting here before all of us... there's a chance mom might not be currently alive now. And someone I met before my 'memory loss' could have made sure of that."

"Who's this someone then?" her father asked.

"I didn't see her actual face..." she murmured, her words being somewhat truthful in that she didn't know Remember's actual appearance as an LRIG "But she was using the appearance of a friend of mine to try and deceive me into having false hope whilst she pulled the plug on mom without us knowing. If Kamui's on the floor like this, he must have been in a struggle with her."

Both Yuuki and Shouta shivered for a moment as they listened to the whole tale that their older sister and Kai was giving to them, feeling somewhat nerved that their mother's life was almost taken by this 'someone' that their older sister had brought up.

"I see..." her father replied as he looked over to Kamui's unconscious state before looking back to Kai "Can I trust you to keep an eye on everyone in here?"

"You have my word," the Kagero user replied.

"Very well then. I'll head downstairs and arrange a room for Kamui to recover in," he replied "The doctors also said that they should be here with the necessary procedures for our mother's treatment in a couple of minutes."

Amika sighed in relief, feeling much more hopeful that the sooner the doctors could cure her mother in this currently stable, yet precarious state, the sooner that they would finally be truely reunited as a family for the first time in a very long time. A part of the back of her mind had grown downcast, realizing that in the midst of all of this, Piruluk wouldn't be present as her LRIG or even in person to witness their efforts had not gone to waste. As her father left the room to make arrangements for Kamui's recovery, the former Selector's younger brothers looked up to Kai.

"Is it true that nee-chan says you're really strong at Wixoss?!" Shouta asked enthusiastically.

"What kind of LRIG do you have?!" Yuuki asked in an energetic tone.

"Boys, please calm down!" Amika called in an authoritative tone that she normally used in family conversations, much to their annoyance "Sorry about that Kai, they tend to be like that at times."

Kai simply remained quiet in response as he sat down on the open chair and patiently awaited for the return of the former Selector's father. He gazed down at Kamui, now seeing that things were no longer as dire as they appeared and that he had finally succeeded in his overall pledge to help Amika save her mother's life in any way he could. He also saw that his mark he had shown the group was no longer present on his right hand, making him wonder if he had somehow managed to remove it in some way.

* * *

**The White Room**

Despite being last to enter the portal from the battlefield which had now been closed off, Piruluk was the first to arrive back within the domain of Mayu as she landed perfectly on one knee, now face to face with the mastermind once again as Takuto and Photon were no longer present within the premises. Then through the window she came out of, followed what appeared to be her motionless body which landed on the ground with a large thud. She glanced at it for an instant, before a loud scream sounded out as Remember in her form as a Level 0 LRIG, dressed the exact same way as she was depicted on the cards she first used against Kamui, came flying out the window before landing on the floor, flat on her face with a loud "Ouch!"

"It seems we have had many surprises today," Mayu murmured "It seems that I will refrain from any further substitutions from this point onward."

Remember stood up back onto her feet, glaring back towards Piruluk who in turn had returned a less sharper, but just as angry glare between them. The atmosphere of the area suddenly darkened as everyone barring the mastermind herself looked around, pondering who it was that was present for the moment. A loud voice suddenly boomed throughout the area to make her very presence known to those who were beneath her 'mistress'.

"Few have dared to fail the will of Mayu even once!" the voice yelled "But you Remember... you had the nerve to fail her three times!"

"G... General...!" Remember gasped in shock and worry, recognizing her voice to be Miyako's "I... It's not my fault that I lost to Kiyoi-chan and Kamui!"

A violent wind suddenly swirled around in front of the LRIG as a dark red aura manifested in front of her, before disappeared to reveal the presence of Ruko's former mother right in front of her, unhooded to all of them, but Mayu for the first time. And from what she and Piruluk could tell, she wasn't just angry with her for her failure to win the battle. She was outright furious with her for more than that.

"When we agreed to employ you to our ranks, Mayu gave you simple instructions to follow!" she bellowed as she grabbed ahold of Remember by her throat with her metallic hand "But YOU lost to Katsuragi and your former compatriot! YOU lost the units you captured for me! And right now, I have lost my patience with you and Ayumu for your incompetence! In addition, you almost exposed our entire operation to eyewitnesses of those who rely solely on common sense!"

"I know we've had a few unfortunate... setbacks to your plans...!" she coughed, struggling to breath from the tight choke of the metallic hand around her neck "But... there must surely be something I can do to appease your's and... Mayu's anger."

"Then perhaps you could continue to make yourself useful... by guarding the entrance to the Pit under Photon's supervision," the woman replied coldly as she let go of the LRIG "Take this as a reminder to those that dare fail to make themselves useful to Mayu's cause. Now get out of our sight!"

Nodding nervously, Remember began to walk away from the group present, breathing in and out desperately as she did so to regain some air that Miyako had choked out of her in the midst of her rage. Not wanting to suffer from the 'General's' wrath any further, she immediately set off for the Lab to meet Photon, knowing that the Cyberoid commander was bound to be waiting for her there. Piruluk simply blinked in slight confusion, knowing this was the first time that she had ever encountered this woman within Mayu's domain. But even she felt that questioning what was her purpose here at this instance would not be wise as she had just witnessed beforehand. Ruko's former mother turned to Mayu who remained sat on her throne and bowed onto one knee.

"I apologize for our failure to prevent the units from returning to Cray," she spoke in a less harsher tone "I will make certain that they are recaptured from that other world when an opportunity presents itself."

"Rise my old friend," Mayu replied in a calmer tone, to which Miyako did so "Although I rely on your summonings to imprison these units, it is Remember's responsibility that her marks were undone. For now though, I want you to return Kiyoi back to her body."

"As you wish..."

Piruluk stared at Miyako as she opened up her metallic hand towards her motionless and soulless body, levitating it into the air in a dark purple aura before the blue LRIG herself found herself hovering as well. Using her over gloved hand, coated in the same aura, the 'General' shifted the two 'beings' closer towards one another as they glowed a faint white upon making contact with each other, before only the body of Kiyoi remained as it was. The very girl herself, now no longer the LRIG she had been for almost the past year in her initial quest for vengeance, finally opened her eyes and breathed in and out for the first time, in a very long time as she was gently lowered to the ground. She looked at her hands, to see that everything was as she had seen.

"Consider it a reward for completing your quest at very last," Mayu spoke gently, bringing Kiyoi's attention to her "But of course, few things come without a price."

"To what do you refer to?" she asked.

"I am granting you freedom back to the outside world in your own body of course," the mastermind continued "But... you should already know of that price is."

Looking down to the palms of her hands, Kiyoi closed her eyes, cringing for an instant as the memory of when Remember took Sakaguchi's life played through once again as she watched helplessly from the White Room as the LRIG Piruluk. It was at this moment that she finally realized what the price was that Mayu was talking about as the gaze of Miyako was also not helping either.

"Even though Remember used my body..." she murmured "It was these same hands that... ended Sakaguchi's life."

"Are you certain you wish to leave in your body, knowing the sin you'll be burdened with for life?" asked Mayu.

Kiyoi closed her eyes and breathed for a minute, with the knowledge that what she was saying was true to a certain degree. She remained calm as she went over all the memories she had made up to this point, as both herself and the LRIG Piruluk, with all the times she had shared with Sakaguchi Ayumi, Remember, all the Selectors she had previously 'manipulated' including Akira, Kai Toshiki, Amika and finally Kamui. The former Selector and LRIG had been through much to the point where she found herself now, learning a valuable lesson in the process and for what seemed like the first time in years, she finally found people around her that she felt that she could trust enough to call companions.

"If burdening myself with this sin is the punishment for coming this far," she spoke, much to Mayu's surprise at the calmness of her tone "Then so be it. I may not be able to stop you, nor may Katsuragi be the one to do it alone. But this much is now certain to me. Someone will stop your plans to destroy this world and I have faith... that they will succeed."

The mastermind gritted her teeth for a brief instance, having expected Kiyoi to initially break down over the fact that she was in the same body that Remember had used to kill Sakaguchi in the first place, when she had deceived her on the way she wanted her wish to be granted. Sigh for an instance, she opened a different window amongst the dozens behind the former Selector and LRIG as a gale started to sound from it.

"If you're really that confident then...!" she huffed "Leave the White Room and live on in this world's final moments with your sin... before I change my mind!"

Kiyoi wordlessly turned around and walked towards the window before being swept off of the floor and into it, taking her back to the outside world before several gates then sealed it off.

"Are you certain this is wise?" Miyako asked.

"It hardly matters," Mayu replied "Even if she inhabits Remember's remaining Wixoss factors in her body, I have no intentions of giving her another LRIG to battle with. Hardly anyone, save perhaps a mere few, with 'common sense' in that outside world is going to believe her anyway."

* * *

**City Hospital**

A long while had passed since Kamui had been moved to a separate room on the same floor as Kai and Amika kept watch over him as the latter was anxiously awaiting for the results of the treatment to her mother's illness. She was still very much tense, much like the rest of her family who had chosen to keep watch directly outside of the door to her hospital room, but she knew that the only thing she could do was have faith in the doctors working in there and pray that they could succeed in their efforts. The Kagero user noted her anxiety, finding it understandable she was feeling this way, given the risks that were involved with the way this particular treatment was being handled.

Before either of them could contemplate on the matter, they heard a small groan as Kamui slowly, but surely managed to open his eyelids as his initial vision came out blurry for the extended period of time that he was unconscious for this time. When his sight became much clearer, he looked down at the sheets of the bed, confused as to why he was there before looking over to see both of his friends who had been keeping an eye on him.

"Kai... Amika...!" he called.

"Kamui, thank goodness," Amika sighed in relief.

"What the heck's going on?" he murmured as he looked down at the bed sheets again "Why am I in here?"

"It would appear that your wound was the cause for your lack of consciousness," Kai answered.

"Ah, that's right!" Kamui gasped upon recalling that Kiyoi had bandaged it earlier with her garb.

He removed the sheets of his bed to find that his injury this time was patched up by a set of proper bandages and that the piece of the garb had been removed as a result. The former Selector in front of him then showed him the garb piece that the doctors had removed from him earlier.

"I was just able to convince them for me to keep it intact," she said as she looked down at the dark blue fabric. Having washed it clean of blood earlier, she knew right now, it was the closest thing to the friend she had made in this whole struggle. "Kiyoi... why did she have to disappear on us like that?"

"Don't tell me Mayu's still got her after we beat Remember together!" he muttered.

Before Kai could offer an opinion on the subject itself, now that Kamui had served to confirm that he and Kiyoi had joined forces in the final stage of the confrontation against Remember, the door to the room itself opened up slowly as everyone turned their attention to the figure standing outside. Immediately recognizing the appearance of who it seemed to be, all three of them remained on guard as Kiyoi glanced upon all three of them at once, having expected this initial reaction for seeing them again this way.

"Remember...?!" Amika exclaimed in shock.

"So you're back for round 3, huh?!" Kamui demanded as he leaped out of bed, wincing slightly as his feet hit the floor.

Kai however kept his gaze upon what the two had initially perceived as the enemy who had taken the life of Kiyoi's friend Sakaguchi and stolen the units from many fighters in his world, including the Nova Grappler user himself. He could sense that there was something indeed different about the person who had approached them just now in comparison to Remember, who he had apprehended briefly during her last ditch retribution to bring despair to both Kiyoi and Amika in the worst possible way. She then took a step forward into the room, causing Kamui to storm up to her.

"If beating you again is gonna send the message through to you!" he called "Then I'll...!"

He didn't finish his sentence as Kiyoi simply flicked a finger right into a spot on his face between his nose and the center of his forehead, causing him to wince in even more pain.

"You're still too loud," she spoke in her usual monotone.

Upon hearing the tone of voice that came out of the body's mouth this time, Kamui and Amika's eyes widened as they knew this kind of voice was all too familiar to them, yet they couldn't believe it was coming out of the same body that originally belonged to her. A part of them wanted to believe that Remember was somehow managing to make a perfect imitation of Kiyoi's voice with the body's vocal chords, but at the same time, they knew that even the atmosphere around the person they saw now was different to what they had experienced previously.

"Kiyoi... is that really you?!" the former Selector gasped, to which her reunited companion nodded once in confirmation.

"B... But how did you get your body back from Remember?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"I'll explain everything in a short while," Kiyoi replied as she turned back to Amika "Is your mother in good health now?"

"Well..."

The former Selector did not have time to think of an answer as they all turned around to see her father, Shouta and Yuuki all approach the doorway to Kamui's hospital room with excitement present on the two boys' faces. Seeing that she was blocking their view, Kiyoi immediately stepped a little to the side to allow them to see Kamui as well. He blinked for an instance, not recognizing their faces before this moment before they turned their attention to Amika.

"We've got great news nee-chan!" Shouta called.

"What do you mean?" asked Amika.

Her father then smiled for a brief instance as he looked down to both Shouta and Yuuki before they all stepped aside to reveal the presence of Amika's mother, now standing back up on her own two feet and no longer appearing to be in an ill state at all. The former Selector breathed in for a moment as it seemed like a miracle had happened and now thanks to the efforts of Kiyoi and Kamui as well as a final save by Kai, her family for the first time in ages was finally back together.

"M... Mom!" she cried out loud as she dove into her, hugging her tightly as she did so "You have no idea how long we've all been waiting for you to come back to us..."

"Believe me, I understand your feelings," she said gently as she returned the hug to her daughter.

As the two remained like that for several moments, Kiyoi couldn't help but offer a genuine smile to her friend as did Kamui who stood beside her to watch the occasion that was occurring before them. Eventually, after several tears of happiness had left Amika's eyes, she had broken away from the hug and looked up to her mother with a happy smile before she looked over to all of her friends who were present in the room.

"And who might they be?" she asked "Friends of yours?"

"Yeah!" the formed Selector replied "That's Kamui who's out of bed now, Kai who helped me get here when I lost my way and... my newest friend, Kiyoi."

"I'm glad we found you when we could," the Nova Grappler user spoke "Amika was really worried sick about you."

"But... is it true what they say?"

Everyone blinked for a moment to the question that Amika's mother asked to him, realizing that she had been informed about the grim fate that the three standing before her were able to prevent with their own actions.

"Amika told her father everything when we, minus Kiyoi, had met with them," Kai answered calmly.

"Someone using my guise had attempted to deceive her and bring her a terrible despair," Kiyoi continued "Had Katsuragi not succeeded in stopping her, you may not have been awake today."

Everyone went silent at the grim reminder of what could have happened, at least from the perspective that Kai, Amika and Kiyoi had given to them. Kamui was initially confused by the way the tale had been told, but soon realized that the remainder of Amika's family could not know that it was her wish in the Selector Battles that placed her mother's life at such risk in the first place. Speaking of Amika, the latter turned around to face both the now former LRIG and the Nova Grappler user with a small tear trickling down her face, now that everything was clear to her and only herself from her family.

"I... I don't know how to thank you both..." she stuttered "Without you guys, my mom would have..."

In an instant, she immediately wrapped her arms around both a surprised and somewhat shocked Kiyoi and Kamui before pulling them over towards her. Kai simply kept still and looked away from the three, showing a lack of interest in Amika's sudden action of slight affection for thanking the both of them in their efforts to save her mother from Remember's cold hand of death. Amika's mother giggled slightly at the sight before her, finding a small hint of amusement from the small event unfolding in front of her.

"Easy Amika...!" Kamui groaned, still feeling somewhat flustered from the close proximity and struggling to breathe a little from the tightness of the hug itself.

"You do realize you can let go now..." Kiyoi muttered in her monotone, if only from having been pulled into close proximity of the Nova Grappler user as well to her discomfort.

"Right... sorry," Amika replied as she gently let go of the two of them and looked back to her family "I know things are gonna be slow settling you back in mom, but I was wondering if I...?"

"If you wish to invite them over, then I will permit it," she kindly answered, which made the former Selector happy.

"I apologize, but I must decline the offer on my part."

Everyone looked to Kai in slight surprise to his answer before he walked past the remained of Amika's family and exited the hospital room. As joyous as the occasion was for Amika and her friends, he knew there was more pressing issues at hand for him to uncover and he felt that a distraction such as this would only get in his way for the moment.

"Hey Kai...!" called Kamui "You don't have to be that standoffish again you know?!"

"I won't stop you," he calmly replied "But right now, I must first find Aichi and Ruko."

"But still...!" the Nova Grappler user protested.

"Let him be," Kiyoi interrupted "I'm certain he has his reasons for not joining us."

Kamui huffed for a moment, realizing that she was indeed correct in her judgement once again. He watched on as Kai walked down the corridor of the current floor and over to the staircase which he would use to leave the hospital on his own. After the Kagero user was now heading out through the front doors of the building, he brought out his phone and decided to make a call to Aichi at this instance. A few moments later, he had finally got in contact with the Royal Paladin user.

"Kai-kun, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kai replied "I have found Amika and it seems her dilemma has finally been put to an end. Her mother has managed to recover from her ill state, with some aid from Katsuragi and Kiyoi, who has somehow reclaimed her body from Remember."

"Thank goodness..." Aichi breathed "We couldn't find her after we met up with Hitoe, so that's a relief to hear."

"But... there is something that you need to know."

The air between the two of them, despite being in seperate areas of the city on the line of the call, went eerily cold as Kai knew what he was about to tell them next was bound to have some kind of impact on Ruko.

"Is something wrong... Kai-kun?" asked Aichi.

"Before I found Amika..." Kai spoke "I encountered... Kominato Miyako."

* * *

**City Streets**

Upon hearing the name that was given to them at this moment, Aichi who was still holding his phone along with Ruko and Hitoe beside him gasped in shock. None were in such a more dire state upon hearing said name than the Selector who held the girls of black and white herself, who realized that Kai had encountered her mother in person and now, she felt like she needed to know everything she could.

"Was onii-chan with her?!" she gasped, coming around to Aichi's phone.

"I saw Ayumu when she arrived, but only briefly," the Kagero user replied "It appears she has been manipulating him for her own purposes and the clone LRIG he possesses is a part of them, whatever they may be."

Ruko could only close her eyes in scrutiny, a part of her having still wanted to believe that her mother was not as a bad person as Hatsu had seemingly implied earlier in the week. But at the same time, with her brother acting hostile towards her and the others with Kai's recent findings to confirm that he was indeed being manipulated by her, for reasons currently unknown to them, she knew she had to do something herself about the situation.

"Where can we find you now?" she asked.

"I am currently outside the hospital," Kai answered "What is it?"

"We'll meet with you there first," she said as she opened her eyes back up "It's time we find onii-chan and mother for some answers."

"Ruko..." Hitoe breathed in concern, worried if this surge in resolve was bound to have some kind of negative effect on her.

The Selector herself breathed in for a moment as Aichi finished the call with Kai by telling him that they would be on their way right at this very moment. When he put his phone away, he looked over to Ruko, concerned if the news that the Kagero user had encountered both Miyako and Ayumu at the same time had a profound effect on her composure at this point in time.

"I won't run away anymore," she spoke "I may not know what I did all those years ago or if I was really scary then... but right now, I have to talk some sense into onii-chan before something bad happens!"

"Tama agrees!" the girl of white called, prompting Ruko to bring out both her's and Yuki's cards from her jacket.

"Tama, Yuki," said Ruko "No matter what happens next, can you promise me you'll fight alongside me to the end?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Ruko," Yuki replied, smiling that her Selector had now fully regained her resolve "Now let's find out the truth behind all of this."

Ruko nodded in reply as she put away the two LRIG cards back into her jacket as she led the way for Aichi and Hitoe over to the hospital where they would first regroup with Kai and then, the four of them and their LRIGs would begin their search for Ayumu and Miyako, so that the mystery behind what had happened six years ago by tonight, would finally be put to rest for good.

* * *

**Hashimoto Household**

A few hours later, the atmosphere within Amika's home for almost upbeat for the most part within everyone having their own thrall of excitement after a brief party had gone around in order to celebrate the successful return of the former Selector's mother to her family. Kiyoi was the only one who was otherwise the calmest amongst the people within the house as she simply looked up from her seat at both of Amika's parents, a kind smile having come to her now that she saw that her efforts along with Kamui's had not been in vain and that for the first time in a very long time, one of the few people around her that she had come to call a friend had finally rediscovered her true happiness.

"This is the showstopper!"

The former blue LRIG then looked over to the sitting room table to see that the Nova Grappler user, who had been busy in the midst of a game of Wixoss had just finished his final attack with Ethics Buster Extreme against Shouta, who been using a deck utilized around Akira's current LRIG, Milulun, not that she knew of her previous Selector's re-emergence into the Selector Battles themselves.

"You're way too strong for me!" Shouta moaned for a brief moment.

As Kamui flashed a smile before offering a hand to Amika's younger sibling as a thank you for the battle, to which he immediately accepted despite his annoyed mood of losing to him.

"You're really lucky to have 'strange' LRIG like that, you know," he said.

"Well... I have my ways..." the Nova Grappler user replied, unsure of whether or not Shouta would believe that he and his 'strange LRIG' were from a different game and world.

"Oh come on!"

The two of them looked to their right to see that Yuuki had been defeated by Amika, who still had the rest of her deck from the Selector Battles intact as she had defeated her other younger brother, again. Unlike his other sibling, he had been using a mostly Green deck based around Midoriko.

"And I believe that's straight win number 25," the former Selector said with a cheeky smile.

"Seriously?" he huffed before looking to Shouta "Well at least with mom back, our little bet's off now!"

"Oh? Have I been hearing that you two have been skipping a few baths in my absence?"

Feeling a strange chill run up their spines, the two younger brothers of Amika slowly turned around to see that although their mother was indeed in a happy mood as evidenced by her expression, there was something about the tone she had used to question them had scared their wits completely off.

"Um... what we're saying is that we almost forgot... right Yuuki?" Shouta replied nervously.

"Yeah... we'll be going now!" he said as the two of them hurried to the bathroom as Amika simply sweatdropped.

"Good grief," she muttered as she watched her brothers hurry up the stairs.

Amika's mother then kindly smiled towards her daughter in a silent way of saying thank you to her for managing to take care of the family in her absence and that nothing much had changed in the dynamic during said absence. Amika kindly returned the smile as her mother then returned back to the kitchen table to talk with her father, presumably to catch up with one another over the course of her time in the hospital. Seeing that they were occupied, Kiyoi then approached both her and Kamui.

"You said you were gonna explain how you got your body back right?" he asked.

"Yes," the former LRIG answered "But we cannot talk about it here."

"No problem," Amika replied as she opened the back door of her house to the small garden outside.

The three of them then sat down on the patch of lawn that was present as Kiyoi then began to tell her former Selector everything that had transpired since she had been reversed by Remember. She began with the fact that her Level 5 form's power altered her desire enough to change the wish to losing her mother, hence why she was now alive after the changed wish was tainted. Then, she recounted everything from her's and Kamui's final stand against Remember, including the part where Cocytus had been forced by Photon to resurrect Sakaguchi's spirit from the dead and merge it with the main systems of Necro Raizer.

"No way..." Amika breathed "They got ahold of a unit who could do that?!"

"Is Gouki's unit still there?!" exclaimed Kamui, before realizing that neither of them knew who the Granblue user was. "I mean... you know, Cocytus."

"No," Kiyoi replied "From what I can gather, it disappeared from Mayu's domain at the same time as Necro Raizer's remains after we defeated Remember. If what I heard was also true, all the units she had captured, including your Raizers have disappeared from the domain of Mayu."

"And I left the blank cards on that table back home..." he muttered "Still, at least wherever they are now, it's far away from the gal whose behind all this. I can always rebuild the deck from scratch when I get back now that annoying mark is gone."

"Even so... to think they tried to use the spirit of your friend against you..." Amika shivered as she looked to Kiyoi "That must have been... freaky."

The former blue LRIG remained silent, but gazed down on the floor, knowing that the discussion in regards to Sakaguchi Ayumi was a hard subject for her to go over to people around her, especially given that Remember had used her own body to kill her in the first place.

"That aside, we've gotta let Aichi onii-san and the others know what they're doing with our units!" Kamui called as he jumped back to his feet.

Before he could turn around and walk towards the back door, however Kiyoi had something of her own that she wished to offer to the last portion of the discussion.

"Wait Kamui."

No sooner than he had started in his walk, the Nova Grappler user then immediately came to a stop as he turned around to face the former blue LRIG, wondering what it was she wanted to tell him now.

"If it isn't too much to ask for... given I saw through more of your memories when I used Peeping Analyze on you for the second time," she spoke "Could you show me the way 'there'... so that I can pay my final respects?"

Amika blinked in confusion, wondering what it was that her friend wanted to do at this point and where exactly she was requesting for Kamui to take her to on his way in search Aichi and the rest of his friends. Realizing immediately that she was asking him to take her over to Sakaguchi's grave first, the Nova Grappler immediately lost all sense of impatience that would have otherwise built up inside of him.

"No problem," he replied "Besides... there's some respects I want to pay her as well after we freed her."

Kiyoi smiled in reply, feeling grateful that Kamui had decided to take his time to fulfil this favour she asked of him, given that she had no personal knowledge of where Sakaguchi's grave was after she had become the LRIG Piruluk.

"You guys go on ahead and do that," said Amika "I just wanna stay behind and make sure mom's okay for the moment."

"That's fine," Kamui replied with a smile"It only takes sense that you wanna keep an eye on her after everything, right?"

"I believe you were trying to say 'makes', weren't you?" Kiyoi murmured.

The Nova Grappler user immediately pouted on being corrected on his grammar once again as Amika began laughing a little to herself in amusement. As he tried desperate in vain to motion her to stop giggling over his silly little mistake, his annoyance only grew as Kiyoi soon joined in with her own little laugh, which only ended up coming out as "Kishishishi" instead, given her lack of ability to make a proper laugh given her lack of prior joy in life.

"Girls..." Kamui moaned as the two girls eventually stopped laughing.

"In any event, I believe we are ready to depart?" Kiyoi asked, now back in her usual calm tone.

"Yeah," he replied, instantly feeling refreshed despite being briefly teased "Let's go then!"

And with that, the Nova Grappler user and the two girls beside him headed back into the house to carry out their remaining plans for what was left of the day.

* * *

**The White Room**

Mayu in the midst of her slight boredom, tapped several of her fingers of her right hand up and down the armrests of her throne, now that today's events for her had taken a most unexpected and damaging turn to her cause. Thanks to Remember's earlier incompetence, not only was all the units she captured returning to the Planet Cray free of her bindings, but now, her 'General' was most furious at the fact that Ayumu had failed her for a second time, losing to a certain 'Queen' which they were initially uncertain of years ago to be alive at this point.

She stopped her tapping when she saw a dark red aura manifest in front of her before enlarging dramatically to a certain height that she was familiar with at this point. Miyako simply remained silent as she too knew who it was that was about to make its 'grand entrance' into the White Room for the first time in a very long while since the last time it was present here. Eventually, a giant shadow appeared amongst the darkness of the aura before a familiar blade which belonged to a certain scythe, cut through the darkness and revealed the very unit who was now amongst their presence once again.

"Welcome back, 'Clown," Mayu greeted gently "It has been a long while since your temporary leave."

"Indeed, it has," Chaos Breaker replied as it gazed down to Miyako, who nodded in reply and opened up the palm of her metallic hand.

Several rectangular shapes then manifested from it as the pink gem embedded on top of her hand glowed brightly before they surrounded the Cyber Dragon and enlarged, revealing to him the presence of all the remaining captured units who were still in the Pit, Remember who had a scowl on her face as she and Photon kept guard over the large prison, Takuto who was still shackled and in a place that was separate from the prison, several 'other' LRIGs who were either still waiting for Selectors for Mayu to pick and send them off to or in the very block for 'other' reasons she had in mind.

"Most excellent," it chuckled darkly "I see that beside the setback you informed me of, your associates have done well."

Then with a wave of its free claw, several screens then manifested themselves in the Pit to all who were being watched by the three of them in the White Room at this very point. All of them couldn't help but stare at the image of the Clown on what they could see now, but none were more horrified by the dire change in circumstances that had just befallen them than Takuto himself, who gasped upon seeing the very unit he had hoped he would never have to see again.

"I... It can't be..." he breathed before falling to his knees whilst further up the walls of the Pit, Luqieur and Amon growled in disgust at the very unit they now saw.

"Units of Cray... Tatsunagi Takuto... and all LRIGs in 'her' presence!" Chaos Breaker boomed in a mighty tone before deepening its evil smile "... I have returned!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Imaginary Orthos**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyber Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Gray: If you have a Gray LRIG, choose 1 of your Life Cloths and place it into your Ener Zone face up. At the end of your turn, return one card in your Ener Zone to your deck, shuffle and move the top card of your Deck to your Life Cloth face down.
> 
>  **Star-vader, Rejection Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Dragon Beast: Cyber Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Quintet Wall] Pay 1 card that is the same Color as your LRIG, then reveal and discard this card: When your opponent's LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack, you may pay the cost. If you do, reveal the top 5 cards of your deck. Then if the number of SIGNI revealed are equal to or more than the attacking SIGNI or LRIG's Level, disable that attack. Then, regardless of the result, send all Spells revealed to your Trash and place all SIGNI revealed by this effect in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Star-vader, Turndown Dragon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Dragon Beast: Cyber Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Gray: When your opponent’s SIGNI declares an attack whilst your opponent has two or more Locked cards; apply the following effect:  
> *Attack on a SIGNI you control: That SIGNI gains 10000 power until the end of that battle.  
> *Attack on a LRIG you control: Disable that attack.
> 
> \---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> And there you go! The next batch concludes with the entirety of the Peeping Analyze sub-arc (based on the last third of the manga of the same name with some alterations) with the end of this double-length chapter! I hope you've enjoyed it and are looking forward to the second to last batch next time as the truth behind Ruko's past now comes into play. Until then!


	73. Arc 3 - Ride 73: The Truth Unearthed I

**City Streets**

Meanwhile in a secluded alleyway, Ayumu remained slumped to the ground as he was awaiting Miyako's next orders for him, given that she had promptly taken away the clone LRIG card away from his possession after she throwing him to the ground in anger. At the same time though, he couldn't help but begin to ponder on what exactly it was that he was doing as well as the image that he saw in his memories. He recalled that his mother said that she had to give both him and Ruko over to their grandmother Hatsu, simply because his sister was 'scary' and only a few days ago when he met with her for the first time in six years, did she begin to give him a clue as to why this was.

From what he remembered of their conversation on the night they reunited, she had clearly told him under no circumstances to tell any of what she said to him to either Hatsu or Ruko, on the basis that they already knew and were just hiding the 'crime' for themselves. However, after seeing the image in his memories from the end of his earlier battle with Noriko and his attempts to dispel it as a hallucination ended in complete failure, doubts were beginning to form at the back of his mind. If Ruko was really as scary as Miyako claimed, especially on the incident six years ago which the image had depicted, then why did it appear like she was in pain? And why was Noriko herself present amongst the two of them in the midst of whatever it was that was occurring then?

"None of this is making any sense...!" he growled to himself "Mother said that my memories of Ruko's 'evil' would surface at a certain time...! And yet, why does that one image...?!"

Huffing for a moment, he rose back up onto his feet and began to think about everything that was happening around him thus far. He knew that he had been frustrated since the night he reunited with Miyako in regards to the 'truth' she had given to him about Ruko and yet now, this one image in his head was making him begin to question everything he had believed up to this point.

**_Flashback_ **

Ayumu stood in shock outside of the front of the Apartment Blocks on that night, still in disbelief as to the person standing before him that addressed him as 'my boy'. It had been six years since he had last heard that voice, let alone having seen the person that it had belonged to and now, he was more than confused as to why she was now here. Miyako remained still before him, having expected such a reaction to have come out from him.

"M... mother, is that really you?" he breathed.

"That is correct, Ayumu," she spoke "It has been six years since our... unfortunate circumstances that forced me to part from you."

Ayumu's legs could not stop shaking as a part of him couldn't believe that his mother of all people, after all of these long years living with both Ruko and his grandmother Hatsu, had finally come back to him. As he was about to turn around and make a run back up to the apartment to inform both his sister and elder, Miyako immediately motioned out a gloved hand for him to stop. A rattling sound rung out, indicating that it was the glove which concealed her metallic hand, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Do not inform them of my presence," she instructed in a commanding tone "My reason for being here tonight is one that you and only you can understand."

"I... I don't understand..." he murmured in confusion "Why don't you want me to tell grandmother?"

"Because of the truth," Miyako answered resolutely.

"The truth...?"

Ayumu blinked in utter bewilderment as he stared at his mother, wondering what was so important for him to talk about.

"The reason I had part ways with you years ago... and why I am here now," she continued "Is because Ruko is evil!"

"Evil...?" he breathed, stepping back in disbelief for a moment.

"There are things she and Hatsu have not been telling you," Miyako spoke "And that is the very crimes she and the people she comes to call friends have committed... in the Selector Battles."

Ayumu gasped in utter shock as he absorbed all the information that his mother was telling him at this instant, now seemingly seeing why it was that she had not wanted him to talk to either Ruko or Hatsu about her presence. On occasion, before the night she went missing, he recalled overhearing his sister several times mentioning the term 'Selector Battles' alongside either Hitoe or Yuzuki and now, it seemed like all the pieces were beginning to join together of this mystery. Or at least, that was what he believed at the time.

"Beneath our very noses, girls with alive LRIGs have been conducting Selector Battles beneath our noses," she explained "Their aim is to make their wish to come true, by crushing the hopes and dreams of those who dare to cross their path. Ruko is one of them, just as she was six years ago."

"But if that's true..." he replied "Then why did you leave me alongside Ruko in grandmother's care?!"

"I didn't have a choice," Miyako 'answered' "What happened that day brought many eyewitnesses to the cause. Do you think it was possible that those with common sense would believe my side of the story then? About the Selector Battles and who was participating? I left you with Ruko, hoping you could return her back to normal as her older brother. However, she entered the battles again of her will, confirming my suspicions and it would seem that Hatsu had a hand in it."

The older brother of Ruko couldn't help but shudder even more from what his mother was telling him. All this time, at least from his perspective, his sister was battling beneath his nose, committing various atrocities that Miyako was seemingly implying at and the answer to all of this was from how he overheard her prior breakdowns and conversations the entire time.

"Wait a minute...!" he called "There's been certain people that have moved in recently that brought her back to the apartment! Are they...?!"

"That is correct," she replied "The one you've lately known as Kai Toshiki, is also a participant within the Selector Battles and is one of Ruko's various... underlings."

"Those bastards...!" Ayumu growled as he clenched one fist tightly "And to think grandmother KNEW all about this too!"

Miyako for the moment remained silent as her gaze, obscured from view by the hood of her coat, trailed upon her son's expression and noting the scrutiny within it thanks to the 'information' she had given him.

"What can I do?!" he called "How can I make her pay for deceiving us all those years!"

"There is a way," she answered calmly "But only, if you wish to accept the risk that comes before it."

"Then I'll do it!" Ayumu replied "I don't care how, I'll just do it! I'll do it... for you mother!"

Miyako's lips then curled into what was seemingly a gentle smile, almost giving off the impression to anyone else who would be present that she wanted him to accept her offer regardless of the 'risk' that came with it. Opening the gloved hand that concealed her metal hand, a purple aura then manifested around Ayumu's left arm, causing him to pull it up in surprise. A few seconds later, the device that was mounted on his arm had then materialized for the first time, along with a single card in the slot. The grey backing made it clear that it was the card which contained the clone LRIG that he used in the present time after this meeting.

"This is..." he breathed before taking out the card from the slot.

Upon doing so, a throbbing pain suddenly went off in the back of his head as red sparks covered over him as a result. He cried out in pain as he fell to his knees, trying to withstand the pain as Miyako walked closer to him. When the sparks eventually stopped raging, so too did the pain that Ayumu felt at the back of his head. He looked down at the card to see that he was now holding what was indeed the clone LRIG itself.

"This is..." he murmured.

"The only way to deal with 'poison' is with 'poison' itself, wouldn't you agree?" Miyako spoke "I have created this clone LRIG for that purpose. Until tomorrow morning, this is all I will be able to tell you."

Standing back up onto his feet, Ayumu looked over to his mother once again and walked towards her to which she remained still, until he got quite close towards her. Sensing that she knew what her son intended to do, she raised her arms as if to invite him into a 'motherly' hug, to which he then jumped forwards and embraced her tightly for the first time in a long time. Then, tears began to run down his cheeks from his closed eyes, now that the 'truth' had come around to him from his mother. Or at least at the time, that was what he believed.

**_Present_ **

After recounting everything from the entire meeting as he stood up in the desolate alleyway, Ayumu now had much greater suspicions building up in his head over the whole situation. There was no way that it would be taking this long for his memories of six years ago to return to him and align perfectly with what she had told him in their first meeting in six years. Unless...

"Unless... if that one image is actually one of my missing memories...!" he muttered "Then there's something that mother doesn't want to me know! That pain I felt then must have done something to them!"

Then as if on cue, he felt something immediately grab ahold of the back of his head and cover over a portion of his line of sight. The cold feeling he received made it immediately apparent to him that he was now in the grasp of Miyako's metallic hand, a fact that confirmed itself when he was forcibly turned around to face the woman herself, unhooded at last and revealing her full displeased face to him.

"It seems one image was enough for you to see too much," she spoke, her harsh tone present in her voice once again "You still have a role of your own to fulfil."

"Not until you tell me about what's really going on!" he demanded "Or else I'll look for the truth my own way!"

"I see. You underestimate my power."

Electricity then surged out of Miyako's metallic hand and straight into Ayumu as he screamed out loudly in pain, unable to break free from the woman's tight and deadly grasp. Escape for him in this unfortunate situation was now completely impossible as he felt his mind and free will going blank at the same time. All he wanted now was for the pain to stop and for his mother's rage to be quelled. Eventually, Miyako let go of him, ending the surge of electricity as well as he stumbled about before looking up to her, his eyes now completely blank and mostly devoid of life as she handed back the clone LRIG's card to him. Smoke poured from his clothes as a result of the previous long exposure.

"You have one last chance Ayumu!" she growled "Do not fail me. Is that clear?!"

"Y... yes... mother..." he wheezed in an almost emotionless tone, placing it into the holster of his device slowly after being severely weakened by Miyako's torture.

Then without another word, the woman herself departed from the alleyway in an all too familiar dark red aura, leaving him all alone to fulfil the 'last chance' she had given to him. Or else, it would be apparent that she had worse planned for him. Much worse.

* * *

**...**

Meanwhile in a strange space that was almost desolate and bleak in a mix of dark purple and black colours, Yuki stood alone in contemplation over the many things that had transpired in her life. Those many things were indeed from her beginnings to her 'quest' for what would be otherwise perceived as world domination, if only for her initial goal of ruling over the Selector Battles with the strongest Selector by her side to battle forever to their heart's content and her re-established perceptions on the moral grounds of right and wrong to the point where she found herself now.

Looking all around her, the girl of black could see a variety of window like projections, much like the ones she had seen around Mayu's White Room within her domain depicting what appeared to be still portraits of the many people she had been acquainted with throughout her time as both a Selector and an LRIG throughout her long life. The first two she could see were of Mayu herself and Tama, who she knew initially under her original name Shiro. Walking forwards, she could see that amongst other 'portraits' were ones that depicted Photon, Chaos Breaker Dragon, the real Urazoe Iona who she had come into contact with at some point, Ruko, Hitoe, Yuzuki and eventually, the final few depicted Kai Toshiki and all of the cardfighters she had known about thus far that had come to this world.

"I never would have thought such a long life would come with most strange changes," she murmured to herself.

Eventually, she came to a stop in front of what appeared to a large mirror that depicted a reflection of her, evidenced by the mirror image within moving in time with both her actions and behaviour coming up towards it. Gazing at said reflection, Yuki couldn't help but ponder back on the way she had acted prior to her change of heart on her stance of Ruko and the Selector Battles around her.

"Was I always that way because I was the 'bad girl'?" she pondered, thinking back to the times where she was just a mere figment of Mayu's imagination along with Tama "Or is it the guilt I would have otherwise never felt back in the past?"

A low growl sounded throughout the space, suddenly making the girl of black feel very uneasy. This particular sound was very familiar to her and it was one that she had been hoping not to hear again, let alone see the very source of said sound that she had close recognition of. Looking into the mirror out in front of her, Yuki only grew more anxious before she gasped in shock and looked back to see the shape of her own shadow changing before her very eyes. The larger size along with sharp curves and other 'non-human like' shapes, like those of razor sharp wings and a large tail were outlined, much to her initial confusion. Turning her gaze back to the mirror in front of her, instead of being greeted by her own reflection, she was greeted by the image of something she had also hoped not to see again.

"That's...!" she gasped.

Indeed, the reflection she saw before her wasn't of her own face or even human like stature as an LRIG. Instead, what she saw in front of her now was the very head of her mutated form from the two prior incidents, Berserk Draconis. The corrupted draconic form of Yuki from within the mirror narrowed its eyes as it snarled loudly, growling under its breath as she did so.

"I... I'm no longer that hideous monster...!" she cried as she stepped back in fright.

The imaged Berserk Draconis roared loudly, then burst from out of the mirror with great force, shattering the frame and the glass itself and came soaring towards her with its jaw opened wide.

"NO!" the girl of black screamed loudly.

* * *

**City Park**

"Yuki, are you okay?!"

Opening her eyes, Yuki soon found herself back within the confines of the card that she was bound to. Looking down to her hands to try and reassure herself, she could only sigh in relief that it was just a nightmare that she had been through and that she would no longer be in that hideous appearance thanks to the combined efforts of Tama and Blaster Blade. Gazing up to the limited view she had of the outside world, she could see that Ruko was looking down at her with a very concerned expression, worried that something had happened to one of her two LRIGs without noticing prior.

"Did something happen...?" she asked "You were... screaming for a moment."

"I'm fine Ruko," the girl of black replied resolutely, trying to shake off her nerves "It was just a nightmare as you would call it. Nothing more."

"Tama heard Yuki scream too!"

Yuki soon saw the view of her card turned slightly for her to see Tama from her own card, that being held in Ruko's other free hand. Much like their Selector, the girl of white herself was also concerned for the LRIG's current state after hearing what had happened.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about," she spoke "That is all."

Tama however was almost unconvinced, noticing the glint in Yuki's eyes as she turned away from her. She looked up to her Selector who shared similar concern as well, but felt that they wouldn't be able to get any answers until much later. Seeing that Aichi and Hitoe, along with Kai who had rejoined with them a short while ago, had paused in the midst of their trek out of the sudden stop, she walked over to the three of them, wanting to talk things out with them first.

"Is something wrong?" the Royal Paladin user asked.

"Yuki doesn't seem so good," she replied "Not with whatever nightmare she's not wanting to talk to us about."

"It seems that it must stem from a personal issue she has," Kai murmured "But the reason behind why is something we do not know."

Ruko could only nod in agreement with his statement, knowing he had more or less pinpointed the hard fact that was currently facing them. Yuzuki could not help but start to ponder back over Yuki's actions in the past, wondering if her nightmare had something to do with them. Whilst neither Hitoe, Midoriko or Aichi had anything of their own to add to the current discussion, their friend on the other hand had something else on her mind.

"Hey Kai," she spoke, bringing the Kagero user's attention to her "You said that you faced a Selector who knows about my mother and was there with whatever happened six years ago. Did you happen to get her name?"

"From what Chiyori has told me, she is referred to by many Selectors as 'Queen' for her overwhelming power," he answered "But her name is Kōgō Noriko."

Whilst everyone gazed at Kai for now knowing the full name of the Selector who had defeated him earlier in the day, a quiet but noticeable gasp had escaped Yuki's mouth as she stared up at the Kagero user in disbelief. Everyone then turned their attention to the girl of black upon hearing her exclamation and her expression shown to everyone was one of disbelief.

"Impossible..." she breathed.

"What is?" asked Yuzuki.

"That Selector..." Yuki stuttered "I was told by Mayu she perished by the Clown's hand years ago! Are you saying she is actually alive?!"

"It appeared that Miyako had a similar reaction when we encountered her," Kai replied "Noriko claims she is willing to disclose information about her prior involvement in the Selector Battles, but only if I defeat her."

Whilst everyone else had all been busy looking at Yuki and pondering over why she was in disbelief that Noriko was alive, no one had either heard or even noticed Midoriko from within her own card clenching a fist.

"Mother..." Ruko breathed, still somewhat in disbelief what the Kagero user had discovered during his time at the hospital "I don't understand... why would she be helping Mayu with the Selector System with everything that's happening in there, let alone be her General as you found out."

 _General..._ Yuki pondered in her thoughts  _That rank sounds familiar, but is that the 'same' person?_

Everyone else now knew that there were still many unanswered questions to solve than what they originally anticipated, with the only clue amongst them being that Noriko had something to do with Ruko's past that they were all still in the dark about. But with the way things were now, they knew that finding and attempting to question the 'Queen' herself would have to wait, especially given the Selector's own personal issues that she wanted to sort out as soon as possible.

"That aside, we still need to look for her and onii-chan," she spoke "The sooner we can find them, the sooner I can find out what it was I did six years ago."

"That, I can agree on," Midoriko replied "I may not know what the heck happened between you, him and your mom, but this whole thing just reeks of shady."

"About looking for Ayumu. I... I don't think that's going to be a problem..." Hitoe murmured nervously as she gazed behind her friend.

Everyone then immediately looked ahead to the far end of one of the park's pathways to see Ayumu walking towards the group in a strange manner, but what disturbed the four of them and the LRIGs they held even more was his seemingly lifeless eyes and the rough patches of clothing, caused by Miyako's electrical torture in an effort to force him to serve under her command and make the most of his final chance.

"Onii-chan...?!" Ruko gasped in shock.

"What happened to him...?!" Aichi interjected, shocked at the extent of the visible damage over him.

Kai narrowed his eyes as he gazed at Ayumu, sensing that although it hadn't been long since their brief encounter at the front of the hospital, where he had also met with Miyako for the first time, he knew that something was off about his appearance and that something happened between then and now to account for his current state.

"Kominato Ruko, for the last time...!" he growled, his tone sounding almost distorted as he aimed the cuff of his device towards her "Give the LRIGs you have to me... or suffer the wrath of mother!"

"Wait onii-chan!" cried Ruko "Tell us what's happened to you! You don't look alright at all!"

The older sibling ignored her protests and immediately shot his cuff towards her, intending to battle her right here and now in order to fulfil his mother's orders right down to the very last detail. And that exact detail as he remembered from the frightened state he was in several hours ago was to bring his sister's two LRIGs directly to her and that failure this time, was not an option. Before Kai could react in time to intercept the cuff, the Selector had immediately moved in front of him and brought out her right wrist to allow it to capture her in the exact same way it had done so the last time they battled.

"Ruko, are you certain about this decision?" he asked in uncertainty.

"This might be my last chance to try and get through to him," she replied before bringing out Tama and Yuki's cards with her free hand. Before she could make a decision however, one of them had decided to speak out.

"Wait Ruko," the girl of black spoke, bringing both the Selector's and the other LRIG's attention to her "Let me battle the clone LRIG this time."

"Are you sure Yuki?" asked Ruko, still feeling unconvinced about Yuki's state from her earlier nightmare.

"Yeah," she answered "I sensed something strange whenever it changed forms with Ayumu's command. If I can land a strong enough attack, I might know what's going on between them."

Although she wasn't entirely convinced, the Selector let out a kind smile of approval in her willingness to allow the girl of black to assist her in the coming battle this time around. She looked to Tama who then cheered loudly in approval as well.

"Tama agrees!" she called "Tama lets Yuki battle this time!"

Even Yuki couldn't help but smile a little at the girl of white's cheer of approval, if only out of recollection of any amusement she may have had when the two of them were still Mayu's imaginary friends before they became the respective LRIGs they were now. Looking back to Ayumu, she could see that all responsibility of helping Ruko to uncover the truth to her past and talking some sense to her older brother now rested on her shoulders for the battle ahead.

"I'm nervous..." murmured Hitoe.

"I know," Yuzuki interjected "It's not just the battle I'm worried about... but whatever went on in Ruko's past that we don't know yet."

"Don't hold back out there!" Midoriko called in encouragement.

"Be careful Ruko-san!" called Aichi.

Ruko looked back to her friends and nodded to acknowledge their concerns for her, especially in a battle such as this where they had no idea who or what Ayumu had planned to copy next with the clone LRIG's abilities. She looked over to Kai for a brief instance as he gave a single nod, knowing that this was her battle to fight and that through this, she could finally uncover the truth behind the mystery of her past all those years ago.

"Let's finish this once and for all, sister!" Ayumu growled as he reached for a button on his device "Open!"

And with a blinding dark red flash, the cable lit up and brought both of the battle's participants and all of their observers to the field of conflict, where one way or another, the truth behind Ruko's actions six years ago, whatever they possibly were, would finally be revealed.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

When the flash of light had died down, Ruko and Ayumu were seated at their respective tables on opposite ends of the battlefield, both the clone LRIG and Yuki standing in preparation for battle on their respective LRIG spaces. The Selector could see that the colour that was covering over the background of her brother's side of the field was a bright yellow, giving her at least a vague idea of what he intended for the clone LRIG to copy this time around. She had only seen it once or twice from the times she had been around Naoki, but from what she could make out at least, the answer to her would be more than clear in a minute or so.

"Isn't that...?" Tama pondered from where she was standing on the table.

"There are no yellow LRIGs to my knowledge," Yuki replied "Therefore, he must be copying..."

From high above the battlefield in a nearby tower, Aichi, Kai and Hitoe along with the LRIGs they all held watched closely from the windowsill, anxious to see what would unfold in the battle before them. The yellow colour was enough for the Kagero user to keep his gaze firmly trained upon Ayumu, having suspected what he intended to copy this time. Though to Midoriko, she was initially confused having not been present around Naoki to know about the 'recent' yellow colour, let alone told about it beforehand.

"This is... unusual..." she murmured to herself "Aside from colourless, there's only ever been five colours in Wixoss."

"It... It's not the only new one," said Hitoe "Kamui's Nova Grappler wields a Silver colour and Ayumu copied a deck on that colour as well."

"Huh, I guess I really have been out of the loop then," the green LRIG replied with a nervous laugh whilst scratching her head.

"Is he copying Narukami this time?" Aichi pondered.

"That's Ishida's clan," Yuzuki murmured "But is he making an exact copy of the Brawlers?"

"I suspect otherwise," Umr interjected as she stared towards Ayumu "He wouldn't go out of his way to simply copy one of your own decks. He would rather do it with something that is unknown to all but my master and Kai."

Everyone else remained silent as they looked above their heads to see the roulette beginning to spin, the creaking noise having also come complimentary with the giant wheel as wheel. After a few long tense moments had passed, the wheel had landed on a black slot, much to everyone's hidden relief as that meant Ruko could determine the turn order to her advantage. But even the Selector knew that this wasn't the time to feel relaxed just yet, not until she had gotten the answers to her past and what happened on that day from Ayumu himself.

"I'll go first!" she called.

Ayumu hissed for a moment before closing his eyes, as sparks covered across him once again like before, this time in unison with the clone LRIG as its appearance changed in a bright red glow. When it died down, it had revealed its new form as an armoured orange lizard like creature with its eyes in the exact same shade of red as whenever the clone LRIG copied a unit's appearance. It wielded a small blade that had sparks flying off of it, confirming to almost everyone present that Ayumu had indeed copied Narukami, but it appeared this unit was far different from the Brawlers used by Naoki. Or rather as Kai could see, a unit that was more than very familiar to him.

 _If he's copied Saishin..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _Then... does he have 'that' unit's form as well?_

"Yuki, grow!"

Upon hearing Ruko's declaration, a series of flashes enveloped Yuki as her current form had not changed at all, save for the outfit becoming a black colour with a slight dark red aura swirling around her arms. As she took up a defensive stance, knowing that she could not wage an attack at this instant, Code Maze Triumph materialized in the SIGNI space right in front of her.

"Triumph's skill!" Ruko called "I drop Skyju and search for a Level 1 Black SIGNI!"

After searching through her deck, she revealed Hellrage Revenger, Quesal and placed it straight into her hand before gazing back towards her brother, feeling that things were going to be much harder than the last time she attempted to get through to him when they first battled like this. Ayumu drew his two cards slowly as he analyzed the field before him with his almost devoid eyes.

 _She's set up a Quintet Wall and because of Triumph, I have to summon the first SIGNI I play in front of her_ he muttered in his thoughts as he then drew his two cards  _In that case...!_

"Grow, Red River Dragoon!"

Upon declaration, sparks flew across him as Saishin's form vanished in a bright red glow, only to be replaced by the form of a unit that appeared to be human. He had yellow hair and was clad in red armour whilst wielding a long sharp pointed lance. Whilst Ayumu himself did not yell out in pain as he did when he previously did such a technique with the clone LRIG's power, he limped for a brief instance which only served to worry Ruko. He immediately regained his composure and placed down two more cards from his hand to his open SIGNI spaces. One of them was also human in appearance like the copied form of Red River Dragoon, covered in a white cape and hood of some kind and wielding firearms of his own. The other was a purple serpentine like unit with a large snake of some kind hissing behind her.

"Desert Gunner, Raien attacks!" he called.

Raien pointed his gun towards Triumph and fired multiple shots at the Labyrinth SIGNI, banishing her from the field in an instant. Then without warning, the large snake from the other unit had already slithered across the battlefield and leaped onto the table, biting on Yuki as she cringed in pain before it eventually left her alone. She didn't have time to relax however as the copied Red River Dragoon landed on the table and slashed past her with a thrust of its lance. When the clone LRIG left the table at last, Ruko looked to her Ener Zone to see both Darkness Revenger, Rugos and Code Maze Pyramid land in her Ener Zone, the latter glowing to indicate a Life Burst.

"With the effect, I add Mac Lir to my hand!" she called after revealing the Shadow Paladin Perfect Guard amongst the cards in her deck.

"As expected from Yuki's playstyle," he muttered with discontempt "But with the new power my clone LRIG will possess... no defence can save you now. From neither me or mother."

**End of Turn 2**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 6 : 5**

**Life Cloths - 5 : 7**

**Current LRIGs - Iona, Crescent/Maiden : Red River Dragoon**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Desert Gunner Raien - Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo**

**Ener - 3 : 0**

After drawing her next two cards, Ruko looked over to Yuki who nodded in agreement as they both looked ahead to Ayumu.

"Grow!" she declared as the girl of black's outfit received a few minor visual changes from the advancement in Level "And summon!"

Immediately into the spaces that were to the left and right of the LRIG, appeared Revenger Fortress, Fatalita, a second copy of Rugos and Healing Revenger as they immediately took up offensive stances.

"Onii-chan!" Ruko called "I may not remember what I might have done all those years ago... but that's why I want to find out the truth!"

"And why should I believe that coming from you...?" he hissed "You kept secrets of your involvement of the Selector Battles from me!"

"But how were you supposed to believe me at the time?!" she asked "The whole idea of girls battling in another dimension with other girls alive inside the cards we hold and creatures from another planet when Kai arrived... how was I supposed to prove any of it to you?!"

"You could start by saying how you were involved with them once before, at that time!" he snapped.

Everyone within the battlefield, even those from up in the tower could not help but let out utter confusion from amongst their expressions in response to Ayumu's sudden statement, that Ruko was already involved with the Selector Battles once before.

"Huh?" pondered Tama.

"W... what are you saying?" she murmured.

"Trying thinking to yourself," he spoke harshly "How is it that you adapted naturally to the Wixoss card game as the 'strongest' Selector that Yuki saw, when grandmother and I initially believed you were a beginner on the night I 'unintentionally' gave you the deck containing Tama."

Yuki, although certain that Ayumu's way of thinking was still being twisted by Miyako's words, couldn't help but begin to ponder on the natural talent she saw in Ruko when she battled her as Urazoe Iona. If what happened six years ago did link a prior connection between her Selector and the Selector Battles themselves, then what was the answer that joined said link together? As she pondered on this, Rugos and Fatalita had already advanced across the battlefield and made short work of banishing both Raien and Seiobo, one after the other. The copied Red River Dragoon remained motionless as Healing Revenger unleashed a dark green beam that struck it directly. Ayumu's first Life Cloth revealed itself as Old Dragon Mage, the Life Burst motioning him to draw an additional card.

"This is it..." Ruko murmured to herself "I need to figure out what that clone LRIG is doing to Ayumu and Yuki said she might be able to find out."

As she looked down to Yuki who gave a nod, they then looked to Tama who leaped into the air with a cheer.

"Battle, Ru, Yuki!" she called.

"Right!" her Selector replied "Yuki, hit the clone LRIG with everything you've got!"

Yuki surrounded herself in a dark black coloured aura before soaring straight into the air and charging straight towards the clone LRIG, preparing to throw the hardest punch she could land. Ayumu however was not planning on letting such an attack go through that easily.

"Come to me, Wyvern Guard, Guld!" he declared.

As the girl of black was about to throw her punch at the clone LRIG, Guld immediately materialized in front of her and with a mighty roar, projected two yellow circles in front of it to block her attack. Yuki growled as she glared past the Wyvern Guard towards the copied form of Red River Dragoon or rather, the clone LRIG itself as it in turn looked back towards her. Its red eyes suddenly flashed brightly, forcing her to shield her eyes as her black aura was partially enveloped in a dark red colour. Then, a strange feeling coursed through her as she coughed for an instance before hearing an all too familiar roar. Gritting her teeth, she shook off both the feeling and the entire aura around her as she eventually returned to Ruko's table. Thankfully, no additional sound similar to the one she heard rung out, but that only made her feel even more uneasy.

"Are you alright Yuki?!" cried Ruko.

"I'm fine...!" the girl of black groaned as she shook over for a moment  _I thought Tama and Blaster Blade eliminated 'it' with Reverse! So why...?!_

Tama gazed at the LRIG in worry, having a strange feeling that her pained appearance just a few moments ago was almost deathly familiar. Both from recent times and the distant past, when she was originally known as Shiro. Everyone then looked back to Ayumu to see him draw his next two cards before he moved one of the cards in his Ener Zone to his Trash Pile as sparks covered over him once again as he let out a loud groan.

"Descend before us!" he called "Thunderstorm Dragoon!"

As Red River Dragoon's form disappeared, revealing the full appearance of the clone LRIG for a brief moment, a large flash then enveloped it before splitting apart into two seperate figures. One of which was a large red coloured dragon with sparks flying off around it whilst atop it, stood a human warrior dressed in similar armaments and wielding an almost identical weapon to Red River Dragoon. Both rider and steed had blank red eyes, the exact same shade that was possessed by the clone LRIG whenever it changed its appearances to camouflage itself as another LRIG or unit. Immediately after it gazed upon its opponents, two more Narukami units appeared in front of the copied dragon and warrior.

One of which was a different dragon, wielding a razor sharp scythe with jagged edges and sparks flying off of it whilst the second one was a draconic like unit clad in orange armour and wielding two cannons on either side of it to use as its choice of weapons. The remaining two cards in Ayumu's Ener Zone immediately moved to his Trash Pile as he gazed to his right.

"Deathscythe's skill!" he declared "Banish Fatalita!"

Dragonic Deathscythe then roared loudly as with a mighty swing of its scythe, did it send an arc of electricity flying across the battlefield towards Fatalita, before it then exploded on contact, banishing the large Shadow Paladin Demon World Castle from the right hand side of Ruko's table. The Selector, after shielding her face from the shockwave of the blast, looked back across the field to see that Ayumu's breathing had become ragged, as if using up whatever it was that he had was starting to take its toll on him. She knew she had to get through to him so she could not only learn the truth about six years ago, but to also stop whatever it was that her mother had planned for him afterwards.

"Please listen to me onii-chan! Mother is working with Mayu in the Selector Battles!" she called "I don't know why she's doing so and why I made her scared of me... but right now, you and grandmother are the only other family I have left!"

"Be quiet!" he yelled as Dragonic Deathscythe took flight and slashed down the front of Rugos.

Shortly afterwards, the other unit he summoned earlier aimed both of its cannons at Yuki and launched two large streams of electricity that struck her directly and knocked her backwards. Before she had to recover, the copied Thunderstorm Dragoon was already flying towards her at an alarming speed before the dragon unleashed a stream of electricity that shocked her once again. Ruko clenched her teeth as two more cards landed in her Ener Zone, neither of which possessed a Life Burst to help her out of this situation.

"Garuda's skill!" Ayumu called "I recover 1 Ener from my Trash!"

"Ruko's not doing so good," Yuzuki muttered "If Ayumu keeps up the pressure..."

"At the rate he's going, he's dealing damage to her quickly by banishing her SIGNI," Midoriko interjected "If she conserves her hand for too long, it might backfire on her."

"I fear that's far from the worst."

Everyone in the tower looked to Kai as they pondered over his grim statement, as the Kagero user himself kept a concerned gaze over towards Ruko's side of the battlefield.

"What do you mean Kai?" asked Hitoe.

"Those units..." Aichi breathed as he stared at them.

"If Ayumu has copied one of my older decks..." Kai murmured as he narrowed his eyes "Then on his next turn..."

Umr simply glanced towards Yuki, having sensed the disturbance she briefly felt when the clone LRIG 'glared' back at her on the previous failed attack.

"Something lies within her..." she murmured to herself "And she feels uncertain of it."

* * *

**City Graveyard**

After a long walk and correcting a few wrong turns he had made, Kamui had finally brought Kiyoi over to the site where he had previously found Sakaguchi Ayumi's grave. He didn't feel as initially freaked out as he did when he had first stepped into this quiet and lonely place by complete accident in his initial search for both Amika and the person beside him, when she was still Piruluk. The latter had unconditionally chosen not to complain on his lack of memory on the exact directions he took from there to get to Card Luck, knowing this wasn't the time to be acting cold towards him after everything he went through just to help her and her former Selector save the life of Amika's mother.

Eventually after the Nova Grappler user had finally remembered the exact path he saw the grave amongst, he hurried on ahead with her following him close behind until the two of them eventually came to a stop. When they saw Sakaguchi's full name engraved on the stone in front of them, they both knew that they had finally reached their destination. Kiyoi looked at the single picture of the girl, unable to do anything to mask away her sadness once again as she reached into her pocket and took out what was a Wixoss deck. Kamui blinked for a moment and looked to it, seeing that the frontmost card had indeed depicted Remember in her current state as an LRIG once again.

He watched as she placed the entire deck down on top of the small monument in front of the grave itself, where the picture and a bunch of flowers were laid out before stepping back to join him.

"Hold up," he said "Was that deck...?"

"It was one that Sakaguchi intended to give to me on the day of her accident," she answered "And she had no idea... who was waiting inside for her."

Kamui could only grit his teeth, realizing that his opinion of Kiyoi being very unlucky to have been in possession of Remember of all LRIGs had only been further justified from both the latter's actions and the fact that Sakaguchi had no idea she was in the deck she intended to give to her friend.

"That reminds me," he murmured as he dug into his jumper pocket "I took this from the grave and wanted to show you it during our battle... but I kinda forgot then."

The Nova Grappler user then dug out the note he had previously picked up from his last visit to the grave and handed it over to Kiyoi. She was initially confused as to why he wanted to show her this, let alone take it from the grave of her friend, but once her eyes laid upon the text in front of her, everything began to make clear sense. After a few long moments had passed, her eyes were closed as she placed the note back to where Kamui had initially found it on her last visit.

"To think Remember played Sakaguchi's mother for a fool," she murmured "Even if she is an LRIG again, I can't imagine she won't have another scheme in mind."

"She played us all for fools," Kamui replied as he pointed to his right hand where the LRIG had originally marked him after he had lost his cardfight to her "We'll get her again if she tries anything. One of these days."

Kiyoi by then had finally opened up her eyes again, having finally calmed down from both her initial sadness and partial anger after reading the note the Nova Grappler user had given to her briefly. She could see that he was now taking his own time in looking at the photo of the girl whose spirit they had saved hours ago on the field of battle from Remember's clutches.

"I kinda feel a little bad for doing... what we had to do," he murmured before looking back to his companion "I mean, she is your friend and..."

"Katsuragi," Kiyoi spoke in a softer version of her otherwise usual monotone "The dead cannot remain in the world of the living. That is something we all have to accept at some point."

"I guess you're right..." he replied before forcing a smile back onto his face "Now let's go and find Aichi onii-san."

She gave a single nod in agreement as the two of them finally decided to leave the resting place of Sakaguchi Ayumi in peace once again and continue their search for Aichi and the others to bring them up to speed with what they had been through. Whilst they were walking down the pathway of trees that exited from the graveyard, Kiyoi could not help but gaze at Kamui as she followed him from behind. Something about his tone when he said that he felt bad about having to let Sakaguchi's spirit pass on right after they had set her free from Necro Raizer had her curious, but with the more pressing issues that were at hand with the Selector Battles to discuss with his companions, she felt this was a topic she could push him on later.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

By the time the fifth turn had come to an end, things were looking rather desperate for Ruko as she analyzed the situation. She had only been successful in damaging the clone LRIG once with the empty space in the middle of Ayumu's formation, made possible by Code Anti Doronjo whilst her other two SIGNI, both of which were Drei=Capsule which had banished Dragonic Deathscythe and Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda. Yuki's attack had failed once again, this time due to the untimely appearance of a Quintet Wall, the only one belonging to Narukami that was also used by Naoki.

What was more disturbing was Ayumu's lack of verbal response and limited movement throughout the turn, something that greatly concerned the Selector as she knew that whatever it was Miyako had told him about their past had supposedly caused him to assume that he was lying to her no matter what and that trying to knock some sense into him was no easy task. He drew his next two cards and gave an eerie smirk, further disturbing everyone else that was present on the battlefield. He then took out the next card from his LRIG deck as sparks covered over him once again, this time causing him to scream out loudly in pain.

"Onii-chan!" cried Ruko.

"GGH...! Break through the cage that seals it and acquire the form that is the incarnation of thunder!" he bellowed "Grow!"

As the form of Thunderstorm Dragoon faded out, the clone LRIG then hovered up a little into the air as sparks began coursing over it too, before the aura from before enveloped it once again as a bright red column erupted from the LRIG space and soared up to the very top of the battlefield. Electricity crackled throughout it as a new roar, also mixed in with a shrill cry of some kind from the clone LRIG itself, gave a hint to the very unit that it was about to take the form of this time around.

The clone LRIG's eyes flashed a bright red as it was covered in a bright aura of the same colour before a tall shadow began to manifest amongst the light. Slowly, the form stabilized itself as it revealed large white wings with electricity sparking off of them before the rest of the body began to emerge. In stature and a portion of the red colours it possessed, this unit's appearance was similar to Dragonic Overlord. However, the differences were easy to spot as several yellows and blues were present in the armour as well as the blue-eyes, the red jewel on its forehead and choice of weapon it wielded, that being a sharp lance with sparks surging from it. Ayumu finally opened his eyes as he announced the name of the copied unit's form.

"Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion!"

"He's copied Vermillion?!" gasped Aichi as he looked over to Kai.

"Yeah..." he muttered "And if it now has the same capabilities in Wixoss as Big Bang Knuckle, then...!"

As Hitoe and Yuzuki glanced at the Kagero user in worry upon hearing his words, fearing that a unit that was just as strong as Naoki's Big Bang Knuckle Dragon was about to have its form deal a devastating attack to Ruko and Yuki, Umr stared at the falsified Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, gazing closely at the red eyes it displayed as a result of the clone LRIG's 'imperfect' duplication.

"Every form it takes requires pain for him," she murmured "But if not just for copying the appearance of others, then for what other purpose?"

Back down the battlefield, Ayumu immediately summoned a second copy of Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda and a new unit by the name of Rising Phoenix, two cards slid out from underneath Vermillion's as he immediately drew another card. He mustered up a smile from under his weakened state before summoning a brand new unit to the center of his formation. It appeared to be a small dragon that was still mostly just hatched from its eggshell, but it gave off an intimidating aura to those that stood before it in its line of fire. A yellow aura surrounded both it and the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion as they growled under their breaths.

"Egghelm Dracokid, rewrite the rules to how you please and allow me to display my mother's wrath to our foes! he declared "Removing the Life Cloth requirement with its skill, I activate Vermillion's Limit Break!"

A turquoise coloured Vanguard circle flashed above Vermillion as three cards from Ayumu's Ener Zone then moved straight over to his Trash Pile.

"Huh?!" gasped Tama.

"He can use a Limit Break even when he has more than three Life Cloths?!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Switching my Attack Phases, I battle all of your SIGNI at once!" he declared as sparks began flying around the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion.

 _This isn't good!_ Ruko muttered in her thoughts as she looked to her hand  _That copied_   _Vermillion may not be able to hit Yuki if it keeps using its Limit Break, but I need to guard to defend my SIGNI!_

Sensing the panic within his younger sister's emotions, Ayumu smirked once again as 'Vermillion' took flight and roared loudly in tandem with the clone LRIG's shrill noise. Electricity coursed all around it as it gazed upon everything that it saw on Ruko's table.

"You're finally experiencing it..." he muttered "The pain I felt... when you deceived me all those years ago. Now for my mother, it's time that I returned the favor!"

Ruko could only clench her teeth as she pulled out one of the cards from her hand and revealed it as the copy of Dark Revenger, Mac Lir that she searched with Triumph's skill on the very first turn of the battle.

"I guard for the Drei on my right!" she declared as the Shadow Paladin unit appeared in front of said Drei=Capsule, deploying a barrier to protect it from harm.

"That still won't save you!" he declared as he pointed one finger towards the top of the Selector Battlefield to signal his next attack. "Vermillion Thunderbolt!"

And with a roar, the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion sent several streaks of lightning up into several storm clouds that had suddenly materialized at the very top of the battlefield as a result of its presence. The clouds flashed for an instant as then without warning, several bolts of lightning then came crashing straight down onto Ruko's table as the Selector grabbed Tama within her arms and ducked for an instant to save them from being struck by a stray one. Whilst Mac Lir was able to defend his target before disappearing, the other two SIGNI Ruko had out were not as fortunate and were banished from the field after being electrocuted for several long seconds.

Before anyone could relax however, they looked across to the other side of the field to see Ayumu laughing to himself as the thunderclouds above their heads did not seem to stop rumbling, despite Vermillion's attack seemingly coming to a close. Or so they believed.

"I said I would make you feel overdue pain and I would!" he declared as red sparks flew across him and the copied Vermillion, just as he began to make a loud yell.

"What the...?!" gasped Ruko.

Vermillion then roared loudly before unleashing one final volley of electricity, this time much more larger than the last few which went directly into the storm clouds before a new, much larger bolt of lightning was unleashed from it and time seemed to slow down as everyone suddenly gasped as to this new 'attack's' target was. It was not Yuki or the remaining Drei=Capsule as they could tell from its direction. Before they could confirm that fact however, Ruko's eyes widened in shock for a brief second before the bolt of lightning then crashed straight into her, electrocuting her as a result. She screamed loudly as a result of the pain, unable to bear with it at all.

"Ruko!" screamed Yuki.

"Ru!" cried Tama.

Everyone up in the tower gasped in horror as they watched what was happening to their friend at this instance, horrified that they were powerless to do anything to stop this unprecedented turn of events.

"Ruko...!" Hitoe whimpered as she held onto Aichi's arm, almost unable to bear watching the sight that had unfolded.

"Hey, that's playing dirty!" Yuzuki yelled, angered by the fact that her voice wouldn't even be able to reach Ayumu at this height.

Midoriko despite offering no words of her own silently agreed with the red LRIG as evidenced by her angered expression. As the bolt of lightning eventually subsided, smoke then poured from Ruko as she blinked for an instance, severely weakened by the surprise attack that her brother had planned for her at this point. Everything around her started to become blurry as she felt dizziness get the better of her before falling face down onto the table in front of her, losing consciousness completely.

"Ru!" cried Tama as she ran over to her head, tugging at a small portion of her hair that was tied up by a hairpin in the desperation to wake her back up "Wake up Ru! Ru!"

"Ruko, wake up!" called Yuki as she stared at her Selector in dismay.

"Hmm... I didn't expect her to lose consciousness though," Ayumu pondered as he coughed from the sparks that were still flying across him as a result of using the clone LRIG's powers now "But now, she's finally had a taste of true pain. Pain I felt from the bottom of my heart and the pain of my mother when she made me leave her!"

Yuki at this point finally had enough with what her older brother was saying, even if he was being influenced by the words and enigmas of their mother, Miyako. She gritted her teeth with anger and turned around to face him with an angry expression.

"She was your own sibling...!" she growled "Even if what you're implying about her past is true to an extent... that's no right to abuse her for something she has no idea of possibly even doing!"

As she clenched her teeth in anger, feeling it boil within her towards the breaking point, a throb of pain suddenly caused her to clench her stomach again as she feel to her knees. The growl from before when she felt this way rang through her head once again as her eyes took on a terrified appearance to them as she began to fathom the terrible things she was afraid of at this point.

 _It cannot be...!_ she gasped in her thoughts as she looked down to the hard surface of the table below her  _Am I... Am I about to become... that despicable dragon again?!_

And with that, an afterimage of Berserk Draconis appeared in the back of her mind, confirming her worst suspicions at this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Lizard Soldier, Saishin**  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 0 Yellow  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Pay 1 Yellow and Exceed this card from under your current LRIG: When your Yellow LRIG’s attack hits your opponent’s LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your opponent’s Level 1 SIGNI cards on their SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone with a Life Burst and send it to their Trash Pile.
> 
>  **Red River Dragoon**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 0 Yellow  
> Limit: 2  
> LRIG Type: Narukami
> 
>  **Thunderstorm Dragoon**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 1 Yellow  
> Limit: 5  
> LRIG Type: Narukami
> 
>  **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 2 Yellow  
> Limit: 8  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Action] Limit Break (This ability is active when you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) Pay 3 Yellow: Switch the order of this turn’s SIGNI and LRIG attack steps. Then during this turn, if this LRIG would attack an LRIG, it can battle all of your opponent’s SIGNI in one attack instead.
> 
>  **Desert Gunner, Raien**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> [On-Play]: If you have a Yellow LRIG, choose 1 of your opponent’s SIGNI. Until end of turn, it cannot activate any effects during the Attack Phase.
> 
>  **Old Dragon Mage**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Flame Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Life Burst]: Draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Wyvern Guard, Guld**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Winged Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> Guard (By discarding this card from your hand, disable one of a LRIG's attacks)  
> [Constant]: You can only use this card to guard attacks against your Yellow LRIGs.  
> [Life Burst]: Ener Charge 1.
> 
>  **Dragonic Deathscythe**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Pay 2 Yellow SIGNI cards: If you have a Yellow LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, choose one of your opponent’s Level 2 or lower SIGNI and banish it.
> 
>  **Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 5000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI’s attack hits an LRIG, choose the topmost Yellow SIGNI card from your Trash Pile and place it in your Ener Zone.
> 
>  **Rising Phoenix**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: High Beast  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play] Exceed 2 (Put 2 cards from the bottom of your LRIG into the LRIG Trash) OR Pay 2 Yellow: If you have a Yellow LRIG, you may pay the cost. If you do, draw 1 card.
> 
>  **Eradicator, Egghelm Dracokid**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragon Beast; Thunder Dragon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant]: All your Yellow LRIGs can activate their Limit Break abilities ignoring the Life Cloth requirements.
> 
>  **Revenger Fortress, Fatalita**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Black  
> Class: Golem  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 4000  
> Effect:  
> [Intercept] Pay 1 Black and send this SIGNI from your SIGNI Zone to your Trash Pile: When your opponent’s LRIG or SIGNI declares an attack on your Black LRIG whilst this SIGNI isn’t also being attacked at the same time, you may pay the cost. If you do, treat this effect as a [Guard] effect and disable that attack.


	74. Arc 3 - Ride 74: The Truth Unearthed II

**...**

_This is..._

Everything was completely pitch black for Ruko as she pondered on where exactly she was at this moment. The last thing she could recall was being struck down by the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's 'extra' attack and falling unconscious from being hit with a huge amount of voltage. From what the Selector could gather, she was now lost within her own subconsciousness, unable to wake up and return back to the battle where Yuki needed her the most. Leaving it however was proving to be a task more difficult that she was initially expecting, having hoped that her senses would kick in and allow her to regain consciousness there and then.

This also wasn't helped by the fact that although she could feel where her arms, legs and head was in this sense of where she was, she could not see a thing, let alone tell from foresight if her entire body was intact. Moving her right hand up until she could feel the right side of her head, much to her inner relief as she palmed over her face.

_So I can't see a thing... but I'm still in one piece, I think._

Suddenly, the darkness around her began to fade away to display an image of some sort in front of her. Ruko squinted with her eyes the best she could, but whatever was being shown was still blurry somehow. Then, as the picture in front of her began to clear up, she suddenly clenched the back of her head, falling to her knees as she did so.

"My head...!" she cried "Why does it hurt...?!"

Eventually, the clear image displayed the scene of a dark and somewhat dreary atmosphere around her as she looked around to see that she was standing on a hillside of some kind. Looking out in front of her, she could see the all too familiar city of Tokyo, or at least the version that was in her own world just a little beneath the horizon. Then hearing a familiar cry of pain from behind her... her own cry to be exact as she immediately recognized the tone, she turned around whilst keeping one hand to her head as her eyes came across two figures at the very top of the hill. One of them looked exactly like the Selector herself, only much younger as evidenced by both her stature and the pitch of her voice.

The other figure however was much taller and upon seeing the dark coat that she wore, one that she recalled seeing from an earlier 'flashback' she had before her previous Selector Battle with both Aichi and Kai. Only this time, the figure's face and brown hair was fully visible to her.

"That's me...!" Ruko gasped upon recognizing her younger self "And mother...!"

Sparks surged across the younger Ruko's body as her eyes were completely obscured by an almost blinding white glow, though the question that remained was what was happening to her at this point in time and why the present Selector could not remember all of the details. The one thing that was most striking to her however was the metallic hand of Miyako with the gemstone flashing a bright pink as a familiar voice echoed out from it.

"Are you still certain about using your own flesh? We still have not completely determined the cause of past failures."

The mother of Ruko in this image simply hissed quietly as the Selector could only ponder on who she was talking to at this instance. If her head was hurting this much from just the image becoming clear, there was only one conclusion she could make at this point.

"I am aware of our previous setbacks Photon," the woman replied harshly "My daughter will be the earthworldly vessel for Ut'ulls and she will lead our forces throughout the Selector Battles for the next few years to gather the Wixoss factors necessary to fully open the dimensional gateway from Mayu's domain and bring about the end of this accursed world!"

As she clenched her metallic hand to emphasize her point, she gazed down at her daughter in front of her.

"This time, I shall reign triumphant. Begin the transfer!"

And with that, even more sparks surged through the younger Ruko's body, some of which even came from out of the bright white lights that covered over her eyes as she screamed in pain. The present day Selector couldn't help but feel somewhat mortified as she watched the somewhat gruesome sight, wondering how it was that she was even still standing with her friends and battling her own brother at the current instance since the moment she had so clearly forgotten. Before any more of the lost memory could play onwards, a white flash from out of nowhere immediately blinded her as she shielded her eyes with her arms.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Immediately opening her eyes back up, Ruko groaned as she struggled to push herself off of the surface of the table in front of her and lean back into the chair that she was seated at. She rubbed her head with her right hand to try and soothe away some of the pain from both the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's 'sneak' attack and the pain she felt at the back of her head when she experienced the image she saw in her subconscious. There were now even more questions than she had answers for, given that what she saw had to have only been a portion of her memories, presumably on the day of the 'incident' that had supposedly taken place six years ago, before she and Ayumu had their care transferred over to Hatsu.

"Mother was talking with Photon... and she mentioned Ut'ulls..." she mumbled, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Ru!"

Upon hearing Tama call out to her, Ruko looked down at the girl of white who whilst relieved to see that her Selector had recovered, still was greatly concerned as she pointed over towards the LRIG space on her table. She looked over to Yuki and gasped when she saw the girl of black was in pain as a dark black aura swirled around her. The LRIG coughed as she struggled to stave off the dark power that she had infected herself with years ago and had been plaguing her for some time now, even in her worst nightmares.

"Yuki!" Ruko cried "Are you alright?!"

"R... Ruko...!" she groaned "I... I can't hold it back...!"

"You can do it!" the Selector called in encouragement "You're stronger than whatever it is that's trying to control you!"

Gritting her teeth, Yuki radiated in a dark purplish coloured aura as the darkness around her soon faded away, much to her sudden relief as she regained her footing and stood back up, ready to face both the clone LRIG and Ayumu once more. The older brother didn't seem disappointed by the fact that his sister had managed to recover much sooner than he initially anticipated.

"So you actually withstood my little 'extra' attack there," he muttered "You're more harder to break than I thought. No matter though, for my..."

"Doronjo's skill!" Ruko interrupted "When she is banished by any means, a SIGNI like that Egghelm Dracokid loses 2000 power!"

Upon realizing what the Selector had managed to do in his moment of 'glory', before he could utter a single word in response, a transparent figure resembling the Code Anti Doronjo that Vermillion had banished emerged beside Egghelm Dracokid and tapped the eggshell. This caused several cracks to run across it as the small Thunder Dragon screeched loudly before being banished from the battlefield in a large explosion, forcing Ayumu to shield his face from the impact of the blast. He hissed for a moment as he glared back towards Ruko who had managed to regain her composure after being previously struck down for a short while.

"You...!" he growled "You let Vermillion hit her on purpose, didn't you?!"

"I've seen this move before," she replied as she closed her eyes for a moment.  _Thank you, grandmother and Ishida._

Then before Ayumu could say anything more, the eyes of Rising Phoenix and Garuda turned red as they began to take flight towards Ruko's side of the field. Drei=Capsule hurled one of the many capsules she held at the Phoenix, exploding on contact and forcing it to retreat back to his table whilst Yuki braced herself for another attack by the last unit. It primed its cannons and unleashed two streams of lightning at the girl of black, shocking for as Tama and Ruko watched on in concern. The next Life Cloth revealed itself as another copy of Darkness Revenger, Rugos with no Life Burst available to help her out.

"Garuda's skill!" Ayumu called "Placing 1 card into my Ener Zone, I end my turn!"

**End of Turn 6**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 3 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 5**

**Current LRIGS - Iona, Pale/Maiden : Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - Drei=Capsule : Rising Phoenix - EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda**

**Ener - 6 : 4**

"That was a close one..." Yuzuki sighed whilst wiping her forehead in relief.

"Thank goodness..." Hitoe breathed.

The two of them along with Aichi looked down back towards their friend, relieved that she had managed to recover from Ayumu's underhanded 'extra' attack and reduce the damage to Yuki down to losing a single Life Cloth. But they knew she was far from danger yet, with not just the battle's outcome on the line or the chance to learn about the truth to her past on the line, but the concerning fact that a similar aura compared to the one that enveloped Yuki when Mayu had hijacked the Selector's body was showing up around her again.

"Still, what the heck was with Yuki just now?" pondered Midoriko, having not known about what had happened before "It looked like she was pain."

"It's a long story..." Yuzuki muttered as she scratched her head "Short version, after disagreeing with Mayu on destroying our world, she kinda got turned into a dragon for a while because of that aura. And it looks like it's trying to make some kind of comeback."

"Whoa... I thought I had weirder with strange dreams of being stuck in a talk show with Piruluk of all LRIGs," the green LRIG replied, feeling unsure of how to properly assess the situation "Still, that's gotta be rough for her."

"So it appears even units that can attack multiple targets have their simple weaknesses," Umr murmured as she gazed up to Kai "Then again, Ruko has seen this skill used before."

"She took advantage of Doronjo's skill by letting Vermillion Thunderbolt hit her on purpose," he replied "This way, she reduced the damage to Yuki and opened up a space to attack the clone LRIG on her next turn at no cost."

As the atmosphere around the battlefield fell silent once again, Ruko immediately started her next turn by drawing her next two cards. Looking to her hand and the six cards she had in her Ener Zone, she looked across the field towards the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, contemplating the actions to take for her next move. Eventually, she had made a decision to go through with after moving a card from her hand to her Ener Zone.

"With Drei's skill, I Down her and banish Garuda!" she declared.

Drei=Capsule then turned her attention towards Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda and hurled several more of the capsules she wielded at the Narukami unit, causing it to be banished from its lack of power in a matter of small explosions. As the card landed in Ayumu's Ener Zone, he gazed back towards his sister, his glare being more intensified than before.

_She's stopping at Level 3, just like the last time we battled...!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _What is that 'evil' little bitch scheming now?!_

As Code Maze Skyju and Revenger Fortress, Fatalita both entered the battlefield onto the Selector's table, Tama looked up to Ruko herself, wondering if she was alright after previously losing consciousness.

"Tama... Yuki..." she spoke, getting the attention of both LRIGs "I think I'm getting close to figuring things out."

"What does Ru mean?" the girl of white pondered.

"Whilst I was unconscious... I saw an image," the Selector answered "No. I'm certain it's a memory I've somehow forgotten. From six years ago."

"Can you make a clear picture of the entire event from what you've seen?" asked Yuki.

"Even if I can't connect the dots just yet, there's a few things cleared up now, I know a few things about me and mother then," she replied "I was meant to be a vessel for Ut'ulls, the person that Photon was trying to combine Umr and Tawil into, just like how Mayu tried to hijack my body to get into the world outside of her White Room. If they've been working together for this long..."

As the sudden thought about this came to fruition, she silently gasped as everything began to fall into place. Ayumu's previous accusation of her prior involvement in the Selector Battles, long before she had even met Tama or known about Wixoss for that manner from her current state of mind, was starting to make sense. Umr was Aichi's current LRIG who was intended to be a portion of a being known as Ut'ulls and from what she could make of the image she saw minutes ago, she had some connection to her mother's plans within the Selector Battles themselves, proving that they had been existence long before she had supposedly known about them. The only question that remained was why. Why was she supposed to be the 'earthworldy' vessel for Ut'ulls and why did she still have her free will if that was indeed the case?

Looking back ahead to the other side of the battlefield, she could see more sparks flying across her brother, making her even more concerned for his current state of health and how far he was willing to go just to fulfill their mother's 'love' for him. It was clear to her now that he had been told some of the story that she still had incomplete knowledge about, but it appeared to her now that something was indeed off.

"Onii-chan, listen to me!" she called "You're being used by the people and units behind all of this! Mother's been involved with the Selector Battles long before whatever happened six years ago and I was meant to be a part of her plans back then!"

Ayumu raised an eyebrow in response to her statement, but remained silent as he kept his gaze upon her, nerving her a little. As he did so, he remained motionless as Fatalita charged across the battlefield towards the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion which remained still on the LRIG space of his table. With a mighty swing of its giant fist, it punched the form hard enough to disable it and reveal the clone LRIG itself, just in time for Skyju to leap off the top of the Demon World Castle's right turret and land hard kick on her opponent. After both unit and SIGNI retreated back to Ruko's own table, the next two Life Cloths revealed themselves as both Servant D and Wyvern Guard, Guld, both of their Life Bursts moving Toshu and Rising Phoenix from the top of Ayumu's deck to his Ener Zone.

"Let's go Yuki!" Ruko declared.

Once again, the girl of black flapped her wings and took flight into the air before manifesting a dark purple aura in her hands. Aiming it towards the exposed clone LRIG on the far end of the battlefield, Yuki unleashed all of the energy she had gathered up into a single beam that rocketed towards its target. In a bright flash, a third Wyvern Guard, Guld appeared in front of the clone LRIG and deflected the attack with both of the yellow circles beside it before vanishing into a series of sparks.

"He protected himself again..." the LRIG muttered as she landed back on the LRIG space.

"Just a little more!" Tama called "Ru's managed to close the gap!"

Ruko however didn't respond to the girl of white's words of encouragement, instead feeling more concerned about the state of her brother as she watched sparks fly from the clone LRIG's exposed form. High from above the battlefield within the tower, everyone else also gazed closely at Ayumu, wondering if something had happened to him after the turn of events just now.

"What could have happened back then for him to suddenly hate Ruko-san now?" Aichi pondered in worry.

"There's clearly information that he knows that he's not willing to share," Kai interjected before narrowing his gaze "Or rather..."

"Wait... you're not suggesting that..." Hitoe murmured.

"Yeah...!" Yuzuki muttered "If there's something he's not telling us about and if what Kai heard about Ruko's mom was true... then there's gotta be something she's not wanting him to tell us!"

Umr said nothing having no opinion of her own to add to the matter, but much like the remainder of the group around her in the tower, also had her suspicions in regards to Miyako and the 'truth' behind six years ago that she gave to Ayumu. The older brother of Ruko then started to chuckle to himself, much to everyone's discomfort as sparks flew across.

"You think this is over...?" he spoke, his tone sounding much more crazed compared to earlier "You think you've won criminal?!"

"Onii-chan...!" Ruko breathed in worry "Snap out of it! Mother's not the person you...!"

"SHUT UP!" he roared "I... I won't let you insult her any further! Even now, she is watching our very battle, waiting for me to put you in your place once and for all! I won't let her down after my last two setbacks!"

This only caused the Selector and her two LRIGs to tense up a little, realizing that her mother was watching everything that was unfolding and if their earlier suspicions were correct, she had to be either within one of the other towers in the background of the battlefield or even observing the battle itself from the White Room alongside Mayu. At this point, Ayumu finally had enough with just yelling his declarations and decided that it was time for him to end things between himself and his sister once and for all.

"FINAL TURN!" he bellowed.

Everyone else up in the tower tensed up as they realized that he was done messing around and was planning to finish both Ruko and Yuki off by any means he had available to him. As Yuki gritted her teeth, she and Ruko watched as he drew his next two cards in one large swipe before glancing at them and laughing to himself as he brought them up to the remaining two cards he held in his hand.

"They're here!" he cackled "The two cards that contribute to sending you and Yuki to the depths of hell itself!"

He then yelled out aloud as even more red sparks flew across him and the clone LRIG as it was enveloped in a bright dark red glow, obscuring it from sight once again as it began to change forms. A single card from the LRIG deck flew up into Ayumu's right hand as he beared through the pain and held it up high into the air.

"Cross Grow the Vanguard! A heavenly sword on sliver white wings! Grant me the power of your strongest incarnation and lay waste to those in front of me!"

After throwing down the card towards the LRIG space, Rising Phoenix vanished from the battlefield as the silhouette of the clone LRIG began to change once more, bearing similar shapes to a unit that it had previously copied. First the white wings with electricity crackling across them emerged, then the legs before the rest of the glow then vanished to reveal what Ayumu was copying this time. It looked exactly like Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, only there were several differences between this one and the one from two turns earlier. There were three blue orbs emitting electricity from its shoulders and chest armour, a large yellow curved arc behind its back and wielded two large blades in both of its claws.

"Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"!"

The copied Vermillion then unleashed a loud roar in tandem with a shrill mechanical shriek from the clone LRIG itself as several bolts of lightning flashed around it to signal the coming of the end.

"So this is Vermillion's final form...!" Yuki muttered.

"Tama's worried...!" Tama cried.

Ruko gritted her teeth as she looked upon the new form of Vermillion that took flight into the air just above the table on the other side of the battlefield. Sparks crackled across both of its blades and wings, making her feel even more uneasy than she was before.

"You're telling me your old Narukami unit had a Cross Grow form as well?!" Yuzuki exclaimed as she looked up to Kai.

"That's right," he answered as he gazed upon the form of "THE BLOOD" before looking back to Ruko.  _Be careful Ruko. If that unit's abilities in this realm are as I believe and that Servant D is for a different intention..._

Back down on the field, Ayumu looked to the three cards he held in his hand and gazed back across towards his opponent, his eyes having shrunken a little from the cost of using his willpower to power the clone LRIG to this point. He immediately threw all of them into the empty SIGNI spaces, revealing them to be a second copy of Dragonic Deathscythe and two humanoid like demons, each different from the other.

"Ayumu summoned his entire hand?" Tama murmured in confusion.

"He must be determined to end it with everything he has left," Ruko spoke "And if that Vermillion is stronger than the last one..."

"Dragon Monk, Ginkaku!" Ayumu announced "Move 1 Life Cloth to my Ener Zone! Kinkaku has the same skill as well!"

As two cards from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile, two of his remaining three Life Cloths moved to his Ener Zone and flipped face up to reveal themselves as both Djinn of the Lightning Flash and a second copy of Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo. After this happened, a bright red aura began to envelop the copied form of Vermillion as everyone began to stare at the clone LRIG's current state, wondering nervously about what was about to happen next.

"He sacrificed his own Life Cloths, but his Ener is the same as before..." Ruko pondered as she looked at his remaining Life Cloths, suddenly gasping as she realized what the condition was that he had met.

Then without any warning, even more red sparks than before enveloped Ayumu as he screamed out loudly in pain before bearing through it once again and holding out one arm towards the top of the battlefield.

"Ultimate Break!" he declared.

A giant turquoise coloured Vanguard circle flashed brightly above the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion as it roared loudly once again and materialized several large thunderclouds at the midpoint of the battlefield between the two tables. Three of the seven remaining cards in Ayumu's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile as the sparks around him intensified even further, though it appeared he was managing to bear through the pain.

"Switching my Attack Phases' order... then giving Vermillion Double Crush and the ability to battle all of your SIGNI and Yuki at the same time!" he called before snatching a card from his LRIG deck "Furthermore, Arc Destruct! At the end of its first battle, Vermillion will Up itself!"

"He has Arc Destruct too?!" Hitoe gasped.

"Then even if Ruko defends her SIGNI and Yuki, Vermillion can attack them at the same time again!" Aichi exclaimed.

As Umr remained silent on the matter, having not much of an opinion to offer at the moment, Yuzuki could only clench her teeth in worry as she watched Ruko closely from where she was standing.

"Is there even anything she can do now?!" she cried "Even if she defends Yuki on both attacks, she'll be wide open to Ayumu's SIGNI!"

"There may be a way for her to escape," Kai murmured as he kept a close eye on her table, noting the cards currently present there.  _She knows everything about this attack from watching Ishida. Now it's up to her to make the use of this situation._

"This is the end!" Ayumu announced as he briefly cringed under the effects of the sparks around him "Any last words before I reap in my... no, my mother's absolute victory!"

"I'm not giving up yet!" Ruko replied as she pulled out two cards from her LRIG deck before revealing one of them "Death Beam! I banish Ginkaku!"

As four of the cards in her Ener Zone vanished in a dark black aura, a series of black embers were then immediately absorbed into Yuki's gloves as she began to charge up the aura within her hands. With a mighty yell, she unleashed the energy she gathered into a single beam that struck Ginkaku head on. The Dragon Mage fell lifelessly to its knees before vanishing in a series of yellow sparks. As the banished SIGNI entered their respective Ayumu's Ener Zone, Ruko immediately revealed the second ARTS she had at the ready.

"Furthermore, Dark Matter!" she declared "I send Skyju to my Trash and you do the same for a SIGNI of your choice!"

"No matter! Dragonic Deathscythe, begone!" Ayumu replied, not concerned with the choice he had to make.

Both Dragonic Deathscythe and Skyju vanished from the battlefield in a series of dark purplish clouds with sparks raging across them, both of their respective cards moving to both Ruko and Ayumu's Trash Piles.

"Yes! Ru knocked Ayumu down to 1 SIGNI!" Tama cheered "Ru is safe!"

"No...!" Yuki muttered, much to the LRIG's confusion as she looked back to the field "Kinkaku is still present and it isn't in front of Fatalita or Drei!"

Ruko could only silently agree in frustration that the one Narukami unit that Ayumu had not gotten rid of through her second ARTS was one that wasn't in front of Drei or Fatalita who were not in the same column as it. As sparks began to crackle around the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, she knew she had to brace herself for impact of the coming attacks and hope for the best out of the dangerous situation she and Yuki found themselves in. It roared loudly to signal that it was now about to attack and lay waste to whatever final hope the two of them had in this moment.

"I must admit, sacrificing your SIGNI to reduce my ranks and targets for Vermillion's attacks was a clever strategy," he mused as sparks continued to crackle across him. "But this is the end! Even if you were to fully endure one wave... it's USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! Vermillion Catastrophe!"

Tensing up for a moment and looking down to her Life Cloths for a moment, the Selector made a decision as she revealed Servant D2 from her hand.

"I guard for Fatalita!" she called.

The Guard SIGNI then materialized in front of the Demon World Castle, projecting a barrier to protect it from the coming onslaught of 'Vermillion's' first attack of the turn. Ayumu upon seeing this cackled in madness as his eyes shrunk even more, presumably from enduring all of the pain from the sparks around him.

"You guarded for a weakling instead of Yuki...?!" he bellowed "Then it's your funeral!"

The copied Vermillion then roared loudly as the arch behind its back generated a bolt of electricity that shot up into the much larger thundercloud at the midpoint of the battlefield. It flashed and rumbled for several moments before three large bolts of lightning crashed straight into the barrier created by Servant D2, Drei banishing her from the table and Yuki herself, submitting the girl of black to the attack itself. She screamed loudly as she fell to her knees, worrying both Tama and Ruko greatly as they looked back to the rumbling storm clouds, just in time to hear Ayumu yell loudly as even more sparks surrounded him before spreading out to said storm clouds, creating a fourth bolt of lightning that came rocketing straight towards her.

Now seeing what was coming, the Selector immediately threw herself to the right off of her chair just in time to dodge the attack as it struck the backrest of the seat and sent fragments of it flying everywhere. Standing back up, she reached for her two Life Cloths and flipped them face up, one at a time. Her first card revealed itself as Code Maze Skyju, no Life Burst being there to help her at this instance. The second card however was a second copy of Code Anti Doronjo, having something to help her at least.

"With the Life Burst, I draw!" she called as she pulled off the top card of her deck and added it to whatever she held in her hand.

Ayumu hissed for a moment as he realized that not only did his sister dodge his sneak attack, but the fact she had possibly benefited from having Yuki take the attack head on instead.

"You little...!"

He then suddenly clutched his chest as his vision began to go hazy from all of the sparks that were raging across him. He coughed for an instant, as he clenched his teeth in frustration.

_Impossible...! I'm at my limit already...?!_ he ranted in his thoughts  _Doesn't matter! I can still finish it now!_

The only two cards that were beneath the card representing Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" then slid out and moved to his LRIG Trash as he struggled to hold out his hand.

"Arc Destruct's effect...!" he declared "Vermillion stands!"

Vermillion then roared once again and took flight towards Ruko's table as Yuki and Tama could only watch on helplessly, wondering if their Selector was able to have enough defences on hand to outlast this second wave of the copied Thunder Dragon's attack.

"This time... this time, this will put you all down for good!" Ayumu yelled "VERMILLION CATASTROPHE!"

"Guard for Fatalita!" Ruko called "Also, Quintet Wall!"

This time, both Mac Lir and Quesal stepped in to defend for both Yuki and Fatalita as both of them deployed barriers in front of them to shield their targets from the clone LRIG's wrath. Quesal generated five circles in front of her which summoned Healing Revenger, Code Maze Triumph, Servant D2, Code Anti Vimana and another copy of Mac Lir. The copied Vermillion with lightning crackling across both of its blades swung its left one into the Hellrage Revenger and all of her 'backup', banishing them from the field before setting its sights on the seemingly defenceless girl of black. Mac Lir swung both of its shields into the right blade of 'Vermillion', deflecting it with ease much to Ayumu's frustration as he clenched his chest in pain from the sparks still flying across him.

"Attack!" he declared as Kinkaku ran across the battlefield towards Ruko's table.

As the Narukami demon was more than halfway across the length of the battlefield, Ayumu smirked in triumph before suddenly noticing that Fatalita was no longer present in the SIGNI space after surviving both of 'Vermillion's' attacks and coming out unscathed. As his smile faded, the Demon World Castle suddenly landed onto the ground with a loud thud, knocking back Kinkaku onto its back as it now faced the towering Golem that stood before. Ruko's voice then immediately brought her last ditch effort of a move to light.

"Fatalita intercepts!" she declared.

"Intercept...?!" Ayumu breathed in disbelief.

"When my LRIG is attacked, by paying the cost and trashing Fatalita whilst it is not being attacked as well, your attack is sealed!" the Selector called.

"Impossible...!" he muttered whilst sparks continued to fly over him "I wiped her board clean... yet I only dealt two damage?!"

Tama smiled in relief as Yuki got back up onto her feet and panted to regain her composure, now that the reassurance of Ayumu no longer being able to attack was in effect. Even the girl of black couldn't help but wipe a small portion of sweat from her forehead, despite normally being composed and much calmer than she currently was otherwise. Ayumu clutched his chest as he hissed under his breath, frustrated that his final turn had come to nothing in the long run.

"At the end of the turn, the skills that moved Life Cloths to my Ener Zone return them to my deck..." he coughed "Then I recover two Life Cloths and end my turn."

**End of Turn 8**

**Ruko vs Ayumu**

**Hand - 1 : 0**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 3**

**Current LRIGS - Iona, Pale/Maiden : Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Dragon Monk, Kinkaku - EMPTY**

**Ener - 6 : 0**

"They survived it...!" Yuzuki cheered.

"Thank goodness!" Hitoe sighed in relief.

"But she's not out of danger yet..." Umr murmured "Ayumu is back to three Life Cloths. If Ruko doesn't finish him this turn, she'll only contribute to triggering the Ultimate Break again."

"That's true Umr..." Aichi breathed "But... there's something different about her compared to before."

Kai nodded in agreement, having noted the Selector's newfound determination to find out the truth behind her past and how it was helping her and Yuki to endure against what he considered to be the most powerful he would have seen one of his own units at with the level of play Ayumu had displayed. Yet despite the fierce opposition, the Selector persevered throughout it all and now, she had one final chance to end the battle once and for all, so she and everyone else could finally learn the truth behind six years ago and what Miyako had planned at the time.

Back down on battlefield as Ruko drew her next two cards, she suddenly felt unnerved as she heard Ayumu chuckle softly to himself. This caught everyone's attention as they stared on at him.

"Do you really think you have won this...!" he coughed, still in pain from the sparks flying across him "You'll still be destroyed utterly!"

"No way!" Tama replied "Ru has this won! Vermillion can't stop Ru and Yuki now!"

"Idiotic girl of white...!" he snickered, much to her confusion "Who said I would destroy her now... when her own LRIG could do the honours for me!"

Before anyone could question by what exactly he meant, the copied Vermillion gazed upon Yuki with the lifeless red eyes of the clone LRIG staring directly at her. Then after they flashed for a brief instance, Yuki suddenly fell to her knees as once again, the aura from before enveloped her once again, causing her to scream and clutch her head in agony.

"Yuki!" cried Ruko.

"Ruko...!" she coughed "It's... happening again...!"

"What are you...?"

"Did you think I wasn't aware your LRIG had turned herself into an uncontrollable dragon, twice, because of her own greed and pride?" Ayumu interrupted "Well now... how about we take a closer look at what that form is capable of. That is, she doesn't destroy you first in her rage."

Ruko and Tama gasped in worry and shock, as did everyone else in the tower as all attention was focused on Yuki as she tried desperately in vain to restrain the power she thought she had lost previously. She coughed loudly as the dark aura ripped apart her gloves and revealed that her fingernails were on the verge of becoming sharper points.

"Yuki!" the Selector called.

"It's no good..." the girl of black coughed as she felt her free will and consciousness slipping away "There's no other option...!"

"What are you saying...?" she asked.

"Throw the battle...!" she cried "Run away...! Before I...!"

She didn't manage to complete her sentence as she looked over to her right to see Tama walking slowly towards her, being as brave as she could as she approached the darkness that was enveloping her by the second.

"Stay back Tama...!" Yuki demanded "I've hurt you like 'that' before...!"

The girl of white didn't say anything in response as she only came closer towards the befuddled LRIG, as if she was wanting to talk to her.

"Tama remembered everything from then!" she called "Tama used all her power to turn Yuki back to normal and disappeared! That's why Tama didn't remember anything at first!"

"Then... that's why you vanished at that time and I thought you were dead then..." Yuki coughed "But still...!"

"You can do it Yuki!" Ruko called in encouragement "There may be things any of us aren't proud of and a lot of things we come to regret later... but that doesn't matter now!"

"What are you saying...?"

The Selector took a deep breath as she thought carefully about her choice of words to say to the girl of black next, hoping they would be enough to prevent her from being fully overtaken by the power she had been corrupted with before.

"Yuki, you said you had a nightmare before we started the battle," she spoke "Did that nightmare have something to do with that dragon you turned into?"

"That's correct..." the girl of black answered, holding down her head in partial shame for keeping her lips sealed about the topic.

"That's got me thinking..." the Selector continued "If we can't stop that power from coming out of you... then..."

"Tama says Yuki should try and control it herself!" Tama concluded.

Yuki's eyes widened in shock at both her Selector's and the girl of white's suggestions, believing them to be ones of complete madness at this point. She had despised being overtaken by the power she had been corrupted with, regardless of whether she was chained up by the power of Reverse through Mayu or rampaging like a mindless beast against the LRIG she had been jealous of up to a few days ago. A low growl sounded out once again, this time heard by not just the girl of black, but almost everyone that was present on the battlefield, be they observer or participant.

_Controlling that power... can I really do that?_ she muttered in her thoughts as she closed her eyes.

* * *

**...**

Yuki was all alone in a pitch dark space within her own thoughts and subconsciousness, still struggling to resist being controlled by the dark aura that currently surrounded her in reality. Floating around in what could otherwise be described as a maelstrom of dark colours raging all around her, she opened her eyes to witness the erupting calamity all around her, the calamity that was raging on inside of her heart.

"Can it really be done...?" she murmured to herself "Can I really control it... and not hurt anyone like before?"

Then without warning, a familiar bone chilling growl sounded throughout the dark space that made up her heart as a familiar shadow came into view. It slowly hovered forwards towards the LRIG herself who tensed up and took up a defensive stance the best she could with the apparent lack of gravity present. Slowly, the darkness masked away from the shadow to reveal itself as the unchained and unrestrained form of Berserk Draconis, now in front of her once again.

Yuki knew deep down, as much as she didn't want to admit it out aloud to anyone before her, she was truly afraid of the creature that was now in front of her. The creature she had been forcefully transformed into on separate occasions with the second one being part of the reason that she was able to see what her Selector and her friends perceived as right or wrong. Since that day, she had put aside her hunger for power and being the strongest LRIG aside to defending the world she originally wanted Ruko to conquer as her own.

But now, it seemed those very things had come back to haunt her and the presence of Berserk Draconis in front of her was no exception to that iron clad fact, much like a phantom that refused to leave her alone no matter how much she wished to run away from it. Thinking along those lines, Yuki soon realized the very issue to the problem before her and how she failed to realize immediately that her Selector had been going through a similar approach to her problem all this time. Looking up to the head of the dark dragon before her, she nervously floated towards it, determined to confront the issue at the source or fall victim trying at the least.

"I know you still rampage in the depths of my heart since that day," she spoke, putting one hand on top of the head "I greedily sought the power that originally came from an Abyss Dragon in an effort to surpass Tama, but ended up being controlled by it instead."

A low growl sounded from under the dragon's breath briefly startling the girl of black, but she immediately regained her composure, knowing that she had to press on with this dilemma.

"But right now... I need that power to save Ruko and Tama!" she declared "If you really have become a part of me, then let me unite our strength! No being has one form of dominion over the other and both of our powers can be used."

At first, all remained silent within the dark space as Berserk Draconis closed its eyes and began to fade into a dark black aura whilst Yuki radiated in a bright white glow in contrast. Then, the dragon's shadow and essence began to seep into the LRIG as she clenched her teeth for a brief instance before suddenly feeling more relaxed as the feeling she had felt back in reality at the present moment did not seem to be there at all.

"Tama's light..." she breathed "When she saved me long ago and used the Blaster Blade to repress that form... It's helping me to keep that power under control."

The dark black and grey streams of energy that were once swirling violently within the heart of the girl of black had suddenly calmed down all of a sudden, as if what was happening now was having a profound effect on them too. As the last of the aura of Berserk Draconis entered Yuki, she let out a small breath before glowing in a mixture of black and white colours.

* * *

**Selector Battlefield**

Back in reality, now that she had accomplished what she had needed to do, Yuki could feel that she was no longer in intense pain as she was earlier and the aura around her was making no effort to try and control her unlike the previous occasions in which it had showed up. Slowly as said aura was being absorbed back into her after being calmed down significantly, she stood back up onto her feet as she breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to reassure herself now that she had everything under control and so Ruko could continue the battle without hesitation. As both the Selector and Tama looked to her nervously, she immediately turned around to face them and gave a nod of approval, much to their sudden relief.

"Impossible...!" Ayumu gasped in disbelief "Mother said she couldn't control the transformation at all...!"

As he coughed once more from the sparks flowing across him, he gazed across his table to access the dire situation that he now found himself within.

_I have nothing in my hand... only a single SIGNI for defence and three Life Cloths!_ he muttered in his thoughts before a crazed smile appeared on his lips  _That's right...! My Life Bursts have all but been guaranteed!_

Ruko looked back to the cards she held in her hand, pondering about what to do with her next move before noticing a faint dark purple glow emitting from her LRIG deck, much to her's and Tama's initial confusion. As she picked it out and looked down it, she soon realized what this card was supposedly meant to represent as she looked down to Yuki herself.

"Do it, Ruko," she spoke "I trust you."

"Okay then," the Selector replied as she stared down at the currently blank glowing card she held.

As Tama gave the two an encouraging thumbs up of approval for them to go through with what they planned to do next, she looked ahead to Ayumu who was staving off the pain from the sparks enveloping him.

"Onii-chan, I may not know everything that's going on yet!" she called "But right now, you're only putting yourself in pain! This time... I'll save you!"

"'Save me'?!" he muttered in a venomous tone "Then go ahead and try!"

Ruko knew she had to have expected words like that from the way that her brother was behaving at the moment, no doubt heavily influenced by what her mother was telling and making him do. What purpose that was for and why was something she knew she could only find out if she defeated him at this very moment. Holding up her new card high into the air, a pitch black column enveloped Yuki as three of the cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile.

"Girl of black who walked down a solitude path," she spoke "Awaken to a new compromise and aid me in my need now! Cross Grow!"

As she threw down the card onto the table, sliding beneath the dark aura that was currently enveloping Yuki, both it and said aura suddenly radiated in a dark purple glow, much to everyone else's shock as they could only wonder on what was about to emerge before them, especially given what the clone LRIG had almost tried to do to her earlier. First, a pair of wings flapped out from the darkness and revealed themselves not as feathered from earlier, but ones that seemed to be flesh based and almost familiar to an extent. Then emerged the legs which seemed to be the same as before, only the boots had been changed drastically to reveal that so too had the LRIG's feet based on appearance alone.

The aura slowly dispersed upwards to reveal that Yuki's one piece outfit had changed into a suit of light grey coloured armour with an overall similar shape, but made up of several plates and a red gemstone embedded in a spot just between her neck and the top of her chest. The lower half of the arms had become covered with scales and the LRIG's hands seemed to resemble claws now, each with a small ember or two briefly erupting within them. Finally, the last of it dispersed to reveal that Yuki's head had more or less remained nearly identical to before, but that wasn't to say it had not gone through changes of her own. Whilst her overall face and hair were otherwise as they were, her ears as a result of the transformation had become pointed and several sharp and thin horns shaped like blades had grown from out of the top of her head. Opening her eyes, she took flight on her wings as Ruko decided to announce the name of the new form her LRIG managed to acquire.

"The eclipsed maiden... Dragmiko Yuki!"

"What the...?!" Ayumu gasped in shock.

"Dragmiko...?" Yuzuki pondered "This is Yuki's new form?"

"So she can control that power from before...?" Aichi breathed "Amazing."

"It appears that is the case," Umr interjected "If what you told me was true, I'm intrigued to see how she comes to wield it."

Kai remained silent for the moment, only gazing down at Yuki in her new form as she flapped her wings and hovered in the air above the table, presumably as a brief precaution to check if she was really in control. From what he could gather though, it appeared that it was becoming the case.

"Summon!" Ruko called as Code Maze Triumph, Vimana and Skyju appeared onto the battlefield in her empty spaces "Then, Limit Break!"

As Yuki held her right claw high into the air, a dark purple Vanguard circle flashed above the entire table as all but Servant D moved from the Selector's Ener Zone to her Trash Pile before four cards floated out from there.

"By returning Quesal, Fatalita, Drei and Servant Q2 back to my deck, I banish Kinkaku!"

The girl of black then manifesting a sphere of energy in front of her two claws before a large beam erupted from it and came roaring down towards the defenceless Dragon Mage. The front of the beam suddenly changed shape to resemble the head of Berserk Draconis as it opened its jaw wide before snapping down on the Demon it impacted on, banishing it from the field. Ayumu hissed as he realized his final defence was gone and he was going have to have to rely on a Life Burst to escape this situation.

"Yuki's amazing!" Tama cheered as the changed girl of black looked down to her.

"To think I needed your help again..." she muttered to herself before smiling for a moment "Honestly Tama, even as Shiro, you haven't changed in the slightest."

She then looked back to Ruko who nodded in agreement with her on what they now had to do next.

"Since the cards I returned had no Life Bursts, I can add another skill to Yuki!" she declared "And by using Servant D2, I use One Rule, Two Birds on Yuki!"

"Damn you...!" snarled Ayumu  _Even if I get Guld, that ARTS seals it! I need to heal on the third hit or get a Quintet Wall!_

"Ru's got this!" called Tama "Battle!"

Then in just mere moments, the three SIGNI that Ruko had available to her command all charged towards the defenceless copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion who remained motionless as they all came up close to it. Triumph landed a hard punch with her right whilst Vimana struck the clone LRIG with a dark beam of its own, disabling the form and sending it falling back down to Ayumu's table. Finally Skyju unleashed her own beam, this time coloured a bright yellowish white as it crashed into the clone LRIG itself, bringing up a small explosion on the table itself.

"Not yet...!" he growled "Damage Check!"

Flipping his first Life Cloth, he hissed to find it to be Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo, the Life Burst being useless thanks to him still having Life Cloths at this timing. Clutching his chest with one hand as he cringed in pain from the sparks around him, he moved the card to his Ener Zone with his other hand. Then flipping up the next card, it revealed itself as Old Dragon Mage. After drawing his single card, he revealed the last card to be another copy of Old Dragon Mage, allowing him to draw yet another card to the one he now held. After the card was placed into his Ener Zone, he now looked back to his hand and immediately regained his composure, laughing crazily to himself.

"Useless...!" he coughed "Your efforts were a waste! On the next turn, the Ultimate Break of Vermillion will definitely put you all down for good!"

Afterwards, he immediately roared out in more pain as more sparks flew across him, allowing the clone LRIG to regain her previously lost form of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" which roared fiercely upon re-materializing. This time however, neither Tama, Yuki nor Ruko were worried at all from the opposition before them. They knew they had one final chance to end this madness whilst they still could and hopefully talk some sense to the Selector's brother about Miyako before whatever she planned could come to fruition.

"Onii-chan, I just have one last question before we end this," she spoke.

"And what would that be?" he hissed.

"I just need to ask you something about six years ago..." Ruko continued as she took a deep breath "Whatever it was that happened then... does the name Ut'ulls mean anything to you?"

Ayumu started to open his mouth, but then suddenly froze up as a harsh and familiar voice entered his head. It was a voice only he could hear at this moment, but the tone was enough to completely startle him.

"That information is classified! FINISH HER NOW!"

"... I don't have to tell you!" he snarled upon regaining his composure, albeit only slightly "You should already know yourself!"

As everyone else on the battlefield gasped to his sudden response to Ruko's question, Kai immediately narrowed his eyes as he felt a strange, yet familiar presence in the air for only a brief instance. He wasn't the only individual besides Umr to receive such a suspicion at this very moment however. Yuki glanced towards him, noting his brief panic before his sudden response to Ruko's question.

"It's just as I thought..." she muttered.

"Mother must not be wanting him to tell us something!" Ruko replied before looking down to the LRIG "It's all up to you now!"

The girl of black nodded as she then flapped her wings and soared through the air towards the far end of the battlefield in preparation for her final attack. The copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion roared loudly and charged back towards her in response, lightning crackling across both of the blades it wielded in preparation for its final stand against Yuki.

"USELESS!" Ayumu roared "I...!"

"At this moment, I use the skill Dragmiko Yuki gained from the Limit Break!" Ruko interrupted "By sending both Triumph and Skyju to my Trash, you cannot use Quintet Walls and Level 2 or greater SIGNI with the Guard ability against this attack!"

Yuki then opened up the palms of her two claws as both of the Labyrinth SIGNI vanished into two seperate dark purple auras that were then absorbed into the draconic wings that she had. Radiating in that same colour, she let out a fierce cry mixed with what sounded like a less heavier sounding version of Berserk Draconis' signature roar as she caught the blades that the copied Vermillion swung down towards her before eventually managing to crush them to pieces with a little more effort. As Ayumu stared on helplessly at the sight, he gazed back to Ruko who still retained her determined glint within her eyes to fulfil her conviction to find the truth the missing events on that day.

As he continued to look at her though, suddenly without warning, his vision of the Selector changed to one of Miyako, who glared fiercely and harshly right at him, as if she was very displeased with the failure that he now had.

"No...!" he gasped in horror "I...!"

Before he could say anything more, he suddenly clutched his head in pain as several images briefly flashed off in his mind, all depicting Miyako past and present glaring down at him with nothing but anger and discontent for him or anyone that upset her.

"I don't want that from her again...!"

As he came back to the reality around him, tears began to stream down his cheeks in panic as he soon realized one thing had now been confirmed. He had failed his mother and now, she would be coming for him with all of her fury within her. As this was happening, Yuki slashed down the front of the copied Vermillion, disabling the clone LRIG's form as it hovered backwards in mid-tumble as the attack had also slashed away part of the front armour, revealing wiring and circuits inside of it.

"As I thought... it's just like the other Star-vaders!" she muttered "But you won't affect Ruko's brother anymore!"

With one final charge, she dived down and slashed through the clone LRIG's mechanical body completely, causing it to split apart and spark in the gaps that had been created.

"All LRIG data... successfully copied..." it emitted in a mechanical tone, before exploding into several pieces of flaming debris.

As this happened, the sparks around Ayumu finally stopped as he fell down face first onto the table in front of him, losing consciousness immediately as he did so. Ruko and Tama gasped out in horror, wondering if the destruction of the clone LRIG at this very instance had done something bad to him as a side effect on doing so. Yuki gazed back to the flaming remains of the clone LRIG, still wondering on its exact purpose in this most befuddling of mysteries until a series of white coloured sparkles came from out of it and manifested themselves into a single bright white aura. Using whatever power she had left, the girl of black forced the aura to come over towards her as she caught it within a single sphere shaped veil. Closing her eyes for a few moments to sense what was there, she suddenly reopened them in shock and fumbled in mid-flight for a moment.

"Yuki, are you alright?!" cried Ruko.

"The clone LRIG..." she murmured "It hasn't just been using his willpower and life force to copy units... it's been stealing his memories the whole time!"

At this point, everyone else except for the unconscious Ayumu gasped in shock upon this new revelation in the conspiracy between both him and Miyako at this point.

"What?!" exclaimed Hitoe.

"Miyako must have been lying about whatever Ruko's past was to him whilst that clone LRIG was doing all the work!" Yuzuki growled.

"Then Ayumu wasn't doing everything now of his own will...?" Midoriko murmured.

Kai could only silently share his opinion in agreement as everyone could tell by his tensed expression before he looked down to Ayumu, now taking into account the new piece of information that Yuki had now brought to light. He knew Miyako wasn't a person he or anyone could take lightly, especially after encountering her briefly when she briefly punished Ruko's brother and Kaen revealed that she was the general of Mayu's forces in the Selector Battles.

_I had my suspicions that some deception was involved..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _But to think she made it possible to erase his memories of whatever happened then whilst deceiving him at the same time._

"No way..." Ruko breathed as she looked over to her brother, who remained unconscious on the table.

Seeing what it was she had to do now, Yuki flew down to Ayumu and unleashed all the lost memories that the clone LRIG had taken from him back to his own mind. She had no idea on whether it would have changed his opinion on the current stance, especially after the long period he had been in this state, but she knew that this was the only way they could possibly learn the truth behind what really happened six years ago. As the last of the aura went back inside of him, the battlefield then went pitch black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Dragmiko Yuki, Eclipse/Maiden**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Black  
> Grow Cost: 3 Black  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Iona  
> Effect:  
> [Action] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) - Pay 2 Black and/or White and Exceed 2: Choose 4 SIGNI with different Levels in your Trash Pile other than the cards used to pay the cost. Return them to the bottom of your deck in any order and if you do, banish 1 SIGNI your opponent controls. Then if all the SIGNI returned by this effect had no Life Bursts, this LRIG gets "[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Choose 2 of your Black and/or White SIGNI and send them to your Trash Pile: When this LRIG attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent cannot use [Quintet Wall] or Level 2 or greater SIGNI with the [Guard] ability until the end of that battle." until end of turn. Cards with Multi-Ener cannot be used to pay the cost. You cannot use this ability for the rest of this turn.  
> [Constant] If you have a Level 3 or greater "Iona", "Kuro" or "Yuki" LRIG card other than a card of the same name beneath this LRIG, all of your Black and White SIGNI gain +2000 power.  
> [Constant] You may also treat White Labyrinth SIGNI cards in your Ener Zone as Black cards for the Grow Cost of this LRIG.
> 
> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"**  
>  Level 4  
> Color: Yellow  
> Grow Cost: 3 Yellow  
> Limit: 11  
> LRIG Type: Narukami  
> [Action] Ultimate Break (This ability is active if you have 1 or fewer Life Cloths) - Pay 3 Yellow SIGNI Cards: Switch the order of this turn's SIGNI and LRIG attack steps. Then during this turn, this LRIG gains Double Crush and can attack your opponent's LRIG and all SIGNI they control.  
> [Constant] If you have a card named "Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion" beneath this LRIG, all of your Yellow SIGNI gain +2000 power.  
> [Constant] Lord
> 
> **Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Dragonman  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Cloths at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.
> 
> **Dragon Monk, Ginkaku**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Demon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Yellow: If you have a Yellow LRIG, choose 1 of your Life Cloths and place it into your Ener Zone face up. At the end of your turn, return one card in your Ener Zone to your deck, shuffle and move the top card of your Deck to your Life Cloth face down.
> 
> **Dragon Monk, Kinkaku**  
>  Level 2  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Demon  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 4000  
> Effect:  
> [On-Play]: Pay 1 Yellow: If you have a Yellow LRIG, choose 1 of your Life Cloths and place it into your Ener Zone face up. At the end of your turn, return one card in your Ener Zone to your deck, shuffle and move the top card of your Deck to your Life Cloth face down.
> 
> **Djinn of the Lightning Flash**  
>  Level 3  
> Color: Yellow  
> Class: Human  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 8000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant]: If this card is in the left or right SIGNI Zone, it cannot attack a SIGNI.  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] When this SIGNI attacks whilst in the middle column, it gets +4000 power until the end of that battle. Then if your LRIG is yellow, it also gets +2000 power until the end of that battle.


	75. Arc 3 - Ride 75: This Distasteful Endgame I

**The White Room**

After the battle had concluded, Mayu simply sat back down into the seat that was her throne, clasping one hand around one of the armrests as she gazed down to Photon who had been holding a tablet throughout the entirety of the confrontation. Standing beside the Cyberoid commander was Miyako herself whose displeased expression made it clear to everyone that she wasn't just upset with Ayumu's 'incompetence' to fulfilling even a simple request for her, but she was outright furious with the fact that Yuki had grown even stronger since the last time she was used in battle which had led to the destruction of the clone LRIG that she had built for him to use in battle.

"Did you retrieve the data...?!" she snarled as she turned to Photon.

"Analysis confirms that data retrieval was successful," he spoke calmly after gazing at his tablet briefly "Kominato Ayumu's Selector rights have also expired."

"In that case, an erasure of his memories within the Selector Battles will be needed," Mayu replied "He knows the truth of that incident."

"That won't be necessary."

Upon hearing her 'general's' words just now, the mastermind of the Selector Battles gazed at Miyako as she clenched her metallic hand with a loud clank before gazing out of a window showing Ruko attending to an unconscious Ayumu back in the park with Kai standing beside her, remaining cautious for the time being.

"I have no intention of letting him leave the battles in failure that easily," she spoke as her gaze trailed upon both the Kagero user and the Selector "Despite Kuro's unexpected growth to be an issue; he has served his purpose in this accursed world, much like my late husband. He will pay his dues soon enough... with his own existence."

Before anyone else could speak, a snicker could be heard as everyone present in the White Room turned their attention down the seemingly endless hallway they were standing in to see that Ulith was approaching them. Her face was almost full of evil glee, as if she had been somehow enjoying the entire battle for her own twisted amusement.

"I fail to indulge in your humour," Miyako said sternly.

"As expected of the General," the cruel demeanored Selector replied as Photon took his leave from the White Room for his lab "I must say, I'm almost envious from the way you handled your own son. Perhaps it would be of the best of interest for me to note this experience... when I come around to seeing 'him' again."

"Mark my words Ulith," the woman lowly growled "I may not know what scheme you've concocted for this Sendou Aichi you speak of, but you have your own role to fulfil in the grand design of this world's annihilation and rebirth. Remember that well... or suffer the consequences."

Ulith simply shrugged in response in almost a playful manner as Miyako then raised her metallic hand towards the window that displayed Ayumu, Kai and Ruko, opening the gates that covered over it and summoning a gale from the opening. Engulfing herself in a dark red aura, the General vanished into the open window before the gates sealed themselves once more.

"May I?" she asked in a mockingly polite manner.

Mayu wordlessly raised one hand as her entire right hand radiated with the dark purple aura of the Void, altering the view of the window that Miyako had previously travelled through to focus more closely on both Hitoe and Aichi who seemed just as worried as Ruko, knowing that Ayumu was a victim in not just the Selector Battles themsevles, but his own mother's schemes as well. Eyeing the Royal Paladin user closely, her sneer deepened as she watched him speak with the Selector beside him.

_We're going to have so much fun with one another... soon enough._

* * *

**...**

Once again, the setting depicted a dark and dreary day on a hilltop outside of the city of Tokyo within this world as a familiar image began to play out again, only this time, it was from another's perspective. A young Ayumu watched on nervously from behind a nearby tree as he saw Ruko glow in an ominous bright light as Miyako stood at a distance in front of the girl who would later hold both the girls of black and white in her possession. The source of his uneasiness was not just what he was witnessing at this present moment, but the metallic hand that his mother flexed briefly like a claw as the gemstone on top of it flashed a bright pink.

"Are you still certain about using your own flesh?" the voice of Photon echoed "We still have not completely determined the cause of past failures."

"I am aware of our previous setbacks Photon," Miyako replied harshly after hissing quietly for a moment "My daughter will be the earthworldly vessel for Ut'ulls and she will lead our forces throughout the Selector Battles for the next few years to gather the Wixoss factors necessary to fully open the dimensional gateway from Mayu's domain and bring about the end of this accursed world!"

She then clenched her metallic hand with a loud clank to emphasize her point as she then gazed down at her daughter in front of her. Upon making an attempt to make out the full meaning of bringing an end to the 'accursed' world she spoke of, Ayumu wasn't sure of what to believe at this point.

"This time, I shall reign triumphant. Begin the transfer!"

Upon her declaration, even more sparks compared to the ones from earlier surged through the younger Ruko's body. Several of them came from out of the bright white lights that covered over her eyes as she screamed in pain. This had left her older brother shocked from what he had just been witnessing, making him question everything he had known about his mother throughout their life, even from long before Ruko was even born when he was nothing more than an only child. As the girl before them continued to suffer in pain and agony, Miyako kept her harsh gaze upon her, with every intention of using her own daughter to achieve her own ends in this 'endeavour' with Photon regardless of what happened.

"Just what's happening?" Ayumu murmured to himself "Vessel...? Ut'ulls?"

"Now do you see?"

Blinking for a moment, he looked behind him to see a much younger Noriko approach him. At this current time, she was still a teenager around in comparison to both himself and his sister, though much older than either of them significantly.

"Wait... you're the girl who told me to go here today..." he breathed as he watched her stare towards Miyako "Did you know about this?"

Suddenly without warning, the aura around Ruko grew larger and started emitting small shockwaves that knocked back both the woman and her son from their current positions whilst the Selector beside him remained nearly unfazed as she glared towards her target in mind. Sparks raged across the young girl as she fell to her knees in intense pain and the aura around her began to grow even brighter. Miyako frowned for an instant, as if this was something she did not want to have to deal with at this most crucial of stages in her plans.

"What is her condition?" she questioned.

"I'm afraid that Ruko's wavelength is incompatible with that of Tawil and Umr's," Photon's voice echoed "At the rate the energy is coursing through her, she will be destroyed by the inst..."

"It doesn't matter now," the General interrupted as she turned away from her daughter and began to walk away "If Ruko cannot fulfill our original purpose, then she has outlived her existence already. It appears we must turn to other methods."

"Mother!"

Upon hearing the voice that called out to her, she immediately turned back around to see that Ayumu had stepped out from behind the tree and decided to confront her at this point. Noriko stood a little behind him as she too gazed at Miyako, the two of them immediately staring off with one another as the woman's attention was brought to the Selector otherwise known as 'Queen'.

"I knew there were questionable aspects about you after our first encounter," she spoke "But letting your own daughter die because of a compatibility issue with 'his' experiments like almost everyone else you attempted to use? Given that the 'others' from what I heard barely survived, this is inhumane at its lowest."

"It seems that word of your deception has indeed come to pass 'Queen'," the woman replied as she flexed her metallic hand "I shall have the pleasure in dealing with you for Mayu."

"Before we get with any of that, what's really going on?!" Ayumu demanded "First our dad 'disappears' after your divorce, now this?! And why are you saying that Ruko can no longer exist?!"

In response, Miyako immediately raised her metallic hand towards her son as the pink gem had still kept its bright glow as a result of the unstable aura that was still raging through Ruko who continued to scream in agony from being unable to handle the energy tearing her apart. Sparks began to crackle within the cold palm of their mother as she glared upon both him and the Selector who had immediately come alongside him.

"Her metallic hand is what is controlling that aura," she spoke.

"Then that's just what I need to break!" Ayumu called as he then lunged at Miyako, grappling ahold of her metallic hand.

The General having not expected this sudden manoeuvre in an instant after charging up the energy stored immediately stumbled back for a moment as he kept his grip tight, hoping that he would be able to do something to shut off the aura that was killing his sister by the second. Miyako upon regaining her balance however immediately hoisted him up into the air much to his shock as she then glared at him in the eye.

"I thought you could still be of use to me after the process," she snarled, slightly nerving him "But since you favour 'compassion' like the rest of our despicable race, you and my subject can die together!"

As Ayumu's eyes widened in both shock and confusion at the same time, she immediately hurled him straight into Ruko, knocking them both to the ground. Although they were both now down on the hard ground, the aura around the girl who would later become a Selector by his own hands in the future did not cease at all and she was now starting to lose consciousness by the second. Panicked, he immediately held her up in an attempt to keep her awake as he looked back to Miyako who approached the two of them with the energy she attempted to charge up earlier now crackling in the palm of her cold metallic hand, her eyes narrowed as he looked up in shock.

"Disappear..." she spoke as a bright flash began to manifest amongst the sparks.

As Ayumu was about to turn away in agony for failing to save his sister at this moment, a loud yell suddenly caught them off guard. From the top of the tree on the hill almost unseen, Noriko leaped down towards Miyako and reeled back her right fist as she came down towards the woman in front of her. Instinctively, she immediately shielded her face with one of her arms, but it was the one with her metallic hand and it was exactly what the Queen had been counting on. Thrusting it forward, she smashed her knuckles straight into the gemstone on the top of it, causing it to crack in several places before the energy that had previously been building up suddenly exploded between them, sending the General flying over the edge of the hilltop with a loud yell whilst a shockwave threw Noriko to the ground and Ayumu and Ruko straight into the tree that she leaped from, their heads being the first to hit the hard trunk before they fell straight back to the ground.

As he began to lose consciousness from the hard blow to the back of his head, he weakly looked to his sister who had closed her eyes already. The aura around her had then disappeared, indicating that her life was no longer in any danger for the time being.

"Onii... chan..." she uttered weakly before the two of them finally lost consciousness together.

* * *

**City Park: Present Day**

"Onii-chan...!"

Opening up his eyes slowly, Ayumu could see that Ruko was standing above him and holding onto his shoulders, worried for his state of health and the way he was at this current point in time. His vision although blurred at first, eventually cleared up to reveal the Selector and Kai in his presence, the latter of whom kept a close eye on him, remaining cautious as a result of the older brother's previous devotion and loyalty to his mother. But with the clone LRIG destroyed and his memories restored by Yuki, no one knew what to expect from him at this point.

"Ruko..." he groaned as he clutched his head, his voice no longer being full of hatred as it was in the battlefield previously.

"Be careful!" Aichi called as he and Hitoe came over to him "You don't look so good."

Ayumu said nothing in response however, having no idea of what to think after the images that had just played out in his head moments before he had finally regained consciousness after losing to his sister and Yuki in the Selector Battlefield. A part of him wanted to deny them as just a dream he had experienced right now, but after feeling that they were indeed a part of what he knew and that were just as real as the image he saw from before, now confirming to also be amongst everything else he saw, he hung his head down. Slowly, he began to recollect everything that he had said to Ruko in the name of his mother's 'love' and then compare them to what he had heard and witnessed on that day.

"My god..." he breathed as he slowly began to realize everything that he had forgotten from that day and the way he had behaved for the last few days after meeting Miyako for the first time in years without those memories "What the hell have I done?"

"Onii-chan..." Ruko breathed as he looked up to her worried face "It's over now. The clone LRIG is gone and we can find out what really happened..."

"You don't understand!" he interrupted, much to her shock "You were telling the truth all along! We both lost our memories of that day and mother took advantage of it when we met for the first time in six years!"

"What are you saying...?" Hitoe murmured nervously.

"Onii-san!"

Everyone then immediately turned their attention down one of the pathways leading to the park to see Kamui rushing over to the group with Kiyoi slowly following him from behind. Upon stopping, she immediately looked down at Ayumu in curiousity, having been completely unaware of the whole debacle that had been going on, let alone the fact that the Nova Grappler almost did not succeed in defending Amika's mother from Remember because of his untimely ambush.

"Kamui-kun!" Aichi greeted in a happier manner before looking over to the person that was formerly known as Piruluk "And..."

"It's Kiyoi," Kamui replied, clearing up his confusion for him immediately "The real one this time, not Remember. That annoying mark on my hand's even gone now."

"Oh..." Ruko pondered as she looked at Kiyoi "I haven't seen you since that battle we had a while back..."

"Tama remembers that!" Tama called out loud as she looked up "Tama says hello again Pirulu... Kiyoi."

"It would seem our timing has been rather inprompt," the girl replied as she looked to Kai "I presume you know of what has happened here."

"There is much we currently still don't know right now," the Kagero user replied "But it appears we may be one step closer to uncovering the truth to Ruko's past."

As everyone then looked back to Ruko who looked back down to Yuki, now back in her base normal form that she had whenever she began a battle and lacking the draconic features she had from her newest form in the battlefield, she nodded in reply as if to silently tell the Selector that it was her decision on what she was to do next now she had claimed victory in this battle and Ayumu had his lost memories returned to him.

"I... I remember it now..." he breathed before coughing for a moment "At least... most of it."

"Can you tell us?" Ruko asked softly, knowing her brother was still in a weakened state.

He gave a single nod in response to assure her that this time, he was now willing to share what he had now recovered from his lost memories with the group before him for the first time. Now that Miyako no longer had a hold on him with the clone LRIG to drain away at him, he knew that now was the time to share everything he could with them so that the truth behind his mother's actions and Ruko's role in her initial plans could finally be brought to light.

"The true culprit behind what happened six years ago..." he began "... was not you. It was mother."

As Ruko, Tama, Midoriko, Yuzuki, Hitoe, Aichi and Kamui gasped in shock to this sudden revelation, Kai simply narrowed his eyes in response, having expected that the General herself would have a role in this incident from six years ago. Starting from the beginning, Ayumu told Ruko of how he saw Miyako enveloping her in an aura with her metallic hand in an attempt to make her a 'earthworldly' vessel for Ut'ulls, the being that Mayu was attempting to combine Umr and Tawil into otherwise known as Project: Locked Soul. From her own card, even Umr was in somewhat of disbelief as she could not believe that the person that she was meant to become was originally planned to be a part of the Selector six years ago.

Next, Ruko's brother continued with his tale on how he had been accompanied to the site of the incident by a younger Noriko who had previously tipped him off on it some time before the day itself or at least, that was what he could assume from the memories he did recover. He told them about how the energy that was around his sister was unstable from what he heard and that she was incompatible as a vessel for Ut'ulls, therefore making Miyako decide that her existence was no longer worth keeping and prompting her initially to leave her to die. He finally concluded with his tale on how he attempted to stop the woman in an attempt to save Ruko's life before Noriko's successful attempt in damaging her metallic hand had done so, at the cost of the backlash knocking him and his sister out and presumably leaving them with amnesia from their assumption.

"No way..." Ruko breathed, her face having almost gone pale at the revelation he had given to her and the others.

"That girl saved your life?!" Kamui exclaimed, almost in shock that the girl that had stopped Ayumu for him previously had also saved the Selector's life once before.

"That's right..." Ayumu muttered as he looked down to the floor "I cannot remember anything after that except for the day we were transferred into grandmother's care. I can only guess Noriko must have somehow convinced her to take us in before mother could find us, otherwise we would have met the fate she intended for us by then."

"You said that this incident took place on a hillside outside of this city," Kai spoke "Given where we currently are, would I be correct to assume it is several miles north from here?"

The older brother of Ruko nodded once in confirmation to the Kagero user's question, confirming the latter's suspicions at once. Almost everyone else looked to him in confusion, wondering why he asked this particular question.

"It would appear where I had first arrived into this world was the place of that incident," he continued "Waking up in a world unfamiliar to my own... slowly discovering all wasn't as it seemed around me... and learning about the Selector Battles from Tama, Hitoe and Yuzuki on that night. If I had not encountered them then and not discovered the changes to my deck, I may not have even realized the danger that surrounds us all."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi murmured.

"Right now, we need you to tell us what exactly Miyako is planning," Kai spoke as he kneeled down to Ayumu's eye level "We know she's a part of the Selectors attacking our home world and stealing units for Mayu as Katsuragi informed us previously."

"Did mother tell you anything about what she is up to?" asked Ruko.

Before Ayumu could speak up, the wind around the park suddenly swirled violently as everyone immediately covered their faces and held on tightly to all of the cards that contained their LRIGs from the immense force that surrounded them all. Despite not being in the path of the sudden change in the breeze around their holders, Yuzuki and Midoriko couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on at this point whilst Tama could only blink in confusion.

"I'm sensing a new presence!" Yuki muttered.

Eventually from high above, a dark red bolt of lightning crashed down from the dark clouds above onto the ground in front of the entire group as everything went blank in a blinding white glow for a short instance. Eventually, the light faded to reveal that the impact had shattered part of the ground in front of them as smoke covered over the area where it had been struck as everyone looked ahead to see what exactly had happened. Then, a shadow began to rise from the ground as a rattling sound was immediately heard, shocking Ayumu much to Ruko's confusion whilst Kai, Kamui and Kiyoi could only remain still as their ears twitched upon hearing that sound.

"Wait a minute..." Ruko breathed before looking to the only three who had their suspicions drawn "Do you think that's...?"

Before she could finish her question, everyone looked back to the smoke to see it finally begin to clear up to reveal who exactly it was that had chosen to show up before them. First, the tall boots, then the coat and trousers, then the left gloved hand along with the all too familiar metallic hand which gleamed for a brief instance, almost frightening Hitoe for a brief instance as she let out an 'Eep!' in fright. Finally, the last remainder of the smoke cleared up to reveal the face of Miyako as she stared intensely towards the group. Ayumu gulped nervously for a moment upon seeing her once again, but immediately regained as much of his composure as he looked back at her in response. Ruko however, could now easily recognize her after the lost memory she briefly saw when she had been knocked out by the clone LRIG's 'Vermillion Thunderbolt'.

"Mother..." she breathed, much to the surprise of almost everyone present.

"Kominato Miyako..." Kai muttered.

"That's her...?" Aichi breathed.

"That is correct," the woman replied coldly as she flexed her metallic hand before looking up to the sky with multiple thunderclaps going off amongst the clouds and with her arms almost wide out "Right now... I stand triumphant!"

* * *

**Apartment Blocks**

As the thunderclaps continued across the skyline of this world's version of Tokyo, Hatsu watched on with a worried expression from the balcony of Ruko's apartment, wondering what exactly was happening outside of the safety of the family haven, especially with the dark red thunderbolt that had crashed down onto the city far into the distance from where she was now. This turn of events hadn't just caught her attention however as Naoki, Leon and Ren immediately joined her on the balcony to observe what was going on. The Aqua Force user could only clench his teeth as a small, but noticeable breeze swirled around the four of them as they looked out onto the horizon, wondering what was going on at this point.

"I can sense a great deal of rage amongst this wind," he spoke.

"Just what's happening right now?" Naoki muttered.

Hatsu could only stare towards the horizon for a few moments longer as she felt she could only silently pray for the safety of both Ruko and Ayumu.

_If what Hitoe told me earlier is true, then their safety is all I can wish for..._  she murmured in her thoughts  _But right now, if they're also seeking out Miyako, then the three around me should have the right to know._

Sighing in deeply for a moment, she began to turn around and walk back into the living space of the apartment, much to the confusion of the Narukami user that was originally beside her.

"Hey, is something up...?" he asked.

At first, the grandmother of Ruko and Ayumu did not reply to him, only heading over towards the square shaped shelves on the far wall and opening a small door that she and neither of the family she had left had ever opened on her word. But today, with everything that she had learned of the Selector Battles from her granddaughter's words as well as the experiences of her friends and the fact that Ayumu was involved with them because of Miyako, she felt now was the time for all of them to know about something that had never been shared with them before. Taking out the single item that was present in there, everyone else present in the room could see that it was a photo of some kind and from the dust that had been collected, it appeared to be very old.

"What I'm about to speak of hasn't been told to Ruko or Ayumu," she said as she closed her eyes in a pained expression "But if the person you speak of is behind these Selector Battles, then this is about more than what has been going on beneath all of our noses."

As Ren was the first of the group to approach Hatsu, she then handed the photo face down to him as he gazed at it closely before turning it around slowly. When it was fully in view, he couldn't help but utter an interested 'Oh?'. Naoki quickly came alongside him to see what it was that had piqued the Shadow Paladin user's curiosity before gasping in shock.

"W... What the heck?!" he gasped as he stared at the picture, eventually allowing Leon to come around and observe it closely.

There in the old picture that was depicted before them was the appearance of Miyako as a young child, seemingly almost happier than she was in the present day and during her time with parenting both Ruko and Ayumu. Beside the girl in her early years was another girl around nearly the same age as her, but frightening familiar to the three cardfighters, with the dress she wore as well as her eyes and face being almost completely identical, save for the hair colour which was a light shade of pale brown instead of pastel white.

"This is..." the Aqua Force user breathed.

"It is," Ren replied as he looked closely at the girl beside Miyako "There is definitely no mistaking it."

"Mayu...?!" Naoki exclaimed in disbelief "B... But...! How old is Ruko's mom even...?!"

"So it is as I feared," Hatsu murmured, bringing the attention of the boys to her "I thought she had let go of it long ago... but it appears that if you say that this Mayu is the same as the one in control of these Selector Battles, then this Link Joker you speak of has powers we can't even comprehend and Miyako hasn't changed at all since that day..."

"But if Miyako is a woman now..." Ren pondered "I wonder why Mayu is supposedly still a child as by this picture."

"There is much for me to explain," the grandmother of Ruko replied as she immediately took a seat at the small table and prompted the others to do so "And I believe it harbours back to a grudge Miyako has held since that day. I knew she was ambitious... but I never thought she would drag Ayumu and potentially Ruko into fulfilling her hatred."

The three cardfighters looked at one another with Naoki easily being the most tense out of them, having not expected that Miyako had already known Mayu as a child, but if what Hatsu was saying was true, then the story they would be about to hear was one that did not consist of a most pleasant tale.

* * *

**City Park**

Everyone in the park remained tense as they gazed upon the form of Ruko and Ayumu's mother who stood before all of them in all of her glory. The woman kept her stern gaze upon each member of the group, eyeing each of them closely as well as the LRIGs that they all held. Even Kiyoi couldn't help but be surprised by the revelation that the woman that returned her back to her original body was the same person that was mother to Ruko and Ayumu. As the woman glanced down at Ayumu in displeasure for his previous failure to defeat his sister and claim the two LRIGs she held for her, the older brother for once in his life decided to take his own stand against what she had planned to say next.

"It doesn't matter that I failed you..." he groaned as he struggled to stand to his feet "You've lost! That clone LRIG's gone and so are all the lies you've putting into my head ever since you gave it to me!"

"On the contrary, you served your purpose well enough," she replied coldly as she kept her glare upon him "Even if you had succeeded, I planned to eliminate you immediately as I intended to do so six years ago."

Whilst everyone stared at Miyako, Kamui having heard the entirety of the story that Ayumu had now given to the group finally had enough with standing around on the sidelines, knowing he had seen her before, deciding to speak his piece of mind about the whole conspiracy.

"Hey you!" he yelled bringing the woman's attention to him "You've got a lot of nerve using your own daughter as a prawn like that!"

"How could you mess up 'pawn'..." Kiyoi muttered with a facepalm to follow on from her offhand comment.

As Kamui could only raise an eyebrow in slight annoyance after being corrected by the former LRIG, again, the person in front of the group finally chose to respond to what he had to say.

"So you're the primitive individual that Remember took your units from initially," she spoke in her cold tone before gazing to Kiyoi "And I see that we've encountered each other once more much sooner than we anticipated, 'LRIG of misfortune'."

"Wait mother!"

Miyako then immediately turned her attention towards her daughter who had been helping her older brother up from underneath one of his shoulders.

"Ah, my former fleshling," she spoke "I did not anticipate you would become a Selector yourself in our absence from each other... but to wield the girls of black and white and still side with the vermin of this accursed world and these visitors... that is something I cannot accept!"

"Just what is really going on?!" the Selector demanded "Why was I meant to be a vessel for Ut'ulls?! And why did you say that I was scary?!"

"All in due time," Miyako calmly replied before partially closing her metallic palm and manifesting a deck of a Wixoss cards in a familiar dark red aura "But for now, I have something to take back to Mayu and I will not take a refusal for an answer!"

As Yuki and Tama could only clench their teeth upon realizing that the woman was planning to challenge Ruko to a battle right at this very instant, they both looked up to see their Selector look back down at them for a brief moment. As she heaved herself free from Ayumu's shoulder, she took a few steps forward before suddenly clenching herself in pain as she fell to her knees.

"Ruko!" gasped Yuzuki.

"Is she alright?!" Midoriko interjected.

"I'm fine...!" she replied as she tried to stand back up onto her feet, having little success in doing so.

"That earlier sneak attack from the clone LRIG must have weakened her," Yuki muttered "Right now... she may be in no condition to battle!"

Realizing that Miyako was unlikely to allow this to stop her from opening up the battlefield and gaining somewhat of an unfair advantage over her downed daughter, Aichi looked down to Umr who nodded in agreement, knowing that something had to be done.

"Miyako!" he called, bringing the woman's attention to him "You said that you know about Ut'ulls! What is the story behind Umr and Tawil?!"

"The one Ulith has taken interest in..." she murmured coldly as she gazed upon Umr from the card in his possession "Mayu already told you that those two were originally the initial designs of the girls of white and black she imagined when the Selector Battles first came into fruition. But what you did not know was that was originally not the case."

"What do you mean...?" Umr pondered.

"The reason for that is because the two of you were originally a powerful being that Mayu had briefly manifested when creating what she attempted to conceive as the 'perfect' LRIG, before Tama and Yuki were 'reborn' from the depths of her imagination," the General replied "Ever since, Photon and I have worked together in an attempt to 'revive' her, by fusing the two of you back together after our initials experiments of picking an earthworldly vessel ended in failure every time."

Ruko could only stare at the strange LRIG that the Royal Paladin user held in his possession, shocked that she was initially meant to be the vessel for a powerful LRIG that Mayu was only able to materialize to her reality for a brief moment. She tried to move to stand back up only to stumble and fall a little forward before being caught by Ayumu who pulled her back. Before either of the two could do anything else, they looked to their right to see Kai slowly approach Miyako as he took his deck out of the case he had kept it in.

"Kai...?" Hitoe pondered in confusion as everyone watched him stand between Ruko and Miyako.

"Miyako..." he spoke "Your opponent is me!"

"Kai Toshiki, so you would be the first to directly oppose me?" she muttered before taking ahold of the deck she manifested with her gloved hand "Very well then. It would seem the Clown's retribution will have to come earlier than expected."

Upon hearing the name that was given to 'that' unit, everyone could only stare at the deck that Ruko's mother was holding at this very instance, realizing in fact it had to be a Link Joker deck if her words just now happened to be true. He looked back to Ayumu for a brief instance, noting his concern also before gazing down to Ruko for an instance.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked "We still don't know everything about what happened yet."

"I imagine we'll get those answers soon enough," he replied "But right now, there's something I need to do in this battle. And I have my own questions I wish to ask."

"Be careful then," said Ayumu as he helped Ruko over to both Aichi and Hitoe whilst Kamui and Kiyoi joined them both to observe the battle that was about to take place.

A loud breeze whistled throughout the park as a dark red aura enveloped Miyako, briefly growing in size and manifesting itself into a shape that eeriely resembled a tall unit. The shapes and the eyes present as well as the unnerving chuckle that followed on indicated to everyone that Chaos Breaker Dragon was indeed in the deck of Mayu's General, causing Kai, Aichi and Kiyoi to clench their teeth briefly.

"What was that...?" Hitoe said nervously as the aura then faded away.

"The Clown itself..." Yuki breathed.

"Kai-kun..." Aichi murmured in worry before regaining his composure "Do your best and don't give up!"

The Kagero user returned a nod back to his friend in a firm manner to reassure him that he would not let his guard down against one of the most dangerous foes he had previously worked alongside with before.

"Before we begin our battle, it would be of my best interest to remind you of our terms and conditions," Miyako spoke "Right now, your Selector rights cannot afford a single loss, meaning if you lose, whatever wish you have from the heart will be tainted. In addition to deciding what to do with you upon my victory, your Kagero units including Dragonic Overlord will belong to Mayu for imprisonment in the Pit of her domain."

"So Kamui's word of you attacking our world is true," he spoke "Just what are you aiming to achieve from stripping fighters there of our unit?"

"I see no reason to tell you at this point," she replied harshly "But perhaps I should have you... informed of my progress for her cause."

Opening her metallic hand once again, she manifested a small dark purple aura that showed the afterimages of two cards from within them. Both of which displayed units which were turned into LRIG cards for use in the Wixoss card game if the General ever deemed it to be necessary. To all the cardfighters amongst the group present at the moment, they couldn't help but be shocked at the sight they saw, having realized which fighters in particular she had defeated to obtain those cards.

"She has Percival and Amon...?!" gasped Aichi.

"Then she's taken then from Tetsu and Gaillard...!" Kamui growled.

After the aura had faded away along with the afterimages of the cards Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival and Demon World Marquis, Amon, the pink gem on her metallic hand then began to radiate brightly, blinding everyone except for its bearer.

"Cold metal, manifest yourself and ensnare those that oppose your rigid structure!" she declared "Open, Steel Wall Prison!"

Suddenly, the ground all around the entire group and the combatants for the battle began to change from the solid earth beneath their feet to the cold steel that was spreading all around them. Then without warning, several metallic spires began to rise from out of the newly formed floor and bend to curve with one another to form a spiral of some kind that blocked out the entire sky and the surrounding area of the park all at once. As the bright glow died down, Kai was almost thrown completely off balance as the floor of the prison suddenly shifted, putting a great distance between him and Miyako as a result of the field being made to be one suitable for the Selector Battles and the size of the units they would wield.

"This is...!" he gasped as he regained his footing upon the shifting of the floor coming to an end.

"Where are we...?" Ruko pondered.

"I don't believe it..." Aichi breathed as everyone else looked to him "How does Miyako have Neve's prison?!"

"You mean this is one of those prisons those Quatre Knights had?" Yuzuki murmured "You know... when you sealed yourself away."

"But didn't they lose their powers?!" Kamui exclaimed "How the heck does Ruko's mom have one of them?!"

Then a matter of seconds, several bright flashes emerged from the LRIG cards that were held by the two Selectors and the Royal Paladin user as several more more emerged behind the remainder of the group to reveal that Tama, Yuki, Midoriko, Yuzuki and Umr were now free of their bindings for the time being and at regular human size much like the times they spent in the Link Joker battlefield.

"This is..." the green LRIG breathed.

"This prison must have the same properties as that 'other' field," the girl of black murmured "And I can sense we're no longer in the park in any shape or form."

"Observant as ever."

Everyone turned their attention back to Miyako who had made her point clear as a large block of steel rose from the ground a little in front of her and set itself just a little above her waistline as several markings then engraved themselves on the very top. The indents showed themselves as familiar zones on the table surfaces within the regular Selector Battlefield as she then took one card with the white backing from amongst her deck and immediately set it into the middlemost slot with seven small circles surrounding it. Kai upon watching her do so immediately assumed she had set her starting LRIG to begin the battle and immediately did the same on his end.

Both combatants then immediately placed the remaining cards they had leftover into their proper places that would otherwise be identified on a playmat for the physical Wixoss card game outside of the Selector Battles before drawing their starting hands and setting down their seven Life Cloths needed to begin the battle. Kai knew from Aichi's word that this was Neve's particular prison and despite having only battled in Gaillard's own previously, he knew he could not take the situation lightly at all. If what Ayumu told him about Miyako in the incident six years ago was to be fully believed, then he knew that he would have to be very careful in the way he would battle, especially if Chaos Breaker Dragon was indeed in her deck as everyone suspected.

"Now then..." she spoke "Let us begin your rehabilitation. Open!"

Upon flipping the card face up, the dark aura of Reverse suddenly spread across her entire half of the prison's battleground as Star-vader, Dust Tail Unicorn manifested itself at a distance in front of her table. The remainder of the aura then dispersed, revealing that half of the battleground had now been transformed into a portion of the Link Joker battlefield as evidenced by the dark space and the various stars that now surrounded her.

"Open the LRIG!" Kai declared as he flipped up the card he set, revealing it as Dragon Knight, Sadegh.

As the brown haired Dragon Knight from Cray then appeared onto the battlefield in a bright red aura, he immediately took up a defensive stance upon seeing the Link Joker unit in front of him. Then an all too familiar creaking sound made itself present as a smaller version of the roulette rose from the floor of the prison to the right of Kai as he saw it had already begun spinning with both red and dark grey colours embedded into each of its individual slots. Eventually, it stopped onto a grey slot, much to the displeasure of most of the LRIGs and humans that were on the sidelines.

"The first turn is mine," Miyako spoke as she drew her card "Grow!"

Dust Tail Unicorn vanished from the prison in a swirling dark red aura as Hollow Twin Blades, Binary Star appeared in its place and primed both of the weapons it carried. After Nebula Captor manifested itself into the center spot in front of the unit, Ruko's mother immediately moved a single finger from her metallic hand to silently signal the end of her turn. Kai immediately drew his first two cards to the five he held, gazing across towards the two units he was more than familiar with for a brief instance as he then took out one card from the LRIG deck he had.

"Grow, Embodiment of Armor, Bahr!" he called "And summon!"

As Sadegh vanished from the cold metal battleground he stood on, Bahr immediately appeared in a series of swirling red colours and swung out its blade in preparation for battle. Immediately afterwards, two fiery orange columns erupted onto the left and right SIGNI spaces on his field as Gattling Claw Dragon and Calamity Tower Wyvern emerged from the flames that then dispersed after a few moments.

"Attack!" he called.

Gattling Claw Dragon primed the gatling gun in its right claw before pointing it straight at Binary Star and unleashing a multitude of fast fiery bullets right at the Cyberoid, knocking it off balance and backwards slightly. Before it had time to recover, it looked ahead to see a torrent of flames coming towards it from Calamity Tower Wyvern which engulfed the Cyberoid immediately. Miyako then revealed the second Life Cloth that had been crushed as Star-vader, Pixie Powder, the card indicating that a Life Burst had been triggered.

"Heal Burst," she spoke "I recover one Life Cloth."

She then placed the card into her Ener Zone beside Star-vader, Turndown Dragon before conducting the action that was required from the Life Burst.

"Next!" Kai declared as Bahr dashed across the battlefield towards Binary Star.

As the demon held its blade behind it in preparation to strike, it lunged forward in an attempt land a successful attack. Then without warning as a dark red glow flashed out, Promethium suddenly appeared between the two units, manifesting a barrier to shield Binary Star from the third strike. The Kagero user despite not showing signs of frustration from his failed effort could tell that the battle had not gotten off to as much of a good start as he wanted.

"Turn end," he spoke.

"Darn it, why did she have to heal on Kai's first turn?!" Kamui groaned.

"But he forced her to use a Guard," Aichi murmured "At least he's putting down the pressure."

"It's coming," Kiyoi interjected in her usual monotone.

Everyone then looked at her for a brief instance to Miyako's side of the field to see Mobius Breath Dragon roar loudly as it materialized into the large space of the prison and flexed its wings. Two Unrivaled Star-vader Radons then appeared onto the field before they took up defensive stances, much to the confusion of nearly everyone present before Nebula Captor aimed its crossbow at Bahr and knocked it down to the ground with a single projectile that had been launched from it. Kai's crushed Life Cloth revealed itself as Dragonic Burnout with nothing marked on the bottom of the card to help him this time.

"Mobius Breath!" she declared.

"Barri guards!" Kai called as the Wyvern Guard appeared in front of the Embodiment of Armor to deflect the attack with its own barrier.

As the beam from Mobius Breath Dragon was deflected off the shield, it crashed into the 'roof' above, sending a chunk of metal falling down to the floor of the battleground with a mighty crash. Miyako stared at the Kagero user having expected his familiarity with Link Joker from using it before to make him more aware of the danger he was in at this point, even if it was early on in the game.

"Turn end."

**End of Turn 3**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Life Cloths - 6 : 6**

**Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Star-vader, Mobius Breath Dragon**

**SIGNI : Gattling Claw Dragon - EMPTY - Calamity Tower Wyvern : Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon - Star-vader, Nebula Captor - Unrivaled Star-vader, Radon**

**Ener - 1 : 1**

"Huh...? Why didn't Miyako attack Kai's other units?" Tama pondered.

After hearing the girl of white raise her point, almost everyone on the battlefield could only share in their confusion as they could see that both Radons were clearly much stronger than either of Kai's SIGNI at this point. Yet the question that remained was why Miyako had chosen not to wage an attack on either Gattling Claw Dragon or Calamity Tower Wyvern.

"Look closely at his field," Yuki replied.

"He's down a Life Cloth, but what are you saying?" Midoriko asked.

"Mobius Breath's skill Locks a SIGNI card when its attack hits," Kiyoi calmly interjected "Red decks specialize in removing SIGNI at Ener costs and if Miyako attacked his formation, even if Mobius Breath hit, Kai could still burn away at her formation from the Ener he would have accumulated. She didn't want him to take a commanding lead early and left a defensive wall up for him to figure a way around without that speciality available to him early on."

"And since Kai can only Ener Charge once a turn without something like that Charging ARTS," Kamui muttered "Even if he Ener Charges of his SIGNI in front of the Radons, he'll use up one of the only two Ener he'll have for this turn to Grow and have to decide whether its worth trashing the one in front of the other Radon even if its just getting it out the way with no damage."

"Yeah... but if we know Kai like we do," Ruko murmured "I think he might have his own way around it."

She then looked away from the Kagero user in question and back over to Miyako, still feeling somewhat in disbelief that she was meant to play a part in Photon's experiments and when she wasn't 'compatible' enough for them, her own mother had no qualm with leaving her to die on that day. A chill had run through a spine the moment that Ayumu had recounted the complete tale of that incident six years ago to the entire group and she didn't know what to believe any more, given that all of them were still in the dark to Miyako's true reasons for assisting Mayu in the Selector Battles and her plot to destroy the world outside of her White Room alongside the Star-vaders.

"I still can't believe it either," the older brother spoke as Ruko looked to him as he saw him staring down to the cold steel floor beneath him as well as his own two hands "If neither of us lost our memories of that day...!"

"Onii-chan, it's not your fault," the Selector replied in reassurance "Right now, we can only wait for Kai to find out exactly is making mother help Mayu and the Selector Battles."

Back on the battleground, Kai immediately started his next turn as he began to consider the limited options that he had available to him thanks to Miyako not attacking neither Gattling Claw Dragon or Calamity Tower Wyvern. Upon observing the field once again, he gazed back to his opponent before him.

"A series of attacks only for the aim of damaging me," he murmured "It would seem Kaen was correct in her presumption as you being Mayu's General."

"I did what was necessary," she coldly answered "Chaos Breaker taught you far too well so foolishly rushing you at the beginning would be a mistake I am unwilling to make."

After their small exchange, the Kagero user moved Calamity Tower Wyvern's card to his Ener Zone in turn causing the Flame Dragon to vanish from the battleground in a series of large embers. Moving Dragonic Burnout's card to his Trash Pile, he then took ahold of the next card in his LRIG deck and placed it on top of Bahr's.

"Grow, Dragon Knight, Nehalem!" he called.

As Bahr disappeared from the Steel Wall Prison, in a flurry of flames and embers, both Nehalem and the dragon that he rode atop of flew down onto the battlefield with his steed's lower legs hitting the ground with a loud thud that echoed across the whole field. Upon seeing Mobius Breath Dragon in front of it, the dragon that the knight rode on immediately growled loudly whilst he glared directly at it, having recognized such units like its current opponent when Cray was invaded by Link Joker.

"Gattling Claw Dragon's skill!" Kai declared "Paying the cost, I send Nebula Captor to your Trash!"

With the flames from its wings burning even more fiercely, Gattling Claw Dragon covered itself in a fiery aura before soaring across the length of the prison and crashed straight into a motionless Nebula Captor, catching them both in a massive explosion that removed them both from the field.

"Sadegh's skill!" he continued "You must send a SIGNI to your Trash!"

"Radon on my right," Miyako calmly replied as the Unrivaled Star-vader in that SIGNI space was removed from the field by a torrent of flames.

"All right! He got rid of two of her SIGNI in an instant!" Kamui cheered.

"Amazing Kai-kun!" Aichi called.

Umr even couldn't help but smile a little in silently complimenting the situation, having not expected Kai to make the best out of an otherwise tricky situation which would have normally required a difficult decision to have been made.

"Now Kai can attack her directly twice..." Hitoe murmured "If she doesn't have any Quintet Walls..."

"It would seem Miyako made the mistake in not seeing Gattling Claw's potential beforehand," Kiyoi interjected as she looked over to the woman's side of the field which now only had a single Radon and Mobius Breath Dragon left "But Link Joker isn't an adversary to underestimate."

As a brief silence followed on, three columns of flames burst onto Kai's side of the field as Dragon Monk, Genjo, Berserk Dragon and Burning Horn Dragon all appeared at once from left to right on his field.

"Burning Horn Dragon attacks Radon!" he declared.

The yellowish orange Flame Dragon snarled under its breath for a brief instance before unleashing a torrent of flames at the remaining Cyberoid, incinerating it in an instant. Berserk Dragon then unleashed a pair of fireball from both of its heads at Mobius Breath Dragon, the projectiles detonating on contact and knocking it back slightly from the force as it howled in pain. It then fell to the ground after taking another hit from a beam created by Genjo's staff as Miyako revealed a second Nebula Captor as the next crushed Life Cloth.

"Next!" Kai called as Nehalem and his dragon charged towards their adversary.

As the Dragon Knight raised his lance, the tip of it crackled with purple sparks which he then unleashed in tandem with his steed's fiery breath towards Mobius Breath Dragon.

"Come, impenetrable shield above all living vermin!" Miyako called "Star-vader, Rejection Dragon! Quintet Wall!"

The smaller Cyber Dragon then appeared before it summoned five green circles in addition to its barrier as from each of them emerged two Photons, along with a single copy of Francium, Neon and Sword Viper as they rushed to the defence to protect Mobius Breath from further harm, deflecting Nehalem's attack with the greatest of ease. After placing the Quintet Wall's card in her Trash Pile, she gazed down to her field before staring back to Kai who in turn stared back to her.

"To think you would be a lost cause after what you did for Chaos Breaker," she muttered "But siding with the vermin that inhabit both of our worlds and the units of the Planet Cray."

"What do you mean?" Kai murmured as he narrowed his eyes "What is your reason for helping Mayu with the Selector Battles? And why did you see Ruko as nothing more than a pawn for your plans?"

Miyako did everything within her willpower to prevent herself from hissing at him at this very moment, keeping her composure calm as she then faced him head on.

"To begin with your second question," she spoke "I have my reason for helping Mayu... my only friend in this accursed world!"

"Friend?" Yuki pondered in confusion, having not recalled Mayu ever mentioning Miyako's name in her presence.

Everyone else could only stare at the mother of Ruko and Ayumu, wondering what it was that she was talking about at this moment. None of them however had expected the relationship between the two of them to be that of their own personal friendship.

"As for your question about 'vermin'," she continued as she closed her eyes, almost losing her composure for a moment "That's because... I despise humanity!"

"Despise humanity...?!" Aichi breathed in shock.

Upon finishing his ponder, Miyako suddenly clenched her metallic hand into a fist with a very loud clank in one swift motion shocking almost everyone present, as if she was very serious in her harsh tone when she had given her blunt answer.

"Our own race... the one that we're apart of," she continued, her anger slowly rising in her harsh tone "No matter which reality or world it exists in... it's one that knows nothing but cruelty, deceit and despair! And it's because of those reasons... that Mayu died!"

Upon those words leaving her mouth, everyone's expressions immediately turned to shock upon this sudden revelation that the woman had given to all the Selectors, LRIGS, cardfighters and units that were otherwise present on the battlefield.

"W... What did you say?!" Ruko exclaimed in shock.

"Mayu is dead...?" Kai murmured in disbelief "But then... how is she...?"

Rather than receiving an immediate answer from her, he could only watch as Miyako immediately started her next turn as she then took ahold of the next card from her LRIG deck and held it high into the air as dark streams of Reverse began pouring out from it violently, as if it was somehow responding to her very rage that had begun to surface from the otherwise collected individual that served as Mayu's General.

"Slash through everything with your cursed blade and cover this disgusting world with the darkness of death! GROW!" she declared in a fit of fury as she threw the card down on top of Mobius Breath Dragon's very own as the Cyber Dragon disappeared in turn "Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon!"

From the swirling aura of Reverse that enveloped her entire side of the field, the blade of a familiar scythe cut away the darkness to reveal the Clown itself in all of its shiny white and red sinister glory. A dark chuckle escaped its breath, enough to nerve almost everyone present on the battlefield as they stared up at perhaps the most sinister of the commanders of the Star-vaders. Even Midoriko, Yuzuki and Hitoe couldn't help but feel utterly scared in the presence of the evil that was right in front of them on the battleground.

"So you've finally shown yourself...!" Kai muttered "Chaos Breaker...!"

"That unit...!" Aichi gasped, having recognized it from long ago.

Upon hearing his words, Chaos Breaker Dragon immediately turned its gaze to everyone else that was watching from the sidelines, having recognized all of them in one way or another. It let out another chuckle as it vanished for a moment before reappearing without warning right in front of them.

"It seems we have quite the audience," it spoke with a sneer as it gazed upon each individual that stood before it "How entertaining."

"Tama's... scared...!" Tama gasped as she fell backwards.

"So we meet again..." Yuki muttered, now feeling less than thrilled to be back in its presence after learning to reassess her perspective of right and wrong.

Kiyoi and Kamui only returned their respective glares towards the Clown as it turned its unnerving gaze upon them as well, not being thrilled either to be standing before it once again. As Aichi could only clench his teeth to contain his nerves at this point, Umr jumped in front of him with the firm stance to say that she would defend him by any means necessary if it tried to do anything to him without warning. Ayumu, despite being unfamiliar with and nervous around its presence threw himself in front of Ruko, willing to act as a shield for his sister in the same manner if it attempted to try anything to her.

"Chaos Breaker!"

Upon hearing Kai's voice call it to it in anger, Chaos Breaker Dragon turned around to face him once again as the former companions stared off with one another for a brief instance.

"Your fight is with me!" he yelled "Leave my companions out of your schemes now!"

"Defiant to the end I see," it replied smugly "It seems I and the 'other' Takuto taught you all too well my student."

Then in an instant, the Clown vanished from the sidelines once again before reappearing immediately afterwards on Miyako's side of the field, just a little in front of her table. Upon settling itself back onto the field to come within Nehalem's sight once more, the woman then stared directly at Kai as she then clenched her metallic hand tightly once again, causing it to rattle as a result.

"Just what happened?!" he demanded "Why is it that you say Mayu is dead?!"

Miyako then closed her eyes as all the memories from the answer she was about to give to everyone present on the field, barring the Star-vaders she now wielded in battle including Chaos Breaker itself, flashed off in her mind once again. She could hear her own screams from a time when she was still a young child ringing in her head to this hour, as if they were acting as the fuel for her burning rage and discontempt towards her 'supposed' hatred for humanity and why it tied to her reasons to aiding Mayu in conducting the Selector Battles and helping the Star-vaders in the destruction of her own world.

"Very well then, Kai Toshiki," she hissed "Everything that happened long ago and why everything is as it is now... I will reveal it to you all!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Dragon Knight, Sadegh** (Errata)  
>  Level 0  
> Color: Red  
> Grow Cost: 0 Red  
> Limit: 0  
> LRIG Type: Kagero  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Either Player’s Turn] When your opponent’s SIGNI is banished or put into the Trash due to an effect from one of your cards, you may Exceed this card from under your current LRIG. If you do, your opponent chooses a SIGNI from their SIGNI Zone and puts it into their Trash.
> 
> **Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon**  
>  Level 3  
> Colour: Gray  
> LRIG Type: Link Joker  
> Grow Cost: 2 Gray  
> Limit: 8  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Opponent's End Phase] Limit Break (This ability is active whilst you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths): Exceed 1 Card with "Star-vader" in its card name: When your opponent's SIGNI is unlocked, you may pay the cost. If you do, banish it and draw 1 card.  
> [Action] Pay 1 Gray and choose a card with "Star-vader" in its card name from your hand and discard it: Choose 1 SIGNI card from your opponent's SIGNI Zone or Ener Zone and Lock it. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.  
> [Constant] Lord
> 
> **Star-vader, Pixie Powder**  
>  Level 1  
> Color: Gray  
> Class: Cyber Fairy  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 1000  
> Effect:  
> [Constant] Heal: You may only have up to 4 cards with “[Constant] Heal” in a deck.  
> [Life Burst]: When you activate this Life Burst, if you have equal or fewer Life Bursts at the time that this card was checked, place the top card of your deck (without looking at it) in your Life Cloth zone, face-down.


	76. Arc 3 - Ride 76: This Distasteful Endgame II

**Flashback; Miyako's POV**

" _When I was still a child, there was only one that I could even call a friend. That person's name... is Mayu!_ "

A long time ago, a much younger Miyako was gazing up at the blue sky that was above the city of Tokyo littered with various clouds that partially obscured the sun that was amongst them. Beside her standing in front of a rail that kept them both from the edge of where they were standing was Mayu herself, her appearance remaining almost exactly identical to the one that remained with the confines of the White Room, minus the slight difference in hair colour. As the latter looked to the person who would become the mother of Ruko and Ayumu in the far future, she couldn't help but ponder what it was she noticed in her friend's seemingly distant and unhappy expression.

"Are you really getting better?"

Mayu could only stare at Miyako in confusion in regards to her sudden harsh question as she turned to her left to face her at once. Before she could speak a word in response, she suddenly held her right hand into her hand as she coughed right into her palm before wheezing for a brief instance.

"I knew it..." she huffed "They've not done anything to help you, haven't they?"

"I don't know how I can..." Mayu coughed "But I'm sure there must be a way somehow..."

After finally settling down for the moment with her illness, Miyako could only stare towards the sky once more as she began contemplating the life that the two of them had together up to this point.

"I don't understand..." she muttered "How can you not be bothered by this?"

"By what?"

"The despicable traits that makes up who we are. Greed, Negligence, Terror, Deceit, Cruelty... how does belonging to a race that knows nothing but that not bother you?"

"I..."

Mayu did not know how to respond to her friend's statement, seemingly confused for a moment as her vision began to go hazy before stumbling backwards. As Miyako caught her gently by her shoulders, the two of them could hear footsteps as two women dressed in attires that seemed to resemble those of household maids came up to the pair. She hissed for an instance before looking back at her companion, unaware that this would be the very last time they would be together with one another in person... before their eventual 'reunion' in the Selector System.

" _My friend was a very sickly girl and had to rely on whatever means possible to survive from whatever she was provided with by her father, who had little regard for her own presence. Eventually, the illness had gotten to the point where she could barely move... which only drew my suspicions ever since her father had prevented anyone from outside of his residence from seeing her, let alone trying to assist her. To make matters worse... he treated her as if she had never existed!_ "

At a later point in time, a furious Miyako departed from the closed off doors of a large house, the one which Mayu had remained isolated from the outside world in her own bedroom. All whilst she stared down at the floor in utter discontent whilst a tall man from behind a nearby window gazed upon her with an intense stare, almost as if he could sense that the girl that his daughter saw as her only 'friend' would be nothing but trouble for him in the near future.

" _But no matter how much I tried... I couldn't get through to help her! Even Hatsu never believed me!_ "

Miyako gazed out of the window of her home in anger as she gazed out into the distance, her glare being focused in the rough direction of where Mayu's residence was from where she was currently living. Hatsu, still somewhat in her youth as evidenced by fair brown coloured hair not having any of the greys that it now had in the present day, attempted to approach her daughter in an effort to calm her down. But even with the slightest touch on the girl's shoulder, did she snarl quietly in response.

"I understand how you feel about your friend's absence..." she sighed, knowing it was the umpteenth time her daughter had spoken to her on the situation "But I'm certain that she must be recovering from that terrible illness."

"It's been over a month...!" Miyako growled, clenching her right fist "If you had any sense of decency, you would have known something was off!"

"Please, calm yourself Miyako..." Hatsu replied as calmly as she could "I don't want you to do something you'll end up regretting."

But as much as she had tried, the woman had little success in quelling her daughter's rage at all, if only by a small amount at all. Miyako stormed off towards the door that would have led to her bedroom, briefly glancing back at her mother.

"If you won't do anything about it... then I'll deal with it myself!"

And with that, she entered her bedroom whilst slamming the door loudly behind her and leaving behind a concerned Hatsu who simply stared at the door in worry. Somehow, compared to previous times when her daughter spoke out about this subject on her perspective, she felt that for whatever reason, something was bad was going to come out of it and she didn't know what.

" _And so, I sought out a way to break Mayu free from the prison that her own father had called a 'home' and expose him for the disgusting creature he was. But with his 'servants' patrolling around every corner of the house in broad daylight for my presence, I knew that I couldn't be careless in my efforts. Then two weeks later, on one fateful evening... I had my one and only chance!_ "

Returning to Mayu's residence in the early evening, Miyako emerged from the pathway leading up to the house, gazing to the left and right of the trees that surrounded the path she had taken to return to this place. Oddly enough, the maids that attended to her friend's room on occasion and patrolled the grounds around the house were not present outside, making her feel even more cautious. Hearing a rustle of leaves behind her, she immediately turned around, suspecting that she was being followed at this point.

"So he has eyes in other places..." she muttered quietly to herself "Very well then... if that's how you wish to toy with me."

And with that she began to scour the outside of the house in the hope of finding an alternative point of entry that would allow her to enter Mayu's room undetected. As she did so, she failed to notice a small hint of dark purple fog passing by her feet as she shuffled across the walls of the residence, remaining weary of anyone else's presence outside at this point. When she came over to a window and crouched for a moment to sneak past it from underneath, she stopped midway as she could hear several voices from the room on the other side of the wall.

"So is 'that' back?"

"Has 'that' even recovered?"

"It hardly matters. 'That' was already dead weight from the beginning, though we covertly agreed that would be our secret."

Clenching her teeth in complete anger, Miyako could recognize from the tone of the third voice that it was Mayu's very own father that had little regard for his own daughter or the fact that she was suffering from her illness to the point where he even declared her dead weight. Deciding to rant to herself later about him and other people she had despised, she looked ahead to see a faint purple glow emerging from the far end of the house. Curious as to what was going on, she threw caution to the wind and hurried over to find the source of the light, eventually coming across a lower portion of a wall where strange purple fog was almost seeping through the cracks.

"Say... Shiro, Kuro... Isn't it strange? You're all my friends but I'm the only one here. Not only can't I wish... I can't see what a florist looks like..."

"Mayu...!" Miyako gasped quietly before looking to the weakened portion of the wall, seeing a loose brick that she could remove from it "Hey Mayu! Can you hear me?!"

But to no avail, it appeared that Mayu could not hear her friend from the outside as she slowly removed one of the loose bricks from the wall at a time, sensing an opportunity to try and get into her room to help her. As she continued to remove more bricks in an attempt to create a space low enough for her to crawl under, she could only feel concern building up within her as she continued to pick away, not caring if she had to bring down the entire wall as a result to get to Mayu herself.

"Really...? You're both so kind... My wish is..."

And with that, the only thing that followed a few seconds later was a strange noise followed by a loud thump, which only sent panic through Miyako. Deciding to throw all sense of rationality out of her mind once again, she began stamping out the remaining loose bricks of the wall until she eventually was able to force her way through the small gap and into what was Mayu's bedroom. Coughing briefly from the dust that had been stirred up in her rushed entry and brushing off another piece of the wall she had forced her way through, she soon saw on the other side of the bed a single hand.

"Mayu...!" she cried as she stumbled for a moment before rushing over to the only human being that she would ever consider a friend.

But upon reaching the motionless Mayu, she could see that her eyes were now completely lifeless, devoid of any sign of emotion or movement. To make matters worse, she wasn't even breathing at all which only served to make Miyako's panic rise even more. She reached down to the girl's right hand and held it for a moment, hoping that was still even a small bit of life that remained within her one and only friend. The cold feeling that she received in return along with all of the other symptoms had confirmed her worst fears. Mayu was indeed well and truely, dead.

At first, tears began to stream down Miyako's cheeks as the cold hard truth began to seep into her mind, followed immediately by her earlier anger which was now boiling intensely as she let out a loud scream of anguish that rang throughout the entire house. Afterwards, the sound of footsteps was heard as the sound of a lock being undone was heard, which immediately caught her attention. As the door to the bedroom opened, the same two maids that brought Mayu home forcefully all those months ago had stepped forth to find out what had happened. When their eyes trailed upon the lifeless girl that lay on the floor, they felt mortified all of a sudden, but before they had time to process any thoughts...

"YOU...!"

Silently gasping for a moment, their eyes then trailed upon the enraged Miyako who slowly rose to her feet before glaring straight at them, realizing that she was greatly upset from discovering that her friend had died just now. Before any of them could open their mouths, she immediately leapt at the one that was closest to her and threw both of them straight into the corridor, pinning the startled and frightened maid right to the ground.

"I'll... kill you all!" Miyako yelled as she raised her hands, with the other maid soon realizing what it was that the angry child intended to do now that she was atop her companion.

"Wait!" she cried as she looked back to the deceased Mayu "We didn't know Mayu was getting weaker...! We're were told to...!"

But before she could finish her sentence, Miyako suddenly felt a hand grab the back of her shirt collar as she was then immediately yanked off the maid she had pinned down and up into the air, causing her to thrash around wildly.

"Let go of me scum!" she screamed as she was turned around to reveal that it was the man she had recognized as Mayu's negligent father.

"You've been a nuisance until now," he replied lowly in a bold manner "I don't understand what it is that you see in that 'dead weight' to begin with."

"Sir...!" one of the two maids called "When we found her... she discovered before us... 'that' was already dead..."

"Her name is Mayu!" Miyako yelled, forcing her to be taken aback in shock at her tone "And she died because of all of you...!"

Mayu's father simply stared at the lifeless girl before letting out a huff in response, as if the entire affair wasn't even bothering him in the first place to begin with.

"Even if that is true, who is to say I am to blame?" he scoffed "It is one measly word against mine..."

"And mine too!"

As everyone gasped for a moment as to who the voice came from, Hatsu immediately stepped into the corridor as she too was angry with the situation and who was to blame, but unlike her daughter, she was managing to keep at least a majority of her rage in check.

"And I suggest that you let my daughter go this instant!" she declared.

"You...!" he gasped, realizing his sudden mistake at this point.

"What are you doing here?!" Miyako exclaimed.

"I had a feeling you would attempt something like this," Hatsu explained "So I followed you here and came in through the front door as his guests were leaving, hoping I could see if your suspicions were true or not without you getting into trouble."

Upon finishing her sentence however, her previously anguished expression turned to one of sorrow as she glanced over to the lifeless Mayu's body, now brought to light on everything that had been happening and that her daughter's suspicions were correct from the very beginning.

"You were here... and you did nothing to save Mayu?!" Miyako yelled.

"I only managed to get inside for a minute before I heard your scream," she replied "I'm really sorry I wasn't able to save her as you intended. And I'm sorry for not believing you before."

Miyako said nothing more in response, simply looking down to the floor after Mayu's father had dropped her there, seething in rage and agony. As one of the two maids tried to approach her, the other held back one hand on her shoulder, not wanting to risk their companion being attacked by her blind rage again.

" _Mayu's father was eventually arrested for his neglect and the house they lived in withered away with time..._   _But my rage towards him, Hatsu and the rest of humanity only continued to burn._   _I continued through life, being forced to pretend that nothing of the sort happened for 'my own good'. During my seclusion as a teenager, I had heard rumour of the Wixoss card game allowing certain players to make their wishes come true whilst risking everything to obtain it."_

* * *

**Present Day: Steel Wall Prison**

As everyone, human, unit and LRIG alike looked towards Miyako, no doubt still in shock over the circumstances that had led to Mayu's death in the first place, what she had said next had only led to the suspicion that had suddenly crossed their minds.

"Then... you were a Selector?" Ruko murmured nervously.

"That is correct," the Selector's mother replied coldly "I originally entered the battles with only one wish on my mind. To bring humanity, the race that I despised being a part of... to their knees and... their eventual extinction!"

Everyone else watching from the side of the prison could not help but drop their jaws in shock and disbelief as to the exact wish that Miyako had intended to make come true and enact upon the world they stood in. None were more shocked by this revelation however than Ruko and Ayumu, having grown up around her for almost more than half of their lives and knowing nothing about her intentions or how she was really feeling until this very moment.

"Is she serious...?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"Her wish is nothing short of flat out genocide!" Midoriko interjected.

"So all of this just to claim revenge for Mayu's death...?" Kai muttered.

Miyako said nothing more in response as she then revealed Star-vader, Pixie Powder from her hand and threw it into her Trash Pile, just as one of the two Radons in her Ener Zone also moved to her Trash Pile.

"Chaos Breaker's skill," she spoke "I Lock Burning Horn Dragon!"

Chaos Breaker quietly chuckled as a Lock manifested in its left claw before hurling it towards Burning Horn Dragon, sealing it within the black rings and encasing it inside of a small black sphere as the physical card turned face down on Kai's table. The Kagero user gazed down at the Locked card as red sparks flew off of it before looking back to see Photon, Neon and Osmium appearing on her side of the field. The smaller commander of the Star-vaders pointed one of its blades towards Berserk Dragon, trapping it inside of a Lock as well.

"She's Locked two of his SIGNI in an instant...!" Yuzuki muttered.

"And that's not the worst of it..." Aichi murmured as Hitoe and Ruko turned over to him.

Osmium then aimed the cannon it wielded over its shoulder towards Nehalem and the dragon it rode atop of before firing a dark purple beam that struck them both in an instant and brought up a lot of smoke on impact. As Kai's next Life Cloth revealed itself as Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon, he could only clench his teeth as he then searched his deck for another copy and placed it straight into his hand.

"Osmium's skill!" Miyako called "Even if you Ener Charge Burning Horn Dragon or wait until the end of your next turn, it will be Omega Locked!"

The Kagero user could clench his teeth as he carefully observed all of the other options he had available to him in his hand at this point, knowing the situation he had been forced into at this point.

"If I were correct to assume, you had a Quintet Wall you intended to use," she continued "But, the lack of Ener I gave you last turn prevented you from doing so."

"That is to be expected," he muttered "You know everything about me from my time in the Selector Battles and my former partnership with Chaos Breaker to this point."

Wordlessly, Miyako held out her metallic hand as a sign for Photon to wage the next attack as the Cyberoid commander then rushed across the prison field towards Nehalem, slashing across the dragon he stood atop of when he got there.

"Chaos Breaker..."

Chaos Breaker Dragon then grasped ahold of his scythe and held it upwards in preparation for its attack as Kai could only stare at it, knowing that this first strike from his former accomplice would not be the last throughout this battle.

"No guard," he spoke.

The Clown then sneered deeply before swinging down its scythe, sending a dark red coloured arc straight towards Nehalem who attempted to fend it off with his shield, only to no avail as the arc then exploded, sending a shockwave across the battlefield that forced Kai to cover his face. He gazed down to his Ener Zone to see a second Burning Horn Dragon now in his Ener Zone alongside Dual Axe Archdragon from Photon's attack.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 4 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 4**

**Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon**

**SIGNI : Dragon Monk, Genjo : Berserk Dragon (Locked) - Burning Horn Dragon (Locked) : Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium - Companion Star Star-vader, Photon - Star-vader, Pixie Powder**

**Ener - 3 : 4**

"She's taken the lead..." Yuki muttered "And she didn't attack Genjo to limit Kai's Ener again."

"But Kai's got more cards in hand!" Tama interjected "Miyako won't be able to guard as much!"

Despite the girl of white's words of encouragement, no one was in the mood for even feeling the least bit positive about that statement in itself. The only ones who were perhaps in more pain than the units on Kai's side of the battlefield were Ruko and Ayumu, who still couldn't believe everything that Miyako had told them about in regards to Mayu's death and her initial wish as a Selector when she first entered the battles. The latter of whom after hearing everything that was just said and what he had now understood from his sister was especially more down, especially after everything he had said and done earlier.

"Destroying our world and everyone on it...?" he muttered as he closed a fist in frustration "That's what I've been helping mother achieve...?!"

"Onii-chan..." Ruko murmured in worry before looking back to the field to see Kai beginning his next turn.

The Kagero user gazed over his hand and what little options he had available to him at this point before staring back up towards Chaos Breaker Dragon and Miyako. As much as he was reluctant to admit it, the mother of Ruko was playing this battle much more intelligently than he originally anticipated, only giving him Ener through dealing direct damage and Locking down his SIGNI to reduce the number of abilities he had access over to the point where he had enough to barely keep growing.

_Why did she mention Ener Charging the Locked Burning Horn Dragon...?_ he murmured in his thoughts  _Certainly, I can sense the Locks in the realm of Selector Battles appear to function differently... but for what purpose would she tell me this?_

When he glanced back at Chaos Breaker Dragon once more, the answer suddenly became much more clearer to him. Reaching out for Berserk Dragon's card, he mentally processed the situation once again before placing his fingers on top of it. Sparks flew from the top of it as he expected, but for some reason, it felt different to the first time he tried to touch a Lock when he fought the 'other' Takuto.

"I Ener Charge this Lock!" he called as he moved the card to his Ener Zone before taking two of the other cards from there and moving them to his Trash.

"Yes, now Kai's got an open space to summon another SIGNI!" Kamui cheered.

"But I'm curious..." Kiyoi pondered "Why Ener Charge Berserk Dragon when Burning Horn is Omega Locked?"

Even Aichi could not help but wonder in agreement with the former LRIG, even being surprised that the power of Lock was not as restrictive as it was in Vanguard. But he knew that even he wasn't aware of all of Chaos Breaker Dragon's powers having lost to it before on his first attempt to set Kai free from the path he had followed back then. He kept a close eye on his friend, watching him raise up his arm holding onto a card he had picked out from his LRIG deck just a few moments ago and he knew that if he was finally battling the way he normally was, then this unit would be the one everyone knew about.

"Grow the Vanguard!" the Kagero user declared as he threw down the card on top of Nehalem's "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

And with those words, Nehalem and the dragon he rode atop vanished in a bright orange glow before a large torrent of flames burst from out of the hardened steel floor of the prison, sending small burning chunks scattering across towards Miyako's side of the field as Chaos Breaker Dragon gazed into the daunting inferno, almost enjoying the sight of whatever it was that was about to emerge before it. Very soon, an all too familiar roar signalled the attention of everyone present as the flames slowly died down to reveal the crimson red form of the dragon that went by many names within the Empire it hailed from. Kai kept his serious gaze focused upon his two opponents as he finally, for the first time in a while, announced the name of the unit he had finally put into play.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

"Kai's done it!" Tama cheered, happy that he was finally able to move on from the issue that had plagued him since the previous night.

"Amazing, Kai-kun!" called Aichi.

"So this is Dragonic Overlord..." Midoriko breathed.

"Yeah..." Ruko murmured.

Despite it being the third time she had seen the actual unit in person, even she couldn't help but be in somewhat of awe in the presence of such a mighty beast. Whilst Miyako chose not to comment at this point regarding the scenario that she was now in at this point, Chaos Breaker however gazed upon Dragonic Overlord, intrigue filling its purple eyes.

"The legendary Overlord..." it sneered "I certainly did not account for my soldiers waking you up from your 'eternal slumber' during our 'visit' to Cray. But to think that your flame was nothing more than a flickering ember back then... I can see Schwarzschild wasn't mistaken in choosing to recover you."

"So it is you that sent those hollow dolls to disturb me then!" the red dragon growled, pointing its sword towards the Clown "My only vision is to settle things with Ahmes by my own strength and if you're going to get in the way... then you can burn with those empty shells!"

"Just as fierce as I imagined," it chuckled "But I wonder if my 'pupil' still has issues with trusting you as he rejects my gift that binds to him for life."

Overlord snarled lowly as it gazed down towards Kai, clearly remembering well of how he forfeited his battle to Aichi when he feared that he was unable to control the power of Reverse within the Seed fragment that was embedded inside of him. The Kagero user had his eyes closed, reflecting back over the brief period of his unwillingness at the time, up until Noriko had called him out for his cowardice during their battle. Opening them back up, he felt that now was the time to speak with the dragon on the subject, before they could make any effort to move forward.

"Overlord," he spoke "I wrongfully accused you of being responsible for the reason that Reverse existed once more within my Seed fragment."

Dragonic Overlord then gazed down at its wielder, narrowing its sharp yellow eyes as it listened very carefully to what he was saying to him.

"I allowed my own fear to overtake me, resulting in that power trying to control me like before," he continued "If you are still angry about my previous actions, then I understand. But right now, I need you here to battle onward!"

"Do not go back on your word then," it snarled as it turned its attention back to Chaos Breaker Dragon "I already had it up to hear about your 'difficulty' from Blazing Flare!"

Kai could only nod in agreement, knowing that he had more than not having lost a little bit of trust with his other units given what had happened in his previous confrontation with Noriko. But right now, this wasn't of any concern to him. He was confronting his inner demons at last at the presence of the Clown itself and Ruko's mother, who had far more ambitious plans for the worlds they inhabited along with her discontempt for humanity itself, all because of Mayu's death as a result of her father's negligence and as a result, Ruko and Ayumu respectively ended up being pawns in her much grander schemes.

"Summon!" he called as Lintwurm materialized onto the field before moving the last card in his Ener Zone that wasn't Locked to his Trash Pile "Then One Rule, Two Birds!"

As Overlord radiated in a bright red in receiving the effects of the ARTS, the Dragon Beast SIGNI that was in front of it then immediately soared into the air before diving down towards Photon who remained motionless as she lashed her tail across him, banishing the Cyberoid commander from the field. Seeing that Genjo wasn't even powerful enough to attack Nebula Captor, Kai turned his attention back to his key unit.

"Overlord... singe Chaos Breaker with your overwhelming strength!" he declared as he downed the card "Eternal Flame!"

Dragonic Overlord upon catching the Clown in its sights roared loudly and took flight towards it, intending to strike the blow that would at least score Kai a temporary lead for the turn. Upon seeing the red dragon in its midst, Chaos Breaker smirked and took flight as well, preparing to swing its scythe in retaliation. When the two combatants finally came within range of each other, both dragons swung their weapons with all of their might at one another. When the blade and scythe struck, Overlord and Chaos Breaker were currently stuck in a stalemate, staring off one another as one tried to overpower the other with all of their strength. Yet for some reason, the Clown did not seem concerned at all with the scenario at hand.

"I like your vigor," it spoke in a bemusing manner "It only makes me wish my forces were more successful in bringing you to us."

"Over my dead hide!" Overlord growled as it eventually parried away Chaos Breaker's scythe before unleashing its signature Eternal Flame right at it.

A raging inferno then spread over to Miyako's side of the field as she covered her face with her gloved hand to shield herself from the heat. As Ruko silently gasped for a moment, she looked ahead to see Chaos Breaker sneering in the midst of its agony, almost as if it was not concerned with its own pain and finding amusement out of the situation for its own twisted enigma. What made things much stranger was that it was almost like that sneer was being directed towards her, for whatever reason it had in mind. When the flames finally died down, Miyako's next two cards revealed themselves as another copy of Photon and Rejection Dragon, both of which landed in her Ener Zone. At the same time, the Lock on Berserk Dragon's card finally wore off.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 5 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 3 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon**

**SIGNI : Dragon Monk, Genjo : Lintwurm, Phantom Dragon - Burning Horn Dragon (Locked) : Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium - EMPTY - Star-vader, Pixie Powder**

**Ener - 1 : 7**

Kai stared towards the disgruntled woman as she finally lifted down her gloved arm and faced him once more, drawing her next two cards to begin the turn.

"A wise choice," she spoke harshly "If you had Ener Charged Burning Horn Dragon, Chaos Breaker's Limit Break would have activated."

"I am aware of all of its abilities," he replied "If I could only remove 1 Lock, then it would make the most sense."

As Chaos Breaker then recovered from the attack it recently took from Dragonic Overlord, Miyako gazed upon the Kagero user once again as she raised her metallic hand with the gemstone flashing a bright purple before emitting a glow that blinded nearly everyone present on the battlefield.

"What the heck is this...?!" Yuzuki gasped as she shielded her eyes.

As Kai raised one arm above his head to try and fight against the blinding brightness that Ruko's mother, his vision of the prison suddenly began to fade away into nothing but white light. As he could see that he was seemingly no longer on the battlefield, at least from his perspective, he could only wonder what it was that his former 'mentor' was trying to do to him now. As he lowered his arm, seeing that he was no longer at the risk of being blinded by the brightness all around him, two shadows began to manifest in front of him. Instinctively, he remained on guard, not knowing if these were illusions or something more that Chaos Breaker had summoned to further toy with him.

"Welcome home Kai."

Upon hearing the voice that somehow entered his ear, Kai could only remain apprehensive as his expression slowly changed to shock as it seemed like he recognized the tone.

"How is Miwa and Ibuki these days?"

Once he had heard the second voice however, the darkness obscuring the figures that had materialized in front of him slowly began to fade away, revealing the forms of two people that he knew... and cared deeply about. Once he recognized who exactly they were, Kai could only gasp as he realized who it was that was standing before him and seemingly speaking out to him.

"M... mother...? Father...?" he breathed in disbelief, taking a step back.

And indeed, the man and woman that stood before him, just as he remembered long ago before their tragic deaths, bore the exact same appearance and voices of the parents that he had lost on that terrible day. As they smiled almost innocently, Kai immediately clenched his teeth as he looked away from them and upwards a little, as if he had something on his mind.

"What is the meaning of this?!" he demanded.

No sooner had he yelled out did the space around him eventually revert back to the Steel Wall Prison, exactly from where he was standing at this point in time. As Chaos Breaker deepened its smile, Miyako remained completely still, unfazed by his sudden outburst in regards to what she had just showed him. Even everyone watching from the side couldn't help but ponder in confusion on what exactly had happened.

"Kai-kun...?" Aichi murmured.

"Did he say... mother...?" Ruko pondered in confusion.

Whilst everyone barring Kiyoi looked at one another, hoping to gain an assumption or two from what Miyako had just done to Kai moments ago, Yuzuki and Hitoe could only look at one another in concern, having been two of the only three in their own world to know about the Kagero user's full past and the fate of his parents. Midoriko gazed to her two friends, wondering what is was that had them very worried at this point.

"She wouldn't...!" the red LRIG muttered as she clenched her fist "That's just low!"

Kai's previously serious gaze had now turned into a rather harsh glare towards his opponent, angry with her for stirring up images of his deceased parents for whatever reason she had in mind at this point. As she moved Pixie Powder to her Ener Zone, the unit vanishing from the field in a dark red aura as this happened, Miyako closed her eyes for a brief moment.

"Why did you betray us...?!" she growled "Chaos Breaker had high hopes for you... and you went against everything that separated you from the rest of humanity!"

"Betray 'us'...?!" he muttered, still feeling unnerved from the earlier image he was shown "What are you saying?!"

"I'll tell you," she replied "But first, I believe you still want answers to how I found Mayu after all those years and eventually took up her confidants' rank of General."

The Kagero user remained silent, but nodded once, knowing that was a question he was planning to ask her at some point during the battle sooner or later, especially after everything they had heard so far.

"It all began in the midst of my effort to become an Eternal Girl," she began "I fulfilled the Ritual of Consent, needed to make my wish come true..."

* * *

**Flashback; Miyako's PO**

" _However... it appeared that my LRIG had other plans for me..._ "

As both Miyako, now significantly older in age since the day that Mayu had died, and her LRIG hovered towards an open doorway at the top of the battlefield, each with a pair of blazing white coloured wings sprouting from their backs, both companions held their hands with one another throughout the duration of the journey towards realizing the Selector's wish. That being to bring about the end of humanity and the 'disgusting' world she inhabited, by any means necessary. When they eventually were about to cross over into the doorway, they suddenly stopped in mid flight, much to Miyako's sudden confusion. The LRIG then held an innocent smile on her expression as she spoke out to her.

"I'll make your wish come true," she spoke in a seemingly gentle tone, before suddenly letting go of the latter's hand.

As Miyako slowly fell in shock, a dark vortex suddenly manifested itself beneath her from below the battlefield as violent winds suddenly began to carry her towards the swirling twister. As the LRIG turned around back to the doorway to continue the Ritual, now with no further hindrances to seemingly have her worry about. However, a hand immediately grabbed onto her right foot tightly as she gasped in shock before gazing down to see that not only was Miyako gripping tightly to her leg, but she was also seemingly pulling her towards the black tornado that was raging within the battlefield.

"W... what are you doing...?!" she cried "I said I would...!"

"You... dare to deceive me this easily...?!" Miyako groaned "Fine then...! If I can't have my desire come to pass... then I'll gladly drag you to the depths of hell with me!"

As the LRIG gasped in shock at this sudden turn of events and tried to turn around and fly away back to the open doorway, the Selector simply out of either stubbornness or complete outrage refused to let go as both of them were dragged towards the dark vortex, where she had initially presumed that her 'companion' had tried to destroy her through, not knowing of its true purpose at the time. As they got closer and closer...

"Stop the Ritual at once! Bring her to me unharmed, immediately!"

Upon recognizing the tone of the voice that suddenly echoed throughout the depths of the battlefield, Miyako gasped in complete shock, having never expected to hear that voice again since 'that' day. The tornado then suddenly faded away as a familiar dark red aura then suddenly burst from out of the open doorway and enveloped both the Selector and LRIG, the darkness being the very last thing either of them saw at this point.

" _When I eventually regained consciousness, I was not as an LRIG, as I should have been... but still myself._ "

Miyako then woke up to find herself within the depths of the White Room, staring at the various gates and windows displaying life as it went on in the outside world, the very same world and its inhabitants that she detested and blamed for the death of her friend. As she gazed down the vast expanse to see where exactly she was, her foresight eventually landed upon the girl that had been watching over her out of curiosity, a rare emotion from the mastermind of the White Room when she was not enjoying the despair of those within the Selector System and planning out her next move. At first, shock completely overtook Miyako as she knew it had been years since she last saw Mayu and yet... the person standing in front of her looked exactly like her as she did before.

"Mayu... is that really you...?" she breathed, in a rare moment of not being in the midst of her anger.

"You look different... and yet..."

Mayu then suddenly clutched her head as she tried to recollect the person she initially believed to have recognized, if only by her voice alone. Then when a memory had flashed in front of her, for a brief moment, the mastermind of the Selector Battles saw the younger Miyako standing before her as her view then changed back to the older one that was now here.

"Miyako...?" she murmured.

"Mayu...!"

With a strange sensation of joy bursting from out of her, Miyako with tears leaking out of her eyes, ran over towards Mayu and suddenly embraced her tightly, much to her initial confusion.

"That's right..." the mastermind breathed, now realizing that this was indeed her friend before her death "Before I... you were the only person who ever called me by my name..."

"B... but how?" Miyako asked "How is it that you exist here...?"

Mayu then stepped away from her friend, knowing that all of this was something that she had to tell her, especially given that she did not know that the Selector who was battling earlier was her in the first place. She never made exceptions within the Selector System to anyone, not even the Link Joker units that assisted her in maintaining it in the first place. But now for the first time, she had an exception she was going to make and her companion had the right to know about everything that had happened, including how she came to exist in this dimension.

" _I learned that Mayu's spirit did not pass on as the Void made contact with her moments right after she had died, willing to offer her to help fulfil her one and only wish. To bring despair to the outside world for being able to select when she could not and for the very reasons that I despised humanity for that she was generously informed of. But because the dimension was a realm where only her spirit could exist on a physical plane, it is impossible for her to enter this wretched world herself. Therefore, when she offered me a job to assist her in maintaining and enforcing the Selector Battles from the outside world when necessary..._ "

"I'll do it!"

Mayu, now with Chaos Breaker Dragon standing behind her after explaining everything about her newfound existence in this realm and how they came to construct the Selector Battles together, seemed almost surprised by the sudden exclamation by Miyako in her willingness to aid her in her goals regardless of what was to happen by the final plan.

"With the power at your command and the game you have set in motion...!" she declared "This despicable world and the race I wish to sever my ties to... will finally receive their judgement! No matter how long it takes... I will make your wish come true!"

"You would do it... for me?" she breathed.

With a single nod being all that her friend offered to confirm her newfound allegiance to the cause of the Selector Battles and what they stood for, Mayu then gently smiled and came up to Miyako once more.

"Then from this day forth... we'll finally accomplish great things for this world together, my General," she spoke "Welcome to our cause... Miyako."

* * *

**Present Day: Steel Wall Prison**

Once the details on how Miyako had became Mayu's General had finally been revealed to all who were standing within the cold walls of the Steel Wall Prison, everyone could only remain still, most of whom were almost shocked by the fact that Mayu herself had willingly cancelled the Ritual of Consent, if only so she could speak with her friend once more for the first time in years. But the woman herself was far from finished with the complete story at this point as she continued her tale towards its climax.

"Over the next few years in the outside world, I continued to act as though that 'incident' had truly disappeared from me whilst I continued to assist Mayu in maintaining the Selector Battles," she spoke "As I already told you earlier, at one point, she for only a brief instant was able to temporarily manifest an LRIG whose raw power unlike anything she had previously imaged for the first LRIGs. Originally, we sought for earthworldly vessels in an attempt to resummon her from the byproducts, Tawil and Umr."

Aichi and Umr could only stare at Ruko's mother, still shocked that she would attempt to use other people around her in an effort to create a vessel on this world for the being known as Ut'ulls.

"However, each attempt with our 'toys' ended with failure with all of them barely surviving the procedures," Chaos Breaker interjected "That was when she decided that a child of her own may be the necessary component."

"Don't tell me..." Kiyoi breathed "That your own daughter...!"

Ruko could only gasp in shock and disbelief, realizing that she was initially meant to be the next attempt at Ut'ulls' earthworldly vessel after all of the previous failures that her mother had gone through. Ayumu could only stare at his sister, knowing that despite the memories he had recovered from the incident six years ago and what had transpired then correlated to his thoughts now, even he couldn't help but think about what was going through their mother's head at the time of their respective births.

"If there was one piece of 'advice' that I should have heeded from Hatsu, perhaps it would be the type of man I sought as the 'father' for that purpose," Miyako concluded "But despite that minor 'setback'... he served his purpose until the end, as did Ayumu now."

"Then the only reason we were even born...!" he growled "Was it just so you hoped that Ruko could help you destroy the world?!"

"That is correct."

After turning her attention away from her scowling son, she immediately regained a displeasured look on her face as she turned back around to face Kai once again, who seemed just as shocked by everything that had just been revealed to him and the others.

"After Noriko had saved Ruko and Ayumu from their fate," she spoke "When I regained consciousness, I discovered that Hatsu had learned how I treated them up to this point and sought to take them in as her own after my 'misconduct'. Knowing she would grow suspicious of my plans, I left them in her care willingly, them having outlived their purpose already, leaving only the words that Ruko was scary behind to cover my tracks."

"Then... Ruko was never scary in the first place?!" Aichi gasped.

The Selector herself could only stare at her mother in shock, still in disbelief that after all this time, from what little memory she had of hearing her say that she was scary, was all a lie to cover up her own nefarious plans that she had for the world they inhabited from Hatsu.

"And as for you Kai Toshiki..." she continued "Whilst Mayu did not have knowledge of you before your entry into this world, I was kept informed from the Clown of your own progress during my travels before you strayed from our path and allowed Sendou Aichi to prevent the destruction of your world." She then clenched her metallic hand with a loud clank. "If the invasion was successful, I would have had you assigned to be the 'Exception' for the Selector Battles in the role we had originally assigned for Noriko before had defected from us!"

Kai could only widen his eyes upon hearing his past times of Reverse being brought into the conversation, but was shocked by the fact that not only did Miyako know of him before Mayu even had any knowledge about him, but she had other plans already set out for him as well.

"But then you betrayed Chaos Breaker for your own means and the invasion of your world and Cray ended in failure because of you!" she growled.

The Kagero user then immediately glared towards Chaos Breaker, sensing that the Cyber Dragon was finding its own sick twisted amusement in the conversation towards him and the rant that Miyako had unleashed his way, after revealing she had bigger plans for him to fulfil if the Link Joker invasion of his world had been a success as the other Takuto had planned it back then. After remembering everything he had been told by Leon in regards to how he arrived in this world in the first place, he knew there was a burning question he had to ask his former 'mentor' in regards to the conspiracy he had been involved with since the evening he first awoke.

"My entrance into the Selector Battles..." he muttered "When Takuto told Leon he intended to summon Aichi at first... this was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?!"

"That is correct, my pupil," the Clown darkly chuckled as it ran one of its claws down the pole of its scythe "And to think, all of you believed it to be a mere accident that you arrived in this world. I briefly hijacked Takuto's power whilst observing the event from far outside of the White Room, setting you up as a Selector indirectly from your status as a cardfighter, just as Miyako originally intended."

"Even if that is true... why do you believe that I would even consider helping her?" Kai asked sternly.

When he looked back towards Miyako after making his statement clear, her tone had finally calmed down by a small amount as she began to give her reason for wanting him to serve her own purposes.

"It has been five or six years since you had no one caring to watch over you, just as Mayu had long ago," she spoke, her voice not as harsh as it was moments ago "Chaos Breaker may have been the closest thing you've ever had to family, after you lost your own."

Kai kept his gaze upon the woman, knowing that from her words just now that this was reason she had shown him the image of his deceased parents earlier in the battle.

"Come with me Kai..." she spoke as she offered out her gloved hand "You would be helping a just cause, bringing these worlds their rightful retributions and your desire for strong opponents would never be empty, even as Mayu reshapes the Selector Battles to start them all over and resuit them for the necessary games in conquering new worlds."

Everyone on the battlefield could stare at Miyako, despite being shocked by her rather outlandish intentions for their worlds and the Planet Cray. The last thing that any of them expected from her was the fact that she already knew of Kai's exploits with Reverse and planned to make him a Selector herself before he had even been brought to this world. And right now, she was trying to bring him over to her side to work with both her and Mayu as well as Chaos Breaker Dragon once more. The Kagero user however on the other hand, after hearing everything he needed to hear, clenched his open right fist.

"How dare you..." he growled.

Miyako raised an eyebrow in response to his statement whilst Chaos Breaker simply eyed him closely.

"Miyako, I can understand that you did everything you could to save Mayu's life, even if Hatsu didn't believe what was going on at first," he spoke "But if your story is true... then you've become no better than Mayu's own father!"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she muttered.

"Just as her father neglected her, even when she needed his help to cure herself the most, you've neglected Ruko and Ayumu, seeing them as nothing more than disposable pawns for your schemes than your own family!" he yelled as a pointed his right hand towards her.

"Family? Daughter and son? Ridiculous," she spat "Ruko was always one of my dolls for Project: Locked Soul and nothing less and Ayumu was just a byproduct of my efforts to have her. That is all to it."

Ayumu angrily clenched his teeth, finding it difficult to say the exact words he wanted to yell out towards his mother as this point, feeling not just angry with her for seeing both him and Ruko those respective reasons that she had just listed, but with himself for blindly following her even with his lack of memories until the end of his previous battle against his sister. The Selector on the other hand was still in disbelief to everything she had just heard and for some reason, couldn't help but wonder if this was the way her mother really saw the two of them.

Miyako then continued on with her turn by revealing Sword Viper from her hand and dropping it into her Trash Pile.

"Lock Lintwurm!" she declared.

A pair of black rings surrounded the Dragon Beast SIGNI before closing in around her, causing her to cry out loudly before she was trapped inside of the black sphere that the bindings now circles around. Kai simply stared at his table for a brief moment, knowing that Osmium was still out on the field to wage another direct attack in an attempt to conduct another Omega Lock.

"And ARTS," Miyako continued as she picked out a card from her LRIG deck and revealed it "Chaos Subsequence!"

Everyone on the side of the battlefield could only gasp upon seeing the image that the card itself displayed to not just Kai, but all of them.

"She's got an ARTS exclusive to Chaos Breaker?!" Midoriko exclaimed.

"With this ARTS," the woman explained as she moved three cards from her Ener Zone to her Trash Pile "In exchange for skipping my next Draw and Ener Phases, the battle state now immediately becomes your End Phase!"

Kai could only widen his eyes as the two Locks he had on the field suddenly became undone as both Lintwurm and Burning Horn Dragon became free at last. But even he knew that this was far from a good sign.

"Chaos Breaker Dragon's Limit Break!" she declared as Mobius Breath Dragon and Dust Tail Unicorn moved out from underneath the Clown's card "Draw 2 cards and banish the SIGNI that were just unlocked!"

Chaos Breaker Dragon chuckled darkly as the blade of its scythe illuminated itself in a bright red glow before it clapsed both claws onto the weapon and swung it in one mighty motion, sending a large dark red arc that crashed into both Lintwurm and Burning Horn Dragon. Both unit and SIGNI were instantly gone from the battlefield in a large explosion the moment it had made contact with them.

"Such agony..." it sneered "How cute."

"Furthermore," Miyako continued as she revealed yet another new card from her LRIG deck "Chaos Refresh. Placing two Star-vaders from my LRIG Trash beneath Chaos Breaker, you must Ener Charge cards from the top of your deck into a Locked state equal to Mobius Breath's Level multiplied by two. In exchange, I cannot Lock any more cards on this new turn."

Kai could only clench his teeth as he picked up the top four cards of his deck, revealed to be Servant D2, Dragon Knight, Gimel, Dragonic Burnout and Goddra, Phantom Dragon. He placed the cards face down into his Ener Zone as red sparks then immediately flew off of them, indicating that the Locks had gone into effect.

"With this, the preparations are complete," she spoke "Now I will give you one last chance. Surrender your units and join me... or I will have to either take you by force or destroy you."

"My answer should already be clear to you, Miyako," he replied "No. For the sake of the girls you attempted to use in Photon's experiments and your own children...! I will defeat you... and I will take back the units you have stolen from all of the cardfighters you have attacked on my home world!"

"Then... prepare to face your fate, Kai Toshiki!" she declared.

And with that, Dragonic Overlord growled fiercly towards Chaos Breaker as its sneer never left its face, indicating that the battle would only rage fiercely from here on out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Chaos Subsequence**  
>  ARTS  
> Colour: Gray  
> Cost: 3 Gray  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] If you have a LRIG with "Chaos" in its name, it becomes your opponent's End Phase. Then skip the Draw and Ener Phases of your next turn. (Your opponent's Draw Phase is also skipped)
> 
> **Chaos Refresh**  
>  ARTS  
> Colour: Gray  
> Cost: 3 Gray  
> Limiting Condition: Link Joker LRIGs only  
> [Use Timing - Main Phase] If you have a LRIG with "Chaos" in its name, choose up to two cards with "Star-vader" in their names from your LRIG Trash and place them beneath your LRIG. Then your opponent moves cards from the top of their deck to their Ener Zone in a Locked state equal to the combined Levels of those LRIGs x2. You cannot use this ARTS if you have already Locked a card this turn and you cannot Lock any other cards for the rest of this turn. You can only use 1 "Chaos Refresh" per turn.


	77. Arc 3 - Ride 77: This Distasteful Endgame III

**Photon's Lab**

Meanwhile in the laboratory that belonged to one of the commanders of the Star-vaders, Mayu was observing the battle closely from a large monitor at the far end of the large room. Despite her faith in her friend's loyalty to her and everything she had done for her since that day, she knew that her General's true views of the outside world and its denizens were ones that she had to keep to herself, less she would possibly lose what other assistance and trust she had from her other associates. As such, whenever she would observe the battles that Miyako would participate in, she always requested that she would observe them alone with the Star-vaders without any exception.

As the view of the monitor switched to display the face of Kai who stared off with both her closest friend and the Clown who was fighting beside her, the mastermind's gaze had turned into a glare as memories of the moment where she had lost to both him and Aichi after possessing Ruko's body in the previous battle immediately surfaced once more. Then, as if that wasn't enough, there was something he had said to Miyako in the battle that had otherwise annoyed her.

"He dares to compare my only friend... to him?!" she growled as she slammed down a closed hand on top of the console in front of her "No one in that world... even reached out to me...!"  _No one but the Void..._

As Mayu clenched her teeth, her temper immediately cooled off the moment she heard a clanking in the footsteps that came over towards her. She turned around to see that Photon was entering the premises of his laboratory.

"What news have you to bring?" she asked.

"Renovations of separate blocks in the Pit for the captured units along with both the waiting and 'rebellious' LRIGs are under way," he spoke "Remember right now is conducting the transfer of the Silver Thorn beasts. Futase is assisting her after a... difficulty as you would call it."

"Excellent news," she replied, feeling a little happier with having some form of good news after the events of today "And what of Tawil?"

"My forces are working on her as we speak," the commander answered "But we expect to have her ready in a matter of days."

Mayu simply nodded once in acknowledgement to let Photon know that she was pleased with the news she had just received from him. With nothing further to discuss with the mastermind of the Selector Battles, he continued on his way across the gantry surrounding the edge of his lab, passing by one of the open doorways leading out of the lab. When he had passed by, a sneering Ulith crept from out of the darkness and gazed up at Mayu, having heard over every single word of the conversation he just had and what Miyako had revealed in regards to her reasons for fighting for the mastermind herself.

"That woman wants to wipe out humanity to avenge her 'dead' mistress... Laughable," she snickered "Well, it doesn't matter. I can hardly care for whatever happens to them anyway, as long as I can have my fair share of 'entertainment'. Besides... wiping 'her' out wouldn't be too bad now, wouldn't it."

And with that, she disappeared into the shadows once more, preparing to plot out her next schemes for anyone who was unfortunate enough to be on her list of potential victims... including a certain fighter she had grown rather fond of.

* * *

**Steel Wall Prison**

Back within the cold confines of the hardened Steel Wall Prison, Chaos Breaker and Dragonic Overlord stared off with one another, as did Kai and Miyako after the latter had summoned two Nebula Captors to the field from the cards she previously drew from removing his Locked SIGNI. The Kagero user knew that there was much to expect from what the General of Mayu's associates to the world outside of her White Room had shown him throughout the battle. She had been far more methodical in her executions of her strategies, only attacking with SIGNI that could deal him damage directly to his units acting as LRIGs in order to limit the amount of Ener he could make use of during his turn as well as the power of Lock being an extra hindrance.

He knew that even though Chaos Breaker could not conduct a Lock on this turn from the effect of the ARTS named Chaos Refresh, there had to be a reason why she would willingly fill his Ener Zone with more cards that would be unlocked by his turn's End Phase. He had a feeling from the Clown's unnerving smile however that he wouldn't find out until the following turn, if he could make it past this one first.

"I still can't believe it..." Aichi breathed as Ruko looked over to him "Even though Kai took Link Joker's power as his own then... Miyako knew everything and planned to use him for her own agenda."

"I don't know what to think..." the Selector replied, shuddering a little "That this is what mother was doing the whole time... and I didn't know anything about it..."

"Don't blame yourself Ruko," Yuki replied resolutely "All of us may understand why is she doing this... but even I can agree that doesn't justify her actions in the slightest. To think this was the same General all of the original LRIGs, Tama and myself included worked under without even knowing..."

Tama who had now heard what the girl of black just mention couldn't help but ponder, wondering if this was yet another memory she had been missing from her head after using up all of her power to restrain the dark curse that first transformed LRIG into Berserk Draconis. Aside from what she could only recall of the event, she remembered feeling great doubt before she decided to confront Chaos Breaker herself to voice her disagreements of the Selector System and she could only ponder if Miyako's extreme views of wanting to help Mayu 'punish' humanity or something similar to that was what drove the girl of white herself to do so.

"Tama feels the same like before..." she mumbled depressingly, bringing everyone else's attention away from the battle in front of them to her "Tama doesn't want to help hurt anyone again..."

"That's not true," Midoriko replied putting a hand on the LRIG's shoulder "Sure you were a bit crazy for Selector Battles at first... but you found your true feelings about everything around you and how you saw Ruko."

"Really?" Tama replied.

"Yeah," Hitoe replied "Even when Ruko ran away then... you helped Kai to understand the Selector Battles and brought her back when she was in danger."

"Besides, it wouldn't be all of us together without you, right?" Yuzuki interjected in as bright of a mood as she could be, mustering up a smile to try and cheer her friend up.

Ayumu could only stare at the group in wonder now, seeing that his original intention of helping Ruko to try and fit in with a crowd of people to call friends with the deck that he first gave her had not been in vain as he originally believed after Miyako had twisted the truth to turn him to her side. Now seeing why they had so much faith in both Aichi beside him and Kai who was now facing his mother head on, he decided that he had enough with being depressed over the truth and felt now was the time to take a stand for everyone's sakes.

"Go Kai!" he called, briefly bringing the Kagero user's attention to him "Don't you dare lose your units to our two-faced mother!"

Nodding once to acknowledge the words of encouragement from Ruko's older brother, Kai turned back around to face Miyako once more, noting her distasteful glance was still as sharp as ever.

"Nebula Captor and Osmium attack Dragonic Overlord!" she declared.

The Cyber Fairy took flight on her small wings and aimed its crossbow down towards Dragonic Overlord whilst Osmium hauled the large cannon it wielded over his shoulder. The red dragon snarled under its breath as it held out the blade of its sword in front of its face to block the small bursts that were shot from Nebula Captor's crossbow before gazing ahead to see that the charge of the cannon was complete. A large dark purple beam erupted from the cannon and struck Overlord head on, causing it to screech in pain before a large explosion engulfed Kai's entire side of the field as he shielded his face from the impact of the blast. When the shockwave subsided, his next two Life Cloths revealed Servant D2 and Dragon Monk, Genjo, the latter of which glowed brightly.

"Got a Life Burst!" he called "Recover one Life Cloth!"

"With Osmium's skill, Omega Lock the Servant D2 in your Ener Zone," Miyako continued in a cold tone before holding out her metallic hand out wide "Chaos Breaker Dragon, bring another misfortune!"

The Clown then reeled back its scythe once more before taking flight and charging straight towards Dragonic Overlord who growled and took flight to intercept the attack at once. Both dragons clashed with their weapons once more, only this time with Chaos Breaker having a slight edge in overpowering its opponent as it sneered deeply, sensing much annoyance and agony from its victim. As it knocked back Overlord and was about to slash down the front with its scythe, Dragon Knight Gimel then immediately appeared alongside two Genjos, Lintwurm, Artpique and Goddra who manifested to the defence.

"Now that's no fun my pupil..." Chaos Breaker muttered in a seemingly pouty tone, though Kai could easily tell that his former 'mentor' was still toying with him at this point "It seems I will have to let one of my other toys have its way with you first."

After the units and SIGNI vanished along with Gimel, the Clown simply landed back in front of Miyako's table as she gazed directly across towards the person she intended to use as her own subordinate once he had fulfilled the other Takuto's intended role.

"It would seem that Quintet Wall from my earlier presumption has gotten you somewhere," she muttered "But on the next turn... your fate will be decided by my hands!"

**End of Turn 7**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 4 : 2**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 2**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon**

**SIGNI : Dragon Monk, Genjo - EMPTY - EMPTY : Flash Gun Star-vader, Osmium -** **Star-vader, Nebula Captor** **\- Star-vader, Nebula Captor**

**Ener - 13 (4 Locked) : 1**

"That Heal burst just allowed Kai to remain tied," Kamui muttered "But with that much Ener, he can go all out now!"

Kiyoi remained silent in response, having not much of an opinion to offer on the matter as her attention was focused on Chaos Breaker, knowing full well that she had become more than acquainted with it when she had first become the LRIG Piruluk and in some of the conversations with Mayu whenever her Selectors all had their wishes tainted. But the last thing that even she was expecting was for Kai to have a past connection with the Cyber Dragon, let alone Reverse itself with his own actions. She this was something she would have to press him on about, having been in the dark on the subject compared to almost everyone else around her once the battle was over when he would hopefully win and escape whatever fate Miyako and Mayu had planned for him, tainted wish or not.

As Kai upped the cards of Genjo and Dragonic Overlord before drawing his next two cards, he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him, having not quite finished with what he had to say to her.

"So your aim in assisting Mayu was wiping out humanity, when Link Joker invades your world," he spoke harshly "I had my suspicions when Hatsu mentioned you briefly after Ruko's first battle with Ayumu, wondering what it was when she suspected you having an 'ideal of control'. But I believe it finally makes sense now."

"Go on then," she replied harshly.

"Your goal may be to bring the end of our own race, for seeing it as nothing more than evil and cruel," the Kagero user explained "And I won't deny that there are people from both of our worlds that may have done unspeakable things that even you are correct on labelling them for such. But in the midst of your hatred and drive for vengeance, you've forgotten something."

He then glanced over towards Ruko, Ayumu, Aichi, Kiyoi, Kamui and all of their LRIGs who were watching the battle from the side of the prison.

"Every person is different from one another, as they seek their own potential and their own path in life, even having their own wishes they wish to pursue, just like those who have been allured into the Selector Battles. They have their own freedom and the choice to decide their own path. By generalizing every human as being equally evil for your own selfish goals and using Ruko and Ayumu the way that you have, you've become nothing more than a hypocrite of the very ideals you've stated to hate!"

"You...!" she growled as she clenched her metallic hand with a loud clank "I threw away my humanity long ago and this 'relic' that you see on my right arm is proof of my severed ties! Now then, continue with your turn!"

Kai said nothing more before taking ahold of three of his non-Locked Ener and moving them straight to his Trash Pile in one swift motion as a bright orange glow emitted from the top card of his LRIG deck.

"At the end of an endless quest, you arrive at the final evolution! Sublimate the savage soul and show your true form!" he declared as he took ahold of the card before slamming it down on top of Dragonic Overlord's card "Crossbreak Grow!"

The dragon roared loudly as it hovered above the floor of the prison a little before stretching out its arms and becoming engulfed in a large blaze of crimson red coloured flames. Chaos Breaker simply stared into the inferno as it witnessed the shadow of Dragonic Overlord beginning to change shape in multiple ways with the most notable being the double in number of arms that it had. Eventually, the fire died down to reveal the changed Kagero commander in an attire familiar to all of those present on the battlefield, save for Ayumu and Midoriko who simply stared in awe for seeing this 'evolution' before them for the first time as Kai announced the all-too familiar name of this form.

"Dragonic Overlord... the End!"

"Oh...? You can now control the power that put you into that 'eternal' slumber?" the Clown murmured in a seemingly curious tone before deepening its smile "Interesting..."

"This is... Dragonic Overlord's evolution..." Kiyoi murmured.

"Kai's using the End...?" Kamui pondered in confusion "Whatever happened to the Great?"

"He said it went missing along with his Perdition cards when he arrived in this world..." Aichi answered "But even so, any form of Dragonic Overlord isn't to be overlooked. Kai-kun knows exactly what he's doing now that he's gotten his confidence back."

As a low growl sounded from under Dragonic Overlord's breath, Miyako simply looked down to the two cards she held along with the two Life Cloths that she had remaining, not seeming concerned with the situation that she now found herself within.

"So you're fighting me with one of that cursed reptile's earliest forms," she murmured "I must say, I am disappointed to say the least."

"Don't underestimate me," Kai replied "If you really know me as well as you say you do, you should what is about to come. Here I come!"

After Berserk Dragon entered the battlefield along with Seal Dragon, Artipque, Dragonic Overlord the End roared loudly as it looked down upon Osmium who could only stare up at it as the dragon opened its jaw to unleash a large torrent of flames upon the defenceless Cyberoid. After he was banished at once, a bright red glow surrounded the Kagero commander as it then immediately took aim at Chaos Breaker Dragon before firing both of the guns in its upper arms at the Cyber Dragon. The Clown shielded itself the best it could as it was forced back from the impact of the bullets.

"With the Break Grow skill, Overlord receives Lancer whenever it attacks a SIGNI this turn," Kai spoke.

"No matter," Miyako spoke as she revealed her next Life Cloth as Pixie Powder which shone brightly.

"Oh come on!" Kamui groaned.

Upon placing the card beside Osmium's in her Ener Zone, she immediately moved the top card from her deck to her remaining Life Cloth to join it on the surface of her table. Kai then revealed a copy of Lintwurm from his hand and dropped it into his Trash Pile before one of the two Genjo's from his Ener Zone also moved there.

"The flames of purgatory never rest!" he declared "Break Grow skill!"

Dragonic Overlord roared loudly as it stood up once more and prepared its two guns to carry out another attack against Miyako's remaining forces on her side of the battlefield.

"Use your apocalyptic flames to reduce everything in this world to ash!" he declared "Mow down her center Nebula Captor!"

Upon priming both of its firearms and pointing them down at the defenceless Cyber Fairy which remained still and motionless, Dragonic Overlord the End fired off both of its weapons once again as a shower of fiery hot bullets rained down upon her, banishing her from the prison field as well. Miyako's next Life Cloth revealed Servant D whose Life Burst immediately moved a second copy of Francium from the top of her deck to her Ener Zone.

"The end is not over!" Kai declared "Counter Blast and... Persona Blast!"

A small series of embers erupted around the card representing Dragonic Overlord the End as it stood up once more, just as a second copy of the card revealed itself from the Kagero user's LRIG deck before dropping itself into his LRIG trash on top of Sadegh and One Rule, Two Birds. Dragonic Overlord growled loudly as it then set its sights upon its current opponent, Chaos Breaker Dragon who simply clutched ahold of its scythe in preparation for the coming combat.

"Overlord's mowing down her SIGNI and dealing damage through Lancer..." Ruko breathed "And to think it's standing back up with each successful hit..."

"Just a little more Kai!" Ayumu called "You just need to break through now!"

"Dragonic Overlord the End... ravage Chaos Breaker with your explosive flames and burn everything before you to ash!" Kai declared as he down the card for the third time this turn.

Dragonic Overlord then flew towards Chaos Breaker Dragon once again as this time, it chose to chuckle loudly, much to nearly everyone's discomfort as a second copy of Rejection Dragon then suddenly appeared in front of it along with two Radons, Osmiums and a single Servant D. The Kagero commander in all of its fury slammed down both of its blades onto the barrier, having little success in breaking through it.

"I expected you to call upon "The Яe-birth" after hearing you managed to regain control of the Seed fragment's power for yourself," Miyako muttered "But it seems it is not this day."

"You think I would do that after being aware of Chaos Breaker's power?" Kai replied.

"Naturally," she replied after moving the five cards she had called through Rejection Dragon to her Ener Zone "But believing your previous experience with Chaos Breaker was beneficial against me... that will prove to be your undoing now."

The Kagero user could only remain silent as he watched three of the four Locked cards in his Ener Zone turn face up, leaving only the Servant D that was moved there from Chaos Refresh face down as the turn came to an end.

**End of Turn 8**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 3 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 2 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord the End : Star-vader, Chaos Breaker Dragon**

**SIGNI : Dragon Monk, Genjo - Seal Dragon Artpique - Berserk Dragon : EMPTY - EMPTY** **\- Star-vader, Nebula Captor**

**Ener - 7 (1 Locked) : 9**

"The only saving grace is that there weren't any Locks in Kai's SIGNI Zones for Chaos Breaker to banish," Yuki spoke.

"But with all that Ener Ruko's mom now has... she's gotta be planning something," Kamui replied.

Whilst Aichi, Hitoe and Ruko herself could only ponder on what the General of Mayu's associates could be planning for the coming turn, especially in the precarious position she had been put in by Dragonic Overlord the End, Kiyoi however had her suspicions kept to herself. The former blue LRIG had kept her gaze towards Chaos Breaker since it had entered the field, sensing that something was amiss from its playful tone alone. Miyako simply kept her frown present on her expression as she drew her next two cards before gazing back across the field to Kai.

"This is your final chance," she spoke sternly "Help me purge these filthy worlds of the scourge that ravages them! Reclaim your birthright that you wielded once before!"

"I already told you, the answer is no," he replied resolutely "I will not make the same mistake twice and I certainly have no intention of aiding your agenda. The same goes for you as well, Chaos Breaker."

"Kai-kun..." Aichi breathed, feeling relieved that indeed, all previous doubts of his friend rejoining Reverse through his own will or not, was not going to come to pass at this moment.

As the battlefield fell silent for a brief moment, Dragonic Overlord growled lowly beneath its breath as it kept its gaze trailed upon Chaos Breaker who simply ran the nails of its right claw down the pole of its scythe patiently. Then in a matter of mere seconds, the next reaction that anyone had expected at all was not one that they had thought of in regards to associating it with Miyako, given all of her moods that she had been through. From what they could gather, she was actually laughing to herself as she shook for a brief moment before regaining most of her composure.

"So in the end... even you proved to be a lost cause for me," she muttered as her face slowly became scrutinized, now seeing that all sense of trying to win him back to Chaos Breaker's side was pointless now "No matter. It seems what you will succeed in helping me achieve is reducing Cray's underlings by a reasonable amount, be it through your will or not."

Raising her metallic hand into the air, the pink gem shone brightly as multiple streams of Reverse began swirling around her entire side of the field from all around the walls of the prison. Then to the surprise of everyone, Chaos Breaker chuckled loudly as it then suddenly vanished from the battlefield in a blinding dark red flash as Kai could only stare at the Clown's silhouette before the Cyber Dragon's presence was completely gone.

"I'll be seeing you again very soon, my student," it cackled "Or as you would prefer... Kai Toshiki."

"Wait...!" he called as he glanced around the prison to see if it had simply teleported to a different area like before.

"Final Turn!"

The Kagero user suddenly blinked as he heard those familiar words declared out aloud by Miyako as she was already holding a new LRIG card high into the air with her metallic hand with streams of Reverse pouring off of it. Everyone on the side of the battlefield stared at it, wondering it was that she was planning to Grow now that Chaos Breaker had unexpectedly decided to take its leave from the conflict.

"Slender being that creeps in the darkness, manifest and infect all who stand before you!" she announced before slamming down the card onto Chaos Breaker's, just as Pixie Powder vanished from the battlefield "Grow, Star-vader, Venom Dancer!"

A dark pink cloud suddenly manifested within the portion of the prison where only a pitch black void with stars remained as the familiar shadow of the slender Cyber Golem faded into existence before dispersing to reveal the tall figure in all of its despicable glory. Like before, markings representing pink coloured eyes were littered all over its body as it primed both of its claws for battle. Overlord simply growled under its breath as it stared at the new monstrosity that Miyako had now summoned before it and its cardfighter.

"So it ran away for us to deal with this?!" it snarled.

"This isn't just any Star-vader...!" Kai replied as he gazed closely at it "This is... Raul Serra's trump card!"

"Seek the mate!" Miyako declared as three cards from her Trash Pile landed on top of her deck before she snatched the fourth which was the Legion-Mate in mind "Manifest, Sword Viper! Legion!"

As a dark red version of the Legion symbol flashed above the two cards, Sword Viper appeared in a flash of dark red beside Venom Dancer as both units then immediately set their sights upon Dragonic Overlord the End who simply held up its swords in a defiant stance, prepared for battle. One of the few who were shocked about this particular unit and its original owner in his world was Aichi himself, having been brought up to speed on Serra's betrayal that had occurred whilst he had been unconscious after a fight with Neve when the completed Seed had overwhelmed him. Before he could voice his opinion, he could hear the sound of someone's teeth being gritted as everyone looked to their right immediately.

"Kiyoi... what's up?" Kamui pondered in confusion as he saw her scrutinized expression.

"That unit...!" she growled, unable to hide both her anger and frustration "Remember used that to Reverse me and Amika!"

"Venom Dancer's Counterblast! Lock 1 Ener each time I pay the cost!" Miyako declared "Then with Dust Tail Unicorn's skill, I Lock Berserk Dragon!"

Venom Dancer held both of its claws high into the air above its head as black sparks began surging between them, along with a giant black orb that manifested in the center of the streak. It grew larger and larger with every passing second until the slender Cyber Golem grasped it with its right claw before reeling it back and hurling the large sphere towards Kai's side of the prison. In retaliation, Dragonic Overlord roared loudly and slashed the orb, causing it to shatter like glass in an instant. But that had done very little to remedy the situation as black sparks suddenly struck the Kagero commander and Kai who cried out aloud as they were both forced to the ground as Berserk Dragon was trapped inside of another Lock whilst four more cards in his Ener Zone turned face down.

"Finally, I use Oversalvage to place Rejection Dragon and a second Sword Viper into my hand!" she called before threw down the cards representing the latter and two Franciums as they appeared onto the field.

"Her formation's been rebuilt!" Ayumu growled "And she's also got back a Quintet Wall!"

As everyone else but Kiyoi could only watch anxiously as to what could unfold next, especially with Miyako having declared this to be the Final Turn of the battle, the woman herself kept a harsh glance upon Kai.

"This ends now," she spoke before downing one of her cards "My SIGNI Sword Viper attacks!"

The Sword Viper to her left rushed across the field towards Dragonic Overlord the End, priming its blade for combat. The smaller Cyber Golem swung its weapon at the Kagero commander who roared and swung both of its blades in its lower arms in front to shield itself from the initial attack. Then as the stinger tail rose up and was about to stab the dragon in the chest, it was immediately deflected by the shield of Dragon Knight, Gimel who appeared with two Seal Dragon, Artpiques, the final Lintwurm, Barri and another Gimel.

"So you had another one," Miyako muttered as the five units and Dragon Beast SIGNI then vanished from sight. "But..."

Wordlessly, the two Franciums that remained on her field each leaped into the air and dived down towards their respective targets, slashing past them effortlessly with the greatest of ease. Genjo and Artpique lifelessly fell to the floor before vanishing in a series of black sparks as their cards were moved to Kai's Ener Zone.

"Mother's already taken down his SIGNI again!" Ruko gasped.

"But she hasn't damaged him successfully yet..." Yuzuki muttered "What's she up to?"

Kai simply kept his glare fixated on Miyako as the fingertips of her metallic hand, knowing that this was it. He and Dragonic Overlord were now about to face the same terror that Gaillard had done so nearly a year ago and this time, he knew had he to be prepared the best that he could to counter these last few attacks or who knew what would happen to him, especially given that his Selector Rights were also in the balance in this battle. He gritted his teeth as he gazed at the twisted woman who stood in front of him and the unit he always considered his 'true form' back home and now, after everything he had been through to reach this point, he was prepared to do everything he could to last out until the very end.

"You should have taken my offer when you had the chance...!" she spoke in a harsh tone "Mayu and I could have given you everything...! A system to battle to your heart's content, the continued use of Chaos Breaker and the 'other' Takuto's teachings and...!"

"And what?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"The one thing that Mayu never had in this filthy world and the one thing that you lost!" she replied "That's right... I wanted to give you, a family to call your own again!"

At this point, the eyes of everyone but Kiyoi could only widen in complete shock as to the final details of the ultimatum that Miyako had now given to Kai. None were more gob-smacked by this sudden revelation other than Aichi, Ruko and Ayumu, the latter of which was far more surprised and somewhat disturbed by the meaning of what she was saying right now.

"Are you saying that you intended to bring up Kai under those guys like you planned before... as if he were your own son?!" he exclaimed.

The LRIGs from amongst the group could only stare at the Kagero user in question as his gaze was now down upon the table, wondering if her words had somehow had a profound effect on him at this point. None were more confused than Umr, who had very little familiarity with the concept of family from being a part of one of the first LRIGs created by Mayu's own power. But from what she could gather from the reactions of her friends around her, whatever she saw from Miyako's perception of family was clearly a series of opinions that none of them agreed with for their reasons.

"Jet-black darkness in which neither time nor space exist! Wander for eternity a midst visions of nothingness!" Miyako declared as she down the Legioned cards she had "Legion Attack!"

Venom Dancer then began charging up for another attack in the same manner that it did before when it Locked down most of its opponent's Ener whilst Sword Viper primed its sword in preparation to make a run towards Dragonic Overlord who remained in its defensive stance.

"Kai-kun!" cried Aichi as he looked over to his friend, worried that his current stance was one that gave off a hint of uneasiness.

At first, all remained silent as the orb above Venom Dancer's head began crackling in intensity and growing in size as the larger Cyber Golem aimed it steadily towards the Kagero commander that stood resolutely in front of Kai's table.

"I see now."

Miyako tilted her head slightly upon hearing those words leave the Kagero user's mouth as he slowly lifted his own head back up to face her once more.

"The reason you showed me that vision of my parents... this was the answer... no, the bargain that you had for me," he spoke "If this was your last attempt to bring me back to Chaos Breaker, then you have already failed."

"I know that...!" she snarled.

"But, you don't understand why!" Kai continued "Because of your rage blinding you to the world around you, not only haven't you moved on from that event since that day... you've also developed a warped view on how a family looks out for one another! If this was your attempt to say that your vision of a family life was better than anything Mayu's father had given to her... then not only have you failed in that regard as shown by your treatment of Ruko and Ayumu, but you also had the nerve to tell me that you would dare to replace those dear in my heart to further use me in your schemes!"

He then pointed from his right hand towards her as he continued to speak out what he had to say to her.

"I have just one thing to say to you. I may have done things that I'm not proud of and there are regrets that may still lie within, but it appears this is a lesson you've never learned with how long you've served in the Selector Battles! And that lesson... is to grow up!"

Upon hearing those last two words, Miyako clutched her head as she stepped back for a moment, as another memory from her past echoed within her mind, with those exact words having been said to her once before. Only that time, it was Hatsu that had said them to her at some point before she discovered that her friend's spirit lived on within the Selector System.

"How dare you say those words... when Mayu never had the chance!" she yelled "Disappear, Kai Toshiki!"

And with that, Sword Viper dashed across the floor of the Steel Wall Prison towards Dragonic Overlord the End who remained on the defensive in preparation for what seemed like the inevitable hit. However, within a bright flash of red light, Wyvern Guard, Barri immediately swooped in from above and rammed himself and his mechanical Wyvern right into the smalled Cyber Golem, sending it skidding on its back and tail right back towards Miyako's side of the field. When some dust from the impact had settled, Venom Dancer hurled its large orb directly at its opponent as it began crackling.

Dragonic Overlord the End then opened its jaw before unleashing a torrent of flames right at the oncoming projecting, superheating the sphere as a result before it eventually exploded, sending a brief shockwave that shook the battlefield as everyone was almost forced onto their knees. When the smoke cleared, Miyako gritted her teeth in frustration as Kai never took his gaze off of her for a even a single sentence.

"As I expected, you blocked that as well...!" she growled "But you no longer have any Quintet Walls to protect you! Your limits on being human have brought your time in the Selector Battles to an end!"

"If you're that certain..." Kai replied calmly "Then try to finish me. You said that this is the 'Final Turn', so show me."

"Very well then! Venom Dancer's skill!" the woman declared "Stand all my SIGNI and gain another attack step with them!"

The eyes of the second Sword Viper along with the two Franciums flashed a bright red as each of them took offensive stances once again as their respective cards were swiftly upped one at a time by Miyako's metallic hand.

"Her SIGNI can attack him again?!" Tama exclaimed.

"And Kai no longer has any Quintet Walls..." Umr murmured "He has only two Life Cloths and all of his Genjos are either on the field or in his Trash."

Aichi, Hitoe and Ruko could only stare at the onslaught that Kai was now about to face with seemingly almost no hope of being able to overcome it at all, worried that his fate was seemingly sealed as Umr had rightly pointed out.

"This is the end!" Miyako yelled "My other Sword Viper, attack Dragonic Overlord the End!"

The smaller Cyber Golem primed its blade as it ran across the field towards Dragonic Overlord who snarled under its breath as it willingly allowed them to leap up and slash past it, knocking it back a little as Kai's final Life Cloths revealed Gattling Claw Dragon. The Kagero user calmly drew his next card before staring down at it to see what exactly it was, just as Gattling Claw turned face down as a result of being Locked. He then looked back at Miyako who was now breathing heavily as she reached out for the center Francium's card.

"Now you fall, traitor!" she called "Finish it, my two Franciums!"

The two Franciums then both dashed across the prison as Dragonic Overlord fired off multiple bullets from the firearms that it held in its upper two arms, forcing them to diverge across several paths from one another. As the one on the Kagero commander's right came to a halt, it gazed to its left just in time to see the other one having already leapt into the air immediately slash down its front, causing it to snarl after being struck. After that happened, the other Francium them took its opportunity to rush across the field towards its target as it remained motionless for a moment.

"You're all beneath me now!" Miyako declared "With this victory, more of your units from the Planet Cray will belong to me in the Pit where they belong! And when the final plan goes into motion, all the 'survivors' will beg for mercy and accept Mayu as this dimension's salvation... no, this universe's GODDESS!"

"Come to me!"

The woman's eyes then widened in shock to Kai's sudden declaration as in a burst of red flames, a new Kagero unit suddenly emerged in front of Overlord and pounced on Francium, pinning the Cyberoid straight to the ground. It wasn't a unit with the Quintet Wall ability as she tell, but a unit that not even she had heard of before and judging from the sounds of the surprise from most of the crowd on the sidelines, not even they had seen this one. The new creature had steel plates shaped like wings attached to its shoulders with a circle in the middle of each of them that glowed a bright orange.

**? / 2000 - 4000 - 9000**

"What did you just do?!" she demanded in anger "Tell me!"

"This is Guard Griffin," Kai calmly explained as he gazed down to his table, the card now in his center SIGNI Zone "By paying 1 Red and no Colourless when my Kagero LRIG is attacked by a SIGNI, I can summon him to an empty SIGNI Zone in the same column as that SIGNI and have it become the new target with 5000 power until the end of that battle. Once that battle ends, Guard Griffin then moves to my Trash Pile."

"So he had defensive options outside of Gimel to use against her SIGNI the whole time?" Yuki breathed.

"Amazing, Kai-kun!" Aichi cheeered.

"Way to stick it to her!" Kamui interjected.

Miyako could only hiss as Guard Griffin vanished from the field of the prison before Francium retreated back to her side, now realizing her Final Turn had failed from a countermeasure that no one, not even she had expected at this point.

"You really are a persistent human, regardless of what world you are in," she snarled before clasping onto Rejection Dragon's card tightly "Turn end!"

**End of Turn 9**

**Kai vs Miyako**

**Hand - 1 : 1**

**Life Cloths - 0 : 1**

**Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord the End : Star-vader, Venom Dancer (Legioned with Star-vader, Sword Viper)**

**SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - Berserk Dragon (Locked) : Star-vader, Sword Viper - Star-vader, Francium - Star-vader, Francium**

**Ener - 13 (6 Locked) : 0**

Although Kai had managed to last through the turn, it wasn't without any consequences however. Half of his Ener was now Locked along with a lone Berserk Dragon that was also trapped, severely limiting his options as to what he could do this turn. However, he also knew that Miyako had given up all of her resources in order to regain her formation and have one defensive card at the ready. Looking over to Dragonic Overlord who stood back up after the beating it had previously taken, it turned its head back to face him before lowering it briefly, as if it was to represent a nod of some kind. Seeing that the two of them were finally back on mutual terms with one another after the initial mistrust from the night before, the cardfighter looked back at Miyako as he drew his next two cards.

"You said that humanity has its limits," he spoke "You are certainly correct to an extent, Miyako. But even limits can be surpassed, leading to further heights."

"And what do you intend to do?!" she growled "I know what my last Life Cloth is due to Legion and you have a Locked SIGNI! There is nothing more you can do!"

As a harsh breeze whistled throughout the prison, Dragonic Overlord let out a loud growl from underneath its breath as it set its sights upon the legioned Venom Dancer and Sword Viper.

"Allow me to show you..." Kai spoke as he moved the Locked Berserk Dragon to his Ener Zone "What a real Final Turn looks like!"

Miyako clenched her teeth for a moment, still seeming doubtful that Kai could surpass her final defences so that she could finish him off on the very next turn, that is if there was even going to be one from his statement just now.

"Summon!" he called as Dragonic Burnout manifested onto the field "Burnout's skill! Return the End in my LRIG Trash to the LRIG deck and Exceed the Break Ride Overlord!"

The Flame Dragon roared loudly as an orange aura surrounded it and Dragonic Overlord the End before it unleashed a torrent of flames towards the Francium that was directly in front of it. The Cyberoid let out a mechanical shriek as she was incinerated in an instant as the card itself landed in the Trash Pile.

"One more, Berserk!" Kai declared as the two headed dragon appeared again "Banish Sword Viper!"

The Flame Dragon then roared loudly before unleashing two fireballs from its mouth towards its target as the projectiles eventually made contact, engulfling the other Sword Viper in a large explosion and brought up a lot of smoke from the impact.

"What difference does it make?!" she snarled "Even if you clear out two of my spaces, I still have a Life Burst and a Quintet Wall to fend through your attacks!"

"Not yet."

The woman then stared at him in disbelief, wondering what it was he was up to at this point. Everyone looked to one another in ponder on the sidelines, wondering what it was that Kai intended to do next to allow him to progress onwards with his own final turn. Upon seeing the pattern that was going on, mowing down Miyako's SIGNI one by one, Tama suddenly gasped out aloud.

"This is..." she breathed "Tama saw this in Kai's first battle!"

"Then, this is a similar Final Turn...?" Midoriko murmured.

"Next, Salvage!" Kai continued as he revealed the Colourless ARTS "I add another Burnout to my hand and summon it!"

"And since Kai has another Overlord in the LRIG Trash..." Kiyoi murmured.

"Burn once more, Francium!" he declared.

The other Dragonic Burnout upon materializing onto the prison's battlefield roared loudly before gazing upon the last remaining Francium who was immediately removed from the field by a blazing pillar of fire that erupted beneath it. Miyako hissed upon seeing that her formation had been decimated in an instant before glaring back to Kai, as if despite her annoyance, she was still confident somewhat that she could outlast all of his attacks.

"Attack!" he declared as Berserk Dragon roared loudly.

The two headed Flame Dragon then opened its jaw and unleashed two streams of flames towards Venom Dancer and the remaining Sword Viper. Both Cyber Golems were struck by the inferno as a large explosion covered over Miyako's side of the field. Her Life Cloth revealed itself to be Star-vader, Pixie Powder, which immediately dispersed the smoke.

"I knew you would have that," Kai murmured "And if my suspicions are correct, you must have returned more to the deck with Legion."

"Perceptive as always," Miyako muttered as she kept her gaze on Rejection Dragon's card in her hand "But that changes nothing!"

"Then let's find out for ourselves," he continued as he downed the center Dragonic Burnout's card.

The Flame Dragon roared loudly before flapping its wings and soaring through the air towards Venom Dancer who grappled ahold of its front claws with its arms, preventing it from advancing any further. In retaliation, Burnout opened its jaw and unleashed a torrent of flames into the Cyber Golem's faceplate, forcing it to let go as it swirled around violently. Miyako immediately placed her metallic hand down on the table on top of the newly created Life Cloth she had gained from the Pixie Powder that was previously crushed.

"I am Mayu's only true friend...!" she growled "All of you... humans, units and measly LRIGs along with your disgusting worlds are beneath me and this is proof of that!"

Upon turning the card face up however, her face immediately dropped into shock as it revealed instead of a second Pixie Powder as she expected thanks to the previous turn's Legion, a third copy of Star-vader, Francium which she then dropped onto her Ener Zone of the table.

"WWWHHHHYYYYY?!" she screamed loudly.

"With this, you can no longer protect yourself!" Kai called "My final Burnout attacks!"

Miyako, having no longer had the rationality to control her temper yelled out aloud as she threw Rejection Dragon's card onto the table, summoning the unit along with the final Francium, Promethium and three Pixie Powders.

"Her final defence is gone now..." Ruko breathed as she looked at Miyako, noting her blown temper and her anger at this point.

And yet, despite all of the things she had done with Mayu, even using her and Ayumu in her plans at respective times along with a multitude of girls in an attempt to resummon Ut'ulls and her attempts to bring Kai to her side, the Selector couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. All she wanted to do was to save her friend before she had died from her terrible illness under her father's negligence, the very same being that was now in charge of the Selector Battles with the Star-vaders, Ulith and other associates assisting her.

"Go for it Kai!" Ayumu cheered "You've got her!"

"We're behind you, Kai-kun!" Aichi called.

"Don't you dare screw this up!" Kamui interjected.

Upon turning back to his friends calling out to him on the sidelines of the prison battlefield, Kai nodded once to assure them that he acknowledged their words and was now about to put an end to this battle once and for all. As Overlord growled loudly and began to charge up its two guns for its next attack, it briefly gazed down at him.

"Just give the word," it spoke from under its breath.

Kai nodded in response before turning his attention back to Miyako and placing two fingers from his right hand on top of the card that represented Dragonic Overlord the End.

"Miyako, I have a message that I want you to know," he spoke as he immediately downed the card "I have no intention of throwing away myself for power as I did in my desperation before. I will never rejoin Chaos Breaker or Mayu in their goals to bring despair to our worlds before destroying them with whatever gateway they are planning to open this time. And... never use my memories of my parents to influence my heart again!"

Dragonic Overlord then roared loudly as it then pointed both of its fully charged weapons towards the lone Venom Dancer who remained motionless as it prepared for the inevitable outcome whilst Miyako could only clench her teeth and close her eyes in frustration as the outcome she aimed to avoid was now about to befall her.

"You win... this round..." she muttered.

And with that, the Kagero commander unleashed all of the ammunition it had charged up in its firearms straight at Venom Dancer as it was constantly showered by a barrage of fiery bullets that dented its armour constantly with each strike one made. Eventually, the last few managed to pierce through the Cyber Golem's body before it then exploded and fell to the ground in a blazing inferno, signally the end of the battle in Kai's victory. Once that had happened, the dark void littered with stars that covered over Miyako's side of the field disappeared, reverting back to the floor of the prison that it once was.

"Kai did it!" called Aichi.

"Amazing..." Hitoe breathed.

"You know what is next," Kai spoke as black coloured smoke rose above the Life Cloth zones of both his and Miyako's tables "The very prisons of the Quatre Knights you replicated also have the same consequences for using them."

"I know...!" she hissed "But you won't get that satisfaction." She then looked up to the ceiling of the prison. "Mayu, this is my way of accepting punishment for failing you at this point! Another opportunity will come to me soon enough! But for now, I accept the burden of this prison! Come forth, Judgement!"

And upon her declaration, several steel pillars rained down from the ceiling in a flash of light before stabbing themselves into the ground around the area where the woman was standing. Then each of them began crackling with electricity before they all struck her at the same time, causing everyone on the side of the battlefield to be shocked at what was transpiring.

"She cast Judgement on herself willingly?" Aichi breathed in disbelief.

"Look!" Ayumu called.

Everyone was confused as to what he was pointing out until they realized that Miyako was not crying out in pain for a single second, despite the twitches in her body that were going on through the electricity coursing through her. Kai narrowed his eyes, intially expecting that something was off until he heard her groan quietly for a second as the battlefield then immediately faded to black in an instant.

* * *

**City Park**

When everyone opened their eyes back up, they could see that they were now standing inside of the park once again as they looked to one another and in the case of both the Selectors and Aichi present, they could see that the LRIGs that they were holding were now back within their respective cards, feeling rather strange from the sudden transition of being human sized throughout the battle to going straight back to how they were normally portrayed in the regular Selector Battlefield. Kai kept his gaze upon Miyako as she stumbled backwards for a moment before regaining her balance and glaring back up at him.

"You seem to be resistant to the prison's Judgement," he murmured.

"I'm merely used to the pain..." she hissed as she dug her metallic hand into her pocket "But that pain is nothing compared to the one I've felt for all those years..."

Ruko simply stared at her mother in further disbelief, unable to fathom that she would willingly harm herself as a result of her own battlefield.

"As I won, hand back the units you stole from the fighters in my world," Kai spoke.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," she replied, much to his sudden confusion "The only way to undo the marks of all those I have defeated and return those units is if you defeat me in either a Selector Battle or a cardfight whilst you were already marked by me."

"Wha...?! Are you saying that Kai defeated you for nothing then?!" Kamui exclaimed.

Miyako then stepped backwards away from the group, staggering a little as a result of her still recovering physically from the effects of the earlier Judgement. She then held up a Wixoss card with a white backing, but with a blank face, indicating it was one that she used to travel between both this world, Kai's world and the White Room itself.

"This isn't over...!" she declared as the card began to glow brightly "I'll deal with you again soon en...!"

Before she could finish her sentence, a clank was heard as she suddenly felt her metallic hand and the arm it was connected to being yanked to her right. Everyone but Kai gasped as they could see that a familiar cuff had been attached to the top half of the card and they looked down the cable it was connected to see that Ayumu had used the device that was still mounted on his arm to try and prevent her from getting away at this point.

"You're not going anywhere!" he declared as he tried to reel in the cable "Unless you plan on taking us to wherever it is you're going!"

"Grr! Let go you imprudent vermin!" she snarled as she tried to pull back the card from his grip.

Everyone quickly stepped back as the scenario had suddenly escalated into a tug of war as Ayumu and Miyako physically fought for control of the card she was trying to use to escape back to both the White Room and Mayu. As this was happening and it slowly began to bend, it started to glow brightly as sparks began to surge off of it. That was when the mother of both Ayumu and Ruko decided to make her move.

"Open!" she declared as she pulled back on the card as hard she could.

"You're not getting away...!" he yelled as he too pulled back at the exact same moment.

In his effort to try and yank the card out of her hand however, Ayumu reeled back on the cable much harder than he anticipated and fell backwards as the cuff tore off half of the card it had snagged onto, much to the shock of Miyako.

"You fool!" she yelled as both halves of the torn card illuminated brightly.

Suddenly without warning, a series of sparks erupted between both fragments as they grew dark before a violent wind suddenly erupted within the center of the park as the clouds above started to swirl violently as well. Then without warning in the center of the park where the fragments had landed, a large hole with sparks raging around it began to manifest from where they lay. The hole began to swirl and slowly expanded as Miyako, too weakened from her legs being affected by the Judgement was instantly sucked into the growing vortex, screaming loudly as she did so.

"This is...!" Kai gasped in shock before he suddenly felt himself being dragged towards the center.

"Everyone, grab onto something!" cried Yuzuki.

Upon seeing a nearby shelter beside the stone steps that lead out of the park, everyone quickly began to make a run for it, hoping they would be fast enough to escape the growing vortex and avoid whatever fate it was that had just befallen Miyako. Quickly, Aichi, Hitoe and Ruko shoved their cards containing their LRIGs into their pockets before buttoning or zipping them up to avoid losing them in an instant. But everyone was having difficultly in trying to reach the shelter as the force of the expanding hole was dragging each of them backwards no matter how hard they were trying to go forward.

Eventually, Ayumu was the first to make it to the shelter and quickly grabbed ahold of Aichi before moving him to behind a stone table of sorts to shield him from the force that was pulling on both of them.

"Hurry everyone!" he called as he then reached out to Hitoe and did the same.

Suddenly, a surge in the power of the vortex increased the wind speed around them as Kai desperately tried to pick up the pace. Then without warning, Kamui suddenly lost his footing and cried out aloud as he was forcefully dragged along the ground until he was almost at the edge of the vortex.

"What the heck?!" he yelled in shock before disappearing into the vortex, followed shortly by Kiyoi who was just as startled. Before long, even the blue LRIG had vanished from the park as well.

"Kamui...! Kiyoi...!" cried Ruko before gasping she too found herself being pulled backwards as well.

Kai, immediately seeing what was happening stepped to his right as fast as he could and grabbed ahold of the Selector's right arm, leaving both of them now in danger of being swallowed up by the vortex that was threatening to suck them both in. As Ruko was hanging on desperately in the air with her feet not on the ground, she immediately hung onto the Kagero user's back.

"I've got you!" he called as he tried to step forwards against the wind.

Ayumu, seeing that they weren't going to make it to what even he hoped was presumed safety at this rate, hung onto one of the roof supports of the shelter and fired the cable of his device once again.

"Attach the cuff!" he called "I'll pull you two in!"

Kai, heeding the words of Ruko's older sibling, immediately grabbed the end of the cable and placed the cuff over his right wrist, triggering its function to lock him with its wielder. Ayumu, with the added support of Aichi and Hitoe doing the best they could to weigh him down behind the stone table, desperately tried to reel in the cable as the Kagero user 'climbed' across the ground of the park against the strong winds pulling him and Ruko back towards the vortex. The sparks from the expanding hole intensified more with every passing second as too did the wind swirling all around them.

Then just as they were halfway, a sudden surge of wind along with a spark of electricity from the vortex struck the cable with great force, ripping it apart in an instant and deactivating the cuff around Kai's wrist. Shortly afterwards, both he and Ruko cried out aloud as they were briefly thrown in the air from the force of the impact before landing into the ever expanding vortex.

"Kai-kun!" Aichi screamed.

"Ruko!" Hitoe cried.

"No..." Ayumu breathed in horror as he could do nothing but stare down at the stone table he was standing behind "Ruko is... My sister..."

A few long moments later, just when it seemed like all hope was seemingly lost for the remaining three, the vortex suddenly glowed in a bright white colour which then blinded them for a brief instance before it suddenly vanished from the park. But not before the force of a following implosion knocking the three of them right back into the stone wall that was behind them. All of them groaned for an instant as they struggled back onto their feet before staring into the spot at the center of the park, where Miyako and their friends had all disappeared in a matter of unexpected moments.

"They're gone..." Aichi breathed.

"B... but that had to have taken them somewhere... right?" Hitoe murmured nervously, trying not to cry out in panic at the prospect of losing Ruko forever if that was possibly the case.

"I'm such an idiot..."

The two of them looked to Ayumu who was now on his knees, sobbing uncontrollably at what had just happened. His sister, the one that he initially despised because of the lies Miyako had put into his head, was now gone in a strange vortex and now, he had no idea if she or any of her friends that were sucked with her as well were even alive, let alone in a place where they could even find them if that were the case. And the worst part of it, he knew deep down from his reckless action to try and stop Miyako from escaping back to Mayu, was that this entire event was all his fault.

"Ruko..." he sobbed before yelling out to the sky "RUKO!"

* * *

**Photon's Lab**

Back within the lab, Mayu was standing in complete shock as to what she had just witnessed and the fact that her General, her only friend from the outside world was now gone and there was no telling if she was even still alive at this point. Gritting her teeth to regain her composure, she slammed a fist down on the console in front of her, getting the attention of all of the Star-vaders that were currently present in the lab.

"Track her down immediately!" she declared "I refuse to lose my only friend to a blasted wormhole such as this!"

And with that, the many Cyberoids and Cyber Fairies within the premises began work immediately to track down the life signature of Miyako, in the presumed hopes that they could find her and hopefully bring her back to the White Room intact. The mastermind also clenched her teeth in seething fury, her mind also having turned to the attention of Kai himself and how he was able to defeat her earlier.

"I promised I would bring your world a war for interfering..." she muttered "And now... all of the cardfighters are going to get it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  Guard Griffin  
> Level 1  
> Color: Red  
> Class: Chimera  
> Limiting Condition: None  
> Power: 2000  
> Effect:  
> [Use Timing - Attack Phase] Choose a Red SIGNI card from your Ener Zone and send it to your Trash Pile: When your Kagero LRIG is attacked by your opponent’s SIGNI, you may pay the cost. If you do, summon this SIGNI from your hand with to your SIGNI Zone in the same column +5000 [Power] and it becomes the attack target instead. If that SIGNI would be banished after being summoned this way, send it to your Trash instead of your Ener Zone. At the end of that battle if it is still on your SIGNI Zone this way, send it to your Trash.
> 
> **Difference(s) from original FF publication:**  
>  *When Miyako uses Rejection Dragon, the original FF.net version of the chapter had two Pixie Powders. Miyako already had three out before her final Life Cloth revealed the fourth. That inexplicitly left her with two extra copies when the maximum copies held is four. This mistake will be corrected in the FF.net original upload once Ride 82 is released.


	78. Arc 3 - Ride 78: The New Beginning

...

Kai groaned as he stirred from his unconscious state from the sound of what seemed to be nearby seagulls from his current position. Noting the rocky ground in front of him, the sound of waves also brought his attention to how close to the edge he was as he struggled up onto his knees, his arms and legs feeling rather sore from the rough landing. Soon he could see the blue sea that was out in front of him as he eventually managed to regain his footing, nearly stumbling from his lack of balance as he did so. The sky over the horizon was taking on a shade of dark orange, as if it was indicating that it was now nearly evening from wherever he ended up and that some time had to have passed by since his arrival.

Slowly, he began to recall everything that had transpired before he had lost consciousness, from Ayumu's attempt to prevent Miyako from escaping back to Mayu accidentally opening up a wormhole in the middle of the park that had sucked up her, followed by Kamui, Kiyoi along with himself and Ruko.

"That's right..." he breathed as he soon realized he had not accounted if the Selector was in a similar state as he was initially.

Turning around towards the rocky pathway that led alongside the cliff face to the small area, he immediately saw the Selector lying sprawled out on the ground along with Kamui's motionless body. Both of the cards containing both Tama and Yuki were also thrown onto the ground as a result of her rough landing with the two LRIGs gazing at their Selector in concern, wondering if the abrupt journey had hurt her in any shape or form. Kai hurried over to Ruko immediately, noting the presence of the girls of black and white.

"Ruko!" he called "Can you hear me?!"

Upon hearing his voice, Ruko began to stir as she used one hand to push herself up into a sitting position with both of her legs not willing to let her stand up for the time being.

"Kai..." she groaned as she clutched the back of her head "Ugh... I thought that copied Vermillion Thunderbolt to the head was something..."

"Ru's okay!" Tama cheered in relief, catching her Selector's attention.

"Tama... thank goodness," she sighed in relief as she picked up her dropped cards "For a moment there, I thought I lost you both."

"Can you move at least?" asked Yuki.

Ruko gave a slight nod in response as she used a small rock formation beside her to steady her ascent until she was finally back on her feet once again. At the same time, Kamui also began to regain consciousness as he too began to rise up slowly.

"Man... that hurt..." the Nova Grappler user moaned as he rubbed his sore head before noticing his two recovered companions "Kai, Ruko! You two woke up before me, huh."

"It's good to see you're okay Kamui," she said as she helped him back onto his feet before looking around the area "Where are we anyway?"

"I'm not entirely certain..." Kai replied "But this place feels rather familiar."

Once the Kagero user had finished his sentence, everyone looked ahead of the path to see Kiyoi come around from behind the nearby corner and return to the group. From what they could all assume, she had been the first to regain consciousness after all of them were sucked into the wormhole and had decided to leave them some space to recover whilst she 'scouted' on ahead to get a better idea of where they had all landed.

"It appears that disruption must have sent us to this island," she murmured as she glanced around the coastal area briefly "From what I could gather, there appear to be ruins resembling that of a fortress of some kind..."

"Would you be kind to lead us there Kiyoi?" asked Yuki.

She nodded once before immediately turning around and going back down the path she initially traversed as the rest of the group looked to one another before deciding to follow the former blue LRIG's lead on their current predicament. Ruko immediately tucked away Tama and Yuki's cards into her pocket once more, not wanting a stray wave from the edge of the coast to soak and damage them in some way that would potentially do something to the LRIGs themselves. Eventually, after stepping across a narrow ledge to the cliff face, the group of four eventually came to the spot where Kiyoi had found the 'fortress' ruins she had described, just above the rocks from where they were all standing.

"Whoa...! I know where we are now!" Kamui gasped.

"Where exactly?" Tama pondered.

"It appears that vortex did not just transport us abruptly from the park..." Kai murmured as he glanced towards the seemingly ruined structure before them "Kiyoi, it appears you've discovered for us that we've landed on Soryu Leon's home island."

"Wait... are you saying we've ended up... in your world?!" Ruko exclaimed.

Kamui would have normally felt relieved to have finally made it back to his own home world, even if they were currently far away from Japan there. But the fact that they did so at such an in-prompt time had not made him in the mood for celebrating this sudden stroke of luck. They were not just far away from their friends and in Ruko's case her family, they were also stranded in a world that was completely alien to the Selector, both of the LRIGs that she held and Kiyoi. The latter of whom turned to the Nova Grappler user for a brief instance, having secretly held a slight curiosity for the world that one of her few friends and Kai inhabited and whilst the situation was somewhat dire at this point, it appeared they weren't as stranded as they initially believed.

"Let's go and look around!" he called out before running down the pathway towards the entry point of the ruins "Jillian and Sharlene might be around here somewhere!"

"Are they friends of yours?" Ruko asked as she looked to Kai.

"I'll explain everything once we find out if they're here or not," he replied before walking immediately to catch up with Kamui "But with our presence back in my world, I should be able to re-establish contact with my other comrades later."

The Selector simply turned and stared at the ocean for a brief moment, still somewhat in disbelief that the very place she was standing in happened to be the home of Leon and a part of the Kagero user's own world that she was now seeing for herself. She looked down with a hint of sadness for a moment as she knew that not only would her brother be devastated from not being able to pull her and Kai to safety from the wormhole in time, but her grandmother and Hitoe would be worried sick, not knowing if she was even alive at this point, let alone aware of the fact she was in another world.

"Hey Kiyoi..." she spoke, bringing the girl's attention to her "Did you see mother...? You know... since she got sucked in as well."

"I had my suspicions after I found the four of us here," Kiyoi answered "But I did not see her amongst us."

"I see... thanks anyway," the Selector replied as she tried to force a smile to cheer herself up before the two of them walked down the coastal path to join Kai and Kamui in their search for Jillian and Sharlene.

* * *

**Wixoss World: Apartment Blocks**

Meanwhile back in Ruko's own world, the entire living space of her apartment had fallen a deathly silent ever since the news had broken out about what had happened to the Selector herself along with Kai, Kiyoi and Kamui. But none were more devastated by the sudden turn of events than both Ayumu for unintentionally being the cause of it and Hatsu for learning of the outcome. The news that Miyako had been serving in the Selector Battles for a very long time along with her rank of General and her ambition to wipe out humanity as revenge for Mayu's death was already heartbreaking to her, but the fact that her daughter was now gone from her again was even more saddening, only this time, they had no idea if she along with her friends were even alright.

"I'm so sorry..." Ayumu sobbed as he clenched his fists "Ruko's gone again... so is Kai and it's all my fault!"

"Hey, calm down!" Naoki called as he placed a hand on his shoulder "We found her once before, we can do it again!"

The Narukami user's words had done little to reassure him at all however as he continued to stare down at the floor blankly, feeling more than ashamed for not just his failure, but his own behaviour in how Miyako had manipulated him through stealing his memories of the past six years. Aichi and Hitoe looked to one another, concerned about not just their friends' safety at this point, but how both Ayumu and Hatsu were going to deal with this new complication that had sprung up right after Kai's battle. Eventually, the elderly woman walked over to the older brother of her granddaughter as he closed his eyes, immediately expecting the worst to befall him and with the way he had been, who was to say that Hatsu would believe him.

"This situation is my fault too," she spoke as she gently hugged him "I should have done more to stop Miyako from carrying out her revenge. I always sensed there was discomfort from her... but I naively assumed that it was her way of moving on from Mayu's death. But this is the path she's chosen... and there's nothing more I can do other than to keep all of you out of whatever she has planned."

"But Miyako got sucked into that same... hole thing that took Ruko, Kai, Kamui and Kiyoi," Hitoe murmured "If our friends are alright wherever they are, but she's there with them..."

"We'll find them... somehow," Aichi replied, though even he felt unconvinced with his own answer to the Selector's question.

"Well then, it seems we have quite the search on our hands again," Ren said be-musingly, though one could tell that even he was being somewhat serious with his light hearted tone "Though now that you mention there being a former estate around this world's Tokyo..."

Leon gazed at the Shadow Paladin user, wondering what it was from his sentence that he was implying at this point. From what he could gather, it would seem that Aichi, Hitoe and Ayumu's description from Miyako's story of how Mayu used to live in a manor that eventually withered away with time after her death had intrigued him somewhat.

"Are you suggesting we may find another clue about the Selector Battles there?" he spoke.

"Who knows?" Ren replied with a playful shrug "A lot can change in a city in nearly half a century after all. It might not even exist at this point anyway."

As Ayumu eventually stopped crying and broke away gently from Hatsu's hug, he looked back to the group that he knew well. They were now fractured because of his actions and now, he had to do something to make a start in setting things right for everyone around him.

"I'll search the city as much as I can to see if that hole's only taken them a little distance," he spoke "Call me if any of you happen to see Ruko or the others at all, alright?"

Hitoe along with the rest of the boys nodded in response, knowing that finding Ruko and Kai at this point was now one of their new priorities at this point, knowing that their safety was something to be considered.

"We understand how you feel," Hatsu replied "But right now, you need to rest for the moment. We can't imagine what else that clone LRIG you told me about might have done to you."

Reluctantly, Ayumu nodded in response to her statement. Even though he was physically capable of walking, the jolts of electricity that the clone LRIG had surged through him for copying multiple units and stealing his memories had weakened him significantly and as much as he hated to admit it for his current state, even he wasn't in any shape to start a citywide search for his sister and her friends in the evening.

"Just hang in there guys," Naoki said before clenching a fist "We'll definitely find them one way or another!"

Whilst Hatsu could only smile sadly in response to his declaration, she knew that he meant every word of it and that they were all in the search effort together from this point forward. As she sat down to talk more with Ayumu, the rest of the group left the apartment, knowing that it was probably for the best to leave the two alone to rebuild their broken bond and reconcile with one another after everything Miyako had done to him. As Ren, Naoki and Leon went back up to the apartment that Kai had been staying in since his second day within this world, Aichi remained on the current floor after closing the door to Ruko's apartment behind him. He could only let out a sad sigh, the whole event having somewhat taken its own toll on him as well and he knew that he wasn't struggling through this alone.

The Royal Paladin user then saw Hitoe sitting down on the steps, looking down at Midoriko and Yuzuki from the cards she held, all feeling very down from the events that had transpired hours ago. Not wanting any of them to suffer on their own through this dire situation, he gently walked over towards them and joined the Selector and her two LRIGs.

"I'm worried about them too," he said, unable to hide his own concerns for Kai, Kamui and Ruko as well "But wherever they've gone now... I'm definitely sure that Kai-kun won't let anything bad happen to her."

"Y... you think so...?" Hitoe murmured nervously.

"I'm sure," he replied as he gently put one hand over her right shoulder "I know he'll keep her, Kamui and Kiyoi safe until we can find them."

"Aichi's right," Yuzuki interjected "Right now, all we can do is stick together through this and hopefully find out where that hole-thingy took Ruko and Kai."

"All of us are still here for you," Midoriko spoke "Sakuya even said she's just a train ride away from us if you need her as well."

Although she couldn't find any words to respond with, Hitoe wiped her eyes as she turned back to Aichi who could easily tell that this was clearly taking its own toll on her as well. Offering up his free right arm, the two embraced one another gently in the comfort that they were still there for one another and that they could hopefully overcome this dillema like every other they had encountered thus far. As the Selector rested her head on his shoulder, the Royal Paladin user could only turn his thoughts towards his missing friends, praying that they were hopefully safe as he had assumed.

_Kai-kun... Ruko-san... Please be safe... wherever you are now._

* * *

**Vanguard World: Soryu Island**

Meanwhile within the ruins that was home to perhaps the last three wielders of Aqua Force in this world, it seemed almost quiet as Sharlene watched the sun in the distance beginning to set over the distant sea. To one of the twins that usually accompanied Leon on his travels, moments like this were usually what kept whatever anxiety she would otherwise have in check. And even Jillian who watched closely from the doorway knew that this was moreso than ever with their friend having departed for the other world with Aichi, Ren and Naoki, whilst also having no knowledge of how long their initial mission to recover Kai and Takuto and return back home would take.

"I'm bored..." the younger twin sighed to herself as she got up from her chair, just as the other entered the room "I can't take this waiting any longer."

"I'm just as anxious too, but we have to keep to Leon-sama's word," Jillian replied "It's been over seven days now, so we don't make a move until he either returns or the week comes to an end."

Sharlene yawned a little as she turned her attention back outside, not even feeling in the mood to have a cardfight to try and take her mind off of her impatience at this point. As she gazed out into the horizon once more, pondering on how Leon was doing in the other world, her right ear twitched for a moment as she heard a voice from outside.

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear something Sharlene?" Jillian asked as she joined her by the open window.

The twins then looked outside for a moment, wondering what it was that Sharlene had heard faintly for a moment before a familiar voice caught their attention. They looked towards the ground to see that Kamui was waving up to them to catch their attention. The Nova Grappler user then turned around as Kiyoi, Ruko and Kai eventually joined him by one of the entrances to the ruins themselves.

"We're in luck!" he called "Looks like we're not stuck here after all!"

"Is that... Kai Toshiki?" Sharlene pondered "Didn't Leon say he was stuck in some other world?"

"I guess we're about to find out," Jillian interjected as the two left the room to go down and join the others.

Meanwhile after traversing more of the coastal pathway, the group of four eventually reached one of the entrances to the ruins. Now that they knew that Jillian and Sharlene were present on the island, they felt it would be best to wait for them to meet with them in order to properly acquaint themselves in this unexpected of scenarios. Eventually after a few short moments, the twins eventually arrived in front of them, blinking for a moment having not known or met either Ruko or Kiyoi before or knowing where they came from.

"Jillian and Sharlene Chen," Kai spoke, addressing them by their full names "It has been a while."

"We could say the same about you, with whatever mess you'd gotten yourself into," Jillian replied.

"It sounds like you've known them for a long time" Ruko murmured.

"Yeah," the Kagero user replied "They have lived with Leon together since his people scattered after losing their power. They also participated in the Asia Circuit and the VF High School Championship with him as Team Dreadnought."

"But if you're back here... Is Leon...?" Sharlene asked curiously.

Kamui shook his head in response to her question, having known they would have been bound to ask about Leon the moment they saw Kai.

"Leon wasn't with us when we got sucked here," he answered "If anything, onii-san's hopefully still with him in 'that' world."

"I sensed no other presence when we travelled through the wormhole, aside from you and Kiyoi. Therefore, I can only concur in agreement with your assumption."

Once Yuki had made her point clear, the twins suddenly blinked for a moment, having pondered on where the voice had come from in the first place. There was seemingly only six of them present and yet a seventh voice could clearly be heard. As they looked around, Ruko dug into her pocket and brought out the LRIG's card, still retaining the Wixoss backing to them. Upon seeing the word however, Jillian immediately took up a defensive stance.

"Huh?" Sharlene pondered in confusion.

"Be careful! Tokura warned us in advance of them!" she called "They already took out the remainder of Foo Fighter!"

"Hey, Ruko's not our enemy!" Kamui replied "If she was, she would have marked us by now or something!"

"Um... you could hear her?" Ruko asked, curious as to how the twins could hear Yuki despite not being part of the Selector Battles.

Whilst Sharlene gazed curiously at the card, Jillian initially remained apprehensive until a nod from Kai was all it took for her to eventually lower her guard and eventually accept that the Selector was not of the same threat that had been attacking their world lately.

"So... is the card the source of the voice?" she asked.

"Actually... I have two of them," Ruko replied as she eventually brought out the other card before revealing them "These are my LRIGs, Tama and Yuki."

As the LRIGs and twins looked at one another out of curiosity for several long moments, Tama waved in greeting as she beamed a happy smile. This was enough for Sharlene to smile back and tap the girl of white on the head with her finger before rubbing it gently.

"Tama says it tickles...!" she giggled.

"Wow... you're cute!" the younger twin smiled as Ruko could only laugh nervously in response.

"So your name is Ruko," Jillian spoke as she approached the Selector before bowing once "Sorry for jumping the gun there. It's just that..."

"No, it's okay," the Selector replied "It's nice to meet you."

After Sharlene had finally finished 'playing' with Tama as the girl of white hummed to herself in a happier mood, she turned to Kiyoi who had otherwise remained silent throughout the whole conversation.

"And you're..." she murmured.

"Kiyoi," the girl answered in her usual monotone "Mizushima Kiyoi."

Upon recognizing the name, Jillian had almost through impulse taken up a defensive stance again, but after hearing Kamui's claim that she wasn't their enemy as initially believed from the news of his initial disappearance, she felt there had to be more to the situation for him to trust her at this point.

"So if you're from the same world Ruko's from..." she began "Doesn't that mean you have this... LRIG thing as well?"

Kiyoi only frowned in response to her question, making it clear that she was unwilling to talk about either Remember or her previous experiences within the Selector Battles as of yet. Kamui, who would have normally have said something in compliant to her giving one of the twins the 'cold shoulder', could see that this was most likely the case and having saw what had happened to Sakaguchi through her memories, reluctantly decided not to push her on about it.

"Hey, don't worry about her," he said, smiling innocently for a moment in an attempt to avoid the subject "It's just... something she doesn't want to talk about now."

"If you say so," Jillian replied, seemingly confused by his sudden shift in mood before looking back to Kai "What the heck's been going on? And how did you get back here anyway?"

"I'll explain everything once we're inside," he replied as he brought his phone out "But for now, there's something I must do first."

And with that, the twins along with Kiyoi, Ruko and Kamui headed inside the ruins as Kai gazed out the ocean horizon before looking down to the list of contacts he had available to him on his phone. As he scrolled down to a particular name he had in mind, he silently prayed that he would be finally be able to talk to that person after the long absence he had from this world.

* * *

**Card Capital**

As dusk fell over Card Capital closer towards the shop's closing hours, the group consisting of Misaki, Miwa, Shingo and Ratie all sat at a table together, pondering about all of the events that had happened as of late. Everyone all had their minds set on certain points, but all of them knew that one mystery to them remained and that all came down to Kai's disappearance from this world and why the attacks from individuals such as Remember, Futase, Ulith and Miyako had some kind of connection to them. None were more concerned about the Kagero user's safety as of yet other than Miwa who could only stare down at the table with the only sound being of note to him was a ticking clock somewhere in the shop.

Misaki and Ratie on the other hand had the still LRIG card representing Anne with the borders of the Wixoss card game displayed and wondering on the fight the clerk of Card Capital had the other night. Even with the return of Kamui's Raizer cards coming back to life, the former still couldn't help but ponder if Futase's action to leave this card behind was merely a slip of the wind from Schwarzschild's effort to escape with her in custody or an intentional clue as to what was really going on in the conflict between two worlds.

"So it appears we have more answers now," Shingo pondered "But we still don't know the reason as to why Kai's disappearance ties into all of this."

"Futase said he somehow got involved with these 'Selector Battles' she mentioned," Misaki interjected "Even so... there must be a reason that Schwarzschild Dragon is forcing her to join in with the most recent attacks. She gave her word that Kamui was supposedly safe, but I'm not sure what to believe at this point."

"Aichi wouldn't let anything bad happen to him," Ratie replied "I'm sure he and Kai are figuring out what's going on in that world Futase said she came from."

No sooner had the room fallen silent once more did a buzzing sound suddenly echo from the group. Miwa reached into his pocket to bring out his phone, wondering who it was that was calling him until he tapped the button to switch it on. Once the name had shown up to indicate who was calling, he gasped in shock as everyone immediately gazed down to see that it was Kai who was supposedly calling him at this point. Deciding to find out for himself, he tapped the green button on his screen and brought up the phone to his ear.

"Hello...?"

"Miwa... are you there?!"

Miwa gasped in shock, having thought he would have never heard that voice again after such a long absence in the most unexpected of circumstances. Misaki blinked for an instance, wondering if it was really the person that was calling at this very instance.

"Kai..." he breathed "Is that... really you?"

"Yeah," his voice echoed "It is me."

"Good grief... you have no idea how long we've been waiting to hear your voice again after nearly two weeks!" Miwa replied, his shocked expression having slowly turned to happiness over the course of a mere few moments "Where are you now?"

"That is the current dilemma. I have ended up back to this world with Katsuragi and... two others from the other world, on Soryu Leon's island."

Everyone looked to one another, each having shared their own relief upon hearing that both Kai and Kamui were now safe and sound, even if they were currently on Leon's island far away from home. But after everything that had happened, being back on their home world at least was resounding news to hear, even in the crisis that was ongoing. That was when Misaki had decided to speak up.

"Who are these 'others' you speak of?" she asked.

"One is a close companion that I've made in my time in the other world," Kai replied "The other, you should know is Mizushima Kiyoi. However due to circumstances, someone else has used her identity to bring Katsuragi to the other world as well and we've only just ended up here due to unforeseen events."

"Jillian and Sharlene are with you, right?" Miwa murmured.

"That's correct. I will ask when it is possible for all of us to return to Japan at once. Aichi told us that he used the 'gateway' from before to enter that world, so it is through that we can get our new comrades home and continue the fight against our new foe."

"Um... about that..."

Everyone in Card Capital then immediately looked to Ratie as she nervously spoke up in regards to Kai's idea to use the teleporter in the mall basement to get back to the other world and solve the mystery of whatever was happening in the other world.

"Neve looked at it earlier..." she said "He said the keystone's completely shattered. There's no way we can get to wherever that world is you're trying to get back to unless we can somehow fix it."

"I see..." Kai's voice echoed "I also heard that Gailliard was also attacked. Is he alright?"

"He's still bruised up, but he's recovering fine," Ratie replied "We have... someone watching over him to make sure he and the kids he looks after are fine."

"I see. Once we return to Japan, I'll explain everything that is going on, introduce you to our new companion and clear things up about Kiyoi."

"Kai... just one more thing..." Miwa murmured "Is Aichi alright?"

"He wasn't sucked into the vortex that brought us back to this world, so I can only assume he's still in the other world with our mates."

Although he felt grim at first, knowing that Aichi was still in Ruko's world with no exact idea on whether he was alright or not, the fact that he was not there alone without friends or companions was at least somewhat reassuring in the sense.

"We'll give you the details on what's been happening here once you return," Misaki spoke "Take care Kai."

And with that, the Kagero user ended the call as Miwa then put his phone back into his pocket. He sighed in relief that his friend was alright and that he was back home in a manner of speaking.

"Good grief," he muttered with a smile "You always have to find trouble or trouble seems to find you."

"But he came back here without Sendou-kun," Shingo interjected "Isn't that not concerning in a sense?"

"Aichi's not alone this time," Ratie replied "I'm sure that Ishida and the others are looking after him fine over there."

Misaki nodded once in agreement before looking down to Anne's card again. With Kai and Kamui having successfully returned back to this world, even if the timing was somewhat inprompt, she knew that through the two of them and their new companions he had mentioned, they could finally get all of the answers to the questions that had been surrounding them since that previous night.

* * *

**Soryu Island**

Soon, night had fallen over the island itself and all of the group along with Kai were inside the kitchen space, seated at the table with him, Kamui and Ruko having given their views of the events that had transpired in the other world. Knowing that was indeed the Selector's home world, the Kagero user offered to let her speak first along with her two LRIGs on the adventures that they had together and a further clarification on both the Selector System, whatever happened within there along with Mayu and her allegiance to the surviving Star-vaders that were helping her maintain the White Room in working order. Reluctantly, she also told them of how her mother Miyako was also serving Mayu and seeking to assist her in using the battles to help create a gateway for Link Joker to invade her world first and destroy it of all life.

Sharlene shivered a little, having not expected to hear that some of the Link Joker remnants were still evil, even after reassurance from Leon that the shattering of the Seed would assume that they would simply be a regular clan on the Planet Cray. Once Ruko had finished with what she had to say, Tama and Yuki each told them of how they were originally some of Chaos Breaker's original creations before they each gained a conscious from their time in the outside world, bouncing from Selector to Selector and in the case of the girl of white, amnesia which had led her to meeting Ruko herself. Eventually, Kamui and Kai both gave their respective tales on all of their experiences and struggles within Mayu's game up to the confrontation with Miyako and the resulting event that sent them to the island.

"So let me get this straight..." Jillian spoke "There's more girls like you that are trapped in these cards which are actually human... and they've been forced to go with these battles over in that world where winning or losing just makes things worse in some cases."

"That is correct," Kiyoi interjected "From what Miyako told us, this has been going on for many years with only chosen Selectors even having a fraction of knowledge as to what is going on."

"I hate to think about what's happened to them win or lose," Kamui interrupted "Even people have died with whatever Mayu's trying to do!"

A quiet hiss from the former blue LRIG immediately caused him to stop in his rant, realizing he had indirectly spoken of Sakaguchi's fate to everyone else without her consent let alone her permission.

"A... anyway," Sharlene said, hoping to calm the tense mood "Didn't you say you had a Wixoss deck with you Ruko?"

"I have two with me actually..." Ruko answered "One for Yuki and the other for Tama."

As she dug into her pockets, bringing out the cases containing her two decks, she opened the white coloured case which had contained the deck she used around Tama in the Selector Battles. After she pulled out the cards however, she immediately dropped them onto the table in shock as everyone stared at the spilled pile before them. Save for a select few cards that had retained their black and white Wixoss backings, the rest of them had changed to backings representing the Vanguard card game.

"W... what the...?!" she gasped "My cards have changed?!"

Reaching out for one of them, she turned it over to reveal Tama, New Moon Miko now in the form of a Grade 0 unit with the clan box having no text, but the colour representing that of the United Sanctuary nation.

"Hey... my Beast Deity deck is mostly back to normal!" Kamui replied as he brought out his own deck "Not saying the ARTS have changed though."

"I see..." Kai murmured as he too brought his deck back out "Just as arriving in that world changed our units to suit the Wixoss card game, returning here has had a similar effect to your cards Ruko."

"But it looks like there's more than I had earlier..." she murmured as she turned the last of the cards face up.

This now revealed that she now had multiple copies of Tama's forms, now listed as Grades 1 through 4 whilst all of her Servants, Spells and ARTS had remained as Wixoss cards whilst Elaine and Bow, Shooting Bow had been transformed into Heal and Draw Triggers respectively. Taking out the deck she had made around Yuki, now with the addition of the card Dragmiko Yuki, Eclipse/Maiden, she could see that the same effect had happened to nearly all of the cards there.

"Wow..." Sharlene breathed taking ahold of one of the ARTS from Ruko's Tama deck and looking at it in wonder.

"It certainly looks interesting..." Jillian murmured before looking to Ruko "Does she know anything about Vanguard?"

"I've told her briefly about the game itself," Kai answered "From what she told me, she seemed to grasp the idea of imaging one's self in a practice battle with Aichi."

Ruko glanced down at her now changed decks, now pondering on the situation before her. The last thing she expected, let alone wanted was for her own cards to change their appearance to suit the game of Vanguard. But at the same time, she couldn't help but expand her curiosity from before when she and Kai battled for her to get used to using Yuki by her side once again.

"Um... if it isn't too much to ask," she spoke "Could you maybe... teach me about Vanguard?"

"I don't see why not," Kamui answered as he looked at her two separate decks "Though from the looks of things, you're a few triggers short of a proper deck."

"Leave that to me!" Sharlene replied with a smile "Leon has spare cards we use for practice decks, so we should find some for you to use."

"T... thank you very much," said Ruko, smiling back in response.

Getting up from the table and heading over to a large drawer on the far side of the room, the two twins opened it up before looking back at Ruko's cards briefly and then at one another. With a mighty heave, they pulled it free from the piece of furniture it had been resting inside of and brought it over to the empty portion of the table.

"Well... I can see how you guys beat us in the Hong Kong stage now..." Kamui replied, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of cards they and Leon had outside of Aqua Force just for mere practice against coming opponents. He then looked to Ruko, sensing a similar feeling from her as well in her confusion on where to start. "Remember said her cards worked with anything from Magallanica, so I guess you could run Tama or Yuki alongside any of the six clans from United Sanctuary."

"R... right," the Selector murmured, unsure of how to exactly respond to the options she now had available to her.

"If I remember correctly from what Kai told us, triggers should be Grade 0 with a yellow border," Yuki spoke "The maximum in Vanguard is sixteen and..."

"Ru can only have four Heal Triggers, right?" Tama asked.

"Four per deck," Kai answered as he stood up and glanced over the Selector's changed cards "Though given the way she's used her decks in the other world since our first meeting... she should begin with the clans marked on her Heal Triggers. She may get a better understanding as she learns more about Vanguard."

He then picked up the card Tama, New Moon Miko and observed it closely, noticing something was indeed different about it and it wasn't just by the changed borders and backing. He then looked over to Ruko who gazed at him curiously, wondering what had caught his attention about the change in her cards.

"It appears your LRIGs themselves now revolve around a 'Ride Chain'," he murmured.

"Ride Chain?" she pondered.

"It's a certain mechanic belonging to a series of units that revolve around riding card within the same series or a stronger evolution to consistently ride to Grade 3 with every turn," the Kagero user replied as he looked upon other cards from her Tama and Yuki decks, particularly the ones representing the two LRIGs "But from what I can gather, with the exception of Dragmiko Yuki, they all can support it up to Grade 4."

"Grade 4?!" Kamui gasped as he looked back at the cards on the table, having not seen it the first time around "That's what Remember used to beat me!"

"It only seems as strong as a Crossride," Jillian murmured "But we can't judge anything until we see them in action, right?"

Ruko walked up to the side of the drawer that the twins had pulled out onto the table earlier and looked inside to notice the piles of units that were present within, with a majority of them being trigger units. Seeing that she was very unsure of where to begin, Sharlene came alongside her.

"I'll fish out all of the Royal and Shadow Paladin Triggers we have," she said with a smile "Have a think about it for now."

"Thanks Sharlene," the Selector replied as she came back to Kai and Kamui.

As the younger twin began taking out as many cards as she could find that were necessary, Kiyoi simply gazed at her as a memory began to play within her mind.

**Flashback**

"What... is this...?"

A somewhat confused and dumbfounded Kiyoi couldn't help but stare at what had covered over what was formerly her empty desk in the classroom at her school. Seated opposite her was Sakaguchi Ayumi with a few Wixoss cards and her own deck laid out as she began pondering to herself, not taking note of her friend's confusion at this very moment.

"Let's see..." she murmured to herself "Which one should I put in?"

After several long moments in which Kiyoi could only continue to keep her blank stare, she could only wonder about why she had chosen to reconstruct her deck in front of her desk. Certainly she knew that Sakaguchi had always followed her around for some time, even if she didn't know for the reason why other than she was simply a person she really wanted to talk with.

"Ah, this one will do."

The girl who would later become the LRIG Piruluk sighed quietly in relief as she began to get up slowly from her desk, believing that the person in front of her was finally finished with reconstructing her deck and that she could finally get on with whatever she wanted to do with her day. However, the moment Sakaguchi grabbed her right arm gently and guided her back down to her seat did she realize that this wasn't quite finished yet.

"Alright!" she cheered as she held her completed deck into the air in triumph "There's much more to do today!"

"Enough already..." Kiyoi moaned in annoyance "Could you please give it a rest?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sakaguchi asked in confusion "All I'm doing is organizing my deck."

"I'm surprised you could say that almost every day," she sighed in exasperation.

Rather than feeling downbeat about Kiyoi's response, Sakaguchi simply smiled and sat back in her chair with her arms crossed and a "Hmph!" escaping from her mouth, though not in an annoyed tone.

"I've made my decision!" she declared "I won't stop until you play Wixoss with me!"

"So stubborn..." Kiyoi muttered in her monotone.

"You bet I'm stubborn!"

And with that, the only sounds that followed were that of the conversations of other students in the classroom as the otherwise lone girl stared down at her desk, her expression becoming somewhat scrutinized.

**Present**

"Hello! Earth to Kiyoi!"

Kiyoi suddenly regained her senses as soon as she heard and saw Kamui calling out to her, blinking for an instance as she did so. She gazed at the Nova Grappler user who had come up to her after he had helped Sharlene dig out the last of the Royal and Shadow Paladin cards that she and Jillian kept in the large drawer which was still on the table. She didn't know why she had relived a portion that particular memory after watching the younger twin offer to help Ruko in restructuring her two decks for use in Vanguard, but she had relived it nonetheless and she wasn't feeling in the most comfortable of moods right now because of it.

"Hey, don't you want to try it out too?" he asked with a toothy grin "If your skill from being a Selector carries over, I'm sure you'll get the hang of things in no time."

"I'll pass."

The Nova Grappler user blinked in confusion as he watched Kiyoi rise up from her chair before leaving the kitchen at once, wanting to be alone by herself for the moment.

"What did I say?" he pondered as he looked back to the others, wondering if he had upset her somehow.

"Perhaps you stirred some bad memories of her time as Piruluk," Yuki murmured "Other than that, it didn't sound like you intended to provoke her."

Ruko simply looked down at the girl of black, now realizing that aside from knowing the identity of the former blue LRIG, Kamui had not told any of them about Kiyoi herself or everything she had been through to reach this point. She gazed at the exit to the kitchen, worried if she was going to be alright at this point before gazing back to the pile of cards that Sharlene and Kamui had dug out of the drawer for her.

"You said I was a few triggers short..." she murmured "But with all those different markings, even if I'm accounted for Heal Triggers like you say, I'm not sure which ones to choose. I'm not even sure how any of them work anyway."

"Would it be alright if I acqaint you with the rules before you reconstruct your deck?" asked Kai.

The Selector nodded in response to his request before looking ahead just in time for her to catch something that Sharlene had thrown to her which was wrapped up into a single roll. She then unfurled it to see that it was a double sided playmat that was suitable for the game of Cardfight Vanguard as evidenced by the various circles and zones laid out. Clearing enough space on the table to lay it out, the Kagero user handed her all of her cards together along with both Bringer of Good Luck, Epona and Flogal.

"Before a fight begins, each fighter chooses a Grade 0 card from their deck and places it down on the Vanguard circle."

Ruko gazed at the mat for a moment, unsure of which circle exactly Kai was telling her about until she noticed that compared to the five yellow circles she could see, two of them appeared to have a different design. The first was a single green coloured circle in the center of the playmat and much like the side she was occupying for familiarizing herself with the game. Taking ahold of Tama's Level 0 form, now as a Grade 0 card, she placed it face down onto a circle with six triangular points and looked back at Kai who nodded in response, leaving her to sigh in relief that she was following along so far.

"Next after each fighter has finished shuffling their deck," he continued "They draw five cards to make their opening hand and are given one chance to shuffle any back into the deck and draw the same amount before the fight begins."

"Though you'd usually want to start with cards whose Grades are at least 1 through 3," Kamui interjected "Unless you want a bad hand like a certain 'Lose-umi'."

"R... right," Ruko murmured as she initially took Tama's remaining forms and a random card from out of the pile of cards beside the playmat before showing them to the Nova Grappler user "When you say at least Grades 1 through 3, you mean something like this right?"

"That would correct," Kai replied "After both fighters are prepared, they Stand up their Vanguard and their imaged selves become that of their starting units."

Ruko then looked back to Tama's Grade 0 card that she had laid face down a few moments ago before tapping both of her fingers on top of it, preparing for the 'tutorial' that Kai was now guiding her through.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" she called as she turned Tama's card face up.

"Tama stands!" Tama cheered in encouragement.

"At the start of each turn, each player draws a card," Kai spoke "Then if they have a card in their hand whose Grade is at least one greater than their current Vanguard, they can Ride it as their new Vanguard. For this example, you can Ride Tama's Grade 1 self over her Grade 0 form."

"Right..." Ruko said as she took ahold of the card and did the exact action "I Ride Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko."

"Just keep in mind whoever goes first can't attack then," said Kamui "Also, do you see those five circles to the side and behind your Vanguard? If you have any units whose Grades are equal or less than your Vanguard, you can call them there during your main phase."

The Selector nodded once, showing that she was slowly understanding how the general flow of the game was going so far.

"And as the Vanguard's Grade goes up, I can call stronger rear-guards?" she asked.

"That's right," Kai answered "Next, we'll move onto battle. Do you notice anything about the position of Tama's card now?"

"It's upright," Ruko murmured before something then clicked in her head "Wait a minute... is this similar to the states of down and up and how they work in Wixoss?"

"More or less, exactly the same," the Kagero user replied "Here, they are referred to as Stand for upright and Rest for sideways. You turn one of those units in your front row to attack your opponent's Vanguard to deal damage or one of their front row rear-guards to force them to retire."

He then reached out into one of his pockets and took out the card named Iron Tail Dragon before placing it down on the Vanguard circle on the opposite end of the playmat.

"I see now..." the Selector breathed, the flow no longer seeming as alien to her as she originally assumed "I attack Iron Tail Dragon!"

"Keep in mind, whenever your Vanguard declares an attack, you reveal the top card of your deck and add it to your hand," Kai explained "If the card has any of the four Trigger markings you've seen, you can give one of your units +5000 and you apply a secondary effect depending on the type. Otherwise, nothing happens and the battle continues as normal."

Ruko then looked over to the pile of cards to the side of the playmat, her gaze focused on the four triggers that were at the top now. Taking ahold of them, she looked at each one closely, trying to get an idea of how each one worked.

"Let's see..." she said "Draw... does this mean I draw 1 card?"

"You got that right!" Kamui replied with a thumbs up.

"Right. And for Stand... I can Stand a unit?" she asked.

"Almost there," he said "You can only use that effect to Stand rested rear-guards, but that means they can wage another attack."

Ruko nodded, now fully understanding at least half of the four Trigger types and what each of them did individually. From Kai's description, it appeared that were some element of luck that was involved if she even hoped to set any of them off in a cardfight. Putting down Flogal and Bow's cards back onto the pile that was her in-progress reconstruction of her Tama deck, she looked back to Elaine and Epona's cards.

"Heal... I'm guessing that has something to do with damage as Kai said..."

"Yes," Sharlene said happily as she came over "You can use that to send a card that's already in your Damage Zone to your Drop Zone, but only if you have equal or more damage than your opponent. The Critical Trigger can give any of your units an extra Critical so they deal more damage when their attack hits the Vanguard."

"Alright, I think I get it now," Ruko said, breathing in to calm herself "So what happens when your Vanguard takes damage?"

"When your Vanguard is damaged, you reveal cards from the top of your deck equal to that unit's Critical," Kai answered "It works in the same sense as a drive check, in that any Triggers you reveal will also activate then, but the cards you reveal are put into your Damage Zone. If there are six cards there, the fight is over."

"Which brings us to guarding!" Kamui called "Do you see the Shield values on the sides of most of your cards?"

The Selector gazed down at all of her cards, noticing that most of them indeed had a Shield value, with most of them being 5000 with only the Triggers that weren't Draw Triggers having Shield values of 10000. That was when she noticed that Seeker, Plume Wall Angel and Flash Shield, Isuelt each had golden Shield symbols on the sides of their cards, each with a 0 marked on them.

"When any of your units are attacked, you can call cards from your hand whose Grades are equal to or less than your Vanguard's to defend for that battle," the Nova Grappler user explained "That green circle, the Guardian circle, is where you call your Guardians. After the battle ends, they all move to the drop zone."

"So all of her units can defend in one way unlike the Servants," Yuki murmured, holding up a hand to her chin "An interesting way nonetheless."

"Finally, we'll cover onto the basic 'abilities' of certain units," said Kai "Do you notice the small hexagons beneath the Grade numbers of each of your units?"

"I see them," Ruko replied "What do they do?"

"The icon you can see on Grade 0 and 1 units allows them to boost an attacking unit in the same column from the back row by resting them and adding their power to that same unit," he explained "Grade 2 units have the ability to Intercept from the front row and act as Guardians for defending your Vanguard. Finally, Grade 3 Vanguards from what I can see of Tama's Grade 4 form have the ability to conduct two drive checks when attacking. That's known as a Twin Drive."

"That's why onii-chan called it a variant when he copied Daikaiser..." the Selector murmured, recalling that battle freshly for a moment "Thank you very much."

Before anyone could say anything else, the sound of a rumbling noise immediately came from Kamui's direction as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I guess I'm a bit starved," he said, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

"Then again, we haven't eaten all afternoon even after we got sucked in," Ruko replied.

"Leave it to us," Jillian interjected "We'll get dinner ready for all of us pretty soon. We can worry about sorting out your deck after that."

The Selector smiled kindly in response, acknowledging the older twin's offer for dinner as she watched her and Sharlene head over to the far side of the kitchen to start preparing for then. Despite feeling somewhat homesick earlier along with the concern for her friends along with her brother and grandmother back in her home world, she was happier to be in the company of those that Kai and Kamui could trust well. And now thanks to them, she was beginning to gain an understanding of the game they loved in this world and the one that held its own ties to the Planet Cray itself. Now that she thought about her family though, her expression had dropped a little.

"Do you think mother is still out there?" she asked, turning to the Kagero user.

"Even if Miyako is not on this island, I have no doubt she may be somewhere within this world because of that vortex," he replied grimly "And if she is... then whoever is nearby is already in grave danger."

* * *

**?**

Within a large forest clearing, smoke poured from the ground as a large crater had been formed from the impact of whoever or whatever had landed right into that particular spot with great force. When the dust eventually settled down, only the crackling sound of the earth itself was registered in the air by any nearby wildlife that was within the area. Then without warning, a certain metallic hand suddenly burst from out of the large hole and clamped straight onto the edge of the crater as its bearer immediately hauled herself out with a mighty yell before jumping out and landing on her damaged boots. Miyako was beyond angry as the gemstone of her metal hand was cracked and sparking as a result of the damage sustained.

"Curse you and humanity to the depths of purgatory... Kai Toshiki...!" she hissed.

She then tried to activate the gemstone in order to re-establish contact with Mayu and the remaining Star-vaders to inform her of her predicament, only for nothing to happen in response. A rustling sound then caught her attention as she then turned around and flexed her hand like a claw, preparing to strike whoever dared to approach her.

"Calm yourself, you took quite a fall from my observation."

"Show yourself," she growled, clearly not in the mood for being swayed by the calm tone of the new arrival.

"Where are my manners? You should know who I am first."

And with that, the man within the shadows eventually brought himself into the pale moonlight that was cast over the forest glade. He fiddled with his glasses for a brief instance before bowing.

"My name is Morris Pennyworth," he introduced himself "I work for the services of the Serra family and we have quite the interest in the 'other' world you hail from."

"Speak your peace, quickly," Miyako growled as she approached him slowly.

"I simply have a mutual interest," Morris spoke with a calm smile "I only wish to learn of these... happenings occurring to cardfighters across this world and I believe you may be a valuable asset."

The woman simply glared closely at him, bothered that he was not cowering before her presence as she anticipated.

"And what can you provide that I simply cannot take?"

"Why... the possible repairs for that metal hand of yours, seeing how important it appears to you," he answered "With the welfare acquired over the years by my master, I'm certain that would be a definite possibility."

"Very well then... Morris," she spoke resolutely before grabbing his right shoulder "It would seem that you would have an agreement. But once these 'repairs' are complete, I am to continue on my own. Is that understood?"

"Naturally," Morris replied calmly, not fazed by his right shoulder being clasped by the cold metal "We have a deal, miss."

Miyako then huffed before shoving him to the side as he then immediately led the way for her to exit the forest and to meet with his 'master' face to face. All the while, the butler himself calmly kept his composure as he thought back over the words he had just said before sneering internally to himself.

_For now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! Our second to last batch before we catch up with the FF.net version has finally been done. Once Ride 82 has been completed, one final batch will be released containing the first four chapters of Arc 4 and then, I can finally do simul-uploads to both here and there for future chapters! For now, I hope you've all had a good time with Arc 3 and are looking forward to reading more as the first half of Arc 4 follows Kai and Ruko's journey back into the world of Vanguard where more adventures await them and their companions. Please leave feedback for the story up to its almost recent point so far and I'll see you next chapter!
> 
> **Author's Note** : Just as a slight request, could you also tell me your thoughts on my interpretation of Ruko's mother, Miyako? I understand that she's vastly different from what little we know of her in the canon as in there, she's there as a small bit of world and character building for Ruko's past and here, she's still very much that, but with the twist of being a villain who has her own connections to Mayu. Chaos Breaker and Kai respectively. I would very much like to hear what you guys have to say, good or bad in regards to how I'm handling this AU interpretation of Miyako as of the third arc so far.


	79. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 79: The Power of Imaging I

**Singapore**

As the long night continued to settle over the island state, all was mostly quiet as there were now fewer people amongst the streets of the otherwise busy city. Near the sea on a set of large steps leading towards the water's edge beside a large fish shaped fountain, sat Futase who gazed upon the reflection that was present because of the bright moonlight far above her. She seemed rather strained in her expression, as if she had been conflicted throughout everything she had been doing for Mayu and for not just her own sake, but for others she knew well. She had moved the large strands of Fumio's hair to cover over the metallic lens that covered her left eye, hiding it from sight.

But even with that, just her own visible eye was enough for anyone to tell that she was not alright, no matter how much she chose to deny it to them. Part of the inner turmoil she was feeling was the weight of her own guilt for various reasons, one that Misaki had nearly unearthed during their previous cardfight.

_I don't know why you are doing this, but throughout this fight, I've noticed your conviction seems to waver. You seem uncomfortable with using the cards you have and don't seem certain with what you are doing._

Clenching her teeth at the Genesis user's words, knowing that she had very much hit the nail on her behaviour with what she was doing, Futase could only stare into the distance across the horizon, knowing that this world would eventually bear the brunt of more attacks like the previous one on Foo Fighter. All because of a bounty that Mayu had personally declared on all of the cardfighters and the units they held in retailiation for losing to Aichi and Kai and for their interference in her plans.

"They don't deserve to be involved..." she spoke softly to herself, almost sobbing as a tear trickled down her left cheek from underneath the hidden lens "But if this isn't done... Fumio-san will..."

Moving her hand down towards her neck, she tapped her hand over a new device that had now been fastened around her neck. It appeared in general shape and presumed purpose to be a collar of some kind, imbued with the usual colours found on nearly any Link Joker unit and she knew what that exact purpose was meant to serve for.

_Schwarzschild... Mayu... Is this 'massacre' of Kai's world really necessary?_

"Having second thoughts, are we?"

Silently gasping for a second, Futase immediately turned around and looked up to the top of the large steps to see Ulith standing at the top, sneering as usual as she gazed down upon one of her partners in crime for their coming mission.

"N... not at all..." she replied unconvincingly, her earlier tone having gotten the better of her "I'm just..."

"You know what will happen to Fumio if you disobey Schwarzschild, let alone fail again," the cruel demeanoured Selector replied as she playfully shrugged "Though frankly when the battles begin, I don't really care it's you or your opponents suffer for whatever you do next."

"I know...!" Futase hissed as she glanced down at the collar fastened to her neck "This is all for Fumio's sake! No one else's!"

Ulith simply scoffed in response, keeping her eyes closed before opening them back up and looking out towards the city in front of her. She opened her mouth to deepen her sneer, the temptation to disobey the initial plan and simply go wild on giving her form of entertainment to the unsuspecting cardfighters within Singapore being almost irresistible enough to make her lose her patience.

"Now then, how many of them lie in wait?" she pondered to herself "Which ones out there can make me relish in their screams?"

Futase then got up from the steps she was sitting from and left the cruel demeanoured Selector on her own, wanting to be alone for the time being. She then brought out the deck she had in her pocket and gazed down at Schwarzschild Dragon's card which was at the top.

"That's right..." she breathed "This is for Fumio-san... no-one else."

* * *

**Soryu Island**

On the island that was home to the 'Child of Soryu' and two of the people he could ever consider to be the closest thing he would ever have to a family, the dark blue night was already upon the shores as the tide had eventually covered over a certain pathway that had been traversed earlier in the day. From atop the fortress ruins, once a sanctuary of those that wielded the 'Wind' in ancient times before the sealing of Aqua Force, a harsh breeze had whistled throughout the air, normally bringing a somewhat bitter chill to anyone that would be standing up there, especially at this current hour. Such temperatures however were not ones to easily bother the person who was alone at the very top of the ruins by herself.

Kiyoi was sat on a small rock beside a slightly taller formation, gazing up towards the starry sky and silently contemplating the scenario that she and a few others had found themselves within on this world that was alien to her. After reliving another memory from when Sakaguchi was still alive, she had turned down Kamui's offer to teach her the game of Cardfight Vanguard, much like how he, Kai and Sharlene were helping Ruko at this point. In truth, despite being annoyed at the Nova Grappler user earlier for indirectly disclosing the girl's death to Remember's hands without her consent, she knew that he wasn't the reason she had decided to be on her own for the time being.

_Why did I relive that memory...?_ she murmured in her thoughts  _That Selector and those girls are nothing like Sakaguchi... and yet..._

"There you are!"

The former blue LRIG turned around to see that Sharlene had come up to the top of the ruins in her usual happy mood.

"Oh, it's you..." she murmured dryly in her usual monotone "What is it that you want?"

"Eh? Isn't it not wrong to be worried for someone?" the younger twin pondered.

Kiyoi only sighed for a brief instance, having known that the girl in front of her could sometimes be in her own little world when talking with someone, though she knew that Sharlene meant little harm in whatever it was she was saying.

"I presume Katsuragi has already told you about my past and my time as Piruluk," she muttered.

"Well, he did say that you were an LRIG like Tama for nearly a year or something and that you and this 'Remember' that came here as you have a history," Sharlene said whilst pondering over the details "Other than that, he didn't say much else."

"I see..."

Getting up from where she had been sitting, the former blue LRIG gazed at the person standing before her closely, her stern gaze unwavering and seeking out anything about Sharlene that she did not immediately find the least bit suspicious to her. Eventually, after studying the younger twin's befuddled and somewhat confused expression from just now, she could silently confirm that she was telling the truth at least.

"Where is he now?" she asked.

"He's helping Ruko put one of her decks back together," Sharlene replied happily "Jillian's still keeping dinner warm if you're feeling hungry."

Kiyoi then closed her eyes and rose up from the rock she had been sitting atop, a decision having come to her mind at this point as she walked past the younger twin who simply stared at her.

_I suppose watching... would not be a waste._

* * *

Meanwhile within the kitchen space, everyone else had finally finished up dinner and previously turned their attention back to the slight dilemma that they had at hand before them. And that very task was for Ruko to decide on what cards she would choose to use in reassembling her two decks. Looking back through all of the transformed cards she previously had in her two decks, the Selector soon had no trouble in deciding which cards she would wield from the many units for Tama for the time being, until she was certain she could get used to the many twists and turns the game of Vanguard would have to offer her. Whilst Kamui was busy helping her with her choices from the selection that Jillian and Sharlene had available to them, Kai watched the pair closely along with the real Tama and Yuki.

The Kagero user's gaze although not sharp, was somewhat serious as he knew that if they were going to encounter any of Mayu's associates who had previously attacked his world, Ruko would have to be ready to defend herself in the event of another attack planned by the mastermind of the Selector Battles. Held in his right hand was the Kagero deck he had modified and battled with throughout his time in the Selector Battles, after previously losing his Perdition deck when Takuto had summoned him to that world. On top was Dragonic Overlord's card which he turned his trail of sight upon once more for another time this night.

"You're thinking about Overlord after the battle, aren't you."

Kai then turned to Yuki who had chosen to voice her presumption on why he was in somewhat of a state after the previous battle with Miyako before they were all sucked back into his world inadvertently from Ayumu's efforts to prevent her from escaping.

"I sensed that I haven't completely regained Overlord's trust in me, no doubt from what happened previously with Noriko and Aichi," he answered "I imagine it must have much to think about now that it has returned to Dragon Empire."

"Tama feels bad about Ru though," the girl of white spoke "Kai knows... about Ru's mother."

After a mere few moments of silence however, Kai clenched his open right fist as memories of the previous battle began flashing through his head again. He knew deep down he could hardly forgive the woman for her treatment and views of both Ruko and Ayumu, seeing them as nothing more than disposable pawns for her schemes and even having no qualms with leaving her own daughter to die as the truth behind the incident six years ago had proved. But that was not what had angered the Kagero user the most as he reflected over everything that transpired previously. Miyako not only had the gall to try and manipulate his feelings with memories of his parents when they were still alive, but also reveal that she had bigger plans for him had he continued down his path of Reverse, even going as far as offering him the 'sanctuary' of a new family in exchange.

Then there was the matter of Chaos Breaker having a hand in the creation of the Selector Battles in the form they were today, after the Void had made contact with Mayu's spirit when she had died according to the woman's story. With how long Miyako had been serving the mastermind behind them for, he couldn't help but wonder if the Clown had come to him during his seclusion in Reverse for this reason or something else that he still had no knowledge about.

_Just how long have you known about me?_ he muttered within his mind as he closed his eyes.

"Looks like you're sorted for Tama now!"

Upon hearing Kamui's voice, Kai broke out of his trail of thought and looked back to the table ahead of him to see him and Ruko finish sorting out the finishing touches to the deck she wielded around Tama.

"Thank you very much Kamui," she said "I just hope this all works out."

"No problem!" he replied with a grin "Do you want to try it out now or start work on that other deck?"

The Selector then looked down at the deck she held in her right hand with the card Tama, New Moon Miko at the very top before gazing to Yuki's cards and the remainder of the cards that she used as the deck around her in Wixoss, feeling unsure of what to do next.

"I don't mind you willing to test the changes to your first deck," Yuki spoke as she looked to her "Perhaps a personal experience might help you in understanding how deck construction works in this world."

"Yuki..."

Feeling like a burden had been lifted from her shoulders, Ruko nodded in response as she looked over to Kai who rose from his seat and walked over towards her. Initially, it seemed that the Selector's first opponent in Vanguard had been decided until...

"I'll be your opponent."

She and Kamui then turned around in slight surprise to see that Jillian had returned back into the room with her own deck in hand, proclaiming the sudden challenge to her at this very moment.

"I'm interested to see what one of those LRIGs can do," she said "If the people behind the attack on Foo Fighter show up again, we all need to be ready to keep our units safe from them."

"S... Sure," Ruko replied, still somewhat surprised from the sudden challenge that was given to her.

Eventually after clearing some space from the large table and acquiring a playmat to use for the fight, both of them had already began the necessary preparations for them to start the fight. The Selector, although feeling a little disoriented at first, immediately recalled everything that had been taught to her and set the one card she knew would be her starting Vanguard. As the two of them were preparing their starting hands, Kiyoi and Sharlene came into the kitchen with the latter immediately joining Kai and Kamui at the side of the table.

"They're starting already?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kai replied "With this... Ruko's test in utilizing Tama in the realm of Vanguard has truly begun."

"Battle Ru!" Tama cheered "Tama's with you!"

With the girl of white's encouragement acknowledged, Ruko smiled kindly back in response before turning back to face Jillian who was gazing down at the cards she held before she returned her gaze.

"You ready for this?" she asked.

"I am!" Ruko called as they reached out for the cards they laid as her starting Vanguard.

"Stand Up, Vanguard!"

Within moments, it had not taken long for the two of them to image themselves on the surface of the Planet Cray in one of the many rocky plains that made up a majority of its landmass. Although the Selector felt somewhat disoriented at first from imaging herself in an actual cardfight for the first time, let alone as Tama in her initial appearance and dress, she immediately regained her focus and called out the name of the girl of white's Grade 0 form.

"Tama, New Moon Miko!"

Looking across the battlefield, she could see a short humanoid figure with greenish blue hair and eyes dressed in what appeared to be a white naval uniform of some kind. The short Aquaroid carried a large firearm that was much larger in length than even his own height as it glanced over towards his opponent. Jillian called out the name of the unit she had chosen to begin with as her facial features became present through the image Ruko was seeing.

"Blue Storm Cadet, Marios!"

As everyone else in the kitchen gazed onto the table as the fight was beginning, Sharlene could not help but ponder in confusion in regards towards the particular unit her older twin was using.

_Marios...?_ she murmured in her thoughts  _I don't remember Jillian using that before..._

"I'll go first then," Jillian spoke as she drew her single card "Ride, Wheel Assault!"

After placing the card down on top of Marios, she immediately took ahold of the other card and placed it onto the rear-guard circle that was directly behind the unit that was now her current Vanguard. Ruko blinked for a moment, having been caught off guard by this sudden maneuver.

"Huh...?" she pondered "How did she...?"

"Marios, much like most Grade 0 units have an ability known as Forerunner," Kai interjected "By riding a unit of the same clan on top, she can call Marios to any of the five rear-guard circles to have it support her units' attacks or act as an extra attacker itself."

"I see..." the Selector murmured, looking back at Tama's card on her Vanguard circle  _Tama doesn't have the Forerunner ability herself... but something feels..._

"Turn end."

Upon looking back to Jillian who had announced the end of her turn, Ruko immediately focused her attention back onto the fight itself as she gazed over to the older twin's units. She knew all about Aqua Force's capabilities from watching her grandmother battle Leon previously and given how that had managed to help him attain victory then, she knew she couldn't take her opponent lightly. Drawing her first card and looking amongst it and the other five she held, the Selector could only ponder on what she could do next.

_I don't have Tama's Grade 1 form, but if I don't Ride now, I'll just be trailing behind..._ she muttered in her thoughts  _All I can do is hope I can get back to her later on!_

"What's wrong Ruko?"

Upon hearing Yuki's voice, she looked back to the LRIG who was gazing upon her along with everyone else watching from the sidelines, minus Kiyoi who was out of sight from her.

"This isn't like you to hesitate apprehensively," the girl of black stated "Just go with what you believe is right."

"Battle, Ru!" Tama called.

"I got it!" she replied as she picked out one card from her hand and placed it right down on top of Tama's own "Ride!"

On the imaged battlefield, a brilliant light enveloped the Selector as Tama's form disappeared and in the girl of white's place, Ruko now stood as a different figure with blue coloured hair and wielding a large wooden shield above her head. She mustered up as much of a determined expression as she could get in order to shake off the worst of her intial worries of her situation.

"Round, Small Shield!"

**Round, Small Shield/Grade 1/Boost/POW: 6000/SLD: 5000/?/United Sanctuary/War Spirit: Arm**

After finishing her Ride, Ruko then looked down to Tama's card, having remembered seeing something on it when she was reassembling her deck with Kamui's assistance.

"Um... with Tama's second skill," she spoke "Since I didn't ride another Tama, I can call her to the rear-guard like you did with Marios!"

Back on the image within both her's and Jillian's minds, Tama reappeared alongside Round as she jumped for joy from being called back into battle. Shortly afterwards, the white SIGNI Bow, Shooting Bow appeared on the field behind the LRIG, priming her weapon for battle.

"Here I come, Jillian!" Ruko called as Round leaped into the air and hurled her shield towards Wheel Assault.

Effortlessly, the Aquaroid held out both of his blades out in front, blocking the assault of the shield itself with the greatest of ease as it stood its ground. Upon regaining her senses in reality, the Selector quietly gasped in confusion as to why this was happening, given that Jillian had not called a guardian to defend for Wheel Assault.

"You might want to take a closer look," she said.

As Ruko glanced down to the table, she immediately cringed upon realizing her early mistake. Round's power was only 6000 and with at least 1000 more, Wheel Assault was easily fending off her attack for the moment.

"T... that wasn't part of the plan..." she winced "But at least I have Tama's attack next."

"That's true," said Jillian "But seeing as I have no intention of guarding anyway, aren't you forgetting something Ruko?"

"Ah yes!" the Selector replied as she looked to her deck "Drive Check!"

And with that, she picked up and turned over the top card of her deck, revealing it as Tama, Silver Screen Miko. Although it sadly was not a trigger to allow her attack to deal any damage, Ruko was at least relieved that she had a card that would allow her to have Tama as the Vanguard again later on in the fight. Back on the imaged battlefield, Wheel Assault knocked back the shield and sliced it into pieces with the two blades that he carried, bringing up a cloud of smoke that vanished shortly after a few moments.

"Come at me!" Jillian's voice echoed.

"Let's go Tama!" Ruko called as she looked to the girl of white to her left.

"Now it's Tama's turn!" 'Tama' replied.

Assuming that the voice she heard now was from the real Tama giving her view on the fight so far influencing her image in a way, the Selector smiled as she then looked back to Wheel Assault on the far side of the plain.

"With Bow's boost, Tama attacks!" she declared.

The LRIG was then enveloped in a bright aura as she then ran across the battlefield towards Wheel Assault who remained motionless as she came closer and closer. With a mighty cry, Tama leapt into the air and landed a hard kick on the Aquaroid, knocking him back a little. Back in the kitchen, Jillian smiled a little, feeling somewhat happier that Ruko was at least starting to get the hang of the game thus far.

"Not the best of starts, but damage is still damage," she replied as she revealed her first damage as Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros.

"Tama did it!" Tama cheered "Tama got Ru's first damage through!"

"She does realize that it was an imaged version of her that did it, right?" Kamui murmured offhandedly.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Yuki replied "If anything, I'm beginning to see what the meaning was in that lesson of imaging Aichi had given Ruko."

Kai said nothing in response, instead choosing to focus on observing Ruko's performance for the remainder of the fight. In truth, he knew it was still too early to judge on her skills thus far, but it appeared that things were progressing smoothly despite a rough start so far. Jillian then immediately started her next turn as she drew her card and looked towards Ruko.

"You're not doing badly yourself," she spoke "But this is where I get serious now!" She then took ahold of two of her cards and threw them towards the table. "Ride and call!"

Back on the battlefield, a torrent of water rose up around Tidal Assault until he vanished from the battlefield as a new blade cut away at the column, revealing the new unit she rode. It was Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault, just as Ruko had previously recognized from Leon's own deck and appearing to the unit's left was Tidal Assault, another unit the Selector was also acquainted with.

"Tidal Assault attacks!" Jillian called.

Through her image of Round, Ruko could only watch helplessly as Tidal Assault summoned a large wave of water that came roaring towards her. Bracing herself for the worst, the Aquaroid then leapt into the air and slashed down one of his two blades upon her. An afterimage of the card, Arc Tlet, Iron Fist, flew past her as she winced in the fact that she did not manage to acquire a trigger at this point.

"I stand Tidal Assault and attack again!"

**Tidal Assault/POW: 9000 - 4000**

Immediately after the roaring wave had dispersed, Tidal Assault immediately lunged towards Round again as she manifested a shield in front of him to block the attack with ease. Not concerned with the result, the Aquaroid retreated immediately as Tempest Blader primed both of his blades in preparation for combat. Ruko on the other hand was confused as to why Tidal Assault attacked again when he couldn't her or even Tama for that matter.

"Next, Tempest Assault!" Jillian continued.

"I guard with Epona!" the Selector called as she placed down the card on the Guardian circle.

"Alright, Ru's blocked it!" Tama cheered.

"No..." Yuki muttered, causing the girl of white to turn to her in confusion.

Upon hearing her two LRIGs, Ruko tensed up a little as she assessed the situation, wondering if she had already made another mistake right now after her previous blunder on the last turn. She then looked back up to Jillian who was already in the midst of starting her drive check.

"There's nothing inherently wrong with playing defensively," she said "But if you spend too much time defending early on, you won't have enough cards leftover to survive my later attacks. And when guarding against the Vanguard, you also need to take any possibilities into account for you and your opponent."

And with that, she flipped over the top card of her deck, revealing Blue Storm Soldier, Missile Trooper.

"Critical Trigger! I give both effects to my Vanguard!"

Upon gasping for a moment, Ruko within her image of Round could only stare up at Tempest Assault as he slashed past Epona with his left blade before landing down right in front of her, slashing down with the other blade it carried in the result. Crying in pain for a moment, the SIGNI stumbled backwards across the plain, just as the Selector herself fumbled a little backwards in the kitchen.

"Hey, you okay?!" called Kamui.

"Just a little shaken...!" she replied as she regained her focus "Damage check!"

Ruko then immediately revealed the first card as Flash Shield, Isuelt before moving it straight to her damage zone where Arc Tlet already was. She then reached out for her deck upon remembering the effects of the trigger itself before turning over the card. This time, she had managed to obtain Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine as it flashed brightly for a moment.

"Heal Trigger," she murmured "The power won't help... but at least I can recover one damage."

Whilst Kamui, Sharlene and Tama watched the Selector anxiously, hoping her confidence had not been shaken after the setbacks she had been through so far, Kiyoi from where she was standing on her own simply glanced at Jillian's table. She knew there had to be a reason that the older twin had made the second attack with Tidal Assault on purpose when her trigger could have ensured that it would have enough power to attack either Round or Tama again, assuming that Ruko had not decided to guard then.

"Marios' skill," she spoke "When the boosted attack hits and it's the third battle or later, look at 5 cards from the top of my deck..."

Upon picking up the top five cards of her deck, she gazed at each one of them left to right, her eyes immediately became focused on one card as she immediately shuffled back four of them straight back to where they had come from.

"Four return to the deck," she continued as she picked up the card she had chosen and slowly turned it around until it was revealed to everyone "And I add this to my hand!"

Upon seeing the very card that was picked, whilst Ruko had gasped that Jillian already managed to secure herself a Grade 3 to ride to in the next turn, the card itself however was a surprise to both Kamui and Sharlene. The name of the card she had added to her hand was Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom, a unit that was normally associated with someone else the twins were close with. Although he wasn't shocked like them, even Kai could not help but be slightly curious as to why the older twin had this particular card in her deck now, considering who had used it. That was, until he recalled something earlier from his time in the other world after Aichi and the rest of the group had arrived there in their search for him.

"Maelstrom?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"But... why isn't it with Leon...?" Sharlene murmured.

"I believe I know."

Everyone then turned to the Kagero user as he voiced out his opinion, believing he had found out the reason as to why this seemingly confusing scenario was the case.

"When we returned to my apartment in that other world on the night Aichi battled Ulith, we all inspected each other's decks," he spoke "Given that Leon mentioned he had his reasons for not bringing Maelstrom, would I be correct to assume that he entrusted you with protecting it, Jillian?"

Jillian nodded in response, confirming Kai's reasoning to be true as she began to recollect the time in which Leon had entrusted her with safekeeping Maelstrom.

**Flashback**

On the night before Aichi and his group departed for the other world in their search for Kai, not knowing the battle that all of them were about to step into, Leon was glancing over the cards he had whilst he was in the midst of rebuilding his deck. He knew that there had to be a reason behind Takuto's capture and why he initially intended to summon the Royal Paladin user to his aid, otherwise he wouldn't have been the first person to contact through his PSY Qualia. Jillian saw that her companion was deep in thought over the whole scenario and the only thing that made her more anxious about it was that there was no telling how long it would take for him to return with both Kai and the Cray being in tow from the other world.

Sharlene was absent from their hotel room, having wanted to be busy polishing up her cardfighting skills for the time they had within Japan before they would start their 'watch duty' back from the island, awaiting to see if their mission was successful within the following two weeks after Leon's departure, leaving the older twin alone with their companion. Wanting to clear her doubts, she quietly cleared her throat before choosing to speak up.

"Is everything alright Leon-sama?" she asked.

Upon hearing her, Leon stood up from the small desk he was seated at and turned to Jillian. As she could easily tell, he had his serious gaze and with everything that had been happening around this point in time, who could blame him for feeling the way he was.

"Jillian, can I trust you with a favour in my absence?"

Blinking for a moment, Jillian could only nod once, having not expected Leon to ask something of her given the current circumstances. But with his departure the day after, she knew that it had to be important and going back on this promise would not be an answer he could take. The Aqua Force user then dug into his pocket, taking out a handful of cards and holding them out to the older twin. He looked back at her, as if he was expecting her to take them.

"Maelstrom?" she breathed "But... this is one of your key units...! I can't just take it from you if you're heading out for some other world!"

"I'm not asking for you to simply take it," he replied calmly "I'm asking for you to keep it safe until my return. If anything happens to me and the enemy that has captured Takuto comes to our world, then I need someone I can trust to keep a majority of Aqua Force safe from harm."

Initially, Jillian felt very hesitant at first, knowing that Maelstrom was one of her friend's strongest units and simply taking it from him just didn't feel right then. But after carefully listening to his reasoning along with the knowledge that there was no telling how long it would be until he and Aichi returned from the other world with Kai and Takuto, she eventually slowly reached out with her right hand, to which Leon then handed the cards over to her.

"You can count on me Leon-sama!" she called "I'll keep Maelstrom safe until you return!"

He smiled warmly, happy that the older twin was willing to take up such a responsibility for the duration of his mission to find Kai and Takuto and uncover more about the conflict that was ongoing in the other world.

**Present**

All had fallen silent within the kitchen itself, now that the clarification for Jillian having Maelstrom in her possession had been cleared up, Kamui and Sharlene were no longer confused as they were earlier. If anything, they were now only a little surprised that Leon willingly left the unit behind for her to protect in the midst of his mission in the other world.

"With this... it will be as if Ruko is fighting Leon himself," Yuki murmured.

"Ru..." Tama pondered in concern.

For the time being, the kitchen atmosphere remained silent as Ruko glanced down at her field, assessing the dire situation she had found herself in at the start. Then upon lifting her head to face Jillian once more, she was smiling. It was certainly her usual smile, but there seemed to be something different about it in regards to the fight itself. She could feel her empty right hand trembling, but at the same time it wasn't out of fear. Kiyoi glanced closely upon noticing this, wondering what it was that was causing the Selector to feel this way.

"So... this is Vanguard..." she breathed as she regained her composure "This is the game of Kai's world..."

Looking back to the Kagero user himself, he simply glanced back at her with his usual serious expression.

"I don't know why but... I think I'm starting to understand why I'm feeling this way now."

"You have found your reason then," he spoke.

She then nodded once before turning her attention back to the fight and drawing her next card to begin the fourth turn. Her previous Heal Trigger had lessened the gap between her and Jillian, but even she knew that this wasn't simply going to be an easy battle. Upon seeing what card it was that she drew, she looked back to her two LRIGs who blinked for an instance.

"Tama, let's fight together now!" she called.

"Nyah!" Tama cheered.

"Here I come Jillian!" the Selector declared as she immediately placed down her drawn card onto Round's own ."Ride!"

In a brilliant flash of white light, Round vanished from the imaged battlefield of the Planet Cray before Ruko re-emerged in the form of Tama once again, only this time with the pair of boots each having a white coloured wing that hung off from the top. She landed on her feet as she took up a fighting stance in preparation to go head to head with both Jillian and Tempest Assault.

"Tama, Half Moon Miko!"

**Tama, Half Moon Miko/Grade 2/Intercept/POW: 9000/SLD: 5000/?/United Sanctuary/Human;LRIG**

Through the image of the Aquaroid, Jillian could not help but silently question the sudden burst of energy that the Selector had to put her in such a mood, especially in this stage of the fight. Back in the kitchen, she blinked for an instance as she watched her chatting a little with Tama in regards to the successful ride, much to her slight exasperation on the girl of white's excitedness on the subject.

_You really have found an interesting person over in that other world Kai_ she muttered her thoughts  _I wonder if she's really gotten the hang of things now._

"Call!" Ruko declared as she placed down Brionac, Medium Spear and a second Round, Small Shield onto her rear-guard circles.

On the imaged battlefield, two brilliant lights summoned the War Arm SIGNI alongside the Selector herself, the other Tama she already had from the beginning and Bow who all turned to her, awaiting her command to continue the fight.

"Brionac attacks Tidal Assault!" she called.

Brionac ran across the battlefield with her spear in tandem glowing a bright blue as she rushed over towards her target, Tidal Assault. As she leapt into the air and was about to slash down on the seemingly defenceless Aquaroid when a new figure came between them to intercept the attack. The figure was a mermaid as evidence by her half-humanoid and half-fish tailed appearance and she wielded what appeared to be a pair of dishes as a means for defending against the War Arm SIGNI.

"Mallika guards!" Jillian's voice echoed.

Although slightly annoyed from her first attack of the turn failing again, Ruko was still in high spirits as she then turned her attention towards Tempest Assault, deciding to focus her next attack against the other Aquaroid.

"Tama attacks your Vanguard with Round's boost!" she declared as she gained a white aura around her.

**Tama, Half Moon Miko/POW: 9000 - 15000**

Tempest Assault simply remained motionless as evidenced by Jillian's unwavering gaze through the image as she contemplated her options before making a decision.

"No guard," she spoke.

Back in the kitchen, Ruko then immediately flipped over the top card of her deck and placed it just a little in front of the pile itself face up for everyone to see. Upon seeing what it was herself, she felt a little more uplifted that things were seemingly starting to go her way now. The card she pulled was in fact a second copy of Bow with everyone being aware of what it would now do.

"Draw Trigger!" the Selector called as she drew her single card "Power to my rear-guard Tama!"

Back within the imagined battlefield, Ruko as Tama manifested a solid blade of light using the aura she had gained from Round's earlier boost as she dashed towards Tempest Assault and Jillian for an inevitable clash. Immediately, she and the older twin were swinging at one another, hoping to overpower the other as neither one was seemingly able to break this stalemate. Eventually though, the Selector had managed to parry away one blade away enough for her to knock away the other and slash past the Aquaroid, finally dealing another point of damage.

Jillian then revealed the top card of her deck as a second copy of Blue Storm Battle Princess, Electra with no trigger effects being present to help her prolong another attack. Upon seeing what was before her, Ruko began to carefully consider her options, knowing that the older twin was bound to ride Maelstrom in the next turn and she would have to think about what to do right now.

_If Jillian's using the same strategy as Leon, she's aiming to reach the fourth battle for a skill to go off..._ she murmured as she reached out for the other Tama that was still on her front left rear-guard circle.  _In that case..._

"My other Tama attacks Tidal Assault!"

"Missile Trooper!" the older twin responded, placing the card down on the Guardian circle "I'm not letting you shut off the way to the fourth battle that easily."

Despite the outcome not being as she wanted, Ruko was still happy in that she managed to force some Shield out of Jillian's hand if it meant making it difficult to defend against either dealing damage to her Vanguard or mowing down the rear-guards to make it difficult to land the fourth attack on each of her turns. Kai simply gazed at the Selector, having observed the fight closely since the beginning. He smiled upon seeing that she had managed to gain control of her earlier nerves and was seemingly starting to make some progress in fighting back against the might of the Blue Storm armada.

"Turn end," she spoke.

**End of Turn 4**

**Ruko vs Jillian**

**Hand - 4 : 3**

**Soul - 1 : 1**

**Damage - 2 : 2**

**Front Rows : Tama, New Moon Miko - Tama, Half Moon Miko (VG) - Brionac, Medium Spear : Tidal Assault - Blue Storm Soldier, Tempest Assault (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows: Bow, Shooting Bow - Round, Small Shield - EMPTY : EMPTY - Blue Storm Cadet, Marios - EMPTY**

As Jillian stood all of her units back up and drew her next card, she immediately looked to Maelstrom that she had been holding onto since the last turn. She still felt unsure of using it so carefreely, given that Leon himself had given her the strict task of protecting it and the Blue Storm armada until he had returned from the world that her opponent came from. The older twin then immediately cast her doubt away as she faced Ruko head on once again.

"You're doing good so far," she said "But from here on out, I'll show you no mercy in the presence of one of Leon-sama's prized units!"

"I'm looking forward to it, Jillian!" the Selector replied with a somewhat excited smile as she watched her opponent hold the card high into the air.

"Behold! Wash away all vice in the flow of furious flood. Its name is righteousness!" she declared before placing the card down on top of Tempest Blader. "Ride! Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom!"

As this was happening, Kiyoi's gaze had then became transfixed on the fight before her that she didn't realize until a few seconds later that her surroundings had seemingly changed in a flash of light. When she opened her eyes once more, she blinked to find herself as nothing more than an Astral spirit, unknowingly having imaged herself onto the Planet Cray in the midst of her closely watched observation. Looking to her left, still in disbelief from the sight that she had seemingly conjured up, the former blue LRIG could see a column of water erupting from the ground as the shadow of a great beast began to rise with a loud roar to follow on as the water dispersed to reveal the unit known as Maelstrom.

The Tear Dragon's body was mostly composed of light blue colours with a hint of purplish coloured scales and a pair of wings that did not seem natural or organic to its own body. The attachments that the wings were fixed to each had a large barrel with multiple hexagon shape openings, indicating that it was a weapon that the Vice Admiral of the Blue Storm armada and the Aqua Force clan itself would use in battle.

**Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 11000/SLD: 0/Aqua Force/Magallanica/Tear Dragon**

Immediately, two more units appeared onto the battlefield, each looking vastly differently from the other. The first unit appeared to look like a shark of some sore with multiple barreled artillery attached to its underbelly. The other one was an Aquaroid that appeared to be standing atop a hovercraft of some kind as it hovered above a swirling portion of water that manifested beneath him.

"With Shark Soldier's skill, Maelstrom's Limit Break is released when I have fewer than 4 damage!" Jillian called.

"So then..." Ruko breathed.

"She can set off a Limit Break without the damage requirement?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"Now Maelstrom can unleash it's power earlier than expected," Yuki interjected "And that's not good for Ruko."

Kai simply kept his gaze upon Ruko for a moment, pondering how she was planning to respond to this situation before looking a little to his left. Upon noticing Kiyoi beside the doorway, still transfixed to the fight itself, he couldn't help but wonder if she was imaging the battle before her without even realizing it. Jillian then reached out for one of the rear-guards she had called.

"Spyros attacks!" she declared.

"Guard!" Ruko replied as she revealed Bow's card from her hand.

"Spyros' Counterblast!" the older twin continued as she turned Electra's card in her damage zone face down "At the end of the first or second attack, it stands! Next, Tidal Assault with a boost from Shark Soldier!"

On the battlefield, Ruko through her image of Tama could only grit her teeth as she braced herself for impact from Tidal Assault's blades once again. The Aquaroid slashed down upon her as she screamed in pain before stumbling backwards. A bright aura enveloped her as an afterimage of the card Bringer of Good Luck, Epona flew past her, powering her up to recover. At the same time, Tidal Assault powered down as a side effect of using his skill to stand.

**Tama, Half Moon Miko/POW: 9000 - 14000**

**Tidal Assault/POW: 9000 - 4000**

Despite that outcome however, he immediately lunged at her again. This time with the added power from her damage trigger, Ruko caught the hilts of the blades, wrestling back against Tidal Assault until she was able to shove him back enough for the Aquaroid to retreat. A loud roar caught her attention as she glanced up to see that Maelstrom was already upon her, preparing to attack next.

"Limit Break!" Jillian declared "Add 5000 power and if the attack hits, draw 1 card and retire one of my opponent's rear-guards!"

The Selector could only grit her teeth as she glanced over the cards in her hand, wondering what to do next as the Tear Dragon already came upon her in an instant. Deciding not to waste any Shield at this point, she hung her head down, preparing for the worst.

"No guard..."

"Twin Drive!" the older twin called revealing the first card "Heal Trigger! Power to Spyros!"

**Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros/POW: 9000 - 14000**

"Second check."

The second card was revealed as Blue Storm Battle Princess, Electra with no further trigger effects available to affect the outcome of the battle in any way. Maelstrom roared loudly as it unleashed a barrage of missiles straight towards Ruko who braced herself for impact as the missiles crashed all around her. The resulting explosions sent her flying straight into the air before crashing back down onto the hard rocky plain. Before she could recover however, a large wave of water suddenly erupted from the ground and spread across the battlefield, knocking her back even further and sweeping away the rear-guard Tama who vanished in a flurry of bright sparks.

"With the Limit Break, your other Tama retires and I draw 1 card!"

But the impact of the wave was far from finished on all of its targets on the battlefield. Kiyoi who was still witnessing the fight thus far and bearing witness to Maelstrom's full power, could only watch as the slightly shortened wall of water immediately swept her up in an instant as well. She immediately caught the edge of the doorway to the kitchen to regain both her senses and balance after becoming disoriented as a result of the image she had unintentionally chose to experience. She then blinked to regain her foresight as she saw Jillian look at the top five cards of her deck.

"Marios' skill," she spoke as she revealed one of them before shuffling the other four back "I add Glory Maelstrom to my hand."

"She's now set up for a Crossride on the next turn!" Kamui muttered.

"That's true," Kai murmured "But Jillian is at two damage. Shark Soldier's skill cannot release an Ultimate Break, therefore she may not ride it immediately unless Ruko can deal her three damage on the next turn."

"You're hanging in there," Jillian spoke as she rested Spyros' card once again "But can you stop this next one?"

"I can!" Ruko replied as she threw down Tama's Grade 1 form onto the Guardian circle.

The older twin smiled, seeing that something as mighty as Maelstrom's Limit Break was clearly not enough to dampen the Selector's spirits in the beginning of the later stages of the fight. Tama cheered loudly upon seeing that she had managed to survive through the five attacks that her opponent had sent her way and was feeling more hopeful that things would look up from here. Yuki glanced up to see that Ruko was turning around to face her.

"Yuki... do you remember that first battle we had, when we thought you were Iona?" she asked.

"I do," the girl of black replied "Back then, before you thought more about the consequences of the Selector Battles and the people getting hurt by them, it seemed like you were having the time of your life. Watching you here now, it seems like that's happening again."

"That's true..." the Selector murmured, thinking back to then "But here... even with the events Kai and the others got caught up with, I think I can see why I'm feeling like this again."

She then closed her eyes as she began to recount various memories she had during and before her time in the Selector Battles, feeling that her experiences up to this point were the influence behind how she was feeling now.

"Before I went into the Selector Battles, I used to worry grandmother and onii-chan from not making any friends and he gave the Wixoss deck containing Tama, hoping I would be able to fit into a crowd of them a little better. Even though I had been close companions with Hitoe and Yuzuki for a long while by then, I didn't understand what they and anyone could be going through because I was ignoring it in favour of enjoying myself without even knowing until it was already too late."

"And I believe that has influenced the goal you wish to achieve once we have stopped Mayu," Kai spoke.

"Yeah," she replied "I know not everyone would be open to the idea, but with how much fun I was able to enjoy with Wixoss outside of the Selector Battles with my friends and my remaining family, I want to help as many people as I can to find that without putting anything on the line. No wishes, no hidden clauses, just a game where they could enjoy themselves."

"And I believe that's why you're having fun fighting Jillian now," Yuki interjected "With imaging being your power in Vanguard and no hidden tricks to a normal cardfight, you're finding it easier to relish in the moment."

As the Selector nodded back in response, Kamui smiled brightly, seeing that her transition to the game he enjoyed in this world had gone smoothly and that she was finally able to enjoy herself now, despite the situation that still loomed over all of them in the long run. Upon hearing a slight noise with no one else seemingly noticing, he turned around to see Kiyoi still clutching her head, seemingly still trying to process what she had initially witnessed. As she continued to ponder on why this was, more memories of Sakaguchi Ayumi and how much fun she was having playing Wixoss with her other classmates continued to flash in her mind, causing her to scrutinize within her expression.

"Hey, you okay?" the Nova Grappler user asked as he came over to her.

"It's nothing of your concern..." she muttered to herself as she eventually regained her focus and remained where she was.

Kai and Sharlene also noticed this, wondering what exactly had put the former blue LRIG in such a mood. Whilst the younger twin was seemingly unsure of the exact circumstances, pondering if she had a headache or something similar, the Kagero user on the other hand was beginning to suspect that there had to be something more to the situation. In addition to his earlier theory of her imaging part of the fight so far, he knew that there had to be something that she was not willing to share at this point and that approaching her now, especially after the day's earlier events surrounding Remember and Amika would yield little results at this point in time.

Ruko, although visibly worried for Kiyoi's condition at this point, eventually decided to turn her attention back to the fight and begun her next turn, hoping her friends would do something about this later when they had the time. Taking ahold of one of her cards, she held it up into the air as she called out her next ride chant.

"Gleaming white, light that pierces through the shadows of doubt, descend now!" she called as she placed it down on top of Tama's card "Ride!"

On the battlefield, Tama's dress glowed a bright cyan blue colour as the ribbons in her hair transformed into newer feathered versions and materializing in her right hand was a long and sharp pointed speared which gleamed brightly at the very tip. Grasping ahold of it tightly within her image, Ruko then twirled it around as she then landed back on her feet and pointed it towards Maelstrom, preparing for battle against the mighty Vice Admiral itself.

"Tama, Silver Screen Miko!"

**Tama, Silver Screen Miko/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 10000/SLD: 0/?/United Sanctuary/Human;LRIG**

"So this is Tama at Grade 3 now..." Jillian murmured.

"Tama's skill!" the Selector called "Discarding 1 card from my hand, I can add any non-LRIG unit from my deck straight to my hand with no restriction on what it is!"

Discarding a single card from her hand, she immediately brought up her deck and looked amongst all the cards present until she picked out Flash Shield, Isuelt and put it straight into her remaining cards before shuffling her deck.

"She's able to get a Perfect Guard just like that?!" Sharlene gasped.

"Nice one Ruko!" Kamui cheered.

"Next, I use Brionac's skill!" she continued, turning three cards in her damage zone face down "She retires herself and I add two more Arm units from my deck to my hand!"

Jillian could only watch in slight surprise that Ruko had that kind of skill available to her as she began to search her deck for the cards she had in mind. Now the older twin was seemingly beginning to regret choosing to retire the rear-guard Tama over Brionac when Maelstrom's attack hit her head on. After shuffling her deck, the Selector immediately called out the two units she added, those being Bonya, Small Bow and Hastall, Medium Spear.

"With Bonya's skill, I look at the top three cards of my deck," the Selector continued "After that, I put them back in any order I want."

_She's setting up a trigger..._ the older twin muttered in her thoughts  _And with a Perfect Guard now in her hand, her defences will be hard to crack._

Everyone but Kiyoi watched on anxiously, knowing that whatever action Ruko had planned to take next, could very well decide the course of the fight at this very moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this chapter:**  
>  **Tama, New Moon Miko**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have "Tama" in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RG).  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card with "Tama" in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with "Tama" in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 7000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named "Tama, New Moon Miko" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [AUTO](RG): [Choose a Grade 3 or greater card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 card with "Tama" in its card name, reveal it to your opponent and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Tama, Half Moon Miko**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT]: (VG) If there is a Grade 1 card with "Tama" in its card name in the soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.
> 
> **Tama, Silver Screen Miko**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO](VG): [Choose a card from your hand and discard it]: When this unit is placed on (VG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one non-LRIG card and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Round, Small Shield**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 6000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT]: (RG/GC) During your opponent's turn, this unit gets [Power]+3000/[Shield]+5000.
> 
> **Bow, Shooting Bow**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Trigger: Draw  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 4000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Trigger Unit  
> [AUTO]: When this card is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name, you may look at the top card of your deck. If it is a Grade 1 or lower unit and this unit is the only rear-guard you control, you may call it to an open (RG).
> 
> **Arc Tlet, Iron Fist**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: [Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Angel and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Brionac, Medium Spear**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [ACT]: (RG) [Counter Blast (3) and retire this unit]: Search your deck for up to two Arm and/or Weapon and add them to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Bonya, Small Bow**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When this card is placed on (RG), if you have a Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name, you may look at 3 cards from the top of your deck. If you do, you may put them back in any order you want.


	80. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 80: The Power of Imaging II

**Japan**

A loud scream sounded throughout the otherwise silent night air as a bright light blue flash came from an almost deserted alleyway within the streets of the darkened city. Several birds scattered from the rooftops across the sky in response to the loud noise, to which almost no one on the ground could tell of where it had come from and how it had happened in the first place. That is, no one but the only two spectators that were present to the fight that had just concluded, having previously suffered the same fate of one of the competitors. That unfortunate victim, being much shorter than his companions, had white coloured hair, purple eyes and appeared to be cringing in pain as he rubbed his right hand, trying to fight off the sting of the Mark of Penalty that had been engraved.

"Hey Kyou...!" one of them called, coming over to help him back to his feet.

Kyou however shoved away the hand, barely managing to stand back up with whatever willpower he had left and gazed down onto the table in front of him in shock, still in disbelief as to what had happened to his cards earlier. His opponent had the card Remember Night, Star-Reading Miko on the Vanguard circle on her side of the table as she picked it back up and placed it back into her deck. She wore a red frilled dress with the top half resembling that of a long sleeved white shirt and had long wavy brown hair in addition to a pair of purple coloured eyes, eyes that would have been familiar to those who had crossed her path before and had walked into her schemes beforehand.

"You bitch...!" Kyou growled "What the hell did you do to my units?!"

The only response that he and the two others beside him got was a sinister, yet almost seemingly innocent giggle as the girl before them.

"Yahagi Kyou," she spoke "It truly is a shame. But it appears my fortune was indeed correct. On behalf of Mayu, thank you for your 'generous' donation."

And with a cackle, she turned around and began leaving the three stricken cardfighters all alone with nothing but humiliation and blank decks as a result of her efforts. As soon as the girl had slipped into the shadows out of sight, she held out one card that she had not used in the fight, obscured by the darkness completely with the exception of the top left corner. If any other fighter had noticed this, in their potential shock, they would have seen that the Grade of the card had the number 5 and a symbol with two arrows overlapping one another with a third one from underneath them that was slightly taller coming straight up the center of the hexagonal border.

"Not even enough to use my new potential," she said smugly to herself before putting the card away and looking up at the crescent moon "Oh Kiyoi... you really think you've escaped from yourself that easily?"

* * *

**Soryu Island**

Within the kitchen, everyone kept a close eye on the fight that was currently progressing on the large table in the middle of the room where Ruko had just finished rearranging the top three cards of her deck with the skill of Bonya, Small Bow. The Selector now knew what she had at the ready to control the fight in her favour, especially with the knowledge of her next few cards being all but guaranteed now. Despite this though, she knew that Jillian was not going to let the game end that easily, especially with the acquisition of Glory Maelstrom on the previous turn and the fact that her previous Heal Trigger had brought her down to one damage, giving her quite the deficit to make up in itself.

The older of the twins in the room looked back at her hand, trying to contemplate her options for the time being and wondering what her opponent had set up for her in the coming Battle Phase. Eventually, she had managed to make up her mind. As she was doing so, Ruko placed down a second copy of Tama's Grade 2 form to the empty front row circle in her rear-guard.

_I'm all in!_ she thought resolutely  _Even a double Critical won't be enough to finish me!_

"Here I come Jillian!" Ruko called "Tama attacks your Vanguard!"

"Tama attack!" Tama called out aloud from her card, much to the slight exasperation of Kamui and Yuki who simply sweat-dropped in response.

On the battlefield imaged within the two combatants' minds, the Selector within Tama's current form took flight and charged towards Maelstrom who remained motionless as she got closer towards the Vice Admiral.

"No guard," Jillian's voice echoed.

"Twin drive!"

Ruko immediately flipped the first card off the top of her deck and revealed it to everyone present, that being Bringer of Good Luck, Epona. It didn't come as much of a surprise to some of those watching, knowing that Bonya had played a part in ensuring she would pull it.

"I give the power to my rear-guard Tama and the Critical to my Vanguard!"

**Tama, Silver Screen Miko/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Tama, Half Moon Miko/POW: 9000 - 14000**

Immediately after turning over the second card of her Twin Drive, everyone gazed ahead to see that this time, she had pulled Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine, a Heal Trigger. Kai simply kept his serious gaze upon the Selector, having expected that she would take advantage of Bonya's skill in such a manner.

"This time, I'll give the power to Hastall," she spoke "And I recover one damage."

Within the imaged battlefield, Ruko slashed down the front of Maelstrom using Tama's spear as the Tear Dragon screeched for an instant as it fumbled before growling under its breath. Back in the kitchen, the next cards to enter Jillian's damage zone were Shark Soldier and Jet-ski Rider, the latter of which shone brightly for a brief moment.

"I give all of the trigger effects to Maelstrom!" she called.

"Yes!" Sharlene cheered "Now her rear-guard Tama can't hit the Vanguard!"

Tama pouted for a moment upon hearing this, annoyed that Ruko could no longer attack Maelstrom as easily as she would have wanted. However, that seemed to be of little concern to her Selector as Yuki noticed.

"Don't tell me..." she murmured to herself.

"My rear-guard Tama attacks Tidal Assault!" Ruko declared.

"Guard!" Jillian called as she revealed Ice Floe Angel from her hand in response to the attack.

"Hastall attacks Tidal Assault with a boost from Bonya!"

The older twin upon realizing what her opponent was intending to do could only groan internally as she realized that if she wanted to protect Tidal Assault, she would have to give up a portion of her hand. Within the imaged field, Hastall clashed with the Aquaroid who tried desperately to parry away her weapon with little success, leaving her an opening to strike him down. With the focus now back on the field in front of her, Ruko looked back to Jillian who moved Tidal Assault's card to her Drop Zone, now feeling slightly more comfortable with how the fight was progressing as her turn came to an end.

**End of Turn 6**

**Ruko vs Jillian**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Soul - 2 : 2**

**Damage - 3 : 3**

**Front Rows : Tama, Half Moon Miko - Tama, Silver Screen Miko (VG) - Hastall, Medium Spear : EMPTY - Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom (VG) - Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros**

**Back Rows: Bow, Shooting Bow - Round, Small Shield - Bonya, Small Bow : Mako Shark Soldier of the Blue Storm Fleet- Blue Storm Cadet, Marios - EMPTY**

"Hmm... why didn't Jillian guard for Tidal Assault then?" Tama murmured.

"The shield required would have needed to have been 15000," Kai answered "As of now, we know that one of the cards in her hand is Glory Maelstrom and from her previous Twin Drive, she also has a Perfect Guard."

The girl of white scratched her head for an instance, still not quite understanding where the Kagero user was coming from, not helped by the fact that unlike her Selector, trying to adjust her brain to see Vanguard fights as they were and not Selector Battles wasn't doing her much good. She knew that Hastall's power would have been enough to hit Maelstrom head on if Jillian did not use any guardians. Needless to say, Ruko's opponent was quick to catch onto what the Selector had been planning all along.

"You knew that Shark Soldier still had Maelstrom's Limit Break enabled and that's why you didn't aim for pushing me to a fourth damage," she spoke.

"Well... that damage trigger wasn't a part of the plan," Ruko said whilst scratching the back of her head "So I figured... if I can reduce the number of attacks the rear-guards could send my way, it would be easier to guard against Maelstrom."

Jillian still kept her smile, despite her earlier annoyance at the situation that the Selector had forced her into earlier. Quite frankly, she found her opponent to be an interesting one, especially with everything she had been told about in the other world that she came from and how different she was to Miyako, according to Tetsu's description of the disgruntled woman.

"It's still too early for me to release Maelstrom's true power yet," she said confidently as she drew her next card "You've still got to push on a bit further."

Immediately calling the card in her hand to the rear-guard circle in front of Shark Soldier, on the battlefield, Spyros glowed a bright blue as the aura surrounding him increased his power by a slight amount.

"Accelerated Command attacks with a boost from Shark Soldier!" she called.

"Guard!" Ruko responded by placing down Epona's card.

"Next, Spyros!"

As the ongoing battles continued from there, Kiyoi who had been otherwise silent after briefly imaging part of the fight on the turn that Jillian had rode Maelstrom, still couldn't quite comprehend on why it was that she saw such an image in the first place. But that was the least of her concerns in regards to how this evening had been playing out for her ever since she had arrived into this world with Ruko, Kamui and Kai in the first place.

_Why...?_  she muttered in her thoughts  _Why have these memories... resurfaced when I saw her constructing her deck and by watching this fight?_

Looking to Kamui who was cheering the Selector on alongside Tama, encouraging her to 'hang in there' as she faced the onslaught of the might Blue Storm armada that she was faced with, she could only begin to question herself about the day's events had normally thrown her emotionless and somewhat stoic self for a loop and how much he had somewhat contributed to that. Then there was also the matter of his comment on the whole matter with how Sakaguchi had passed on after he and the former blue LRIG worked together to defeat Remember to save the deceased girl's spirit from the clutches of the Star-vaders. Something about his tone from everything she knew about him up to then had raised even more questions about him that she wanted to know the answers to.

Seeing that her gaze was focused upon him after some more of the unfolding turn, Kamui then looked back to Kiyoi, wondering why it was that he was the focus of her attention at this very moment. He had a feeling she was still cross with him for almost letting Sakaguchi's name slip without her consent, though knowing how she usually was, it could sometimes be difficult for him to get an exact reasoning of this.

"Draw Trigger!"

Upon hearing that one of Ruko's next damages from one of Jillian's attack had powered up her Vanguard, he turned back to the fight with his usual excitement, intrigued to see what was going to happen next. Kiyoi then looked away from him and back towards the fight itself, now seeing that Ruko had been pushed to five damage with Bow in her damage zone and her rear-guard Tama now gone from her front row via Spyros' two attacks.

_When we spoke with Sakaguchi then... I told her that Kamui was my friend..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _Am I over-thinking this? Is Kamui not who I'm assuming him to be now?_

Back within the imaged battlefield, Maelstrom roared loudly as it unleashed a barrage of missiles towards Ruko, who was still imaged in Tama's current form, standing her ground after the last attack she had taken. She then held out one hand as Isuelt appeared in front of her, deploying a giant barrier around them to take the full brunt of the onslaught. When the smoke cleared, both the Royal Paladin unit and the shield vanished from around her, allowing her to escape the turn unscathed as she looked up towards the Vice Admiral of the Blue Storm Armada who snarled under its breath.

"Well, you're hanging in there," Jillian spoke as she watched her opponent move Iseult to her Drop Zone "I may not know whatever's gone on with you and the others in this Wixoss, but you're doing pretty good for your first time fighting."

"T... thank you," the Selector replied "To be honest, I wasn't confident with adjusting to the changes that came to my deck when I showed you and the others. But then, I remembered something."

Ruko then looked over to Tama who simply blinked in confusion, unsure of what she was trying to get at from what she was saying at this point. She knew her Selector was startled when she had discovered the changes to her cards and felt unsure about how to use them the way they were now.

"Tama, how long had you been with Kai for since... you know what happened?" she asked.

"Tama's been with Kai since Kai first arrived..." the girl of white replied "Tama also helped Kai in his first battle." That was when she suddenly realized what her Selector was trying to say.

"I thought... if Kai had to deal with something like this when he came to my world," she continued "Then this just the opposite scenario. He used his units' abilities in the Selector Battles the same way he did in Vanguard and I have to do the opposite here now without the aid of my ARTS or Spells."

"It would seem that the natural flow of Vanguard has finally come clear to you," Kai spoke "Right now in this world, you are proving yourself with your image of your path as a fighter."

Ruko smiled in response to the Kagero user's words, happy to see that she was at least doing competently against one of Leon's strongest units for her first time fighting. Deciding to turn her attention back to the fight, after drawing her next card, she felt now was the time for her to go on the offensive once again.

"At the start of the Ride Phase," she began "If my Vanguard is a Grade 3 or higher Tama, I can reveal an Arm and an Angel unit from my hand..."

She then took two of the four cards she held and placed them down onto the front of her end of the table in front of the playmat, revealing them to everyone that they were Seeker, Plume Wall Angel and Round, Small Shield. As this happened, a bright glow suddenly enveloped her deck as a single card flew straight into her hand.

"No way...!" Sharlene gasped.

"An ability from the deck?!" Kamui exclaimed.

Even Kiyoi couldn't help but open her mouth slightly, having been somewhat caught off guard by this kind of maneuver from what little understanding of the fight so far that she already had. Kai simply kept calm, as if he had seen something like this before from the times he had practiced with Ruko in preparation for her second battle against Ayumu.

"Awaken now, my new evolution!" she called as she held up the card in the air before placing it down onto the Vanguard circle "Superior Ride! Tama, Foam Miko!"

On the imaged battlefield, Ruko was enveloped in a bright glow as Tama's dress underwent some cosmetic alterations from the LRIG's new power such as the addition of a giant whitish orange coloured ring behind her back along with additional feathers and a sheet of metal covering over the top portion of the dress itself. Her spear had also gotten slightly larger, now with small feather shaped blades surrounding the tip to give an extra offensive to her already impressive strength.

**Tama, Foam Miko/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/POW: 13000/SLD: 0/?/United Sanctuary/Human;LRIG**

"So this is a Grade 4..." Jillian murmured.

"I call Michael!" the Selector called "With her skill, I rest her and discard a card to add any non-LRIG card from my deck to my hand!"

"Is she going to get another Perfect Guard...?" Kamui murmured "Or...?"

"Something tells me her intent is different this time," Yuki interjected.

After fanning out all of the remaining cards in her deck, Ruko's eye trailed to a particular one that was identical to a unit that she had used earlier as she revealed it to be another copy of Bonya, Small Bow.

"Next, I use Tama's Soul Blast!" she continued as she moved Round's card from her Soul to the Drop Zone "Each turn, I can return a rear-guard to my hand to Stand one of my other rear-guards!"

"So with this, you can take advantage of Michael's skill without having to rely on a Stand Trigger," Jillian murmured "That's actually pretty handy against skills such as Megacolony's Paralyze and allows you to re-arrange your formation more easily."  _Then again... returning that Draw Trigger to her hand could pose a problem._

"Finally, I call Bonya!" Ruko concluded "With her skill, I look at the top 3 cards of my deck again!"

Looking at the top three cards of her deck now arranged the way that they were from her earlier shuffle, Ruko looked ahead to Jillian's hand for a moment, still feeling wary that Glory Maelstrom was lurking amongst the cards she held.

_I don't know what that other Maelstrom is capable of..._ she murmured in her thoughts  _But I need to be ready for anything._

Feeling that she had now decided the order of her cards, she placed them back on top of the deck and looked over to her Vanguard, reaching out for it to start the battles to come.

"Tama attacks Maelstrom!" she called.

Within her image, Round crouched for a brief instance as a white aura surrounded her, transferring her power to Tama for this attack. The imaged girl of white took up her spear and charged towards Maelstrom who stared down at her once again. The Vice Admiral growled for a moment before Electra suddenly appeared in front of it, deflecting the spear and Tama's attack as a whole.

"Come on...!" Tama moaned.

"There's no way I'll let you pull a double Trigger on me again!" Jillian called as she discarded one of the cards she held.

"Twin Drive!" Ruko declared as she revealed her first card as Alabaster Owl "I give the trigger effects to Hastall! And with her skill, if my Tama Vanguard is Grade 4, she gets 5000 power!"

**Hastall, Medium Spear/POW: 9000 - 14000 - 19000/Critical: 1 - 2**

She then revealed her second card from the next check. It was Round, Small Shield with no trigger marking on it to further help out with her powering up her next two attacks. However, this had not deterred her in the slightest as she looked over to Michael and immediately rested her.

"Michael attacks Spyros!" she called.

"Guard!" Jillian called as she placed down Mallika's card on the Guardian Circle.

"Next, Hastall!"

The older twin looked back at her hand before gazing over to her damage zone, slowly contemplating her options as she had finally made up her mind. The focus of her attention now was on Glory Maelstrom's card as she knew that this was the moment she had been waiting for. As this happened, within the imaged field, Hastall slashed down the front of Maelstrom, damaging one of the missile holsters that was mounted on the Vice Admiral's body. Jillian, not worried about the initial result looked over to her deck.

"Damage check," she spoke revealing the first card as Tidal Assault. Shortly afterwards, her second card was revealed as a second copy of Glory Maelstrom.

Sharlene quietly let out a sigh of relief, that being from the older twin managing to last through Ruko's attacks again whilst keeping her damage count to five. The Selector was almost there, but she was just short of the final push to finish the fight in victory. Now she knew that it was her opponent's turn coming up and if she had been holding onto Glory Maelstrom for this long, she had to be prepared to face the worst case scenario."It's coming..." Yuki murmured, tensing slightly in her tone.

Kai nodded in agreement with the girl of black, having faced the might of Maelstrom once before when Leon had been twisted in his ideology by the Void and having come out defeated from the fight that erupted between them in the space between Earth and Cray. Now he could only watch and see if Ruko could perform a similar miracle to the one Aichi had done so on that occasion and defeat the evolved form of the Vice Admiral of the Blue Storm armada. He knew that this unit was in Jillian's hands, but from how much of her life she had spent around Leon and Sharlene, he knew that she wouldn't make any mistakes in the way she would use some of his most prized units.

"Keep going Ruko!" Kamui called "You're nearly there!"

"Battle Ru!" Tama cheered.

Kiyoi didn't offer a word in response, having been too busy being preoccupied in what she had been experiencing since her arrival onto this island and questioning everything before her. Jillian then drew her next card before picking out the one she had been holding onto for quite some time, now feeling ready to put it to good use on this turn.

"I hope you've prepared yourself Ruko," she spoke "Now you have the honour of facing the evolution of Maelstrom and one of Leon-sama's prized possessions!"

"Come, Jillian!" the Selector replied as she watched her opponent lift up the card into the air.

"Dragon spun into existence from the warp of the wind and weft of the sea, live up to the legend in your ideal form!" the older twin declared as she threw down the card on top of Maelstrom "Crossride!"

Within the imaged field, a giant torrent of water burst out from the ground and enveloped Maelstrom, the impact of such forced the imaged Tama backwards a little as she kept her gaze upon the raging pillar that was at a distance in front of the LRIG. A pair of cyan coloured eyes shimmered from amongst the water before a loud roar dispelled the column, revealing the changed dragon in all of its glory. Gone were the missile launchers that the Vice Admiral originally wielded with a pair of wings made up by a multitude of dark blue metallic bits that immediately joined together on either side of the dragon. The top of the head had changed shape with it being coloured now in a dark reddish colour along with its claws becoming long and pronged. It let out a fierce roar as Jillian announced its name.

"Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom!

**Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 11000 - 13000/SLD: 0/Aqua Force/Magallanica/Tear Dragon**

"Glory Maelstrom...!" Ruko breathed "So this one of Leon's strongest units...!"

"Call!" Jillian's voice echoed as Accelerated Command and Marios vanished in a bright flash "Wheel Assault, Accelerated Command and Maelstrom!"

As a second copy of the original Maelstrom along with Wheel Assault and a second Aceelerated Command appeared onto the field, the formation on the older twin's field was finally filled up to the brim and all of the units now had their eyes set on the imaged Tama. A blue aura enveloped Spyros as it powered up from the arrival of the unit that was now directly behind Glory Maelstrom.

"You've got her Jillian!" Sharlene called.

"Well then... here I come!" the older twin announced as she rested Maelstrom and Accelerated Command's cards "Ultimate Break!"

A purple Vanguard circle flashed in from of Glory Maelstrom as it gazed down upon Tama and began charging up an energy blast in its jaw to unleash upon the seemingly defenceless LRIG.

"Add 5000 power to Glory Maelstrom and you cannot use Grade 1 or higher cards from your hand to Guard this attack!"

Ruko could only widen her eyes in shock as she looked down at the cards that she had currently been holding onto. She could only cringe upon seeing what one of them was, having shown it to Jillian on the previous turn for Tama's skill.

_I have a Quintet Wall, but I can't use it now...!_ she gasped in her thoughts  _I know what my next damage is from Bonya's skill, but I don't know what kind of triggers Jillian might get!_

As she looked up at Maelstrom within her image of Tama, it snarled fiercely under its breath as it unleashed its attack towards her in an instant. That was when she looked over to Hastall and Michael, realizing that all was not lost.

"Guard!" she called as Alabaster Owl materialized in front of her "Then intercept!"

Hastall and Michael immediately wasted no time and joined the Royal Paladin High Beast on the defensive, forming a small barrier that materialized in front of the imaged Tama. Hastall then glowed brightly, much to Jillian's sudden surprise from within the image.

"That's right..." the Selector breathed, having just remembered about this now "Since Tama is a Grade 4, Hastall's Shield doubles as well!"

**Hastall, Medium Spear/SLD: 5000 - 10000**

**SLD: 25000**

As the barrier grew larger, the attack of Glory Maelstrom clashed head on with full power behind it. But despite the evolved Vice Admiral's mighty strength, even to the point of leaving a few cracks within it, its attack wasn't strong enough to break through completely. As the dark purple beam eventually disappeared, so too did the barrier along with the SIGNI and unit that were protecting the imaged girl of white as Ruko wiped her forehead in relief.

"Twin drive!" Jillian called as she flipped over the first card, revealing it to be another copy of Electra. "Second check!" After adding the Perfect Guard Sentinel to her hand, she flipped over the second card, revealing it as Jet-ski Rider.

"She got it!" Sharlene cheered.

"I give all the effects to Spyros!" she announced.

**Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros/POW: 11000 - 16000/Critical: 1 - 2**

Ruko could only stare towards Spyros in partial worry, having been aware that it could stand without any drawbacks whenever it was the first or second attack of the turn. And now that it was powered up by Jillian's Critical Trigger along with her front row being depleted, she knew that fending off the older twin's next three attacks and coming out unscathed wasn't going to be easy. Within her image, a surge of water erupted from the ground, giving the Marine General a clear path towards her as he rode his hovercraft down the flowing current at high speed.

"I won't give up yet!" she called "Plume Wall Angel!"

Throwing down the card onto the Guardian Circle, the Selector turned over one of the cards in her damage zone as she then looked over to her deck and immediately reaching out for the first card, having known what it was from Bonya's skill previously.

"The first!" she called as she revealed it to be Tama, Half Moon Miko.

"That's 5000 shield so far...!" Kamui muttered.

"If she can get 10000 more, she can block Spyros' first attack..." Yuki murmured.

"The second!"

Ruko then threw the second card onto the Guardian Circle, this time being a second copy of Tama, Foam Miko, adding no further shield to the little amount she had so far. Revealing the third one, she immediately gained a sigh of relief as it was Brionac, bringing up the total of the shield she had called from her deck to 10000. Then she revealed the fourth card resuming the tension as it was now another copy of Tama, Silver Screen Miko, offering no further shield to the amount she had.

"The last one..." she breathed as she reached out for her deck once more.

Turning over the card immediately, she smiled upon seeing what it was. It was yet another copy of Tama, Waxing Crescent Moon Miko.

"Ru's done it!" Tama cheered.

Out on the battlefield, Plume Wall Angel along with Brionac and the various Tamas summoned from the Quintet Wall all surrounded the Marine General, stopping him in his tracks for the moment. As the water beneath his hovercraft began to bubble violently, the defending cards summoned by Ruko immediately vanished in an instant with her knowing that Jillian was planning to stand him for another attack.

"Spyros' skill!" the older twin declared, turning over the Maelstrom she had in her damage zone "Stand!"

"Now I just to guard this one again..." Ruko muttered "And without a boost..."

"Is that so?"

The Selector blinked, along with everyone else in the room with the exception of Kai, Kiyoi and Sharlene, as if the three of them knew exactly was going to happen next right away.

"With the skill of Wheel Assault," Jillian spoke "At the end of the battle it boosted, I can switch the positions of two rear-guards, regardless of where they are!"

On the battlefield, Ruko from her perspective of Tama could only gasp in shock as both the rear-guard Maelstrom and Spyros vanished in a bright white light momentarily, only to reappear in an instant in different columns compared to where they were earlier.

"So that's why she didn't attack with the other Maelstrom first..." she breathed "She called it just for this!"

"You've put up a good fight Ruko," the older twin's voice echoed "But this is the end. Spyros attacks with a boost from Shark Soldier!"

As Shark Soldier made a gurgling noise of some kind, another stream of water burst from the ground as Spyros came charging in towards the imaged Tama once again. For the moment, time seemed to slow down around the Selector as she looked face on into what was seemingly certain defeat. Everyone knew that she was only holding onto two cards, one acquired from a Twin Drive earlier in the fight and the other having been called early on before being returned to the hand by Tama's skill. But as she had shown time and again throughout this fight, much like her previous Selector Battles, even she in situations like these could still be full of surprises.

"Guard!" she called as she threw down Bow and Round's cards onto the Guardian Circle "Then with Round's skill, add 5000 to the shield!"

Jillian's eyes widened in shock as she did not expect that Tama's very presence would be enough to conjure up more defensive power as it was. Within the image, Round and Bow both rammed the former's shield straight into Spyros' hovercraft, disabling it in an instant and more importantly, blocking his attack as it was now.

"Oh come on!" Sharlene pouted, slightly annoyed that Ruko's two guards were enough to save her from certain defeat, given their original Shield values.

The older twin could gaze upon Maelstrom in her rear-guard, having known that it wasn't strong enough on its own to deal any damage to Tama and even if it could help her in any way, Ruko had already used up all of her intercepts to block Glory Maelstrom's attack, meaning it had only served a purpose for the position switching skill of Wheel Assault.

"I end my turn..." she muttered.

**End of Turn 9**

**Ruko vs Jillian**

**Hand - 0 : 3**

**Soul - 2 : 3**

**Damage - 4 : 5**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Tama, Foam Miko (VG) - EMPTY : Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom - Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom (VG) - Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros**

**Back Rows: Bonya, Small Bow - Round, Small Shield - Bonya, Small Bow : Mako Shark Soldier of the Blue Storm Fleet- Accelerated Command - Wheel Assault**

"So Tama defended Tama... with more Tamas from Plume Wall Angel..." Tama murmured, trying to comprehend the reality of how a small 'army' of Tamas had managed to fend off Spyros through the Quintet Wall Ruko had used on his first attack. After a few seconds though, she felt as if her mind had gone completely blank. "Tama doesn't get it..."

"Should we say that those extra Tamas from that Quintet Wall could be 'clones' or something...?" Kamui whispered.

"I wouldn't worry," Yuki replied "From what I can gather on how you all cardfight... I think it's best to be left to how she images the fight."

As this was happening, Ruko looked over to Kai who smiled briefly in response, showing that he was somewhat impressed with the display she had managed to pull in the face of one of Leon's best units. But even as she turned back around, she knew that she had a bit of a problem. Her entire front row save for the Vanguard was empty and she had no cards in hand in comparison to Jillian's three, plus her one intercept through Spyros if needed.

"So everything comes down to this draw," she spoke "Let's see if you can surprise us again."

The Selector nodded once as she looked over to her deck, hoping that what she drew next could at least provide some kind of offence to her already crippled formation. Reaching out for it, she took a deep breath and pulled away the top card. Everyone remained silent, wondering what it was that she drew. As she turned it around slowly, she gasped in surprise before smiling.

"I call Habakiri!" she announced as she immediately called her new card to the rear-guard "With her Counter Blast, as I have three or more Arm rear-guards, I add a non-LRIG card from the United Sanctuary nation to my hand!"

Taking up her deck and fanning out all of the cards that were remaining in there, she immediately picked out a second copy of Hastall from there and shuffled the rest, placing it back onto the mat. Upon doing so, she then called out the Arm SIGNI she had on the previous turn back onto the rear-guard circle she had previously intercepted from.

"She got her formation back together!" Kamui exclaimed.

"With Tama at her highest potential, Hastall's power will also increase," Kai interjected "Jillian outside of her Perfect Guard has only 15000 shield to use against two of Ruko's attack. Therefore..."

As Kiyoi began to analyse what was unfolding in front of her, knowing that a single card was all it now took for Ruko to end the game in either her victory with Tama or defeat from the next attack by Glory Maelstrom, she couldn't help but gaze over to Jillian. She was in such a desperate situation at this point, knowing that if she was hit once, only a Heal Trigger would be able to save her. But even so, she was still confident that she could last through until the very end, no matter how things would go from here. Seeing her opponent was smiling, Ruko returned a similar expression in response.

"Here I come, Jillian!" she called "This is my and Tama's full power!"

"Come, Ruko!" she replied.

Then, without warning once more, the former blue LRIG had found herself imaging part of the fight on the surface of the Planet Cray, much to her shock and surprise. In front of her, stood the proud and tall form of Glory Maelstrom and the girl of white, staring off against one another as they were about to do battle to determine the very outcome of the fight. Round kneeled for a short instance as a white aura enveloped Tama, before she took flight towards the Vice Admiral who retaliated with its signature attack from the previous turn. The LRIG weaved to the left, dodging the attack with ease as she raised her spear upwards before diving down towards her one and only target.

"Guard!"

At the command of Jillian's voice, Jet-ski Rider manifested in front of Glory Maelstrom, intending to block the attack with all of his might. Back in the kitchen, everyone else seemed confused to this move.

"Don't be surprised," she spoke, causing Ruko to blink for an instance "Even if I used a Perfect Guard instead, all you had to do was get a Trigger for one of your rear-guards to break through or make me use up Jet-ski Rider and my intercept for one attack so the other can go through unimpeded."

"But... if Ruko doesn't get a trigger, you'll make it!" Sharlene interjected.

"Let's go then!" Ruko called "Twin Drive!"

Revealing her first card, it was another copy of Habakiri, the unit that she had called earlier in an attempt to bring the fight back around into her favour. But it wasn't what she needed now and the lack of any Shield would make it next to near impossible to defend against Glory Maelstrom again. Putting her right hand on the top of her deck, Sharlene, Kamui and Tama all watched anxiously as they awaited to see what card that the Selector would pull next. Slowly, she picked it up before turning it over, revealing it as Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine.

"Heal Trigger," she spoke "I can't recover any damage, but the power is all I need!"

**Tama, Foam Miko/POW: 19000 - 24000**

On the imaged field, a green aura from Elaine enveloped Tama's spear as Ruko through her image slashed past Jet-ski Rider, knocking the Aquaroid off his vehicle before resuming her attention on Glory Maelstrom. Pulling it back for a brief instance, she let out a large cry as she then slashed down the front of the Tear Dragon, causing it to screech out aloud in pain. Jillian then looked at the top card of her deck before bitterly smiling for a brief instance.

"You got me good," she muttered as she revealed her sixth damage as Battle Siren, Mallika.

As Maelstrom vanished from the plain of the field along with the remainder of the older twin's rear-guards, Ruko within her image of Tama landed safely on the ground with the aid of the ring behind her back. She looked ahead to see that what remained of her forces on the Planet Cray now was nothing more than the spirit she was before she had started the game. Despite her hidden disappointment in losing with Leon's entrusted cards, she still had a happy smile to indicate she enjoyed the fight up until the very end.

Kiyoi still imaging the battlefield as it was in front of her, watched as Ruko still imaged as Tama, came over to the older twin.

"Thank you very much!" she said happily "It was fun!"

"I had my doubts, but you've done good for your first time fighting," Jillian replied, offering one hand to her "I only wish Leon-sama was here to see this."

"That's true..."

"But, I don't plan on losing again!" the older twin proclaimed "Next time, I plan on beating you with Yuki!"

Ruko laughed a little, feeling a tad awkward for the sudden plan for a rematch considering that she had not yet managed to build a deck around Yuki to adapt to the rules of Vanguard. But for the first time in a long while, not only did she have a great battle until the very end, none of them were hurt and that she felt 'free' from the Selector Battles despite still remaining a part of them. But as the image began to fade out to white for Kiyoi who had been closely observing them in the midst of her conversation, she clutched her head in pain as more memories began to surface from the back of her mind.

"Again...?!" she muttered.

**Flashback**

"Kiyoi...! Hey, Kiyoi!"

Within the classroom of her school, Kiyoi blinked once again as she had seemingly fazed out from observing whatever it was in front of her. On the table was a finished game of Wixoss between her classmate, Sakaguchi Ayumi and another person that she knew of very well. Needless to say, the former seemed a little annoyed from what had happened over the course of her match.

"Kiyoi, don't tell me you fell asleep during our match..." she moaned exasperatingly.

"... My apologies," she replied "My mind was... elsewhere."

"Um... I think I should get going now..." the girl sitting opposite Sakaguchi spoke as she gathered away her cards in a hurry "Thanks for the game, Sakaguchi-san."

Sakaguchi simply beamed a bright smile in return, silently thanking her own classmate for the enjoyable game they had as she went on her way out through the classroom door. Once they were alone again, the bright girl pinched one of Kiyoi's cheeks.

"Ow..." she murmured in her usual monotone, as if she was mocking the very feeling of being in pain.

"Come on Kiyoi," Sakaguchi muttered "If I'm gonna get you interested in Wixoss a bit more, you need to watch my games a bit more closely."

"I don't recall previously asking you for my own interest," Kiyoi answered.

The girl beside her sighed for a moment before smiling brightly once again, knowing that this was how her classmate would usually be in response to any of her actions or sayings. Then again, given that she was always alone before meeting her for the first time, she already knew this was to be expected and that was what made her such an interesting person to her.

"Scared, are we?" she asked in a seemingly teasing manner.

"Hmm?"

Kiyoi blinked in response, unsure of what to make of Sakaguchi's question.

"There's nothing to be afraid of when battling Kiyoi," she said "People lose all the time, even me. There's no shame if things don't go right at first, right?"

"That's not what I think."

Sakaguchi then opened her eyes in confusion, wondering what it was that made Kiyoi feel on edge in response to her statements.

"Just what makes you so certain about your opponents themselves?" she asked, her tone seeming a little harsher than usual "What makes you certain that they are the least bit worth trusting when you know nothing about them?"

The girl then pondered on these questions for a few moments, tapping the fingers of her right hand against her cheek as she did so. Eventually, she had come to an answer a few seconds later.

"That's what makes Wixoss so interesting for me," she replied with a smile "You never know what kind of people you'll face out there. I want to meet as many as I can to show them how fun the game means to me and right now... I want to show you that as well."

**Present**

When that memory eventually concluded, Kiyoi was now hunched over in her chair, covering her face with her right hand as she was trying to comprehend everything that she had been going through since her arrival onto this island. She had no idea why she was re-experiencing these early memories of Sakaguchi before her accident, let alone through her own will or intention, but one thing was now certainly clear about all of this. At least, to her it seemed certainly clear from the way she interpreted it. Vanguard was having an effect of some kind on her, from making her experience images of the fight she saw to reliving memories of her past seemingly against her own will and she did not like it one bit.

A part of her was now questioning why she had even returned back to the kitchen to observe Ruko and Jillian's fight if the same thing from before was going to happen to her again. She cursed herself for letting her own curiosity overcome her once more if she was just going to be haunted by more of her past, a past she thought she had moved on from since Kamui's battle with Remember earlier in the day. But if tonight's events was anything to go by, her previous assumption was not only wrong in the slightest, but it seemed as if it wasn't going to be the last time her past would catch up to her.

Meanwhile in the middle of the kitchen, everyone else was now congratulating Ruko on winning her first fight, against a legendary unit of one of their closest companions no less. As Tama and Kamui were busy giving her praise, albeit rather loudly for some of the others' liking, Sharlene was kind enough to give her own compliments whilst also 'vowing' to avenge her older twin if need be. As the Selector laughed a little nervously, Kai came up to her, calming her down in an instant.

"That didn't go as badly as I thought..." she said.

"You still have a ways to go, but your start as a fighter is definitely promising, " he said "There are many fighters in this world, all with their own way of fighting. And if we are to stop Mayu from marking any more of them and stealing any of their units, you need to understand more from here before we can head back to your world."

"That's true," Ruko replied "But I'm feeling a lot more confident now than I was earlier."

Kai nodded once to affirm her response, seeing that the Selector was now becoming more accustomed to the changes within her own cards which would ultimately shape the way that she would utilize both Tama and Yuki in future cardfights during her stay within this world. Before anyone could speak out anything else to add to the conversation, they saw Kiyoi, still with one hand over her face heading over towards the exit of the kitchen.

"Kiyoi...?" Sharlene murmured.

"Hey, what's up?" Kamui asked as he came over towards her.

But as he approached her, almost at an arms length away from the former blue LRIG, she lifted her hand and tilted her head back a little at the same time, glaring directly towards him. The Nova Grappler user stopped immediately as soon as he saw her this way, even noticing a small tear beginning to form on her right eye.

"Stay away from me..." she hissed quietly before running off into the corridor.

"Wait up...!" he called, hoping she would stop to try and talk with him.

But it was to no avail as they all heard her footsteps beginning to echo from the corridor across the fortress walls, before they eventually died down a few seconds later. Seeing that this was an issue before all of them, Ruko and Kai both came over to Kamui, hoping he would offer an explanation behind her behaviour as of lately and why this was the case.

"You seemed unnaturally apprehensive, Katsuragi," the Kagero user spoke "Given that you know more about her than we do, is there anything you can tell us."

The Nova Grappler user could only cringe inwardly, realizing that he could no longer keep his lips sealed as much as Kiyoi herself wanted him to. One thing was clear now ever since Ruko had started reconstructing her decks. Kiyoi was somehow suffering, even after everything they had been through earlier in the day with Amika and Remember, and keeping his mouth shut about it wasn't doing her any good at all.

_Sorry Kiyoi, but as much as you'll hate me for this... if we're gonna find out what's going on now, I'll have to do it._

"I'll tell you everything I know now," he said, turning to face the others "But she's not gonna be happy with me for talking some of the stuff she's been through."

* * *

**Somewhere in South America...**

Some time later after clearing from the canopy and exiting the seemingly vast maze of trees, Morris had eventually guided the seemingly powerless Miyako out of the forest she had crash landed into previously and into the open. The disgruntled mother of Ruko and Ayumu kept the metallic hand she wielded close, prepared to turn her wrath upon the butler to the Serra family if he had any intention of deceiving her despite the damage that had been sustained. He however was still calm as ever, having not allowed the mere presence of the woman behind him get to his nerves that easily.

Eventually, they reached the gates of what appeared to be a rather large country estate, standing tall and wide beneath the moonlight that was covering over the area. When the two of them were about to approach them, they began to slide open without warning, as if whoever was inside was expecting the arrival of not just Morris, but the person who was with him as well. Miyako kept her sharp glare present, not willing to let down her guard for even a split second after becoming stranded in this world indirectly as a result of her own son's 'meddling'.

"Do not test my patience," she growled.

"But of course," he calmly replied "We are but a mere few steps from meeting with him now."

And indeed, Morris was correct. As the two of them entered the grounds of the estate, the doors of the house suddenly opened up on their own, allowing the person behind them to step outside into the night air to meet with his butler and his new acquaintance. Whilst Miyako remained stationary, not willing to react just yet, the person eventually came out into the open as the moonlight eventually made all of his features present, most particularly his purple hair and red eyes. This somehow caused the General of the Selector Battles to blink for a moment, as if she had come to recognize the face of this particular man who Morris had worked for.

"You...?" she breathed, seemingly perplexed to his identity.

"That is correct... Kominato Miyako," he replied in a calmly manner "It is a pleasure to make a personal acquaintance with one that has worked with the Clown itself."

Miyako simply kept her gaze on the man that was in front of her, seemingly surprised in the slightest that she was now in front of him of all people, let alone the fact that Chaos Breaker was seemingly familiar with him before. Morris then bowed once as he gazed back to his master.

"Now then miss," he spoke "Allow me to formally introduce you to my master... Raul Serra."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Tama, Foam Miko**  
>  Grade 4  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 13000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](Hand): If you do not have a Grade 3 Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name, you cannot Ride this unit.  
> [AUTO](Deck/Bind Zone): At the start of the Ride Phase, if you have a Grade 3 Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name, you may reveal 1 Arm and 1 Angel from your hand. If you do, Ride this card onto (VG). Then if you rode from the deck, shuffle your deck. You cannot Ride for the rest of this turn.  
> [ACT](VG): [Soul Blast (1) & Choose 1 of your rear-guards and return it to your hand] Choose 1 of your rear-guards and (Stand) it. This ability cannot be used for the rest of that turn.
> 
> **Hastall, Medium Spear**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT]: (RG) During your turn, if your Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name is Grade 4 or greater, this unit gets [Power]+5000.  
> [CONT]: (GC) If your Vanguard with "Tama" in its card name is Grade 4 or greater, this unit gets [Shield]+5000.
> 
> **Michael, Voice of Reconcilation**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Angel  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [ACT]: (RG) [(Rest) this unit and choose a card from your hand and discard it] Search your deck for up to one non-LRIG card whose Grade is 3 or lower and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> **Habakiri, Greatsword**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Arm  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: [Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (RG) and the number of Arm rear-guards you have is three or greater, you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to non-LRIG and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.


	81. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 81: That Buried Discord

**...**

In front of her, a familiar scene was playing out from in front of a befuddled Kiyoi as she 'gazed' upon exactly what was in front of her. The very setting and the door before her were very familiar as she had recognized it to be the hospital that she had stood in over one year ago. And that the room beyond that door was the exact same room where the comatose Sakaguchi lay, unaware of the cold hand of death that would soon befall her. But at the same time, this had also confused Kiyoi as suddenly, she had found her body moving against her will, almost far too naturally for her likes.

_What is all this about?_ she murmured in her thoughts.

As the door opened, from her body's lips, a sinister giggle echoed from within as the room before her had a very frighteningly familiar scene before her. It was host to the comatose Sakaguchi exactly as she had seen it from long before as the body drew ever closer to her friend's form. Her right hand moved out towards the same mask that covered over the comatose girl's face.

"I did a bit of preparation so that no one would interfere," a soft, yet sinister tone spoke from her body's lips "Who am I to disappoint her? Now then... enjoy your peaceful rest."

Inwardly, or so she initially believed, Kiyoi suddenly realized that this was the exact same memory of her friend's murder that she had endured through time and again from the very moment she had witnessed it from the White Room... only this time, she was seemingly reliving said memory from the perspective of her own body whilst Remember was in control of it.

_Wait Sakaguchi...!_ she screamed, having thrown rationality aside for a brief instance  _This... this isn't me...!_

But as a wise person had once said, what has been done cannot be undone. And now, Kiyoi was powerless to do nothing, but witness her friend's death all over again from her body's own perspective. As the familiar noise of the machine droned on until it came to a flat bleep, indicating that Sakaguchi was indeed dead, all that remained of the body's memory was Remember cackly loudly after exiting the hospital in seemingly utter triumph. She had brought despair to her Selector, by twisting the very meaning of her intended wish in the most cruel and inhumane way possible.

* * *

**Soryu Island**

After being unable to bear through anymore of Remember's evil laughter from the day that Sakaguchi had been killed, Kiyoi shot up from her bed, sweating heavily down the front of her forehead and breathing heavily. Upon taking a moment to gather her emotions or at least the state of them together, she breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm herself down as she looked down upon her hands, the same hands that had murdered her friend, even if she wasn't the one to commit the atrocity itself. With the amount of time Remember had spent in her body, who knew what other vile and dispicable memories she had left behind in her brain to endure as even more nightmares to come.

"So this is the price Mayu spoke of..." she murmured to herself "Being forced to relive memories of Sakaguchi, even from Remember's perspective in my body for an eternity. This is the burden I..."

Her rambling was interrupted when she had heard the door to her room open up as Ruko entered inside with a small hint of daylight from the open 'window' in the corridor outside shining into her room. Kiyoi was slightly surprised that she had been asleep for this long, let alone enduring the nightmares she had gone through for such a night. The Selector in front of her now was worried, having overheard what she had been saying in her sleep when she had previously approached the bedroom itself.

"Are you okay Kiyoi...?" Ruko asked nervously, recalling that she had not been in the best of moods since her fight with Jillian had come to an end.

"My feelings should not be of your concern," Kiyoi replied in what seemed like an attempt of her usual monotone, only laced with the fact that she had been greatly shaken from her memories.

The Selector didn't seem quite convinced, but she knew she had to press on with what little conversation she could bring up with the former blue LRIG and with everything she and Kai had been told about her from what Kamui knew, she could at least try to get through to her. She felt it would be easier to do this on her own, as she was worried that Tama might inadvertently say something that would cause the girl in front of her to lose her temper.

"I... did hear you say something about Sakaguchi in your sleep," she said.

Kiyoi huffed to herself for a moment, cursing her inability to keep her actual mouth shut in this entire debacle, but at the very least, it seemed that the only thing that Ruko knew of Sakaguchi was just her name and she intended to keep it that way. She rose up from her bed and decided to leave the bedroom at once, wanting some space to herself to reflect on everything that had happened. The Selector upon seeing this knew at the rate things were going, she wasn't going to get anywhere with trying to get the former blue LRIG to open up more on the situation that had been plaguing them ever since they, her two LRIGs, Kamui and Kai had landed on this island the previous day.

"I'm really sorry about what happened to her..." she continued "But what happened then wasn't your fault."

Before she could exit through the door, Kiyoi suddenly stopped in her footsteps as she absorbed everything that Ruko had just said to her. First, she was shocked that she seemingly had knowledge as to what happened that day without her saying anything about it to her in the first place. Then, that shock slowly began to turn into boiling anger as soon as she began to realize who it was that had told her about what little they knew about her past, without her consent or permission no less. Hearing her teeth being clenched in silent fury, Ruko backed away slowly, knowing she might had said something to anger the girl in front of her and that she might lash out against her. But that never came as she heard the question that had just left Kiyoi's seething mouth.

"Where is he...?!"

* * *

**Japan**

The very next morning within the lower levels of the mall that held the teleporter to the sanctuary, or at least what was intact of it, Tetsu and Neve were inspecting the area where the keystone had previously shattered. The two of them had already gathered the shards of what remained of the 'switch' to activate the very mural they stood atop of and had sealed it off within a small container that they had left outside of the large black square. The Dark Irregulars user knelt down and ran a finger down the Vanguard circle markings that made up the remainder of the complete mural.

"To think you managed to construct this underneath all of our noses," he commented, looking back up at Neve "I must admit, I'm impressed."

"But with our talismans gone, simply building us another slab to fit the slot won't accomplish anything," the former Quatre Knight replied "The only way we can even hope to repair the damage is to find a way to activate it through a different means."

"I see..."

Tetsu got back up and looked back to the empty slot where the complete keystone previously lay, now having a much greater understanding of the dilemma that lay before them, as well as Kai and Ruko if they were planning to get them back to the Selector's own world.

"I might be able to run a diagnostic over the damage to the pad," he spoke "But repairing it to get Kai and his new 'companions' back to the other world he was sent to before will require a greater level of computer expertise... one I'm afraid that I may not be able to accomplish on my own."

Neve nodded grimly in agreement, knowing that this task was bound to take quite some time to accomplish and with the lack of his, Gaillard's and Ratie's talismans to repair the mural itself, this said task was going to be far from easy. That was when he noticed the mark on Tetsu's right hand, not quite knowing of the exact circumstances that had led to that.

"I see Tokura wasn't lying when she said you had been marked," he spoke "When you fought that night, did you encounter a woman by the name of Miyako?"

"So I see you've encountered her too," Tetsu replied "But to answer your question, Miyako was the person I had lost to. There was one other individual that fought Asaka calling herself Ulith and someone named Futase fought and lost to Tokura when she arrived."

"And then there would be Kiyoi," the former Quatre Knight continued "However from what word I have received recently from Ratie, Kai's told her that a person calling herself Remember had assumed Kiyoi's actual identity, previously captured Katsuragi Kamui and had been marking fighters as her."

The Dark Irregulars user, having not encountered Remember whilst she had been masquerading in Kiyoi's body as the aforementioned person herself, didn't have much of an opinion to offer to Neve's statement. But right now, this much was clear to him. These were individuals that cardfighters across the world had to be careful of encountering and that their attacks were only getting started if the smaller scale ones before the assault on Foo Fighter were anything to go by. A part of him was still frustrated from losing his units to Miyako, but he knew that if he did nothing to aid in the effort to stop them and possibly get them back, he was in no position for complaining.

"The individuals aside," he murmured "There may be one who could be of assistance..."

"Who do you have in mind?" Neve asked.

"I am aware he has only just registered for the advanced course from his studies," Tetsu continued "But with what the remainder of the Tatsunagi Corporation has seen in his prowess, he may be our best chance in even trying to repair this mural."

The former Quatre Knight continued to listen, having not heard about the particular fighter that the Dark Irregulars user was bringing up in regards to attempting to make a solution to their current problem.

* * *

**Soryu Island**

Later in the morning, Kamui had been wandering along the corridors of the fortress ruins on his own. It had been some time since Ruko had left the kitchen in an effort to try and get through to Kiyoi and he was curious if she had any success in doing so. A part of him felt guilty for spilling everything he knew about Sakaguchi to both the Selector and Kai the previous night without asking her, but he felt that if Kiyoi was going to overcome whatever it was that was making her act this way, she was going to get all the help she could get whether she wanted it or not.

"Sheesh, why the heck won't Kiyoi say anything?" he muttered to himself "It's like she's gone straight back to how she was when we first met."

Huffing to himself, he dug into the right pocket of his orangish coloured hoodie and pulled out what appeared to be a picture of some kind. It was very recent, despite the slightly bent corners that it had and the sight was one he never thought he would have seen throughout his time in the other world. Amika at the very back, held one hand on the Nova Grappler user's right shoulder as the two of them brightly smiled towards the camera that had taken this picture. Wrapped within her right arm was a somewhat dumbfounded Kiyoi who had tried to smile naturally in a reluctant manner for their group picture, coming across as somewhat awkward.

Thinking back to the photo, a part of him could only wonder about how Amika was doing now. Although he knew that she would be glad that her mother was finally well and back with her family thanks to his and Kiyoi's efforts, the fact that she would eventually discover that he and her newest friend had vanished from that world was bound to crush her heart once again and that Aichi and the others might had to be ones to break the bad news to her. But right now, he knew that worrying about her whereabouts in life now was the least of everyone's concerns at this point.

"Well, at least we're not dealing with a reversed Kiyoi again," Kamui murmured somewhat offhandedly as he put the picture away "I wonder what Kai's been doing now since breakfast?"

He then walked back down the corridor towards the kitchen, looking to brush up and practice on his cardfighting skills since his absence from this world. Although he was thankful Miwa was holding onto the now restored Raizer deck back in Japan, he felt that he could go for a round or two with his Beast Deity deck now back to the way it originally was.

"KATSURAGI!"

Upon hearing the angry voice that had just addressed him by his last name, Kamui immediately spun around, only to immediately be pinned to the wall in an instant by a hand that had grabbed ahold of his right shoulder. Wincing for a moment from the hard impact of being shoved into the wall behind him, the Nova Grappler user then realized that in front of him was none other that Kiyoi herself. And she wasn't just upset from what he could tell of the murderous look in her eyes that he was now seeing.

"Kiyoi..."

"Why did you tell them...?!" she growled "You know how personal that issue is to me!"

Having known that it was only going to be a matter of time before Kiyoi had discovered he had told everyone else about Sakaguchi and Remember's hand in her murder, Kamui had expected the former blue LRIG to be in such a mood, albeit not to this extent.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't ask about it earlier..." he said as he regained his composure "But that's not really the point now!"

"Then what is?!" Kiyoi yelled.

"You've been out of it ever since we ended up here and I think that me telling Kai and Ruko about Sakaguchi is the least of your problems!" the Nova Grappler user replied "Besides, they asked me to tell them and they would have got it out of one of us sooner or later!"

But his reasoning had done very little to calm her down in the slightest as her grip on his right shoulder had tightened, causing him to wince a little from how far she was willing to take out all of her anger upon him. She lowered her head slightly as she didn't let go of him for even a single moment, not quite finished with what she had to say to him.

"I trusted you...!" she growled, her voice on the verge of breaking "You helped Amika when she needed you the most... you freed Sakaguchi from Remember's hands... and this is how you repay me?!"

"Kiyoi..." he muttered with gritted teeth.

"You think that this is something you can casually speak of to others?!" Kiyoi snapped "If that's really the case... you really have no respect for those in front of you as I originally believed!"

"No respect?!" Kamui replied, somewhat confused by her statement "Of course I understand what happened!"

"You're wrong...!"

The Nova Grappler user suddenly blinked as he felt Kiyoi's grip on his shoulder finally beginning to loosen up as she backed away slightly from him, keeping her glare fixated upon him and her right arm behind her back.

"It seems that you're completely incapable of understanding how personal certain occurrences are to people, the subject of death clearly being one of them!" she growled "But clearly, you're not the person I believed I understood, Katsuragi Kamui!"

After letting go of Kamui, she immediately ran away from him down the corridor towards the outside of the fortress ruins, just as Ruko and Sharlene came in as the former blue LRIG was eventually out of sight. Having heard what was being said and done, the three of them were simply left stunned in silence as they had no idea that she had much anger pent up inside of her and after learning what had happened, who could blame her for feeling the way that she did. Clutching his shoulder for a moment, the two girls gasped as they ran over to him.

"Are you alright?!" cried Sharlene.

"This is nothing...!" Kamui replied as he shook his right shoulder, easing him of some of the pain.

"I'm so sorry..." Ruko spoke "I didn't think Kiyoi would attack you after I told her that..."

"Forget about it," he muttered "She's always been difficult, one way or another."

The Selector felt bad for him, feeling that it was partly her own fault that he had even been made a target by Kiyoi's wrath, not helped by the fact she had told him about how she had learned about Sakaguchi through him after she had woken up from an alternative perspective of that terrible memory. Yuki, glancing down the corridor in the direction that the former blue LRIG had run down from the card her Selector held, could only begin to ponder as to how this was going to unfold with the circumstances at hand.

"It seems that this has been affecting her for some time now, even as Piruluk," she commented "I can see now that this was the hidden rage I sensed when I battled her and Akira as Urazoe Iona."

"You don't know the half of it," Kamui remarked "Even if it was just her from her memory, I saw what happened then. Believe me, she has every right to be pissed off at Remember for betraying her like that."

Despite this though, a part of him couldn't help but think about the words she had gotten across towards him in the midst of her angry rant.

"But still... this is only the second time I've been around someone who's been somewhat like that..." he murmured "Aside from you guys knowing more about how to deal with this whole thing better than I can, I don't quite get why Kiyoi's mad at me for telling you guys in the first place."

"From my understanding of my time as a human in various runs of the Selector Battles, the death of close ones is a very heavy subject," Yuki replied "Sometimes, people need 'personal space' to sort out their feelings and eventual closure on their own. The fact you disclosed what happened to this Sakaguchi Ayumi to us without talking it over with Kiyoi may have only served to complicate the matter between you two."

Everyone else in the room seemed more or less down within their moods now that it was clear that Kiyoi had her trust with Kamui severely affected and that they weren't quite sure how they would approach her if her mood had even calmed down at all.

"Anyway..." Ruko murmured, trying to calm the tense mood in the corridor "Could I get your help in rebuilding my deck around Yuki? There's so much I don't know about Dark Zone and how I can make it fit as a different strategy."

"We'll figure something out," Sharlene replied happily "Besides, you said your cards worked with Shadow Paladin before. Maybe they'll work the same way again."

And that made the Selector feel much better as she looked over to Kamui who grinned in agreement, feeling that perhaps that some space was all Kiyoi needed and that they could focus their attention on this new task for the time being.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the top of the fortress ruins overlooking the distant blue sea in the horizon, Kai sat within the exact same spot that Kiyoi had been reflecting on during last night's events. He knew that it wouldn't be much longer before Jillian would eventually be able to plot a route back to Japan with the boat that she, Sharlene and Leon usually travelled on and that he could bring the remainder of his companions up to speed about his time in Ruko's world and the Selector Battles themselves. He had much of a tale to share from his and the others' adventures and their fight against Mayu and Chaos Breaker, as did they from what had been happening here in his complete absence.

In a way, part of him felt glad to be back in this world after so long, back onto familiar ground that he was naturally acquainted with and companions that he had come to accept in all of his years through his own journey of Vanguard. But at the same time, he knew that he could not afford to stay for too long as there was no telling how much closer Mayu was to completing whatever plan she had in grandeur behind the curtain of the Selector Battles themselves and that he also had to ensure that Ruko and Kiyoi made it safely back to their homes as well. Right now, his mind was focused on two aspects he had been familiar with since the previous day and had spent most of the morning trying to figure them out.

First of all was Ruko's mother and the General of the forces serving Mayu within the Selector Battles, Miyako. Whilst he could understand her rage behind the circumstances that led to the death of Mayu whilst she was still alive, her motivations, the actions she took to achieve her goals and her warped views on both humanity and what she saw as her ideal way of a family sickened him to the core. Genocide was one thing that anyone would be against when it came to observing and discussing the disgruntled woman's true wish, but her treatment of Ruko and Ayumu in her plans along with a further scheme to 'adopt' him had the Link Joker invasion of his world been successful was something he could personally not forgive her for.

"Wherever you are now Miyako, I won't allow your plans to reach fruition," he murmured to himself as he gazed down at his deck "The same goes towards you... Chaos Breaker."

His attention also turned over to that of Noriko and Kaen, no doubt awaiting the day and moment where they would clash once again, with him no longer having any doubts to hold him back. Kai recalled that Miyako had planned to 'adopt' him to take her place as the 'Exception' for the Selector Battles which only led to even more questions he would need the answers for, provided he could find and defeat her in a rematch as well answers in regards to her reasoning behind her involvement in saving Ruko's life six years ago. Before he could contemplate on this any further, he heard the phone in his pocket vibrating in short buzzes. He picked it out to see that it was Tetsu who was calling him up in an instant.

"What is it, Tetsu?" he asked.

"Kai, we have a request for you to pass onto Jillian when you leave the island," the Dark Irregulars user spoke "If it isn't too much to ask for, we need you to stop by in Singapore on the way back to Japan and pick up Christopher Lo of Team SIT Genius."

"You believe that he might be able to fix the Sanctuary gateway to get us back to the other world?" Kai murmured.

"That is correct," he answered "I've informed him of what has happened and he said he'll need a closer look to properly examine the mural."

"That is good," the Kagero user said "If the damage isn't as severe as Ratie believes, we might be able to rejoin Aichi and the others depending on the length of the repairs."

"There's also one other thing I wished to ask..."

Kai simply remained silent for the moment, giving the chief engineer of the Foo Fighter organization a chance to prepare the question he wanted to ask him at this very moment.

"You mentioned to Ratie that the Mizushima Kiyoi that had marked several fighters before last night was someone else assuming her identity," Tetsu spoke "Are you really certain that is the case?"

"I may not have been around the person assuming her identity as long as Katsuragi has," the Kagero user replied "But even so, I can easily the difference between them through their mannerisms and that the Kiyoi that marked several fighters in this world, Katsuragi included, is not the same as the real one with us now."

"Very well then," the Dark Irregulars user murmured "I will contact you again if anything new in regards to our situation happens."

And with that, Tetsu ended the call as Kai placed his phone back into his pocket. Sensing with suspicion that had been watched somehow, he gazed over the edge of the ruins, noticing Kiyoi ascend the stairway and approaching where he was now, stopping at a distance and gazing upon him with some of the harsh outlook from her outrage at Kamui remaining in her eyes.

"You know why I am feeling this way," she spoke, suspecting he too had knowledge about Sakaguchi from the Nova Grappler user.

"Kamui eventually told us everything that happened between you and Remember," he answered, standing up from where he had been sitting "You have my condolences for your friend."

Kiyoi could only frown, trying her utmost not to lash out at the Kagero user for knowing about this through the person that told him in the first place. Then again, she sensed that Kai was always somewhat one of the more mature out of the cardfighters and Selectors she had encountered, even as the blue LRIG Piruluk, and felt that he would be more reasonable in talking with her.

"I would have preferred it to have remained between those that had seen it and the few I... trusted," she began in her usual monotone "But it seems that Katsuragi has yet to learn that death of close ones is a subject one cannot disclose as casually as he might believe."

"That is true," Kai replied "But, this is only the second time that he has been around a companion with that issue being public knowledge to him."

"Inexperience then."

Kiyoi then walked over towards him, stopping just a little in front of him as she looked up at him, narrowing her gaze.

"Katsuragi told me that you asked him to speak of Sakaguchi," she spoke "Is that true?"

Kai simply nodded once, answering her question resolutely. The former blue LRIG simply stared at the ground before her, contemplating everything that had erupted within the last hour or so since she had woken up from reliving the memory that was also a nightmare. Whilst she felt her anger towards Kamui was still justified, she couldn't help but ponder over how violent the entire confrontation had almost ended up if the slight pain in his shoulder was anything to go by.

"What did you see in Ruko's fight with Jillian?"

Blinking for a moment, Kiyoi immediately realized that the Kagero user had asked her yet another question, only this time in regards to what she had experienced the previous night, having sat nearby him when she came to watch the fight.

"I saw memories of my limited time with Sakaguchi... and of the fight as if I were on the surface of this Planet Cray," she answered, shuddering slightly for a brief moment, slightly clenching her teeth "I never wanted to experience said things when I watched out of curiousity... but it is clear to me that Vanguard is the cause behind it and I won't stand for it any longer."

Bringing her right arm out from behind her back, Kai could immediately see that she was holding a very familiar deck case that he knew belonged to a certain someone. He didn't know why she was holding it now, but he suspected that he would find out the answer to that very question in a short matter of time.

"I want them gone," she spoke harshly as she took the cards out "The images. My past. My ties to all of you."

"Are you certain you can fight without knowing all of the rules yourself?" Kai asked sternly.

"That won't be necessary."

The Kagero user said nothing more as both of them took a seat beside the small rock formation that held the various circles and zones engraved into the surface, making it the ideal fight table to use outside on a dry day on this island. After both had made the necessary preparations required to start a cardfight, both of them finished obtaining their starting hands as they then reached out for their starting Vanguards.

"Stand Up, the Vanguard!" Kai called as he flipped over Dragon Knight, Sadegh.

Kiyoi said nothing in response as she turned over her starting Vanguard, the fight she started in an effort to bury her past and cement her isolation from the images and bonds around her having now begun.

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Ruko had finally managed to put her deck centered around Yuki back together as Tama and Charlene cheered loudly in celebration. Whilst Yuki and Jillian gave approving smiles of their own, Kamui gave her a brief thumbs up in the fact that she finally had some functioning decks around the girls of white and black to use in future cardfights around this world.

"Nice going!" he said in compliment "Now you've got your decks around both your LRIGs all ready to go!"

"Mhm," the Selector replied "You wouldn't mind if I had a fight against you?"

The Nova Grappler user nodded in excitement, having wanted to fight against Ruko regardless of which world they had been in for quite some time now. When he reached into his right pocket of his orange coloured hoodie, his expression changed to that of confusion, as everyone stared at him immediately.

"What...?!" he murmured in shock "I definitely had my deck on me when I left the kitchen... right before..."

Gasping for a moment, he suddenly recalled that when he had been pushed against the corridor wall forcefully by Kiyoi, he thought that he had felt something had left his jacket pocket and that she had only pinned him there with one arm. Now there was no denying that before she vented all of her anger upon him, she had taken his deck in the confusion.

"Man... she really likes to make things difficult...!" he muttered "I thought something left my pocket when she stormed over."

"But why would Kiyoi take Kamui's deck?" Tama pondered.

"I don't know," the Nova Grappler user replied "But exorcism is the last thing I'd think of when it comes to Kiyoi."

"First, I believe you meant to say extortion," Jillian replied, correcting him on his choice of words "Secondly, we haven't seen much of Kai around this morning. If she's been acting strange during our fight last night..."

Putting all of the pieces together in an instant, everyone in the room looked to one another and nodded in agreement. All of them and the girls of black and white had come to the same conclusion, that Kiyoi had taken Kamui's deck for the sole purpose of fighting Kai herself. But for what reason she did so, was one that currently remained a mystery which they were bound to uncover very soon.

* * *

"Ride! Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev!"

Back at the top of the fortress ruins, Kai placed down a new Kagero unit that was unfamiliar to Kiyoi on top of Dragon Monk, Gojo as she had glanced down at it, taking note of the symbol on the bottom right corner of the card. So far from what little of the fight had progressed, the former blue LRIG had managed to take a slight lead after the second turn, scoring two damage against him with Beast Deity, Damned Leo as her current Vanguard to her single point. She knew with the opening turns so far, that not much of the fight would sway in either participant's favour until much later on.

"Attack with Sadegh's boost!"

On the battlefield imaged within the Kagero user's mind, Tarayev aimed the large firearm it wielded in his armoured right hand at Hatred Chaos who remained motionless as the fiery bullets struck it head on. Through his image of the Dragon Knight, Kai could only stare towards the Beast Deity, sensing that there was something off about this unit from the way it appeared, or more specifically, its eyes which appeared to have little to no life within them. On the table in front of him, two more cards had already entered Kiyoi's damage zone as a result of the attack being successful. She didn't pay much mind to this scenario, choosing to instead just to focus on the way things were to her as she drew her next card.

As this was happening, Kamui and Ruko had already climbed the stairs to the area they were now at, followed shortly by Jillian and Sharlene as they saw what was unfolding before them.

"They've already started!" the Nova Grappler used called.

"But Kai's winning!" Tama called.

"It's still early," Yuki murmured as she glanced upon Kiyoi, noting her gaze.

She had been keeping a cool head so far, having not experienced any unwanted images or flashbacks to past memories up to this point. But she knew that could all change within a instant as she continued with her turn.

"Ride. Beast Deity, Ethics Buster," she spoke in her monotone "Call."

Placing down Brainy Papio and Desert Gator's cards in her front row, she immediately rested the latter in a calm manner to signal her attack in silence. Kai moved the top card of his deck into his damage zone, the third point being Dragonic Burnout. Kiyoi then turned her gaze down to Ethics Buster, recalling that the actual unit had also played a part in knocking her out of Reverse and freeing Sakaguchi's spirit from the remains of Necro Raizer during Kamui's last stand against Remember. Closing her eyes and thinking back to further memories of her past, she made one thing clear to herself from nearly all of her past experiences, including her most recent.

_That's right. If there is one thing that must be followed... the only person one can trust is themself and only themself! After learning that for myself multiple times, I will never make that mistake again!_

"Attack," she spoke.

"No guard," Kai replied.

Kiyoi then immediately conducted her twin drive, one card at a time. The first card was Max Beat, followed immediately afterwards by Rescue Bunny.

"Heal Trigger. Power to Brainy Papio."

Within the Kagero user's image, the giant Battleroid that had fought beside Kamui in the last dozen or so Selector Battles he had participated in loomed over Tarayev with one fist raised back. As Kai through the eyes of Tarayev gazed up at Ethics Buster, the same suspicion he had in the earlier turns of the fight came into play once more, just as it lobbed back the Dragon Knight with a backhanded punch. Shortly afterwards, Brainy Papio leaped into the air and launched a volley of missiles towards Tarayev as Calamity Tower Wyvern and Blue Ray Dracokid both appeared in front of him to intercept the explosive projectiles. As the turn came to an end, the positions had certainly reversed, with Kiyoi now just leading at two damage to four.

Wanting to get some answers from her sudden behaviour as of lately and to see if he could clear things up about the previous night, Kamui approached the table as he came over to the girl.

"Hey Kiyoi!" he called, getting her attention "If you wanted to fight Kai that badly with my deck, you could have just asked if you could borrow it!"

Kiyoi however, remained silent as she blankly glared back at him, without saying another word for several long moments. The Nova Grappler user could only cringe internally as he knew that this wasn't the first time she had chosen to play the cold shoulder to him this way.

"Don't tell me this is still about last night," he moaned.

"You're not exactly what I would consider trustworthy now, if no one else has any objections," she murmured coldly, trying to keep her anger from earlier under control now that she was in the middle of cardfighting against Kai.

"Then why fight against Kai in the first place?" Jillian asked "He was the one that asked Kamui to spill everything."

Kai gazed at Kiyoi, knowing that the older twin had indeed raised a rather interesting question about the former blue LRIG that sat before him with Kamui's deck. Although everyone on the island now had basic knowledge on why she had held such a grudge against Remember, this was indeed something that they did not know the answer to.

"Because I want to verify something for myself," she spoke as turned back to face the Kagero user "Kai, Miyako told us that you once fought alongside Chaos Breaker under your own volition. Given that is the case, along with Ruko's LRIGs being direct byproducts of Mayu herself and you all having public knowledge of Sakaguchi because of Katsuragi, how can I be certain you aren't hiding your own intentions?"

The Kagero user knew that she had every right to be sceptical towards him, given his previous connections to Reverse and Chaos Breaker itself. But the fact she had extended her scepticism to the entire group for additional reasons outside of the fact that Kamui had told them all about Sakaguchi and the circumstances surrounding her death meant their had to be more to her reasoning than she was seemingly letting on.

_If she's been sceptical of all of us beyond our knowledge of that incident..._ he murmured in his thoughts as he drew his next card  _Then there's something she's not telling us, willingly or not._

He then held up one card into the air as everyone but Kiyoi looked closely, wondering if 'that' unit was going to be the one that he would Ride next.

"Ride the Vanguard!" he declared "The apocalyptic flames that burn everything in this world to ash!"

Within his image, a whirlwind of flames enveloped Tarayev as he disappeared from the surface of one of the many rocky plains that made up a majority of the Planet Cray. From the growing inferno, the shadow of the familiar 'Wind of the Apocalypse' rose up before a single blade cut away the raging fire, revealing the all-too familiar presence of the unit that was most associated with Kai.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

**Dragonic Overlord (Break Ride)/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Dragon Empire/Kagero/Flame Dragon**

"So we meet again," she commented as she gazed down at the card, recallng her first personal encounter with Overlord as the blue LRIG Piruluk.

"Call," Kai spoke as he placed down a second Tarayev and Dragon Knight, Nehalem on the rear-guard circles in his front row before resting the latter "Nehalem attacks Desert Gator!"

Kiyoi didn't react as she simply moved Desert Gator's card straight into her Drop Zone, not concerned with the result at all. She then looked back at Kai who still kept his serious gaze upon her.

"I believe I understand now..." he murmured.

"Hmm?"

"A clear image is the key to forging your own path in Vanguard," he answered "But throughout the fight, I've noticed one thing. You've constantly been refusing to image your own path."

"I do not mean any disrespect to Ethics Buster or Cray's other units," she replied "But I find the concept of imagination ludicrous."

Everyone else on the sidelines blinked for an instance, partly curious but somewhat befuddled as to Kiyoi had not only chosen not to image her view of the fight but speak out against the use of imagination to form a clear image. Sharlene tapped a finger on her chin, trying to narrow down a list of possible reasons as to why she would speak out like this.

"This isn't making any sense!" Kamui muttered "First you're saying you don't trust us, now you're saying that imaging in a fight is a bad thing?!"

"Precisely."

The Nova Grappler user blinked in disbelief as he gritted his teeth, not quite happy with the opinion that the former blue LRIG had been offering to him and the others.

"Imagination doesn't just shape one of your fights," she continued "It also shapes who we are as people, our desires and our true intentions. It can also be one of the very things that shapes our own dreams and nightmares."

Kiyoi then clenched a fist as she looked back to Kai, ready to resume the fight and continue to defend against his coming attacks.

"I've had enough of these images that plague my mind, my memories and those unwanted from Vanguard. In order to prove my point and bury my past for good, I will defeat you without the use of that topic."

The Kagero user did not say anything else in response as he then rested both Sadegh and Dragonic Overlord's cards to commence his next attack. Kiyoi did nothing for a few long moments, indicating that she had no intention of guarding this next attack.

"Twin drive," he spoke as he revealed the first card as Dragon Monk, Genjo "Heal Trigger. I recover one damage and give power to Tarayev."

"Now he'll tie it up," Ruko murmured.

Kai then revealed the card from his second check as Gattling Claw Dragon, allowing him to draw an additional card in addition to powering up his rear-guard Tarayev. Within the field he had imaged, Dragonic Overlord unleashed its signature attack, Eternal Flame, right at Ethics Buster who stood its ground with little emote over than shielding its face from the heat with its arms. Tarayev then leaped into the air and fired away at the tall Battleroid, knocking it around from the fiery bullets that it had unleashed from his gun. The next two cards in Kiyoi's damage zone were a copy of Ethics Buster Extreme along with Van Paurus, the Draw Trigger having increased her hand from choosing not to guard during this turn.

"Kai's taken the lead!" Tama cheered.

"But... he's given her the conditions to set off the Break Ride," Jillian muttered, having known about Kamui's Beast Deity deck all too well.

The former blue LRIG, took no notice of the Nova Grappler user's words, deciding that he wasn't worth responding to or talking with until much later, believing that he still hadn't gotten the message she was trying to get across to him. She drew her next card immediately before looking over the options that she had available in her hand and taking one of them, placing it on top of Ethics Buster.

"Ride," she spoke in her monotone "Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme..."

"Come on...!" Kamui groaned "If you're gonna use my strongest units, at least be positive about it!"

Ignoring him, the former blue LRIG then called Hatred Chaos and Max Beat straight to her left column, more or less completing her formation to throw everything that she had against Kai. Not that it was her initial intent in the first place with other issues around her that she was wanting to sort out on her own sooner or later.

"I am curious."

She then blinked as she looked up to the Kagero user who had just spoken out to her before she decided to wage any attacks at all during this turn.

"You claim that you have your reasons for distrusting everyone around you," he spoke "But what I don't understand from what little I've known about you personally is how both Sakaguchi and Amika correlate into this."

"What are you insinuating?" she asked, narrowing her gaze.

"If you really are distrusting everyone around you as you claim," he continued "Why did you entrust the fate of Amika's mother into Kamui's hands? Or as we should we be asking... why would you even try to save Sakaguchi in the first place?"

Before Kiyoi could answer either of his two questions, she ran the logic behind them through her mind in an effort to present an answer in relation to her earlier claim of distrusting everyone around her for good reason. As she did so, the question of her reasoning of trying to even save Sakaguchi in response to what she had said earlier in the fight suddenly caused her to clutch her head in pain as more memories began to flash before her eyes.

"Kiyoi!" cried Ruko.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Kamui exclaimed.

_Why won't it stop...?!_ she cried in her mind as more memories flashed through her mind  _I haven't even imaged the fight willingly and yet...!_

Kai then closed his eyes as he came to the conclusion that everything about Kiyoi and the reasoning behind her behaviour was about to come into light at last. But the one thing that tied it all together between her distrust of people and how much of an impact Sakaguchi's death had upon her as a whole was still the missing piece of the jigsaw that made up who she was today and why she was acting the way she was now.

"Image it," he spoke "The first moments of yourself, when you decided to distrust the world around you."

"... Never...!" she hissed as she closed her eyes and covered her face "I...!"

But as much as she had tried to, Kiyoi had subconsciously began taking through a trip down her memories once again, only this time, she was finding herself seemingly falling through the entire collection in what would have been her spirit form on the Planet Cray had she chosen to image the fight from the beginning.

* * *

**...**

When she had seemingly regained consciousness, Kiyoi had found herself standing within a very familiar memory, the one that had seemingly started it all from what she could recall from the scene that was playing out right in front of her. Looking to her side, she could see that Kai was now standing beside her, observing what had been playing out through her memories at this point.

"Why have you taken me here?!" she demanded "Was this your's and Katsuragi's intention?!"

"This image is merely a reflection of your heart," he calmly replied "You said it yourself that imaging can shape a part of who we are and our own memories."

Reluctantly, the former blue LRIG could only find herself agreeing with his statement as she looked back out to the scene in front of her. The girl in front of the two of them was instantly recognizable to her, that being her very younger self sitting in front of a notebook that had not only been torn to shreds, but also had the words ugly, stupid and gross all written down on the pages that had remained. Another girl approached the distraught Kiyoi as she helped her up to her feet before turning away with a seemingly serious expression.

"They did it again?!" she muttered "Honestly, I might as well tell a teacher at the rate you're ending up...!"

"But...!"

The girl then turned back to the younger Kiyoi, who had seemingly tried to object to her suggestion.

"If they were to find out..." she murmured, her voice on the brink of a whimper "They'll just do it more."

The girl before her then changed her expression to show one of curiosity as she pondered on what to do next before holding one hand over the shoulder of the person in front of her, smiling immediately in an instant.

"Got it," she replied "But next time they do something, tell me and I'll be on your side."

The younger Kiyoi although somewhat in disbelief at first, eventually nodded in agreement as she and the girl she talked with left the room together.

"After all... what are friends for?"

The present Kiyoi could only scowl to herself upon reliving that memory as Kai could tell from a quiet, yet noticeable hiss. If his assumption was correct, this had to be some of the former blue LRIG's earliest memories as the scene around them had suddenly changed to that of a school hallway. This time, the memory displayed before them was the younger Kiyoi, now in a state of shock and disbelief as the girl who had seemingly offered to help her against the ones responsible for her misfortune was standing beside two others. The three of them had sinister grins upon their faces as they gazed down upon the girl who would later become the LRIG Piruluk.

"Aw man, she found out," she spoke in a seemingly pouty, yet playful tone "Just when we were about to plan out our next move."

As the younger Kiyoi became distraught once again, this time through disbelief and horror, she could only take a few steps backwards as she tried to process what was happening before her.

"W... what's going on...?"

"And it was such a good idea!" a girl with a frilled dress and brown hair snickered as she turned to one of her partners in crime "We were wondering what you were saying behind our backs."

"Hey Kiyoi..." the ringleader of the group spoke "Whenever something bad happens, you have this habit of peeking over at me. Are you seriously asking for help? You're disgusting. Nobody would ever be friends with you."

And with that, the girls left the younger Kiyoi all alone to herself, betrayed and distraught from what she had witnessed just now and how her entire life up to this point was just nothing more than a fiddle to the person she thought she could call a friend. As the memory concluded, so too did the image itself as a whole.

* * *

**Soryu Island**

When both had regained their sense of reality back to the fight before them, everyone else watching from the side couldn't help but ponder what it was that Kiyoi had to go through as a child from her memories alone and why she was acting the was she was now. She shuddered for a brief instance, trying to regain her lost composure as she then looked up to Kai who had seemingly managed to draw up a conclusion from what little he saw through her image of her memories.

"I believe I understand now," he spoke, bringing everyone else's attention to him "The way you have been behaving now and why it relates to that of your past, before meeting Sakaguchi and Remember on later accounts."

"What do you reckon it is?" Kamui asked as he looked over to Kiyoi.

The former blue LRIG gritted her teeth, having not been pleased that more of her past before becoming a Selector had been unveiled to the Kagero user without her consent. To her, he had just crossed a line much like Kamui had earlier in the day and now had every reason to confirm her suspicions in not placing any trust in him at all. She glanced up to him, wondering what it was that he had drawn up from his observation of her past through that image. Needless to say, he immediately voiced his answer out, revealing his stance on why she was behaving the way she was.

"Kiyoi, you're afraid of trusting anyone. Even yourself."


	82. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 82: This Distrustful Persona

**Soryu Island**

As the sound of the sea breeze whistled across the top of the fortress ruins, Ruko, Jillian, Sharlene and Kamui could only stare at the two participants of the fight before them, now that the latest in a partial revelation had seemingly been uncovered about one of them in particular. Kiyoi remained still as she absorbed everything that Kai had deduced from her recent behaviour as of late, still unnerved from the fact that she had imaged part of her past memories against her own will and now, he knew the exact reason behind her distrust of people. Her teeth had been gritted since the image had ended, still angry with him for making her touch upon a such a subject.

"I have every much right not to trust any of you," she hissed as she clenched the remaining cards she held in her hand "So what gives you the right to know about my past?!"

"My intention wasn't necessarily to learn of your history prior to the Selector Battles," he replied calmly "But it would seem that image has revealed a little more about the way you are now. Those memories have been affecting you since we arrived on this island and you challenged me to a fight with the intention of 'burying' them forever and to prove a single point, that the only one you believe a person should trust is only themselves."

Everyone on the sidelines could only look at Kiyoi, still unable to fathom that she would think of them the way that she was doing so right now after everything she and Amika had been through on the previous day. In truth, the majority knew that getting Kamui to tell them everything he knew about Sakaguchi and what Remember had done to her was part of the reason that she was angry at them in the first place.

"Is this what you had planned from the beginning?" she murmured "Forcing me to image my memories and torment me further? All to say that my preference of isolation is wrong?"

"If you take issue with what I saying to you, prove it in the fight," Kai replied resolutely "It is still your turn."

The former blue LRIG gazed back down on the field in front of her, recalling that Ethics Buster Extreme was still powered up thanks to the Break Ride ability of the previous Ethics Buster, granting her a greater attack advantage in the coming Battle Phase. Despite this though, a part of her was still agitated greatly from imaging part of her past earlier and now most of her calmer focus from the beginning of the fight had faded.

 _I won't allow those images to haunt me again!_ she thought resolutely  _I said I wouldn't do it earlier... but if the only way to bury them is to picture the fight, then so be it!_

"Hatred Chaos attacks your rear-guard Tarayev!"

On the field imaged in Kai's mind, Hatred Chaos glowed a bright orange for a brief instance as it was being boosted by Max Beat for its coming attack. The bipedal Beast Deity then leaped high into the air, performing a somersault in the highest point of its jump before landing a large kick on Tarayev, knocking the Dragon Knight out completely before it was retired in a flurry of sparks. The Kagero user through his image of Dragonic Overlord gazed towards Ethics Buster who for the first time since the fight had begun had its eyes no longer in a lifeless blank state.

"Brainy Papio attacks Dragonic Overlord!" Kiyoi's voice echoed as the other Beast Deity launched a barrage of missiles from its head.

"Guard!" Kai called as he placed down Genjo's card on the Guardian circle.

After moving the card to his drop zone, he gazed back to his opponent, noticing that she was quietly but heavily breathing to herself as she rested Ethics Buster Extreme's card, signalling the next attack.

"Break Ride skill..." she spoke, trying to keep her hectic breathing in check as Kamui suddenly noticed "I stand all my front row along with Riot Horn with its own skill!"

Within the image, the eyes of Riot Horn, Hatred Chaos and Brainy Papio glowed brightly as they all took offensive stances once more in preparation for the next attacks. Dragonic Overlord remained motionless as Ethics Buster dashed across the battlefield in massive, yet swift strides towards it as Kai assessed the situation, particuarly from the damage he currently had.

"No guard," he spoke.

"Twin drive...!" Kiyoi called, revealing the first card as Solar Falcon "With the Limit Break, I stand Max Beat!"

Immediately after standing the only remaining Beast Deity in Rest back up, all of her rear-guards were now ready to attack once again at full power. She then moved on to her second check, revealing Beast Deity, Death Stinger.

"Critical Trigger! I give power to Papio and the Critical to Ethics Buster."

**Beast Deity, Brainy Papio/POW: 9000 - 14000**

**Strongest Beast Deity, Ethics Buster Extreme/Critical: 1 - 2**

Ethics Buster Extreme reeled back its large right fist as it leaped into the air before throwing a massive right hook towards Dragonic Overlord who skidded back across the battlefield from the force of the blow. Kai wordlessly conducted his damage check as a second Dragonic Overlord along with Blue Ray Dracokid entered his damage zone.

"Kai's got 5 damage!" Tama gasped.

"And Kiyoi still has two attacks left," Ruko murmured.

The Selector looked to Kiyoi, still unable to believe that one of the first LRIGs she had ever seen, let alone met within her time from fighting within the Selector System prior to Kai's arrival in her world, was the same person that was fighting right in front of her. A part of her now was feeling bad for her, given that this incident was personal to her and that she and Kai had asked Kamui to disclose it without her permission which had accounted for his strange behaviour when they first arrived on the island.

Looking to her right, she could see that the Nova Grappler user had his fists clenched as he stared on towards Kiyoi as well, pondering why he was being this way.

 _I didn't think whatever happened was this bad for Kiyoi...!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _But still... she can't really be thinking of Amika at least the same way she's viewing us now!_

"Hatred Chaos attacks!" she declared.

"Kimnara," Kai calmly responded as he revealed the Grade 1 unit from his hand.

On the imaged battlefield, Brainy Papio then leaped up into the air and unleashed a second barrage of missiles that came soaring towards Dragonic Overlord with the intent of ending the fight right here. Nehalem and the dragon he rode atop of then moved in front of the Kagero commander as the Dragon Knight held out his shield in front to intercept one of the missiles. The projectile exploded on contact, knocking the two out of the fight, but keeping Overlord otherwise unharmed as a result of the effort to defend it.

Back on the table, Kiyoi could only glance at the overall result, having only managed to land one successful attack throughout the entire turn with just Ethics Buster and removing Kai's entire row even allowing her to take the lead by a small margin. Although she wasn't frustrated with the overall turn, she was still acting cautious in the event that she would end up imaging something again when she didn't want to, in addition to her lack of trust in the people around her for what happened earlier in the day.

"Is that the best your 'outlook' could accomplish?"

She glanced at the Kagero user who had merely asked out that question in response to his deduction on her reasoning that the only person one should ever trust is themselves.

"The ideal of isolation and believing that you can only trust one's self... I once believed that myself," he continued as he drew his next card "I once believed that true strength could be sought down that road through one's lone potential. But, that led to an isolation that set me down the darkness and as a result..."

"That was when you worked with Chaos Breaker," Kiyoi interjected "Even if you say you no longer serve it, who is to say some of its influence still resides within you."

"Hold it right there!"

Everyone then looked to Kamui who had chosen to interject his view on the matter at hand, deciding to speak out his mind on the whole subject in regards to Kai's previous affiliation with Reverse and the aftermath of it after Aichi had brought him out of it.

"Kamui...?" Sharlene pondered.

"I may have a lot of my mind to say about Kai, but I know for a fact he's not the same guy he was back then!" he replied "If he's still with Chaos Breaker like you think, then why did he help us save Aichi onii-san?! Why did he help him save Ruko?! Heck, Remember could have still killed Amika's mom after we won had it not been for him stepping in!"

"And the point is...?" Kiyoi questioned, narrowing her gaze towards the Nova Grappler user.

"The point is that you're only seeing the people around you as just your enemy for little reason!" Kamui responded "If you keep going like that, you're gonna have no one to turn to when things get tough!"

The former blue LRIG then clenched her open fist as she glanced over towards him, her earlier anger having slowly begun to return back to her. As she was about to stand up and storm over to him to teach him a lesson in provoking her feelings personally once more, she suddenly stumbled as an image began rolling into the back of her mind once again.

"Again...?!" she hissed as the memory began to play before her once more, leaving everyone with the exception of Kai who gazed closely at her, pondering what was happening this time.

**Flashback**

On a cloudy day after school had finished up, a disgruntled Kiyoi was leaving the school in a bad mood. Even when Sakaguchi had been following her around for the past few weeks, she had always stuck to her ideal of isolation and trusting no one but herself. Certainly, she felt that perhaps there was a time when believed that could have been a different outcome in regards to the individual herself, but she felt that was to no avail. Speaking of whom, the girl herself had hurried up to Kiyoi and tried to reach out for her left hand, only for the latter to pull it away in a hostile manner.

"What's with you Kiyoi?" she asked in her usual energetic self, though her tone was laced with a small bit of concern "Did I do something? Didn't you promise to battle today?"

"You were so annoying...!"

Sakaguchi then blinked in confusion, wondering why it was that Kiyoi was suddenly acting so hostile towards her. The girl who would later become Piruluk turned her head a little to her left, her angry gaze falling upon the girl who had followed her.

"Kiyoi...?" she pondered.

"I thought that you'd give up if I'd agreed to do it, but you really are just a stubborn one," Kiyoi hissed "I hate Wixoss. And... I hate people like you."

A shocked Sakaguchi could only take a step back, still in disbelief to what the person she was trying to make her friend was telling at right this very second as a harsh wind whistled around them.

"It would seem that my presumption these 14 years have continued to hold true," she continued in her harsh tone "So I advise leaving me alone... for our own good!"

And with that, she broke off into a run that took her further into the streets ahead, wanting to get away from it all. She believed that she was foolish for even thinking for a second that Sakaguchi was no different that any other person she had encountered, simply another human being hiding their own intent for her, whatever that might be. And she wanted to be away from it all.

"Wait Kiyoi...!" cried Sakaguchi as she ran off after her.

But Kiyoi was so busy being deep in thought and wanting to get away from the girl now chasing her as far away as possible, she wasn't paying close enough attention to where exactly she was going. In the midst of her running, she had ran out into an open road and had not known that she was even hurrying across the hard stretch of tarmac.

"Kiyoi...!"

By the time Kiyoi had finally registered Sakaguchi's call to her, before she could snap back at the girl in a fit of anger, a noise finally brought her back to reality, seemingly all too late. It was the sound of a horn and looking up, the girl who would later be a Selector looked up to see a truck coming straight towards her and she was right in the middle of its path. Before the seemingly inevitable could happen all at once, she felt herself being shoved right onto the pavement on the far side, just as the truck had collided with something else.

Clutching her head in pain from landing on the hard surface, Kiyoi opened up her eyes and could only stare at the sight before her in horror. People were now gathered onto the road itself as the very 'thing' that had saved her from being hit by the truck in the first place was Sakaguchi herself, who lay motionless on the hard stretch of tarmac. Realizing what had just happened, Kiyoi slowly came to the realization that she had sacrificed herself to save her and that it was her own ignorance and stubborness in her own beliefs that had led to this very accident. An accident that should have had her as the victim instead of the innocent girl who had chased her around, wanting to befriend her all this time.

**Present**

With the memory having come to an end, Kiyoi had a single hand covered over her eyes in a complete state of chaos, leaving everyone else to wonder what exactly was going on as Kai then placed the card he drew into his hand and picked out a different one from the ones that was already in there since the previous turn.

"The ideal of isolation and a definition of trust you sternly follow," he spoke "Mizushima Kiyoi... I am going to burn that belief to nothing. Final Turn!"

Kiyoi then removed the hand from her eyes as she then heard his declaration, resuming her attention back to the fight, albeit with her focus now completely rocked and shaken from the memory she had just relived. Kai then held the card he had chosen right into the air as he spoke out a ride chant that was unfamiliar to everyone watching as he revealed a new unit none of them had seen him use beforehand.

"The fires of Perdition, rage before us and unveil your physical manifestation before us!" he declared as he threw down the card on top of Dragonic Overlord's "Break Ride the Vanguard!"

On the imaged battlefield, Dragonic Overlord roared as it vanished in a large column of flames as a brand new dragon began to emerge from the raging inferno. Kiyoi, now imaging the fight for herself willingly, could only cover her face with one arm through the form of Ethics Buster Extreme. This new dragon had mostly brown and red colours with a large gun wielded in its right claw and a large shield its left in addition to wearing a dark purplish coloured cloak behind its back. Its green eyes gazed upon the leading Beast Deity as it roared loudly to signal its presence for combat.

"Perdition Dragon... Break Down Dragon!"

**Perdition Dragon, Break Down Dragon/Grade 3/Twin Drive/SLD: 0/POW: 11000 - 21000/Dragon Empire/Kagero/Flame Dragon**

"Break Down Dragon...?" Kamui pondered, confused as to why he had not seen this unit before.

"That's a new one," Sharlene murmured.

"I might have allowed him to fish around in our drawer from last night..." Jillian interjected as the others beside her looked at the older twin curiously "What?"

"Call!"

Everyone then looked back to the fight in front of them to see Kai call out a third Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev along with two copies of another new unit named Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga and a familiar essence in Gattling Claw Dragon. After that was down, he then held out his hand over Break Down Dragon to declare his next action.

"Seek the mate!"

A golden aura surrounded Break Down Dragon within the image as it roared out loudly as the afterimages of four cards, that being Genjo, Calamity Tower Wyvern, another Tarayev and Blue Ray Dracokid appeared for a brief instance before a bright flash caused them to vanish. At the same time, within a torrent of flames, the Tarayev that was returned to the deck suddenly appeared to the right of Break Down Dragon as a Legion symbol flashed to all, along with Kai's announcement.

"Legion!"

**Perdition Dragon, Break Down Dragon and Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev/POW: 30000**

"30000 power from the Break Ride and the Legion..." Yuki breathed "Incredible."

"Gattling Claw Dragon's skill," Kai spoke as he turned one of the five cards in his damage zone face down "I retire Riot Horn. My two Mahoragas gain 5000."

Kiyoi, though still rattled from her earlier memory, managed to move the card to her drop zone without any further issues.

"Furthermore, Break Down's Legion skill," he continued "Burn down her left column!"

On the battlefield, Break Down Dragon roared loudly as it caught both Hatred Chaos and Max Beat in its sight before immediately charging up for a large blast of energy with its large gun. After a few long seconds, it unleashed a torrent of flames from the firearm, scorching the two Beast Deity units to nothing but ashes as the fire eventually subsided. A glowing aura enveloped the two Mahoragas and the rear-guard Tarayev as all of them powered up from the effect that had just gone off to give Kai this chance to turn the tables.

**Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev (RG)/POW: 9000 - 19000**

**Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga x2/POW: 10000 - 20000**

"All but one of her rear-guards are gone!" Kamui exclaimed.

"And if we know Overlord like we always do," Ruko murmured.

"Break Down Dragon and Tarayev attack Brainy Papio!" Kai declared.

Kiyoi simply moved the card to her drop zone, having had no intention to guard against this attack in the first place as she suddenly felt herself shaking.

"Twin drive," the Kagero user spoke as he first revealed another Nehalem followed by Embodiment of Spear, Tahr "Got a Critical Trigger. I give the power to Tarayev and the Critical to my Legion."

Within the image, Tarayev and Break Down Dragon combined their attacks together to knock the remaining Brainy Papio out of the battle as they were powered up by part of the trigger that had just been pulled. The lone Ethics Buster, imaged by Kiyoi could only stare at the many patches of smoke pouring from the cracked ground around her, confirming one thing that she already knew. She was now alone thanks to the skills of Kai's units and now had to rely on the cards that were still in her hand to survive the rest of the turn.

"Break Ride skill!" Kai's voice echoed "My Legion stands after attacking a rear-guard!"

Through the image of the unit that was her Vanguard, Kiyoi gazed up at the towering presence of Break Down Dragon and Tarayev who were now being prepared for the next attack, this time with the power boost coming from Sadegh. Again, the feeling that she was shaking had returned back to her, unsure of why this was even happening in the first place.

 _This is just an image of the game...! I have no issue with being alone...!_ she muttered in her thoughts  _And yet... why am I shaking?!_

"This is the end," Kai's voice echoed as the Legioned pair immediately charged up energy within both the gun and the spear that they held respectively "With Sadegh's boost and Break Down's other skill, I attack your Vanguard!"

**Perdition Dragon, Break Down Dragon and Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev/POW: 30000 - 33000 - 38000/Critical: 2**

"Perfect Guard...!" Kiyoi called as Solar Falcon materialized in front of Ethics Buster and deployed a large green circle that took the full brunt of the blast.

Back in reality, the former blue LRIG could only stare at the remaining cards she held, knowing that whatever the Kagero user would pull from this next Twin Drive would ultimately determine the outcome of the game.

"Check the drive trigger," he spoke as he revealed the first card as Dragonic Overlord. Picking up the second card, he revealed it as another Blue Ray Dracokid "Got a Critical Trigger. I give all the effects to my rear-guard Tarayev."

Rather than emoting any kind of shock or surprise, Kiyoi through her image of Ethics Buster stared up at the other Tarayev as he dashed across the battlefield towards the giant battleroid.

"Kiyoi!" Kai's voice echoed "As long as you allow your fear of trusting others to get the better of you, you won't move on from where you are now!"

And with that, the Dragon Knight immediately leaped up and thrust its spear right into the chest panel of Ethics Buster, causing it to leak sparks as it thrashed around in pain before falling to the ground on one knee. This had indicated the end of the fight and that Kai had been victorious as afterimages of Brainy Papio and the Critical Trigger known as Red Lightning flashed briefly before the form of Ethics Buster vanished in a bright orange glow. Back to reality, everyone could only stare at Kiyoi as she then dropped the remaining cards she had been holding onto throughout the Final Turn and ran past those that were watching from the sidelines, hurrying down the steps as she did so.

"Kiyoi...!" Kamui called as he turned around to try and follow her.

"Wait Kamui...!" Ruko interjected "If you're not careful...!"

"I think I get it now what she was saying to me this morning!" he replied "I gotta fix my screw up if we're gonna sort out her trust issues!"

The Selector could then only watch as the Nova Grappler user hurried down the steps back into the fortress ruins in pursuit of Kiyoi, hoping to find a way to put an end to her perceptions of the people around her and to make up for his earlier mistake in speaking of Sakaguchi to the others without her proper consent beforehand. Before she could follow him, Kai had placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let him," he spoke.

"But I'm worried Kiyoi might do something to him again if he doesn't choose his words right," she replied as she looked down to Yuki, wanting her opinion on the matter.

"From what I can see, Kai's fight has helped us grasp the gravity of the situation," the girl of black replied "But in this instance now, this is Katsuragi's matter to sort out and his alone."

Everyone then looked down the steps and could only wait for the time being, hoping that Kamui could finish what Kai had started through the cardfight and put an end to the ideology that Kiyoi had always stuck to for nearly all of her life.

* * *

Deeper into the corridors, Kiyoi could only keep running as she tried to ignore the various memories and images that she had relived and experienced respectively throughout the cardfight she had challenged Kai to. Things did not go according to plan for her as those same images and memories refused to leave her mind and now, the fact that the trembling she had felt on the final turn of the fight through her image had not left her body at all was only serving to further discomfort her as she eventually entered the kitchen area, slamming down her hands on the table in frustration.

 _Why won't they go away...?!_ she cried within her thoughts  _These painful memories... that shaking...!_

"Kiyoi!"

Gritting her teeth once more, she gazed to her right without so much as tilting her head in the slightest as Kamui came up towards the doorway to the kitchen, panting from being almost out of breath in hurrying down the corridor in his attempt to search the place for her.

"I have no interest in talking with you!" she huffed "I trusted you to keep your mouth shut about something personal to me and...!"

"I know! I messed up badly and you're mad at me for it!" the Nova Grappler replied "But there's something I'm not getting out of all this."

The former blue LRIG then stood up and walked a little towards him whilst keeping her head down, still seething with anger towards him whilst also having been shaken earlier in the fight by her memories.

"And what is it that you don't get...?" Kiyoi hissed, barely able to keep herself restrained at this point.

"You said that you don't trust others for your own reasons," Kamui answered as he came up to her "And that's been bothering me. Putting Amika aside, why is Sakaguchi different from all of us? What's with those freak outs you've been having? Why won't you tell us what's really going on?!"

Then before he knew it, in the very last single moment after he had spoken out his questions in an attempt to push through to her, she had her raised her right arm and then...

**SMACK!**

Within that single moment, Kamui could only stumble backwards a little ways as he winced in pain from a stinging sensation he was feeling on his right cheek. Kiyoi had slapped him in a fit of rage and he was the target of her anger once again. A familiar sense of deja vu at first was seemingly replaying at the back of his mind, expecting her to continue her angry rant towards him him like she did earlier in the morning. Only this time, things were playing out rather differently than he had thought they would.

From what the Nova Grappler user saw of the girl, the former blue LRIG had been through a lot today and he could see that now. The person in front of him wasn't just angry with him or the others for what had transpired during the day, but she was also crying, now unable to keep her pent up emotions in check any longer.

"I admit it!" she growled, her tone slowly growing louder "I was the one responsible for Sakaguchi's coma in the first place! This is the answer you wanted Katsuragi Kamui! Are you happy now?!"

Kamui although partly shaken from the angry and much louder tone that Kiyoi had addressed him with, immediately regained his composure after seeing now that this was the reason she had been upset with him in the first place. All this time, even without his personal knowledge of the actual events that led to Sakaguchi's accident, she never wanted to tell anyone about this because she still blamed herself for what happened to the person who wanted to become her friend. Although much of her anger had been now spent upon him, he still had to be very careful with his next choice of words or a slap to the face would be the least of his problems.

"Look... I'm sorry I went and blabbed about Sakaguchi without asking..." he said in a more sincere tone, deciding that shouting back at her wasn't going to do him any good "I don't know how exactly to help people with these kinds of problems you and someone else I know had. That's why I told Kai and the others in the first place."

Kiyoi, although still brimming with anger from her earlier rant, had stopped crying any more tears for the time being and kept a close eye on the Nova Grappler user, listening carefully to what he was telling her.

"I didn't think it was bigger than what Remember pulled and I get it now," he continued "You've always been on your own and you've always thought that's the way you have to live it out. But you've gotta stop beating yourself up over this! Even if you say you caused Sakaguchi's coma, you didn't kill her in the first place and you helped saved Amika's mom from biting it!"

He then dug into his orange hoodie's pocket and picked out the photo that Amika's mother had taken of the three of them had taken at the former Selector's house before the two of them had left for Sakaguchi's grave during that same day.

"Do you really want to push us away just because of whatever happened then?"

Slowly as Kiyoi looked at the photo that she took from Kamui, she then looked at specifically Amika, recalling that the Selector was bound to question where exactly the two of them had disappeared to whilst also being unaware of the circumstances that brought them to this world. Then after thinking back over everything the two of them had been through up to this point, even to the battle they had against Remember and the Link Joker units she had commandeered then, her anger slowly began to fade away as she had begun to realize what exactly she had said during her cardfight against Kai in the midst of her anger and frustration.

She had been willing to throw away her friendship that she had formed with Amika during her time as Piruluk and even after she had been returned to her body through means of Miyako, all just to keep the truth of her anxiety a secret and isolate herself from the rest of humanity to be alone. The former blue LRIG soon realized that she had very much had almost made the same mistake that had led to her playing a part in Sakaguchi's accident that resulted in her coma and she hadn't been aware of it until now, in a metaphorical manner of speaking.

"To tell you truth... I never liked you at first, even after finding out that it was Remember that beat me back home and not you," Kamui spoke "But if I didn't even think about how you ended up being stuck up as an LRIG, I never would have thought you weren't as heartless as I thought. I nearly made a bad call judging you the way I would have, so please don't make an enemy out of us after everything we and Amika went through."

As tears started to leak out of Kiyoi's eyes and drip onto the photo of the three of them, she fell onto a nearby chair beside the table she had came over from, now feeling terrible not just for the events that had led to her being the indirect cause of Sakaguchi's coma, but the fact that she was willing to sever all ties with Amika because of her fear of her and Kamui discovering the truth behind said events. After telling Sakaguchi's spirit that she would have considered calling the Nova Grappler user a friend because of his sense of justice being respectable during the last battle against Remember, she couldn't help but wonder how she would have felt if it was still watching her from beyond their plain of existence.

"I... misassumed Sakaguchi when she tried to reach out to me before that day..." she said, all anger having been present in her tone now gone "If I hadn't been so afraid of being hurt again... would she have still been here?"

"I guess we'll never know," Kamui replied "Even if I wasn't a fan of how you were, I never wanted to hurt you then and I don't want to hurt you now."

Now in a much more rationalized state after venting out all of her anger upon him earlier and now seeing that he was being sincere with both his apology and the way he was trying to get her to come out of her fear-induced state, Kiyoi eventually wiped away her tears and turned around to face him once more.

"Whilst I don't approve of you telling the others of Sakaguchi's murder without my consent..." she spoke "It would seem that I was the one being judgemental about all of you. I accept your earlier apology."

The Nova Grappler user just grinned happily in response, seeing that he had finally gotten through to her at last and that she could hopefully make a fresh start on putting all of her misconceptions and early assumptions of other people behind her.

"Those freak outs aside, you actually did pretty good against Kai with my deck," he said "Though I'm guessing you're still not interested in Vanguard because of... you know."

"It may take me some time to overcome my memories and move on from my past..." she answered in her calmer tone "But... I will say that I will consider it."

Kamui then immediately jumped for joy, only to immediately cringe in pain from the stinging of his now swollen right cheek as a result of the earlier slap.

"Man, that smarts," he muttered to himself as he poked it for a moment.

A few moments after he had been pondering over the fact that Kiyoi had slapped him a lot harder than he had actually thought she did, he suddenly caught a small wet towel that was tossed to him. He then looked back to the former blue LRIG who had found it at the nearby sink and had tossed it to him from there.

"That should stop the swelling from getting any worse," she spoke "For now, there's something I believe you should know about and it's been bothering me for a while now."

Blinking for a moment in slight confusion, Kamui took a chair from around the room and joined Kiyoi back at the table, wondering what it was that she was wanting to talk to him about now.

"There was something that Remember said before you stopped her from forcing Sakaguchi to deliver the final blow," she begun, recalling that portion of the battle whilst he had been unconscious "That she 'had' me like she did all those years ago."

"But didn't you say you two first met about a year...?" he pondered before suddenly catching on to her suspicions "Wait...! Are you saying that...?"

"Yes," she answered "If my suspicions are indeed correct... one of the girls within that group that was responsible for my trust issues, even if she wasn't the ringleader... is none other than Remember herself."

The Nova Grappler user could only drop his jaw in shock. It seemed clear now that not only was Remember a member of the group of girls that was responsible for Kiyoi being the way she was until a little while ago, but it was almost like she had been a constant cause of her misery for nearly the entirety of her life up to this point and she didn't know about it until possibly now.

"Damn it!" he growled "To think she'd been playing you from the start! And the fact she's been marking fighters here as you...!"

"I understand your concern," she interjected calmly "But I'm certain we'll be seeing her again soon, regardless of whether she comes out as a Selector or an LRIG again."

"Only you won't have to deal with her alone this time," Kamui replied with a thumbs up to try and lift her spirits "We'll stop whatever plans she, Mayu or Chaos Breaker has for our worlds!"

Kiyoi simply nodded in agreement, her conviction in regards to the situation now having been restored as a whole. Taking a deep breath and reflecting back over everything she had been through up to this point, she wavered through her memories one more time willingly, only this time, she no longer felt the pain she did when she experienced them unexpectedly.

 _I will no longer let my past or my sins control me any longer_ she murmured in her thoughts resolutely  _I won't allow Mayu to complete what plans she has laid out for these worlds._

"I recall Jillian stating that she's preparing a boat to take us to this world's version of Japan. Do you know how close she is to being ready for departure?"

"I'll go and ask her right now," Kamui replied "You still need some time to yourself?"

After receiving a nod in response from the former blue LRIG, the Nova Grappler user simply kept his smile in understanding and went off into the corridor, silently wishing her the best of luck in her recovery. He stopped for a brief instance in the middle of his trek down the corridor, surprised to see that Kai had been listening in on the entire conversation for himself.

"I swear, she sometimes reminds me of how you used to be all grouchy and all," he muttered "But at least she's hanging in there now. I better find my deck and help Ruko with the changes to her Yuki deck."

As he took a few steps past the Kagero user on his way down the corridor, that was when the Kagero user had decided to speak up.

"You've grown a little," he spoke, causing Kamui to ponder in confusion before resuming his trek back to the top of the fortress ruins.

Back in the kitchen, Kiyoi now all alone with the space she needed to calm her thoughts and think about what was on her mind after everything she had been through today so far, breathed deeply to regain her mostly lost composure. Facing her inner demons and overcoming her trust issues was a mentally draining experience, one that had been fraught with both anger from earlier mistakes and sadness from her reminiscence of the past and the present up to this point. But at the very least, one thing was now certain to her after being stranded in this world for some time now.

Her past was more or less finally put behind her and now, she could move on with her life without the fear of weighing the burden of the 'sins' that she had perceived as her own since that fateful day. And whilst she knew that this world and her own were still in danger of Mayu and Chaos Breaker's endgame, whatever that still was that nobody knew at this point, she would no longer have neither her memories or her inner demons weighing her down any longer as she and the others would continue their stand against those plans the two had in mind.

Deciding on the first move of what to do whilst Kamui went to ask Jillian about when it was possible to leave the island to begin their journey across this world to reunite with his and Kai's other allies, she looked over to the large set of drawers that she had seen from the night before when Jillian and Sharlene were helping Ruko, deciding to begin her next move over there.

* * *

 

Soon, midday had rolled over across the island and everyone with the exception of Jillian had finally been prepared for the upcoming departure that would take them across the ocean of this world to their destination. Ruko and Kai stood midway across a large stone pier of sorts, awaiting the arrival of the older twin to bring the boat around whilst Kamui sat on the edge, trying to think of ways to pass the time since he had finished helping the Selector get acquainted with Yuki's powers in Vanguard. Eventually, Sharlene joined the three of them along with Kiyoi, who had now held a blue coloured case of some kind with a turquoise coloured Vanguard circle acting as a mural on the face of it.

Upon noticing this, the Nova Grappler user and Ruko ran over to see what it was that she had held.

"You've built a deck for yourself?" she asked.

"So, what clan did you pick?" Kamui interjected, eager to learn of what clan Kiyoi had chosen to use as her own.

"That's. A. Secret," Sharlene said teasingly, much to his sudden dumbfounded response.

Before he could ask any further in an attempt to satisfy his curiosity, they suddenly heard the sound of a motor ringing from around the cliff face as Jillian eventually came around with the boat they chose to use as their transportation. It seemed to be a small yacht, still seemingly quite spacious despite its size for at least a reasonably sized group of people such as themselves.

"So are we headed back home or what?" the Nova Grappler user.

"Not quite yet," Kai replied "Tetsu has requested for us to make a stop in Singapore to pick up Christopher Lo of SIT Genius. He says might be of assistance in repairing the Gateway to get us back to Ruko's world."

"That's great to hear!" Ruko interjected "We might just make it back to our world!"

After managing to dock the boat alongside the stone pier, Sharlene immediately joined Jillian on the small yacht, helping Ruko up on board shortly afterwards as Kai soon joined the three girls. That left only Kamui and Kiyoi as the former then looked to the person beside him.

"You ready or what Kiyoi?" he asked with a smile.

"After you," she replied, managing to smile naturally for the first time in a while.

And with the two's boarding complete, the yacht then departed from the island that was home to the child of Soryu. Its next destination, the city of Singapore in the hopes of recruiting a valuable asset to get some of the current group back to the world of the Selector Battles to continue the fight against Mayu and Chaos Breaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the final catch-up batch for Stand Up, the LRIG!, complete with this latest chapter! Please leave your thoughts and criticisms as always as from this point onwards, any and all updates to the story will be updated both here and FF.net through simul-uploads.
> 
> Before I go, I would please advise checking out the poll on my fanfiction.net profile. That will determine the course of how I will write some of the future fights later in this portion of the arc. Until next time, I bid adieu!


	83. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 83: That Vengeful Inferno I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A word of warning for those who have not seen or voted on the poll on my fanfiction.net profile. Voting for round 1 ends when the next chapter is posted.

**South America: Serra Residence**

_[(Mystery Insert Track)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dNZoa0w7_8D8Lsj4NLcHhgKG6HeEprT8/view?usp=sharing) _

Within the large mansion like estate of the Serra family, Miyako was on her own within a darkened room as she gazed at the cracked gem of her metallic hand. With her inability to communicate with Mayu or even return back to her for the time being, she would reluctantly have to make the best of her situation with the owner of the estate. She cursed silently in regards to her former son Ayumu, for his 'incompetence' in carrying out her plans and for inadvertently placing her in the situation that she had found herself within now.

Despite this however, she sensed that there was still some power that had been lost from her after the damage the stone itself had sustained and felt that she wasn't completely as powerless as she had initially thought. Opening up her metallic hand and flexing for a brief moment, sparks began crackling as a red eerie fog of some kind manifested in the air above the floor in front of her. Eventually, some of the mist cleared away to reveal a view similar to that of when Mayu herself would see from one of the windows of her White Room, observing the outside world through the card of an LRIG held by their Selector.

Narrowing her eyes, despite the success of managing to ensure that this power was still in effect despite the damage to the gemstone, the first two people she could see from within the image displayed were both her daughter Ruko and the person who she had initially planned to make her own to further her schemes and continue his role in Chaos Breaker's vision, Kai Toshiki.

"They survived after all..." she quietly murmured, standing up slowly from her seat as the vision expanded to reveal Kamui and Kiyoi in the two's presence as well, as they were sailing on Leon's yacht with the aid of Jillian and Sharlene to Signapore to pick up Christopher Lo "These humans are certainly more persistent than I imagined."

"So your damaged hand isn't completely useless to you now."

The woman turned her immediate sharp gaze towards a somewhat intrusive Serra who had entered the darkened room without warning as he slowly and calmly walked into what would have been her unnerving presence. He stopped just a little before the General of Mayu as he then looked towards the 'viewpoint' that she had summoned earlier, his gazed focused on Kai and Ruko.

"The harbinger of Reverse and your own daughter," he spoke "To think it was possible that our two worlds and the Planet Cray had more in common through these inner workings."

"I would ill advise you to not refer to her as my daughter in my presence," she replied with a hint of venom "Her failure to fulfil our original Grand Design with Ut'ulls' resurrection has left no meaning for her own existence."

"And yet, she possesses the two special LRIGs you've told me about," the former Quatre Knight interjected in his calm mannerism "If someone like Kai Toshiki could defeat you in that other world, certainly you would consider the measures you would plan to take against her."

"That will come, when I deem the time as right," Miyako answered as she waved her metallic hand once to close the viewing portal she had summoned earlier "For now, recovering my full power with the resources Morris has promised me comes as my first priority."

_(End Insert Track)_

Serra simply nodded once with a calm smile to acknowledge that they would not personally take any drastic action against Kai or Ruko until the woman had deemed herself fit and ready to commit to a plan when necessary. As she passed him and exited through the open doorway to find his butler Morris, the man simply turned his earlier smile into a deeper sneer.

"You certainly have been busy... Chaos Breaker," he mused to himself "I wonder if I will see 'him' again soon."

* * *

**Singapore**

Later that bright afternoon within the island state city that was Singapore, all seemed nearly peaceful amongst the coastal roads as one notable individual was strolling along the pathway towards his destination in mind. The building that was the Singapore Institute of Technology, or S.I.T. for short, much like the name of the team that he had led in the Asia Circuit two years ago. He had pinkish coloured hair, blue eyes and a blue coloured hoodie as he walked the city streets, pondering over the details of the messages he had received recently since Kai and Kamui's return to this world.

 _So Aichi's newer friends somehow managed to build a teleporter nearly a year ago without us knowing and they need my help to fix it_ he murmured in his thoughts, recalling his earlier disbelief and later intrigue from when Tetsu had contacted him about the scenario they were faced with  _This should be an interesting challenge._

His curiosity on the whole subject had piqued quite the interest from him and as such, he was all too willing to help out both the Dark Irregulars user and Neve in assisting them in any way he could in repairing the pad itself, in the hopes of getting Kai's group back to the other world as well as ensuring that Ruko and Kiyoi could both make it home safely. Although the mention of her name had left him suspicious at first, given Remember's use of her body in regards to Kamui's initial disappearance, the later details he received had managed to clear up the matter for him, despite the initial confusion at first.

"Well, I hope I won't keep Lee waiting at the institute campus with my tools for too long," he said to himself "I can't imagine his frustration if he's busy stopping Ali from hitting on nearby girls again."

Suddenly, a loud noise boomed from the distance as the ground shook violently for a brief instance followed by a large column of bright orange fire bursting high into the air. Startled by the sudden commotion, Christopher could only stare at the fiery blaze in the distance as it continued to soar upwards for several more seconds before disappearing into thin air.

"That came from..." he breathed as he realized where exactly the column of flames had erupted from before his expression turned to sudden dread "Ali! Lee!"

Wasting no time in hesitating for even a single moment, the leader of SIT Genius immediately broke into a run down the city's coastal streets, passing by several fountains along the way including one that Futase had sat beside the previous night. Eventually, he turned away from the coast and down a few of the city's inner streets, trying to find a quicker path towards the institute to find his friends and pray that they were unharmed. After a few minutes of rushing through as many streets as possible with the minimal risk of running into large crowds, Christopher eventually arrived at the front area of SIT itself.

When he did so, he could only gasp at the sight that was laid out before him. Numerous cardfighters were on the ground, each of them bearing a Mark of Penalty on their right hands and many blank cards that were scattered out in front of them as they were scrambling them back together. All of them were agonized in one way or another, angry and upset from losing their units to the very people who had defeated them earlier in the day.

"This is...!" he breathed as he stared at both the mark and the blank cards of one of the fighters "Didn't Tetsu say something like this happen to the rest of Foo Fighter after Ren left with Aichi?!"

Hearing another rumble from nearby, he looked ahead towards the front doors of the institute to find two bright purple flashes at the small grounds area near them. Believing he would get another understanding from what was really going on around the campus and what was happening to the cardfighters here, he immediately made a run towards them, eventually coming close enough to find that the glows were actually boundaries as looking through them, he could see his two teammates within their along with several of their units having seemingly materialized within there. And from he could tell, they were in a middle of cardfight against two opponents that seemed strange to him. One of them had black hair with a pair of glasses over his yellowish coloured eyes and the other had blue eyes with pale-ish red hair that had a small hint of yellow.

"Ali! Lee!" cried Christopher.

Both of his friends upon hearing their companion call out to them immediately looked outside the boundary of the battlefields they were part of respectively, noticing his worried and somewhat panicked expression.

"Chris!" they called back.

"What's going on?!" he asked "Why are all of those fighters like that?!"

"Our opponents did that to them earlier after beating them!" Lee replied "Before we could check on them, they roped us into a fight right away!"

"Quite frankly, these girls aren't my types," Ali interjected, which only served to gain him a small glare from his teammate "But right now, we've just got to fight our way out of this!"

Christopher then walked over to the purple coloured boundaries, trying to make out their assailants through the bright glow that mostly obscured the other half of the fields. Their respective opponents were two people who had more or less had been long prepared for this sudden invasion of the institute premises, to strip more cardfighters of their units for Mayu, even if Miyako was not present in the White Room to summon them there. There was Futase, whose solemn expression was hidden from the sight of Ali as Photon stood as her current Vanguard alongside Dust Tail Unicorn and Neon. Ulith on the other hand, seemed to be slowly relishing within her patience, thinking of the agony and pain that would soon befall her opponent as her current Vanguard was a soulless manifestation of her own LRIG self, in the form known to Selectors and other WIXOSS players as Ulith, Ashen River Enma.

"That first one's definitely using Link Joker..." he murmured to himself "But what exactly is that other Vanguard?"

"Get over here!"

Without warning, a sudden noise caught Christopher's attention as an orange coloured beam of some kind immediately shot towards and ensnared his wrist, catching him off guard as he stared at the coil he was now tethered to. Then before he had time to assess his situation, he felt himself being dragged across the institute premises as he was forced to break into a run to keep up with the speed that his capturer was reeling him in at. Eventually as he felt the pull on the tether begin to loosen up, he slowed down to a stop as the Great Nature user saw that not only was some distance from his companions, he was now face to face with the Selector who had brought him here.

It was Akira, who had no issue with her scar being visible to her captured prey and now wielded a small black and white coloured bracelet on her left wrist with a small jewel embedded on it, from where the tether itself had sprouted from. She had her usual sneer plastered on her face which had left Christopher rather unnerved as he looked at her, wondering why she had snared him like that.

"Are you with the people fighting my friends now?!" he demanded.

"And what if I am?" she asked in a playful, yet sinister tone.

"What's going on?! Why are all of those fighters like that?!"

The Selector simply scoffed in response as she eventually released the Great Nature user from her tether, just as a bright purple light suddenly encircled the two of them as she immediately leaped over to the far side. Once Christopher realized that this was the same boundry that Ulith and Futase had used to force both Ali and Lee into fighting them respectively, he knew that reluctantly, there was only going to be one way out of this situation. A dark red table, similar to the ones used in the fields summoned by those who used Link Joker or reversed units during the outbreak of Reverse in his world, manifested in front of both him and Akira.

"So the only way out of here is to fight you?" he asked.

"That's right, lun-lun!" a familiar voiced echoed out.

Blinking for a moment, he could only watch as Akira fished out Milulun's card from her pocket and revealed the LRIG herself to him. She waved at him in her usual energetic manner, smiling brightly as she did so.

"Nice to meet you lun!" the blue LRIG greeted "Though I would not advise angering Aki-lun as she can be quite the cranky one!"

"Aki-lun...?" Christopher pondered, blinking in confusion.

"Milulun!" Akira snapped "How many times have I told you not to greet our opponents like that?!"

"Well excuse me for being friendly...!" the blue LRIG pouted "And you're not even using my cards in that deck you call a 'revenge' one."

Taking no notice of her LRIG at all, the Selector immediately stuffed the card back into her dark purple hoodie before grabbing out a Vanguard deck out of the other pockets, immediately setting her starting Vanguard on the Vanguard circle. With the only option available to him being right in front of him, Christopher immediately set down his starting Vanguard as well as prepared his starting hand. Akira quietly giggled to herself as she gazed at the cards that formed her opening hand as the two of them then reached out for their starting Vanguards.

"Stand up, (Aki) Vanguard!"

Two bright white glows manifested in front of their respective tables as the units that they had chosen began to slowly manifest themselves as part of their image onto the battleground that the Selector had created. The first to emerge was a yellow coloured mole creature with two tools wielded in its upper paws.

"Gardening Mole!"

**Gardening Mole/Grade 0/Boost/SLD: 10000/POW: 5000/Zoo/Great Nature/High Beast**

Akira simply smirked as her starting Vanguard, not being Milulun as the LRIG herself had previously complained about, materialized herself onto the field. It was the LRIG form of Hanayo, depicted as Level 0 with blank eyes and a vacant expression. The Selector herself had already known about the actual LRIG's presence in Yuzuki's body, but wasn't concerned about this minute detail in the slightest.

**Hanayo Zero/Grade 0/Boost/SLD: 10000/POW: 5000/Dragon Empire/?/Human;LRIG**

Christopher could only stare at the 'unit' that was before him, wondering what she was and what exactly she was capable of doing in this cardfight. Looking to Akira's table, he could see that the clan box of the card Hanayo Zero was blank, but otherwise bore the red colour that represented the Dragon Empire nation. Suddenly, her deck surrounded itself in a bright orangish coloured glow as a single card slid out from there and set itself face down to the right of her deck, where the bind zone would otherwise be.

"A card bound itself from the deck...?" he breathed in shock.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that for now," Akira sneered playfully, bringing his attention back to her "Just worry about surviving until then. Assuming you can even beat me before it gets unleashed."

The Great Nature gritted his teeth, knowing that for a fact that if she was with the same people that had effortlessly taken out all of the other fighters that were on the institute campus, this was bound to be a difficult fight for him.

* * *

...

"Great Daikaiser attacks your Vanguard!"

Meanwhile further away from the institute in a different part of the city, a small group of people had gathered around a table within the somewhat spacious card shop. And with the reputation that one of the fighters participating had from his many achievements, who could blame them for wanting to get a close enough view of the action that was going on. The fighter in question had blonde hair and silver coloured eyes and wore a grey coloured shirt along with a pair of trousers and a red coloured coat. Around his neck hung a pendant of some kind, a keepsake from a very close companion of his, one that had planned to meet soon after the day had come to an end.

Opposite him was a young boy who had just finished placing a sixth card in his damage zone and leaped down from the table to talk to him.

"Thank you very much Mitsusada-san!" he said, bowing once in respect "I guess loading my deck with more Draw Triggers backfired on me, huh."

"There's nothing wrong with thinking the way you did," Mitsusada kindly replied as he gather up his cards "Your Vanguard already gains a Critical with its own skill and you chose tailor your trigger lineup on a defensive front. Just keep in mind that the more Draw Triggers you choose to invest into, the more Shield you sacrifice to guard with."

Smiling brightly, feeling better from the advice that the fighter otherwise known as either 'Emperor' or 'Koutei' and the leader of Team Caesar himself, the younger fighter shook his hand before heading off to a nearby table, looking to reconstruct his deck. As he looked across the rest of the shop, he felt happy knowing the positive atmosphere of the fighters that came around this portion of Singapore was not just a good thing for the game of Vanguard, but for themselves in building new bonds and learning more about the game and the people around them. Sadly, the sentiment didn't last for very long however as the door opened up before everyone else gasped, causing him to turn around.

He gasped briefly as he noticed the various patches and stitches that the new girl at the door had endured as she stumbled into the shop, several cards spilling out of her skirt pocket as she fell to the floor, panting as she did so. All of the cards were blank, much like those who had been affected by Mayu's troupe, leading everyone in the shop to wonder what had happened to her.

"Are you alright...?!" Mitsusada called in worry as he knelt down to help her pick up the blank cards "What happened?!"

"... SIT premises..." she groaned, barely able to remain conscious "My units... gone..."

She then passed out, leading him to only stare at her in worry, wondering how it was that she had ended up in such a condition and why her cards were just blank as they were, wondering if the fact her units were 'gone' related to this.

"Look at her hand!" one of the other fighters in the shop called.

The Dimension Police user then gazed at the Mark of Penalty that was on the unconscious fighter's right hand, wondering how it had gotten there in the first place and if it had anything to do with the blank cards that had dropped out of her pocket. It was clear that despite the apparent danger that was seemingly present from her condition alone, the only way for him to get the answers to the questions that now spiralled through his troubled mind was to head to SIT itself and confront the source of this madness himself, before anyone else within Signapore could lose their units.

* * *

Back on the distant part of the institute grounds, Akira and Christopher were still within the earlier stages of the cardfight that had started, with both of them at Grade 2 and the Great Nature user leading two damage to three. The giant panda that wielded a large globe for a weapon known as Geograph Giant stood as the Vanguard for him whilst Hanayo Two stood as the Selector's sole offence for the time being. Now that game had advanced this far, Akira felt it was time for her to start moving things along a little further as the card that was bound from her deck at the start of the fight glowed orange briefly as she drew her next card.

"Ride!" she called "Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance!"

The imaged Hanayo vanished in a blaze of flames that covered over her for a brief moment before a blinding red light dispelled the heat, revealing her in one of her various Level 3 forms as a Grade 3 Vanguard now. The ends of her dress and her shoulder pads seemed to resemble that of flower petals as her blank gaze turned upon Christopher and Geograph Giant.

**Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 10000/Dragon Empire/?/Human;LRIG**

"Skill activated!" Akira declared as she turned over the Hanayo One in her damage zone face down before pointing to another unit on her opponent's field, sneering as she did so "Burn in hell, Binoculus Tiger!"

A pillar of fire suddenly erupted underneath the tiger that carried a pair of oversized binoculus on its back, incinerating the High Beast in an instant as the card moved to Christopher's Drop Zone, joining Gardening Mole and Silver Wolf. Despite being somewhat unnerved with the surprise that Hanayo's power could be used alongside that of Kagero, he felt that he was still in with a fighting chance.

 _If Hanayo's only power is retiring my rear-guards, just like those Kagero units, then I have nothing to fear!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _If I keep getting them off the board after my skills, Akira won't be able to gain as much benefit!_

"Call!" Akira declared as Chain-attack Sutherland and Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga appeared onto the battlefield as the cards themselves were placed into her right column "Hanayo attacks your Vanguard!"

The Hanayo on the battlefield emotionlessly raised her right hand as a fireball materialized within her palm before she effortlessly hurled it towards Geograph Giant as it grew in size the closer it came to the panda High Beast.

"Guard!" Christopher called as he placed down the card Triangle Cobra on his Guardian Circle.

"Twin Drive!"

The Selector immediately revealed the first card that was shown from her Twin Drive as Gattling Claw Dragon.

"Draw Trigger! I give the power to Sutherland!"

After drawing her single card as Chain-attack Sutherland and the dragon he sat atop of powered up from the trigger effect, she immediately conducted her second check, revealing Embodiment of Spear, Tahr.

"Critical Trigger!" she gleefully cheered, cackling madly as she added the card to her hand "All effects go to Sutherland!"

**Chain-attack Sutherland/POW: 8000 - 18000/Critical: 1 - 2**

Triangle Cobra appeared in front of Geograph Giant, manifesting a green circle in front of it with its temporary presence just long enough for it to deflect the attack from the copied LRIG. After the serpent unit vanished from Christopher's side of the field, the panda High Beast was immediately fired upon by Sutherland's firearm as it was showered in fiery hot bullets. As it thrashed and cried in pain, the Great Nature user's next two damage was Coiling Duckbill and Dictionary Goat.

"Heal Trigger!" he called "I recover one damage!"

"Keh! So you reduced the damage to just one this time!" Akira replied "But, the countdown to your demise is near and I can personally ship your units to Ulith-chan!"

**End of Turn 5**

**Akira vs Christopher**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Soul - 4 : 1**

**Damage - 3 : 3**

**Bind Zone - 1 (face-down) : 0**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance (VG) - Chain-attack Sutherland : EMPTY - Geograph Giant (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows : EMPTY - EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Christopher stared down at his almost empty board, having expected that something like this would happen as a result of facing against a clan that specialized in removing his rear-guards with ease. Looking to his drop zone, his confidence returned to him, knowing that Akira had pretty much done exactly what he intended for her to do in the early game.

 _That earlier Gattling Claw Dragon was annoying..._ he muttered in his thoughts  _But now that Hanayo is at Grade 3, the battle can now begin!_

Akira simply gazed at the Great Nature user, noting that she had not expected him to recover his lost confidence that quickly since the fight had begun. Then again, she knew that this was to be expected, given that this was indeed the world of Vanguard fighters. The same world that Kai Toshiki, the person responsible for her earlier humiliation in her first run of the Selector Battles, had come from.

**Flashback**

Last night back in her own world, Akira had been approached by Ulith once again within the room of her apartment, wondering what it was that she was wanting to talk to her about. The cruel demanored Selector had been all too willing to spare some of the details of her initial mission in stealing units for her 'boss' by marking cardfighters within the world that Kai had come from, whilst keeping any mention of Mayu herself sealed within her lips. Needless to say, upon hearing that she was telling her this information, Akira had immediately jumped to a single conclusion on why she had approached her like this.

"Are you saying... you want Aki-lovely's help there?" she breathed.

"That is correct," Ulith replied calmly as she joined the Selector on her bed "Given your disappointment in my marking of Sendou Aichi being off-limits for your agenda, I felt this offer was necessary to quench your thirst."

"The world that bastard Kai came from...!"

Akira began chuckling darkly to herself as her smile began to deepen, which was even enough for her LRIG Milulun to silently ponder in concern as she watched on from the card laid on the girl's desk.

"How many of them are there...?" she sneered as she brought out a knife from her pocket before flinging it straight into the wall where it had struck a photo displaying Kai's head "Aki-lovely will crush them all for you and your... boss as you say."

"Plenty," Ulith answered with a smile as she wrapped an arm around the Selector's shoulder, making her lightly blush for a brief moment "But there is a catch."

Akira simply turned to the person she admired deeply, wondering what exactly this catch was that she was bringing up.

"Milulun's power will be useless in that world, as Spells do not exist in Vanguard," she explained "But, having an alive LRIG will not be necessary to initiate a cardfight. So I ask you, what kind of deck would you wield as your own in that world?"

The Selector playfully began pondering over what potential options she could use for her Vanguard deck, thinking over different colours and how they would translate over with their stratagems to the six nations that Cray's units wielded. Upon thinking about that, an image of Dragonic Overlord came to mind, realizing that her actions in that world would get Kai's attention if the word of him being there now was true. She still had a grudge with the Kagero commander for its criticisms of her lack of respect for the units of Kagero and now, she felt she could kill two birds with one stone.

"Anything that can let me use Kagero," she answered, her focus returning back to the photo of Kai that her knife had pierced "He's not the only one I wish to smite at once."

**Present**

As her reminiscence of last night's events came to an end, Akira watched on with a confident smile as Christopher drew his next card, not even concerned in the slightest with what he was going to throw her way. As he gazed over the cards in his hand, his attention returned back to the card that was bound face-down from the Selector's deck since the start of the fight. A part of him was concerned about what this had meant and why the pulses of orange glows had grown stronger at the start of each of her new turns. Deciding to worry about focusing on the fight as it was now, he took ahold of one of the cards in his hand and placed it down on top of Geograph Giant.

"Ride!" he declared "Magic Scientist, Tester Fox!"

As Geograph Giant vanished from his side of the field, an explosion of smoke erupted for a brief instance as a bipedal orangish fox dressed in a dark green uniform of and holding a stick that certain instructors or teachers would wield along with a vial of some kind. It smiled as it entered the battlefield with its red eyes partially covered over by a pair of glasses.

**Magic Scientist, Tester Fox/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Zoo/Great Nature/Warbeast**

With the conditions having already been fulfilled, Christopher held his open right hand over the top of Tester Fox's card.

"Seek Mate!" he declared.

A golden aura soared up to the dome shaped roof of the battlefield's boundary and caused a bright flash as the four cards that were in the Great Nature user's drop zone flew up and rearranged themselves on top of his deck. A file of light then scanned through his deck, bringing to his open hand the appropriate card to complete his current action.

"Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox!" he announced before throwing the card onto the Vanguard circle beside Tester Fox's own "Legion!"

As the Legion symbol flashed to all who were present, a white coloured bipedal fox who wore a red coloured uniform in a similar style to Tester Fox's own and wielded a vial in his own claw much like the latter appeared alongside the Legion leader, ready to fight alongside it.

**Magic Scientist, Tester Fox and Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox/POW: 20000**

"Tsk! That skill Ishida used...!" Akira hissed, recalling her battle with the Narukami user briefly.

"Call!"

As soon as Christopher made the announcement known, a second Geograph Giant, two Coiling Duckbills and another Researcher Fox appeared onto his rear-guard, filling up his board with the exception of the one empty circle that was behind his Legion. But even at the expense of all of the cards that he had held just moments ago, he wasn't concerned in the slightest against what aggressiveness Hanayo had coupled with Kagero's speciality.

"I don't know why you are doing this, but I won't let you get away with it!" he called as he started his Battle Phase "With a boost from my first Duckbill, Geograph attacks!"

Geograph Giant hurled its large globe onto the ground of the battlefield as it came rolling over towards the manifested Hanayo, who emotionlessly remained in place as Embodiment of Spear, Tahr suddenly appeared and smashed the projectile in an instant.

"Guard," Akira responded as she placed the card into her drop zone "Do you really think dropping your hand like that's going to change anything? Goosey-goosey-goosebumps!"

"My Legion attacks!" Christopher continued as he rested Tester Fox and Researcher Fox's card "Skill activated! My rear-guard Researcher Fox gains 4000 power!"

The Legion-Mate Researcher Fox then hurled the vial that it wielded at the one that was on the left column of the Great Nature user, increasing its power with a glowing green aura.

**Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox (RG)/POW: 9000 - 13000**

Akira smugly shrug her shoulders to declare that she had no intention of guarding the attack, confident that it would only deal her significant damage that wouldn't be enough to end the fight right away.

"Twin Drive!" he declared as he revealed his first card as Cable Sheep before the second card glowed, revealing it as Ruler Chameleon "Critical Trigger! I give Critical to my Legion and power to my rear-guard Researcher Fox!"

The legioned pair then immediately brought out a multitude of different coloured vials from their uniforms into their claws before hurling them straight at the battlefield's manifestation of Hanayo, forcing her to cover her face as the vials exploded upon hitting the ground in front of her. Akira simply smirked as she damage checked immediately, revealing Hanayo Two followed by Perdition Dancer, Agafia.

"Oh, Aki-lovely's got a Heal Trigger from that Critical attack like you!" she said in a playful, yet snide manner "Power to Hanayo and recover one damage!"

Immediately after she did so, the other Researcher Fox waged its attack as it hurled another vial at the imaged LRIG, exploding on contact with the ground and knocking her back as Seal Dragon, Rinocross entered the Selector's damage zone.

"Turn end," Christopher spoke as the rear-guard Researcher Fox vanished in an explosion of smoke "With Researcher Fox's skill, I add another Tester Fox to my hand. With my two Duckbills' skills given to Researcher Fox and my Legion skill, draw three cards, move Researcher Fox to the bottom of my deck and turn over one card in my damage zone."

 

**End of Turn 6**

**Akira vs Christopher**

**Hand - 4 : 6**

**Soul - 4 : 2**

**Damage - 5 : 3**

**Bind Zone - 1 (face-down) : 0**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance (VG) - Chain-attack Sutherland : EMPTY - Magic Scientist, Tester Fox and Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox (VG) - Geograph Giant**

**Back Rows : EMPTY - EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga : Coiling Duckbill - EMPTY - Coiling Duckbill**

Shortly after the battlefield had fallen silent, Akira began cackling to herself once again as the Great Nature user could only stare at her, wondering what it was that she had planned to do next as she drew her next card.

"You're all gonna get it!" she declared "You, every fighter in this god forsaken dump of a world and Kai Toshiki! There's nothing you can do to stop Ulith-chan's plans for you all!"

"Ulith-chan...?" he pondered "Is she one of the people fighting Lee and Ali?!"

"That's right!" the Selector replied as she picked out the next card from her hand "You people made a mistake crossing mine and her paths in my world and now, you're gonna suffer for it! Ride!"

A large column of fire suddenly erupted onto the battlefield, forcing Christropher to shield his face from the intense heat as the pillar dispersed to reveal the newly changed form of Hanayo, now as one of her Level 4 forms. Her dress resembled that of rose petals and her headdress had several flowers attached on the sides. With her blank stare once more, she cracked out her green coloured thorn whip as the flames around her eventually died down for Akira to announce the name of this particular form.

"Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion!"

**Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 13000/Dragon Empire/?/Human;LRIG**

"So this is Grade 4...!" he breathed.

The Selector sneered as she watched the Great Nature user ponder on how such a power could exist within the game he knew and what exactly he was going to do to stand against it this turn.

"It seems that this revenge deck is too much for Chris-Chris here to handle," she murmured to herself confidently "Honestly against this power, I wonder how Kai even managed to humiliate me in the first place."

"Yeah, it's just Hanayo mashed with counterfeit Kagero units," Milulun muttered from her coat pocket in a pouty tone "Just what's so special about that?"

Ignoring the blue LRIG who was still feeling sore about not being able to be used in battle from Vanguard's lack of Spells, Akira continued on with her turn as she refocused her attention on Christopher before taking out another card from her hand and calling it to her back row.

"Call Mahoraga!" she announced as a second copy of the Demonic Dragon Mage joined the first one on the battlefield. "Hanayo's skill! I retire one rear-guard and use the same skill again!"

As two cards in the Selector's damage zone turned face down along with Gattling Claw Dragon and another Hanayo Four being discarded from what was left of her hand, the Hanayo on the battlefield raised her whip high into the air as she swirled it around very fast until the tip of it eventually caught fire. The imaged LRIG then swiftly made a slashing motion with her whip, sending a wave of flames that immediately engulfed the Great Nature user's entire right column as Geograph Giant and the Coiling Duckbill there screamed in pain before being incinerated in an instant.

"Berserk Dragon!" Akira continued as the final two face up cards in her damage zone turned face down before pointing to Christopher's only remaining rear-guard "Retire Duckbill!"

The two headed dragon manifested onto the battlefield before it roared loudly and unleashed two streams of hot fire at the remaining Coiling Duckbill, leading it to meet the same fate as all of his other rear-guards this turn. Each of the two Mahoragas and Sutherland gained a bright red aura to them as they were seemingly getting stronger from the onslaught that the Selector had gone through this turn.

**Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga/POW: 5000 - 20000**

**Chain-attack Sutherland/POW: 8000 - 17000**

"You'll now understand what it's like to be on the receiving end, as will Kai once I find him!" she gleefully declared as she rested Hanayo's card to signal her immediate attack.

"Ruler Chameleon!" Christopher called as the reptile High Beast appeared in front of Tester Fox and Research Fox in an effort to protect them.

Akira then immediately conducted her Twin Drive revealing a second Perdition Dancer, Agafia as her first check.

"Another Heal Trigger!" she said in sinister delight "Power to Berserk Dragon and I recover 1 damage! Second check!"

After revealing her second card as another Chain-attack Sutherland, the imaged Hanayo began swirling her whip again at a faster speed as more fire began to gather up before she lashed it out at Ruler Chameleon, retiring it right out of the fight in a large explosion as Christopher was forced to shield his face from the large impact. He knew now that somehow, the damage that these imaged units were dealing out in this space was somehow real and that there were too many unanswered questions as to what was really going on that he didn't know from what she was saying yet.

"What's going to happen if you steal enough units?!" he demanded "And why do you have the interest in Kai Toshiki anyway?!"

"Keh," she scoffed "For your first question, don't know and don't even care."

"What?"

"This is just a job for my Ulith-chan, the one who imagine is fighting your glasses friend," she answered "But for your other question, my real target in this world is none other than Kai Toshiki for humiliating me back in my world! Once I find him and Dragonic Overlord, both of them are going to get what they deserve!"

Although the reason behind why the units of fighters were being taken along with the marks that were on their hands was still a mystery that even she seemingly didn't know, let alone care about in the first place, things were beginning to make some kind of sense for Christopher. Akira was from the other world that Aichi and the others had travelled to in search of Kai before the latter had recently returned and she was harbouring some kind of vicious grudge against him for something that happened between them, unaware that it was primarily because of him tainting her wish without him even being aware of it.

"Berserk Dragon attacks your Vanguard!" the Selector declared as the two headed dragon recieved the large power boost from Mahoraga before unleashing a pair of fireballs at Tester Fox and Researcher Fox.

"Guard!" Christopher called as he revealed three cards from his hand "Triangle Cobra, Gardening Mole, Geograph Giant!"

The three Great Nature units then appeared all at once in front of the Legioned pair, forming a large green circle in front of them to deflect the attack with the greatest of ease through their combined efforts.

"Sutherland!"

Upon hearing Akira's command, the dragon he rode atop of took flight and Sutherland himself them began firing a barrage of fiery bullets towards Tester Fox and Researcher Fox as they were struck down in an instant with nothing being called to guard against it. A single card named Fortune-bringing Cat landed in Christopher's damage zone, leaving him to let out a sigh of relief.

"Draw Trigger!" he announced "I draw 1 card!"  _Good, I kept myself to four damage and my Perfect Guard is still here if I need it!_

"Well, it seems you get to live for one more turn," the Selector sneered as the red auras from around Sutherland and her two Mahoragas died down, signalling the end of her turn.

She then gazed over to the bound face down card that still remained as it was beside her deck, now faintly glowing at a faster pace with a small but somewhat noticeable fiery orange coloured aura. Her smile deepened as she knew what exactly this particular card was and with Hanayo now at Grade 4 which accounted for the stronger pulses emitting from the card, things were now seeming desperate for her opponent.

"Just a little longer," she said to herself "Next turn... I'm about to go on a rampage."

As Christopher watched her gloating in what she was assuming would be her victory on the next turn, he couldn't help but feel somewhat unnerved by the stronger beats emitting from her face down bound card, wondering what it was she was intending to unleash.

 _Keep calm!_ he mentally told himself  _She may be back down to four damage, but she only has two cards in her hand! I'll finish it now before she can play that card!_

 

* * *

Back within one of the other boundaries across the institute grounds, Lee could only stare at Ulith as she stood her lone Vanguard back up, the one depicting the very same LRIG form that Miyako had previously used to defeat Gaillard. That form was indeed the one that was titled Ulith, Infinite Enma and he already had a tough time trying to guard against it from the previous turn, not helped by the fact that she went along with her preferred speciality of deck destruction through units that were Devil SIGNI and Quintet Walls to speed up the process of building up her Drop Zone.

Things had seemingly looked up for him after he had managed to ride a new School Hunter, Leo-pald which had managed to reclaim some of attack advantage lost from most of the cards he had to use to Guard against Infinite Enma. But now it was the cruel demanored Selector's turn again and much like Akira at this very moment, she too also had a card bound face down from her deck since the beginning of the fight, leading him to wonder what exactly it was.

"You actually managed to make a comeback by riding another Grade 3," she said in a cooly, yet calm manner "Then again, I wouldn't expect anything less of the heir to the Lee family in this world."

"What are you saying?" Lee asked, feeling unnerved that she was bringing up his family name into this debate.

"I keep myself informed of all my opponents," Ulith continued "I know everything about them, not just from fighting or battling them, but from the way they tick. It is through there... where I can smash all of their brilliance, as yours will be."

The companion to Christopher clenched his teeth, knowing that both his opponent and this fight were not proving to be very easy and now with her turn coming up, who knew what surprises she had in store.

"I Stand my true self," she began "And... I seal my Draw Phase for this turn!"

As Lee's eyes widened in shock as to the sudden declaration, the bound card suddenly gained a creeping black aura that flowed down from it and onto the floor of the battlefield like smoke. He gazed around in confusion, wondering if that card was somehow causing all of this to happen, including the 'sealing' of Ulith's Draw Phase as she had declared, just as she picked it up herself.

"Sweet despair... twisted appearance...! Manifest yourself in all of your warped beauty and ugliness and bring an endless nightmare to those before you! Limit Override!"

She then slammed the card down on top of Ulith, Infinite Enma as a blinding bright purple glow emitted from the copied Ulith on the battlefield, changing her appearance as a dark puprle aura covered over the left half of her body as the light continued to glow brighter and brighter. Lee was forced to shield his eyes from the blinding brightness as he struggled to make out what it was from the glow in front of him before a sinister cackle followed by a sudden image of a creepy pair of red eyes and a twisted smile became engraved into his mind. Suddenly, he froze right on the spot as the light continued to consume everything on that battlefield, leading him to somehow tremble in fear before what was before him as everything then slowly faded to white.

"W... What is that...?!" he breathed as he too faded from sight on the battlefield.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Hanayo Zero**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have "Hanayo" in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RG).  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card with "Hanayo" in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with "Hanayo" in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Hanayo One**  
>  Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 7000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named "Hanayo Zero" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [AUTO](RG): [Choose a Grade 3 or greater card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 card with "Hanayo" in its card name, reveal it to your opponent and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Hanayo Two**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT]: (VG) If there is a Grade 1 card with "Hanayo" in its card name in the soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.
> 
>  **Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO](VG): [Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (VG), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose 1 of your opponent's rear-guards with 10000 or less power and retire it.
> 
>  **Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion**  
>  Grade 4  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 13000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](Hand): If you do not have a Grade 3 Vanguard with "Hanayo" in its card name, you cannot Ride this unit.  
> [ACT](VG): [Counter Blast (1) & Choose a card from your hand and discard it] Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards and retire it.
> 
>  **Ulith, Ashen River Enma**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO](VG): [Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (VG), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to 1 Devil from your Drop Zone and put it into your hand.


	84. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 84: That Vengeful Inferno II

**SIT Premises**

Back within one of the other battlefields of the institute's campus, Christopher's eyes could only widen as he heard a loud scream not too far from where he was standing. He turned around and gazed through the boundary's wall to see a bright purple glow that completely enveloped the battlefield that Lee and Ulith were fighting in and what he had heard moments earlier had only served to deepen his fears on what had been happening.

"Lee!" he cried.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about him."

He then turned his attention back to Akira, who was still feeling as smug as ever whenever her confidence was at an all time high. She sneered at his anxiety, sensing that Ulith was handling her fight without any need for assistance and that she was in no doubt crushing Lee's confidence and whatever stratagems he had prepared to tackle on his own. Christopher gritted his teeth as he immediately started his next turn, taking a look at what was left in his hand and gazing back at the card that was still face down in the Selector's bind zone, now glowing a bright orange colour which only made him feel more unnerved.

 _Right now... I need to win this fight and help Lee and Ali!_ he muttered in his thoughts  _There's no telling what's happening with them right now!_

"I ride another Tester Fox!" he declared as the Legioned pair on the battlefield was replaced immediately by yet another Tester Fox "Seek mate!"

Once again, a bright golden flash soared high into the air as four of the cards from the Great Nature user's drop zone landed on top of his deck before a file of light scanned through his deck for the appropriate card and pulled it out, allowing him to grab ahold of it.

"Again...?" Akira yawned, feigning boredom in seeing the exact same Legion being conducted again.

"Return to me once again, Researcher Fox!" he declared, taking no notice of her comment "Legion! And call!"

As soon as Researcher Fox rejoined Tester Fox on the battlefield to complete the Legion, a second one along with Coiling Duckbill immediately appeared onto Christopher's side. It wasn't the way he intended, especially with his hand having already having been mostly depleted by the previous attacks that Akira had sent his way through Hanayo and her rear-guards.

"I'm ending this now!" he declared as he rested his paired Vanguards on his table "Legion attack! And add 4000 power to my rear-guard Researcher Fox!"

Both Tester Fox and the Researcher Fox that was beside it opened a vial that each of them were holding, causing sparks to fly out of each of the top of them before hurling them towards Hanayo. Both objects spun vertically as they travelled across the length of the battlefield horizontally as the blue and red sparks trailing immediately caught ablaze, signalling the force of the attack that they would cause upon impact with their target. Akira gazed at the only two cards within her hand as well as both of her intercepts, noting that she didn't have enough shield to block both attacks. Despite this though, the Selector was still remaining smugly confident.

"Hey, you do realize that if he gets a Critical Trigger, he's gonna win!" Milulun called from her card, still stuffed in Akira's hoodie.

"That is, if he gets one in the first place," she replied in her sinister tone before looking back to her opponent "I believe conducting a second Legion may have been your greatest mistake this fight."

"What was that?!" Christopher exclaimed as the attack came closer to Hanayo "All of my Critical Triggers are back in my deck now! I'll definitely get one for sure!"

As Akira simply scoffed in response, the Great Nature user gritted his teeth as he looked over to his deck, prepared to see if luck was really on his side for this coming attack.

"Twin Drive!" he declared as he revealed the first card as Dictionary Goat "Heal Trigger! Power to my rear-guard Researcher Fox!"

**Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox (RG)/POW: 13000 - 18000**

"Second check...!"

Reaching out for his deck, he knew that even with Researcher Fox's power increasing, Akira would still have cards left in her hand and rear-guard to block his next attack. He had to draw a single Critical Trigger on this next check, or she would have another turn to try and finish him off. And with the card in her bind zone emitting stronger pulses since the fight had begun with every passing turn, he knew that he had to beat her now. As he flipped over the card, it was glowing indicating that he managed to pull a trigger.

"Eek...! We're done for...!" Milulun's voice echoed.

"Is that so...?" Akira sneered.

As Christopher blinked in confusion, he then gazed back at the card he checked and suddenly cringed upon realizing that he had celebrated far too soon, revealing that it was Fortune-bringing Cat.

"Draw... Trigger..." he muttered "I draw 1 card and give power to Researcher Fox!"

"Oh, what's this? So shoving almost everything back into your deck backfired on you?" the Selector asked mockingly "I almost feel sorry that you weren't able to get a single Critical Trigger that way! Goosey-goosey-goosebumps!"

As Christopher clenched his teeth, the spinning vials crashed straight into the manifested Hanayo, forcing her to shield her face from the explosion as Seal Dragon, Artpique entered Akira's damage zone, putting the damage count between them as three to five and increasing her hand by an extra card. But he knew that despite this not being the outcome he wanted from this battle, the fight itself wasn't over and that he still had a chance to try and defeat her. Hanayo glowed brightly as the trigger effects increased her power, making it more difficult for his next attack to land successfully.

"Researcher Fox attacks!" he declared.

"Guard! Intercept!"

In response to Akira's command, Agafia appeared onto the battlefield whilst Berserk Dragon flew over from its space and joined her in a combined effort to stop the attack of Researcher Fox dead in its tracks. Christopher despite being partly annoyed by his failed attempt to finish off the Selector wasn't too disappointed as he looked back at his damage in comparison to hers.

"Turn end!" he called "Researcher Fox retires!"

As the rear-guard Researcher Fox vanished in a small explosion of white coloured smoke, he immediately drew an additional two cards from his deck and placed the card on the bottom of his deck.

"With Researcher Fox's skill, I can add a card with the same name as my Legion to my hand since it landed in my Drop Zone," he spoke as he added it straight back to his hand before shuffling his deck.

**End of Turn 8**

**Akira vs Christopher**

**Hand - 2 : 6**

**Soul - 5 : 4**

**Damage - 5 : 3**

**Bind Zone - 1 (face-down) : 0**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion (VG) - Chain-attack Sutherland : EMPTY - Magic Scientist, Tester Fox and Illusion Scientist, Researcher Fox (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows :** **Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga** **\- EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga : Coiling Duckbill - EMPTY - EMPTY**

As all of Akira's units that were on her table returned to the Stand position, she then gazed down at the remaining two cards she held before looking back to Christopher. She began cackling, believing that victory was now within her grasp as she picked up the card from her bind zone as it was still glowing, now brighter than ever as she kept her smile on her lips.

"It's finally time," she spoke "By sealing my Draw Phase for this turn whilst Hanayo is at least Grade 4, I can ride this unit from my Bind Zone. In addition, if one of us is to lose the fight in this battlefield from this point onwards, a punishment will be cast courtesy of her power as an actual LRIG in this form." She then immediately scoffed off the idea of a 'drawback' to using the card she was about to play. "Well, assuming that is I'm the one who loses."

"What's that supposed to mean...?" Christopher questioned curiously.

"This is what it means!" the Selector declared as she held up the card high into the air "Burn everything to ash before me! This ugly eyesore, this world, everything here that is in my way! Limit Override!"

After slamming down the card onto the Vanguard circle on top of Hanayo Four's card, a large column of fire suddenly erupted from part of the battlefield as the manifestation of the LRIG was engulfed within the flames in an instant. The force of the column along with the intense heat of the fire forced Christopher to cry out aloud as he groaned from trying to shield his face from such power. The flames eventually died down to reveal the Level 5 form of Hanayo, familiar to both Kai and Aichi from their respective bouts against it and now, the manifestation was upon the battlefield, prepared to fight for Akira as part of her winning image.

"Hanayo Five!"

**Hanayo Five/Grade 5/?/SLD: 0/POW: 15000/Dragon Empire/?/Human;LRIG**

"Now it's Grade 5...?!" he breathed in shock, staring at the card on the Selector's table as he did so.

"Call, Calamity Tower Wyvern!" she continued as the red coloured wyvern appeared behind Hanayo "I draw 1 card. Call another Sutherland!"

As a second Chain-attack, Sutherland appeared into her leftmost column atop the dragon he usually rode atop, the manifested Hanayo suddenly glowed bright orange as she raised her whip high into the air as Akira dropped a second copy of Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance into her Drop Zone from her hand.

"Disappear!" she declared as she immediately snapped her fingers.

The imaged LRIG brought down her fiery thorned whip onto the final Coiling Duckbill, retiring it from the battlefield as Christopher could only stare towards her rear-guards, knowing they were bound to power up as a result of this effect. But to his shock, Hanayo was now glowing in the same brightly orange coloured aura as the two Mahoragas and Sutherlands, indicating that the new form's effects weren't finished there.

"What's happening...?!"

"Behold, Hanayo Five's power!" Akira announced with sinister glee "All of my rear-guards, regardless of where they are positioned gain an extra Critical as long as she is my Vanguard!"

**Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga x2/POW: 5000 - 10000/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Chain-attack Sutherland x2/POW: 8000 - 11000/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Calamity Tower Wyvern/Critical: 1 - 2**

Christopher could only stare in disbelief at the situation he now found himself with, now having not just no rear-guards on his field again, but with Hanayo now giving all of her rear-guards access to an extra Critical at all times at no cost whatsoever.

 _That means... all of her rear-guards will be hitting my Vanguards for two damage without powering up from any kind of triggers!_ he exclaimed  _But... I still only have three damage! I'll have to let one of her attacks through if I'm going to survive!_

Akira cackled loudly as she then rested both Hanayo and Calamity Tower Wyvern's cards, signalling her first attack of the turn as they set their sights upon Tester Fox and Researcher Fox. As the Winged Dragon flapped its wings, the imaged Level 5 LRIG then held up her hands, materializing a giant fireball above her head as she was preparing to hurl it straight towards the Legioned pair on the Great Nature user's side of the field. He then looked at his hand before looking to her rear-guards, considering the options that he had in addition to the damage he currently had. He eventually reached a decision, though it was a reluctant one.

"No guard...!" he declared.  _Wasting my Perfect Guard would leave me exposed to her rear-guards! I need to see what she gets from her Twin Drive!_

"Drive check..." she spoke.

The Selector then picked up the first card from the top of her deck and dropped it face up onto the table in front of the stack face up, the card shining brightly before revealing itself as Demonic Dragon Mage, Rakshasha.

"Critical Trigger!"

**Hanayo Five/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Chain-attack Sutherland/POW: 11000 - 16000**

Immediately afterwards, she revealed her second card as Hanayo Two, with no Trigger marking to show for the time being. Christopher could only let out a small sigh of relief, believing that all was seemingly well for the moment. Akira however noticed this and started giggling to herself, much to his further confusion. Then he gazed up at Hanayo Five, noticing that she hadn't yet launched her attack which only served to further drive even more questions into his mind. That was when the Selector had decided to speak out two more words as she continued on with her attack.

"Final check."

"I... Impossible!" he exclaimed "Everyone knows the maximum drives a Vanguard can perform at the highest Grade is two!"

"Then, why don't you tell me what is different about Hanayo Five to begin with...?" she snarkily asked, confident that he was about to find out the answer for himself.

Christopher could only blink before looking back to her table once again, his eyes widening in shock as he suddenly realized that the symbol beneath Hanayo Five's Grade was not the Twin Drive symbol like he had initially expected. Instead, it was a symbol that looked very similar to it, only with an additional arrow running underneath the overlapping two arrows through the center of them.

"That symbol... it's different from Twin Drive?!" he gasped.

Just as he had finished voicing his disbelief, a bright glow caught his attention towards Akira's deck as he soon realized she had conducted her final check. And to his horror, it was another Embodiment of Spear, Tahr and he knew exactly what that had meant for him and his chances of winning now.

"Critical Trigger! All effects to Aki-lovely's Vanguard!" she announced in her 'Aki-lucky' persona before immediately switching back to her sinister one "Burn in hell, uglies!"

The imaged Hanayo Five on the battlefield, now powered up by the effects of the two triggers that had been checked, reeled back her arms slightly and then thrust them forwards, hurling the giant fireball towards Christopher's side of the field as both Tester Fox and Researcher Fox could only watch in horror as they could do nothing but watch their impending fate come closer and closer towards them. Eventually, the fireball made contact with the Legioned pair, creating a massive explosion that rocked the entire field and covered up the Great Nature user's entire side of the field. He screamed in pain as the impact from the attack caused his next three points of damage, Triangle Cobra, Honorary Professor, Chatnoir and Binoculus Tiger to fly past him before the impact of the attack sent him flying backwards into the boundary wall before falling straight back down to the ground.

It was over as his units vanished from the battlefield along with all of Akira's rear-guards, meaning the result was now clear. The Selector had emerged victorious from this bout.

"How do you like that?!" she cackled "This is but a preview as to what Kai will eventually face when we cross paths again in this god forsaken world! Let that be a lesson to all people in this world that no-one crosses Aki-lovely and Ulith-chan's paths and gets off that easily!"

She then held out her right hand, containing a blank Wixoss card which then suddenly shone brightly. Christopher then screamed in pain as the Mark of Penalty was engraved onto his right hand and all of the cards in his Great Nature deck turned blank without warning. Struggling back onto his feet, he could only stare at the sight of his units, now gone and in the hands of his opponent who had other plans for them.

"No..." he breathed "My units... Tester Fox, Researcher Fox, Cable Sheep, Binoculus Tiger, Chatnoir... they're all gone!"

"Oh don't fret!" Akira replied as she placed the cards, now in Wixoss form, back into her hoodie pocket "They'll be going to a much greater cause that Ulith wants them for, whatever that may be!"

Before the Great Nature user could respond to her, he soon realized that Hanayo Five's imaged form had not de-materialized and that the aura that was previously around her in the final turn of the fight had somehow grown even stronger. He could only watch nervously as the heat within the battlefield itself suddenly began to grow much hotter than it already was.

"What is this?!" he gasped.

"Since I won the fight with a Grade 5 LRIG, the true fun can begin!" the Selector declared "Hanayo Five, I call upon your powers from your actual self! Judgement!"

_(Insert Music:[Zeroth Dragon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK4Yjsud0tY) (First Half))_

Slamming her fist down onto the glowing card that was still on the Vanguard circle, Hanayo Five's eyes suddenly flashed a bright red as she held up her thorned whip, now seemingly ablaze as a fiery red aura began flowing through the imaged LRIG and her weapon. As she raised it up into the air, sparks began flying across her head as the image suddenly let out a scream for a brief instance. A familiar pinkish glow in Christopher's eyes suddenly lit up as he gasped in shock, seeing that ever since the declaration had happened, the 'image' he was seeing was actually alive somehow. But before he had time to assess what was happening, 'Hanayo Five' slammed her fiery whip onto the ground of the battlefield, causing the ground to shake.

The followings tremors at first felt light, but suddenly became heavier as the Great Nature user suddenly saw orange cracks emerging in the ground beneath him that grew larger and larger... until they stopped. But immediately afterwards in an instant, the ground beneath him suddenly erupted as a column of blazing hot fire suddenly erupted, engulfing him in an instant as he screamed loudly in pain from the heat that was searing away at his body. His scream only continued to grow louder as it echoed across the institute campus and the nearby streets of the city of Singapore.

* * *

Not far away done a few streets from the premises of SIT, Mitsusada could only freeze in shock as he too heard Christopher's screams of agony as Akira's 'Judgement' was being cast upon him. He then stared up at the sky, now seeing a giant and tall pillar of fire, the same one that was scorching the Great Nature user alive by the second, rocketing high into the sky and torching the colour of it a bright orange as it continued to roar upwards with every passing second. The Dimension Police user didn't know what was quite going on, but he knew that both that strange occurrence and Christopher's screams that he had just heard this instant had to be connected somehow and from his familiarity of Singapore already, he knew where it had been coming from.

"Christopher!" he gasped as he then quickened his pace, hoping that he wasn't too late in wanting to assist the cardfighter if he was already hurt somehow.

* * *

Meanwhile on the open ocean, just a few miles from Singapore's bay, Kai, Ruko and Jillian could only stare at the omnious pillar of fire that was now torching both Christopher and the sky above, shocked by what was happening. But the question running through their minds was who or what exactly was responsible for the sight that they were seeing in the far distance. Eventually, Kamui, Kiyoi and Sharlene also noticed the sight that their companions were seeing and hurried onto the top deck of the yacht to join them.

"What the heck is that?!" the Nova Grappler user exclaimed.

From their cards, Tama and Yuki could only gaze upon the raging pillar of fire, with the exact same question brewing through each of their respective minds much like their Selector who held them. Before the pillar slowly started to disappear, their eyes widened as a strange sensation coursed through them, but only for a short instance as the column of heat and fire was gone within a moment's notice.

"This is..." the girl of black breathed.

"What is it Yuki?" asked Ruko, curious as to why she was feeling this way.

"Tama sensed something over there!" Tama interjected "Tama thinks that was by a LRIG!"

Everyone but two of them looked to the girl of white in surprise, wondering how it was she had sensed something coming from that raging pillar of fire considering how far they were from the city of Singapore on open water.

"Are you certain about this?" asked Kai.

"I did feel something strange for a moment..." Kiyoi murmured as she pondered on the thought "But my experience as an LRIG is not as great as Tama or Yuki, so I can't be certain."

"Then let's floor it to there and find out for ourselves!" Jillian announced as she immediately gunned the throttle on the yacht's controls.

The boat then accelerated at a much more quicker rate than usual, bringing them closer and closer towards the bay of Singapore where they knew that they had to search the city for answers and find Christopher for their earlier pick up. But little did they know, they would find that accomplishing both tasks would be right at the same location they would eventually go to for their companion.

* * *

**SIT Premises**

As the boundary to the battlefield was shut off, a weakened Christopher fell to his knees as he struggled to pick up his blank cards. His clothes had scorch marks present all over him and smoke was pouring off of him as he coughed loudly. Eventually, after picking up the final one, he could hear a sound he was hoping not to hear. It sounded like whimpering and judging from the voice that it belonged to, his eyes could only widen in horror. Struggling onto his knees, stumbling briefly as he did so, he saw that Ali and Lee were also marked, much like him and the latter had seemingly had gone through a Judgement of his own. Whilst Ulith watched on in triumph for her efforts, Fumio's expression was hidden from a shadow cast over the top half of her face by her hair.

"Ali...! Lee...!" he cried as he struggled on over towards them.

"C... Chris...!" Ali groaned as his friend eventually joined him "Lee...! He's...!"

Christopher could only blink in confusion before turning his attention over to Lee, who he could now see wasn't just in agony from his earlier 'Judgement', but he was also shaking uncontrollably.

"I'm... a failure..." he sobbed "... My comrades... my family... I...!"

"Lee, snap out of it...!" the Great Nature user called, coughing as he did so "We're here for you! What happened out there?!"

A sinister giggle then caught his and Ali's attention towards Ulith, who was enjoying relishing in the sight that was playing out before her very eyes. The sight of suffering and those that attempted to comfort the victim of her many talents to little avail were all something that entertained her greatly. She palmed her face, feigning a struggle of some kind to restrain her sinister laughter.

_(End Music)_

"Wonderful..." she spoke, her tone seeming soft to the ear, but underneath lay a different intent with it "The shattering of one's brilliance and the feeble attempts of the outsiders to try and mend it... I knew I was correct in selecting him as my target from this team."

"You...! What did you do to him?!" Christopher demanded.

"I simply enlightened him to the consequences of his actions," Ulith replied with a smug hint of satisfaction "It is only fitting that one of a family of their caliber be reminded of. Though come to think of it... I've sensed your presence before, haven't I?"

"Huh...?"

As Ali blinked in confusion, wondering why exactly the cruel demanored Selector had claimed that she and his friend had somehow met before this day in a manner of speaking, he turned to him, hoping he might be able to shed some light on the situation. But from what he could tell, Christopher's expression had slowly turned to utter horror as finally realized that her voice was far more familiar to him than he first remembered.

"Now I remember...!" he gasped "You're that person who activated Aichi's PSY Qualia against his will! And...!"

"His fragile heart remains as it once was," she interrupted "But that is of no concern now. I look forward to seeing it shattered once again, soon enough."

The Great Nature user could only clench his teeth as he knew in his current state, both physically and through his lack of units as of a few moments ago, he was powerless to do anything to oppose Ulith or what she had to say.

"Christopher!"

Everyone then looked down the open area of the premises of SIT to see that a certain cardfighter who had been hurrying over after noticing the giant pillar of fire earlier had finally arrived. He wasn't entirely out of breath, but he was breathing in and out as he panted slowly, now seeing that his worst suspicions were indeed confirmed.

"Mistsusada...!" he called as he moved towards him "Stay back...! These people are...!"

Stopping in his footsteps for a moment, he looked at both Ulith and Futase, now understanding from his warning that these were the people responsible for the state they were in and marking them as he could tell from the familiar Mark of Penalty on their right hands. Whilst the former had remained as calmly confident as she was, the latter on the other hand had still held a secretly pained expression, not wanting to say anything to him at all.

"Are you the people responsible for marking that girl who stumbled into the card shop earlier?" he asked.

"You catch on quickly," Ulith replied smugly "We intended to save you for later, but this on the other hand makes our job easier."

"Mistusada, be careful...!" Christopher cried "These people have a trump card...! It's a Grade...!"

Before he could complete his sentence, he immediately moved back just in time as a blunt knife suddenly soared and struck the ground right where he, Ali and Lee were previously sitting. Mistusada's eyes widened as he suddenly realized that there had to be one more person in the area who did not want him to be warned of their strategy in their cardfights before he felt something latch onto his wrist.

"This is...!"

He suddenly felt himself being dragged forwards a little as Akira leaped down and landed at a small distance in front of him, wielding the tether that was attached to her bracelet to great effect once again.

"Sorry, but if you want to get to Ulith-chan, you'll need to get past me!" she replied confidently "Or you can drop your deck here and I might consider letting go of you!"

"Ulith...?" he pondered as he briefly looked up to the cruel demanored Selector who kept her smirk "Then... who exactly are you?"

"You could say that I'm just someone with a grudge against this world," the Selector replied "But there's only one guy that I want to defeat here, right now and all of you are just a warm up for him!"

The Dimension Police user now seeing the predicament he was now in soon realized that there was only one way out of this situation and that was without surrendering his deck to the group before him. He had to fight the person he was attached to and win, otherwise he would be marked like all of the others he had seen and his units would be lost to them anyway. Mitsusada then looked to Christopher, Ali and Lee, concerned for their current states and the fact that Ulith and Futase were still right beside them at this point.

"I'll accept your fight," he said, bringing out his deck from his pocket with his free hand "But first, let Christopher and the others go."

"Naturally," Futase replied with a lack of emotion "We already have their units, so they are of no further use to us."

As Christopher and Ali helped Lee back onto his feet, the latter still in a state of shock and depression from whatever it was that Ulith had done to him earlier, the three of them slowly moved away from the two Selectors and onto a different part of the institute grounds. Akira simply smirked and brought out her deck before disabling the tether as the boundary for the battlefield immediately appeared once again. As this happened, the familiar dark red tables manifested before Mistusada, much to his surprise, and the Selector as both of them set up both their starting Vanguards and their starting hands in preparation to begin the fight. Eventually after a few long moments, both of them were finally ready to begin.

"Stand Up, (Aki) Vanguard!"

Two bright glows appeared in front of each of their respective tables as both Dimensional Robo, Goyusha and Hanayo Zero manifested themselves from their fighters' images onto the battlefield. Mitsusada could only stare at the imaged LRIG in wonder, having not come across her or any of the others before and curious as to what it was all about. Then to his surprise, Akira's deck suddenly glowed a bright orange as a certain card bound itself face down like before, making Christopher and Ali watch on in worry from outside of the boundary.

"Mitsusada..." he muttered "You must win to get out of there! Or..."

"I'll go first!" Akira announced as she drew her single card "Ride! Hanayo One!"

A bright orange aura surrounded Hanayo Zero, changing up some of her appearance as her dress underwent a few minor cosmetic alterations as the Ride was completed.

**Hanayo One/POW: 7000 - 8000**

"If it gained power, then this is definitely a Ride Chain," Mitsusada murmured as he watched the Selector search her deck for Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion and show it to him before adding it to her hand.

"Now then, let's see what you have then."

The Dimension Police user drew his single card to start his turn before taking it and a second card from his hand and throwing them down onto his table.

"Ride, Dimensional Robo, Daimariner!" he declared as Goyusha's card on the table slid back into the circle directly behind Daimariner. "And call Daitiger!"

On the battlefield in front of him, Goyusha reappeared behind the manifested Daimariner, just as Daitiger then materialized to the right of it, flexing its legs and growling lowly in preparation for battle against its opponent.

"Daimariner attacks!"

Mitsusada then revealed his drive check as Dimensional Robo, Daishield with no trigger marking to help him any further for the rest of the turn. Daimariner then made a revving noise of some kind before ramming itself into Hanayo, knocking her backwards as Akira's first damage was revealed as Berserk Dragon. Daitiger then gained a glowing white aura to it as it landed on top of the imaged LRIG, landing another successful attack.

**Dimensional Robo, Daitiger/POW: 7000 - 10000**

As the turn came to an end, the Selector immediately drew her next card and sneered upon seeing what it was that she had obtained.

"Well, deja vu," she complimented as she placed the card into her hand "Ride, Hanayo Two!"

Once again, a bright orange aura enveloped the manifested Hanayo, changing up the appearance of her dress once again before she re-emerged onto the battlefield with greater power than what she previously possessed. Then to the rear-guard circles on the LRIG's left appeared both a second Hanayo Two and Gattling Claw Dragon as Mitsusada could only stare on, realizing what was about to happen next.

"Gattling Claw's skill!" the Selector announced "Get out of here, eyesore!"

Gattling Claw Dragon then pointed its right arm towards Goyusha and fired upon it with a shower of orange coloured bullets that dented it badly until both units disappeared from the field. The Hanayo that was her Vanguard then manifested a large fireball in her right hand before hurling it straight at Daimariner, the impact sending the vehicular unit crashing into the boundary wall to the far left of the field. Akira then revealed Perdition Dancer, Agafia as her Drive Check, recovering the damage she had turned face down for Gattling Claw's skill.

"Too bad!" she cackled before switching the tone of her voice to her 'Aki-lucky' persona "You now won't be able to superior ride and finish me before I unveil my trump card! Goosey-goosey-goosebumps!"

The rear-guard Hanayo then waged her attack on the downed Daimariner by unleashing another fireball at it which engulfed the unit in a large explosion as Mitsusada's second damage was revealed as Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha. Christopher and Ali could only watch on with worry, seeing that his opponent had managed to take a slight lead thanks to the Heal Trigger that she had checked and having already mowed down his one chance of gaining an advantage over her early on.

"With Goyusha gone already, this isn't going to be good for Mitsusada," Ali muttered.

"Even so, Mitsusada's not one to let something like that bother him easily," Christopher replied before noticing something off about his companion "Say... even though you were marked, it looked like that other girl didn't cast 'Judgement' on you."

"That's because she never used that bound card she had," he answered "But you and Lee have definitely got it worse. No offence by the way."

"None taken," the Great Nature user replied with a small smile before looking back to the boundary wall "Now we've got to put all of our faith in him."

Back within the battlefield, Mitsusada placed down another card on top of Daimariner's as the downed Battleroid disappeared in a flash before Daifighter then appeared into the center line in front of his table. He then looked down at the cards he held, contemplating the options that he had available to him and what his opponent had already shown to him.

 _Hanayo doesn't seem to be natively Kagero, but their units can be used alongside her_ he murmured in his thoughts  _And then there is that face down card and that Grade 4 unit she added to her hand. I'll just have to play it out and see what else she has in store._

"Daifighter attacks!"

"No guard," she confidently replied.

"Drive check!"

He then revealed the top card of his deck as Dimensional Robo, Daibattles, the card shining brightly as this happened.

"Critical Trigger!" he declared "Power to Daitiger, Critical to Daifighter!"

Daifiger then revved up its drill and slammed it down into the ground beneath it, creating a small tremor that caused the Vanguard Hanayo to stumble as Demonic Dragon Mage, Rakshasa and Calamity Tower Wyvern landed in Akira's damage zone. Daitiger dashed across the battlefield on its legs before leaping up into the air, preparing to pounce on its target. The rear-guard Hanayo then moved in front of it and came between the two, creating a green circle to deflect the attack before she vanished from the rear-guard. Mitsusada could only watch as Daitiger came back over to his side of the field as the turn came to an end.

**End of Turn 4**

**Akira vs Mitsusada**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Soul - 3 : 1**

**Damage - 3 : 2**

**Bind Zone - 1 (face-down) : 0**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Hanayo Two (VG) - EMPTY : Dimensional Robo, Daitiger - Dimensional Robo, Daifighter (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows : EMPTY** **\- EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

"Keh," Akira scoffed "All of that and you still didn't manage to make a dent in my hand. At this rate, even Kai might be a pushover!"

"You know of Kai's whereabouts...?" he asked, having been informed of his disappearance, but not hearing about his recent return to this world beforehand.

"Not exactly," she replied "But I do know for a fact he's back in this world and perhaps if I mark you with enough of these eyesores around here, I can bring him straight into my hands!"

"So what's your story with him then?"

Upon hearing the additional question that was then presented to her, the Selector's expression slowly turned to one of frustration as she then clenched her right fist from just remembering it.

"From where I come from, I battle to make my wish come true," she began "I had just one wish then, to get back at someone before my life came crashing down around me. Then Kai had to appear and defeat me, making that impossible for a short while!"

As Futase couldn't help but express a small portion of interest in the fact that Kai had actually defeated the Selector who was currently fighting, despite having knowledge of him battling her beforehand, Ulith didn't make a single reaction to Akira's statement. Christopher and Ali couldn't help but wonder if this one defeat she had from facing Kai in her world was the reason that she was harbouring such a grudge against their world and if so, were there people that attacked them along with presumably others they had no knowledge about who also had their sights set on all of the cardfighters and their units. Little did they know that this was indeed the very 'war' Mayu had declared on their world and that they were all targets for her bounty.

"I'll make him suffer!" Akira declared "Just a little flesh wound from a couple of days ago isn't enough! And I'll start by crushing all of you and the very world he comes from!"

Mitsusada, though still in the dark of all of the details, now had a better understanding of what the Selector was aiming to achieve and that a previous encounter with Kai had something to do with her actions against Christopher and several other fighters on the institute campus. For now, he had to focus on winning the fight and escaping with all of his units still intact or else he would suffer the same fate as almost everyone else that he encountered outside of the card shop today.

* * *

**Wixoss World: City Streets**

On a quiet and lonely street within that world's version of Tokyo, Hanayo was on her knees, clutching her head in pain as she breathed heavily to regain her composure. It was already enough of a nightmare having to use Yuzuki's body to keep up a deception in order to ensure that her wish could remain true, so that her former Selector would have a body to return to when everything would hopefully end the way they would want it. But now, things were seeming far more difficult by the second as she had experienced a few seconds ago.

 _This pain... someone's using my powers as an LRIG to harm others...!_ she cried within her thoughts  _It's like for a few moments, my actual self was being stolen away!_

Returning back onto her feet, she stumbled across the lonely street to a nearby bench to try and recover both her strength and overall composure as she tried to make sense of what was happening to her today.

"That last one made it five..." she panted "How many more times is this going to happen?"

Upon looking up to the gloomy sky, her eyes widened in complete horror as to the sight she was seeing right above the city itself. From amongst the dark grey clouds that cast such a mood over the city, a giant black ring of some kind was now high in orbit and circling ominously above the various buildings. Despite having no personal encounters with any of the Star-vaders during her visits to Mayu's White Room or barely any knowledge of them beforehand at all, Hanayo could tell that such a premonition that she was seeing now in addition to these sudden instances that she was suffering through was likely only the start of what was to come in the near future for her world and those who inhabited them.

Watching several people passing by for a brief instance, studying their expressions closely, only a few of them amongst those that were actually looking up at the ominous sky actually reacted to the fact that there was indeed the giant black ring that was amongst the clouds above Tokyo. And from what she could tell, that only served to ramp up her earlier concerns even further.

"It seems only Selectors and LRIGs, in addition to those possessing a body, can see that troubling sight," she murmured to herself, sighing for a little moment.

From where this world was standing in the midst of Mayu's game, it seems that things were about to take a turn for the worse and that there was no telling how soon it would be until that same change would take effect. For the time being, she knew that she could do nothing but to keep Yuzuki's wish fulfilment in effect until they could figure out how to return back to their original bodies and pray that her friends, wherever they were now, were safe from harm as she wondered about whether or not the earlier pain and sensation she was forced into would occur with her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Hanayo Five**  
>  Grade 5  
> Ability: Triple Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 15000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dragon Empire  
> Clan: Dragon Empire  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [Limit Override] (When the game begins, if your starting Vanguard is a {LRIG}, search your deck for this card (if it is not in your starting hand) and bind it face down. Only one card can be bound by [Limit Override]. Whilst in the bind zone this way, it cannot leave except by the following effect; "When your turn begins and you have a Vanguard with "Hanayo" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4, you may skip your Draw Phase. If you do, Ride this card onto your (VG) from your bind zone".)  
> [CONT](Hand): If you do not have a Vanguard with "Hanayo" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4 or greater, you cannot Ride this unit.  
> [ACT](VG): [Soul Blast (5)] Choose as many of your opponent's rear-guards as possible whose combined [Power] is 30000 or less and retire them.  
> [CONT](VG): All of your rear-guards get [Critical]+1.  
> [CONT](VG): This unit gets the [ACT] abilities of all {LRIG} in the Drop Zone.


	85. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 85: That Vengeful Inferno III

**Singapore**

By the time that Jillian had finished docking the yacht into the harbour of the city, she and the others had wasted no time in hurrying off of the boat and immediately heading towards SIT itself, to discover what had caused the large pillar of fire that they had seen earlier. Having more than enough familiarity of the island state from training across the world beforehand and the Asia Circuit respectively, Kai and Kamui took the lead of their charge towards the institute premises. All the while, the Kagero user couldn't help but ponder on what Tama, Yuki and Kiyoi had to say earlier in regards to their suspicions of the cause behind what they saw from the open water outside of Singapore.

"Hey, you don't think it has anything to do with that 'bounty' or whatever it was that Fumio was talking about?" Kamui pondered.

"Bounty...?" Sharlene asked curiously.

"From what Fumio told us, all of this world and any cardfighters in our own have become targets," Yuki answered "Then again, I can imagine this is a result of Mayu being upset after losing to Aichi and Kai."

Ruko couldn't help but ponder back to the time when she was possessed by Mayu during that same battle a long while ago and what she had learned from the story her own mother had given to most of the group during her battle with Kai.

"Mayu must have been very lonely with only mother for company..." she murmured "... I wonder if she's doing all of this because she couldn't see everything from the outside world before she had died."

"Whatever the Void and Miyako have told her of the universe outside of her White Room may have also had an effect on her views," Kai interjected "Even with what we've been told, there's still too many unanswered questions."

The Selector knew that the Kagero user was indeed correct with his point, but she still couldn't help but feel sorry for the two of them in what each of them had gone through before the birth of the Selector System. Knowing that there would be time to dwell on this matter later, she continued on up the streets of Singapore with the others and followed his lead, hoping that no one was hurt from the pillar of fire they had seen from the yacht.

* * *

**SIT Premises**

Meanwhile within the active battlefield, the towering black Battleroid known as Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser rose up onto Mitsusada's side, bellowing a mighty announcement of its own name as it flexed its arms in preparation for battle. To the left and right of it, Dimensional Robo, Daidragon and a second Daitiger appeared onto the battlefield with a Daimariner also manifesting behind the latter. The Dimension Police user kept his determined gaze at Akira who remained smugly confident, despite not possessing a single rear-guard alongside Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance who stood alone on her side of the field.

"Daidragon!" he declared as Daidragon unleashed a blue bolt of some kind towards the imaged LRIG.

"Guard," the Selector replied with a mock yawn as Calamity Tower Wyvern briefly appeared in front of Hanayo Three to take the attack head on.

"Go, Daikaiser!" Mitsusada announced as the hulking Battleroid reeled back a fist in preparation for its attack.

His opponent merely scoffed in response, her way of saying that she had no intention in guarding this attack at all. Starting his Twin Drive immediately, the Dimension Police user revealed Dimensional Robo, Daishield as his first check, no trigger marking to help him at this moment. Revealing the second card as Dimensional Robo, Gorescue, things were beginning to look up for him.

"Heal Trigger!" he declared "Recover 1 damage and power to Daitiger!"

Daikaiser's fist began to glow a bright orange before the mighty Dimensional Robo stepped forward and thrust it straight into the ground, sending a large shockwave that struck Hanayo Three and knocked her backwards as Seal Dragon, Artpique entered Akira's damage zone, powering her straight back up.

**Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance/POW: 10000 - 15000**

"Continue, Daitiger!" Mitsusada called as the tiger like Battleroid leaped into the air, preparing to complete its pounce on Hanayo.

"Agafia!" Akira countered as she revealed the Heal Trigger from her hand, the unit also using throwing her torch at Daitiger, exploding on contact and forcing it to retreat.

Anxiously from outside of the battlefield, Christopher and Ali could only watch and analyze the situation that each of the two combatants were in whilst Lee still remained mostly motionless as a result of whatever it was that Ulith had done to him earlier. Their friend was doing well to keep the damage count equal at two to three with Akira's hand still being mostly unfazed by his attacks however.

"He's doing the best he can..." Ali murmured "But with her using Kagero alongside Hanayo, he can't call too many units or she'll power up off retiring them."

"That's not even the worst part," Christopher replied, causing him to turn towards him "That Grade 5 unit in her bind zone... its primary skill is not even the biggest concern."

As they both looked back to see the Selector starting her turn, she suddenly gazed past Mitsusada and smiled deviously, causing him to turn around in confusion.

"Mitsusada!"

The familiar voice that called out to him then allowed him to see beyond the glow of the boundary wall that it was Kamui who had called out towards him. The Nova Grappler user and Kai, followed by Jillian and Sharlene, then Ruko and Kiyoi eventually came to a stop right outside the battlefield, just as Christopher and Ali looked towards the group of six.

"Kamui? And..." Mitsusada breathed.

"Ah, just as I hoped!" Akira sneered, catching everyone's attention back to her "Kai Toshiki, we meet again. And it seems you brought quite the audience."

"Aoi Akira. I see you that haven't changed in the slightest," the Kagero user murmured as he looked through the boundary wall towards her "Though I do wonder if you're really aware of the situation that both of our worlds now face."

Ruko, having not seen the Selector ever since she had rushed past her into her own school in an effort to stop Aichi from finding Tama a long while ago, couldn't help but stare at her. She knew Akira could be dangerous outside of her Selector Battles as she and Yuzuki had nearly experienced first-hand, even recognizing the scar on her right cheek from that time, but she didn't think she would be capable of what she had seen on the way through the institute grounds.

"That's Akira?" Jillian murmured "It looks like she'd had a rough share of things."

"She can be rather violent as a result of being provoked, even if it happens to come from her occasional paranoia," Kiyoi replied offhandedly.

"Oh? So this is what you really look like, Piruluk-tan," Akira commented "Or rather Kiyoi as a little fortune 'birdie' once told me."

Kiyoi said nothing back to her former companion as Kamui and Ruko came over to Christopher and Ali, noticing the marks that were now engraved upon each of their right hands.

"You guys got hit too?" he asked.

"If you came here to tell us that, you're a little late," Ali replied before looking to the Selector and Kiyoi "You've brought quite the new faces along. What's your name?"

"I'm Ruko," she greeted "I'm really sorry about what's happening to you guys."

She then bit her lip for an instance, not feeling quite ready to tell him or Christopher about the fact that these attacks were primarily coordinated by her mother Miyako, at least from their knowledge up until the day they were all sucked into this world and seperated from their friends, family and the General of Mayu's forces from the White Room. The Selector then noticed Lee who was still in quite the state, wondering what had happened to him.

"Are you okay...?" she asked, hoping to get a response of some kind.

"W... What will they say...?" he whimpered, still in a state of despair from whatever it was that Ulith had done to him earlier.

Whilst everyone else present could only ponder on how they could possibly get Lee to snap out of whatever it was he was experiencing, they looked further up the campus to see Ulith and Futase, the former keeping her calm and collected sneer.

"It has been a while, scum," she commented "Who would have thought the holder of the girls of black and white and the 'LRIG of misfortune' would end up coming to this world by complete accident."

"Ulith..." Kai muttered.

"Oi, Fumio!" Kamui snapped, glaring at her "Are you really with those guys?! Were you just warning us then to not suspect you?!"

Futase didn't utter a word in response, instead continuing to remain silent and keep her expression masked by the shadow of her hair. Ruko could only stare towards her, having known that the last time they had met one another was when she came to give them a warning about Mayu's bounty and now, that same person was on the enimatic mastermind's side for one reason or another. Kai simply gazed towards her, wondering if she had been putting up such a deception for some time. But even he could not help but question the fact she decided to warn them at all in the first place. There was something missing from the picture involving Futase, but he and the others didn't know what

"If you uglies are done with the 'touching' reunion, I have a little favour for Ulith-chan to finish up!" Akira interrupted rudely before pointing to Mitsusada "Once I'm done with this guy here, it's your turn next Kai!"

"So this... Akira," the Dimension Police user said as he turned to face Kai, now knowing her actual name "It seems like you two have had quite the history since you disappeared from Japan."

"I'll explain everything later," the Kagero user replied "But I would not advise letting down your guard against her."

Nodding in agreement, he turned his attention back to his opponent, who was already impatiently waiting for him to return his focus so she could begin with her turn. Holding up one of the cards into the air, she immediately slammed it down on top of Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance as the imaged LRIG on the battlefield was enveloped in a maelstrom of flames. The Dimension Police user was immediately forced to cover his face as the intense heat made its way over to his side of the field before the fire died down to reveal the next form of Hanayo that the Selector had just rode into.

"Ride! Hanayo Four... Hundred-Fire Profusion!"

**Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 13000/?/Dragon Empire/Human;LRIG**

"That heat..." he breathed "Why did it feel so real?"

"Wha...? Didn't you guys say that Milulun was Akira's LRIG?" Jillian asked in confusion.

"It is certainly strange that Akira is not using Milulun for whatever reason," Kai replied, gazing closely at the cards on the Selector's table "But... the fact that Mistusada could feel the heat of the flames, even if its just an image of the real LRIG..."

"Call!" Akira announced as two Mahoragas along with Berserk Dragon and Chain-attack Sutherland manifested onto the battlefield.

As all of the Kagero units took up offensive stances, the two headed flame dragon roared loudly and unleashed two streams of fire that struck Daidragon, retiring it from the battlefield as the card landed in Mitsusada's drop zone. Both Dragon Mages gained a glowing red aura to them as they powered up from the fall of the giant Battleroid that was keeping his formation in check.

"Honestly, even Yuzu-pon at her worst at least put up more of a fight than this," she said in a wry tone, as if she was trying to provoke him "I expected more from the garbage of this world."

"I don't completely understand your grudge with Kai," he replied "But... I won't let you get away with those stolen units! And I cannot let you get away with hurting Christopher Lo or any other fighters around Singapore!"

"Quite frankly, you won't be stopping anything," the Selector retorted as she rested Hanayo's card "Hanayo attacks your Vanguard!"

The imaged Hanayo brought up and twirled her thorned whip at a fast rate until it eventually ablaze, showing she was prepared to take on Daikaiser head on. As the giant Battleroid took a defensive stance, the LRIG on the battlefield leaped up into the air and brought down the fiery whip upon it. The attack was then intercepted by a familiar unit, one by the name of Dairescue as a green barrier was generated in front of it.

"Oh, keeping that damage low still?" Akira murmured as she conducted the first check of her Twin Drive, revealing a copy of a Hanayo One "I guess you didn't need Chris-Chris' mouth to guess my little surprise isn't that simple."

After finishing what she had to say, her second check revealed another copy of Perdition Dancer, Agafia, the card glowing brightly for all to see. As Sutherland powered up from the trigger effects, the Selector wasted no time in moving one of the three cards in her damage zone to her drop zone in a swift motion as Hanayo's attack came to an abrupt conclusion. Once that had happened, Berserk Dragon growled loudly as it launched a pair of fireballs at the defenceless Daikaiser who remained defiant as Daitiger then materialized in front of it to block the next attack.

"Sutherland!" Akira declared as the human that rode atop his dragon unleashed a flurry of bullets from his firearm at the Battleroid, knocking it backwards and causing various dents in its armour.

The next card that landed in Mitsusada's damage zone was a copy of Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha, causing him to frown a little as a result. He had been thankful that his efforts in guarding were successful enough to keep both himself and the Selector at three damage apiece, but the fact that he had lost out on one of his key Grade 3 units at this point was still disconcerting. Then there was also the card in his opponent's bind zone that was now emitting a stronger orange coloured aura by the second.

"That card has been acting that way since the beginning," he murmured as he faced Akira once more "If it has been acting that way with every passing turn, the next one is when you plan to use it."

"You catch on," she scoffed "And with the odds in my favour now, I'd say that's a guarantee. Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Akira vs Mitsusada**

**Hand - 5 : 3**

**Soul - 5 : 2**

**Damage - 3 : 3**

**Bind Zone - 1 (face-down) : 0**

**Front Rows : Berserk Dragon - Hanayo Four, Hundred-Fire Profusion (VG) - Chain-attack Sutherland : Dimensional Robo, Daitiger - Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows : Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga - EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga : Dimensional Robo, Daimariner - EMPTY - EMPTY**

Meanwhile on the side of the battlefield that was further up the institute campus, Ulith observed the fight closely, taking note of Mitsusada's every move as he started his turn by drawing his next card. The cruel demanored Selector had easily recognized the potent of Daikaiser from watching Ayumu copy its appearance and abilities using the clone LRIG that Miyako had 'provided' him with a long while ago. Her attention then turned to Akira who briefly looked back and winked at her, blushing a little as she did so.

 _You've certainly proven most useful to me_ the cruel demanoured Selector murmured in her thoughts  _Early on, you would always charge in recklessly with little regard to your deck's own stratagem. But now, you're learning to bide your time, unleashing the finishing blow when the time comes. This will certainly be interesting, especially since Hanayo Five's card has one final ability that 'most' around here have yet to see._

"Come on Mitsusada!" called Kamui "You can't let her push you around like this!"

"If you were paying attention to Akira's bound card, Mitsusada's caution in keeping his damage count as low as possible may be warranted," Kiyoi interjected.

Whilst Kai had no comment of his own to add to the current situation, he knew that from his previous experience of battling against a Hanayo deck at its full strength that there was one card Akira had to be saving for the next turn and with her Vanguard already at Grade 4, that suspicion was more or less a guaranteed one.

"Mitsusada..." he murmured to quietly to himself "Can you overcome that obstacle with your own power now?"

The Dimension Police user gazed over Akira's field, taking note that she didn't even use a skill of any kind from the imaged Hanayo during the previous turn and that the power it had already would make it difficult to launch an attack with Daikaiser or his rear-guards without any kind of boost. Looking back to his hand, he saw that the solution to the problem was available for him to use.

"I call Daifighter and Dailander!" he declared.

As Daifighter rejoined the battlefield once again, a Dimensional Robo that was similar in appearance to Daibattles hovered on the ground behind it, gaining a bright white aura to it and Daikaiser.

"Dailander's Counter Blast!" he continued "I add 4000 power to Daikaiser until the end of this turn!"

**Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser/POW: 11000 - 15000**

"Heh," scoffed Akira "So all three of your units can now attack Hanayo head-on? Go ahead and try ugly!"

As Daikaiser stepped forward, preparing to battle the imaged LRIG that was in front of it despite the damage that it had sustained from Berserk Dragon's attack, Mitsusada faced the Selector head on, ready to carry out his next move.

"Daikaiser attacks your Vanguard!" he declared.

With a mighty bellow, the giant battleroid made a mighty leap into the air, preparing to bring down one of its mighty fists towards the motionless Hanayo that was now below it. As everyone excluding Ulith and Futase from outside of the battlefield watched anxiously for the coming result, Akira simply smirked as she gazed back at her damage zone, knowing that not even a Double Critical Trigger would be enough to end the fight immediately.

"No guard," she replied confidently.

"Twin Drive!" Mitsusada called as he revealed his first card as Dimensional Robo, Daibattles "Critical Trigger! I give power to Daifighter and the Critical to Daikaiser!"

As Daifighter whirred up its drill, a sign of it being powered up partly by the trigger effects just now, a golden aura enveloped Daikaiser as it came soaring down towards the imaged Hanayo before it. The Dimension Police user then revealed his second check as Dimensional Robo, Daishield with no further effects coming to assist him at this very point. The giant Battleroid then dove down and slammed its fist right into the ground with a bellowing yell as the force of the impact sent the imaged Hanayo flying into the air before falling down onto her back.

As this happened, the cards Hanayo One and Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance landed in Akira's damage zone, no triggers being available for her to power up her Vanguard. Despite this however, she still remained smugly confident in surviving the turn and with her opponent only having two attacks left to use, she felt that was all but guaranteed.

"Is that the best you can do?" she snickered "Quite frankly, this is seeming nostalgic to me."

"What do you mean...?" Mitsusada asked curiously.

"You know why?" the Selector answered "It's because you're all beneath me! You're all just as pathetic as those weak Selectors I crushed back in my world. And that stuff you speak of... those hopes, dreams and that passion I hear all of you have for those fights are all garbage!"

Gritting his teeth slightly, having taken some offence to her words just now, Mitsusada did his best not to lash out at her as he immediately rested Daifighter and Dailander's cards to wage his next attack and to clear out any angry thoughts that were attempting to stir up in his mind. Daifighter whirred its drill as it slammed it into the ground, creating another shockwave that came hurtling towards the LRIG. Berserk Dragon moved between them, blocking the attack with ease before disappearing.

"Go, Daifighter!" he called.

As the animal themed Dimensional Robo leaped towards the defenceless Hanayo, Agafia manifested in front of it, blocking the attack with ease. She merely scoffed it off as a minor inconvenience, seeing as the Dimension Police user's turn had come to an end, leaving him with only three damage and four cards left in his hand.

"That hand of hers is definitely not making things easier for Mitsusada," Ali commented.

"But, Mitsusada's pulled through worse than this!" Kamui replied "He'll definitely knock her for a loop on the next turn!"

"No..." Christopher interjected, causing the others to look back to him "If that is the same card she has bound... there may not be a next turn for him!"

As Kamui and Ruko could only ponder on what exactly the Great Nature user was talking about now, Kai on the other hand had his suspicions on what he believed that Akira was going to attempt next. Thinking back to his battle against Yuzuki where she relied on Hanayo for liason in utilizing a similar deck, he knew there was only card that could allow the Selector to really go on the offensive and it was one he had defeated before. Akira then began cackling loudly to herself as the card in her bind zone suddenly began giving off a fiery orange coloured aura that flowed through it, causing Mitsusada to gaze closely, now seeing that she was about to bring it into play.

"This is what I've been waiting for, the very card to put Kai and Dragonic Overlord in their place!" she announced "If one of us loses the fight from this point forward, a special punishment will be cast upon the loser! And, it's now your turn next, Mitsusada Kenji!"

"Punishment...?" he breathed.

"This is what it means!" the Selector declared as she held up the card high into the air "Sealing my Draw Phase for this turn, I'll burn away all of you uglies at once! Limit Override!"

As she slammed down the card onto the Vanguard circle, a large column of fire erupted onto her side of the battlefield, forcing Mitsusada to shield his face from the intense heat as everyone outside of the boundary could only stare towards it, now seeing what was about to emerge. The imaged Hanayo, now in a grander looking flowery dress and wielding a larger whip coated in flames emerged from the inferno, hovering a little in the air above the ground through her newfound strength, facing Daikaiser head on.

"The vengeful inferno... Hanayo Five!"

**Hanayo Five/Grade 5/Triple Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 15000/?/Dragon Empire/Human;LRIG**

"Akira even has Hanayo Five in that deck...?!" gasped Ruko.

"You've seen it before?" Christopher asked, curious as to how she had known about the card.

"Um... Kai faced that form before," she answered "But... it wasn't Akira who used it then."

As they resumed their attention back to the fight, Akira was still laughing maniacally as Mitsusada could only gaze at the imaged LRIG in her strongest form, seeing now that this was the card she had used to defeat and injure the Great Nature user earlier in the day. Another Hanayo One and a second Chain-attack Sutherland manifested onto the battlefield as a fiery aura radiated around them.

"Hanayo Five's Soul Blast!" the Selector declared as she pointed to the Dimension Police user's field "Burn up all your rear-guards with 30000 or less combined power!"

"What?!"

As Mitsusada's eyes widened in surprise, four columns of flames suddenly erupted around him and Daikaiser as Daitiger, Daifighter, Daimariner and Dailander all exploded one after the other from the intense heat, sending metal parts flying all over the battlefield and forcing him to duck for cover as one flew over his head and crashed into the barrier wall. As the remains vanished into nothingness, the fires that now replaced the retired units still continued to burn as he looked towards the imaged Hanayo Five.

"Incredible..." he breathed, still in disbelief from the sheer power of what he had just witnessed.

"Wha...?! Hanayo Five had another skill I didn't know about?!" Christopher gasped, feeling even more humiliated that Akira had not used Hanayo Five's full strength against him before he had lost.

"And that's not the worst of it..." Kiyoi murmured as she gazed towards Akira's remaining rear-guards as they powered up with a bright red aura.

**Hanayo One/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Chain-attack Sutherland x2/POW: 8000 - 20000/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga x2/POW: 5000 - 25000/Critical: 1 - 2**

"All of her rear-guards have extra Criticals!" Sharlene exclaimed "And each of her Sutherlands are attacking for 45000 power on their own!"

As Jillian could only stare in both awe and terror at the situation Mitsusada was now faced with, Ulith simply kept her cruel smirk plastered on her lips whilst Futase continued to remain in silence. On the other hand, Akira was having the time of her life now that she had her opponent cornered with no intercepts, only four cards in his hand and four damage to his name and a damaged Daikaiser who now had to face its adversary alone.

"How do you like that?!" she cackled "Even if this isn't my real deck, this power is just what I needed to crush you all!" She then pointed a finger towards Kai. "And Kai, it will be your turn next! You and that overgrown lizard you call an Avatar or whatever have everything coming to you!"

"Mitsusada isn't as naive as you believe," he replied calmly "And whilst I can see you've mastered Hanayo's strengths with that deck, there is one flaw with it."

"Oh? And what would that be?" the Selector scoffed.

"The answer should be in front of you. That is all."

Akira took no notice of Kai's words, believing with overwhelming confidence that this fight was her's for the taking and that her power increases to all of her rear-guards was enough to seal that fact. Mitsusada on the other hand couldn't help but ponder on the Kagero user's words just now, having known him to be very perceptive during any fights, regardless of whether he was a part of them or not. Looking closely at Akira's field and back to his hand, everything stared to become clear to him.

"Hanayo Five attacks your Vanguard!" she called "You're gonna burn in hell too!"

_Her rear-guards all have additional Criticals... but those boosting cannot transfer them to the front row, including her Vanguard. Therefore...!_

"No guard!" he declared.

Seeing the declaration made, Akira sneered as she reached out for her deck.

"Triple Drive!" she announced.

"Her Vanguard now gets three drive checks?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"First check!"

The first card revealed from the top of her deck was Seal Dragon, Rinocross, a Perfect Guard she could use for defending, but not to help out on her current offence. "Second check!" As she pulled out the next card, it began to glow a bright yellow, causing Kamui, Christopher, Ruko and Ali to gasp in worry, realizing that Akira had managed to successfully pull a trigger. When she looked at it however, she frowned as it was revealed to be Gattling Claw Dragon, a Draw Trigger.

"Tsk! Power to my right hand Sutherland and draw 1!" she muttered "Third check!"

Upon flipping the final card from the top of her deck face up, her devious smile returned back to her lips as she revealed Demonic Dragon Mage, Rakshasa.

"Critical Trigger! I give power to my other Sutherland and Critical to Hanayo Five!"

As the imaged Hanayo was swirling her whip above her head at high speed, it immediately caught ablaze as both Daikaiser and Mitsusada gazed at the powered up LRIG, knowing what was about to come.

"Come, I'll take it head on!" he called as he braced for impact by crossing his arms out in front of him.

Hanayo Five slammed down the whip onto the front of Daikaiser, creating a massive score down the front of its chest panel as the tip of the imaged LRIG's weapon eventually landed on the ground in front of the Dimension Police user's table. As the score on the battleroid exploded, sending shrapnel flying across the battlefield, a tremor followed by an eruption of fire sent Mitsusada flying backwards into the wall of the boundary as Dimensional Robo, Daidragon and Dimensional Robo, Daicrane landed in his damage zone, the latter of which glowed brightly.

"Draw... Trigger!" he groaned as he hurried back to the table "I give 5000 power to Daikaiser!"

"Heh, you're just like that shorter guy," Akira scoffed "You just don't know when to quit."

He didn't reply as he knew that even with the extra draw he had just gotten, he was still in a very precarious position from Hanayo Five's attack just now. It wasn't just the real damage that he had barely managed to avoid taking a large hit from, but the fact that both of the Selector's rear-guards were even more stronger thanks to the double trigger she had managed to set off.

"Time to drop dead!" she announced with a crazed smile "With Mahoraga's large boost, Sutherland will finish it!"

As Mahoraga waved its staff, a fiery aura shot out from the tip of it and swirled around Chain-attack Sutherland as well as the dragon he sat atop of, boosting its power even higher than it already was. As the dragon flapped down its wings and soared straight into the air, the heavily damage Daikaiser stood back onto its feet with a mighty thud. As it unleashed a large burst of flames from its jaws, Sutherland also unleashed multiple bursts from his firearm at the same time as both attacks came down upon Daikaiser and Mitsusada who shielded their faces from the intense heat as smoke was brought up from the onslaught.

"Mitsusada!" cried Christopher as he, Ali, Ruko and Kamui watched on in horror, worried for the Dimension Police user's safety.

But in a mere few moments, a green light emerged from the smoke, dispelling it immediately as it was revealed that Dimensional Robo, Daishield had appeared to save both the giant Battleroid and its fighter from harm by casting a barrier around them when the attack seemingly had connected.

"Perfect Guard!" he declared.

"Wha...?! My 50000 power attack was...?!"

Akira's jaw had just dropped in disbelief as what was supposed to be her final attack had been blocked effortlessly, even with the incredible gap in power and the low number of cards Mitsusada had held.

"Hey, you do realize his last Twin Drive did reveal that card to you earlier, right Aki-lun?"

Hissing loudly and gritting her teeth, the Selector took no notice of Milulun's comment on how the situation had come to be, not that anyone else, not even her opponent could tell otherwise during this moment.

"GRAH! Sutherland!" she screamed as she rested all the remaining rear-guards in her left column.

The other Sutherland immediately took flight on the dragon he was riding on and soared high into the air much like the one that had previously attacked.

"Nothing is set in stone for any fighter," Mitsusada spoke "Even just a single card can change the course of a fight. That's why I'm not giving up until one of us hits the sixth damage."

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Akira yelled loudly as Sutherland's dragon unleashed a giant stream of flames from its jaws "YOU'RE DEAD MEAT AS WELL! TAKE THIS!"

"For the sake of our justice, cast aside clashing ideologies and come to me now!" he declared "Metalborg, Bryknuckle! Quintet Wall!"

Much to everyone's sudden surprise, the familiar Metalborg unit that would have otherwise been associated with Neve appeared onto the battlefield, smashing its right fist coated in a hexagonal barrier into the flames. Alongside it appeared a second Daikaiser, Daifighter, Dailander, Justice Cobalt and Daicrane, joining it in the effort of defence as Mitsusada also threw down Daibattles card from his hand to add to the combined shield. Eventually after a long struggle, the torrent of flames eventually ground to a halt, disappearing along with the seven units that had blocked the attack, leaving Akira speechless in utter disbelief.

"He did it!" Kamui cheered.

"Now he'll have a chance to counterattack on the next turn," Ruko interjected.

"But... now that Hanayo Four is in the drop zone... Akira can just copy its abilities next turn if he calls any rear-guards," Christopher murmured.

As Ulith couldn't help but express even a little form of being impressed by Mitsusada's efforts to block Akira's strongest attacks, Futase gazed at the field he had, noting the damage he had taken during that turn.

"That was far too careless," she spoke "Akira should have transferred the Critical to her rear-guard."

"And that way, he would have to waste the last card in his hand to guard as his fourth damage didn't have a trigger marking, if I'm correct?" the cruel demanored Selector replied "That is one possibility, but as he pointed out, a single card can change all possibilities. I wonder if he'll hold true to that on this next turn."

**End of Turn 9**

**Akira vs Mitsusada**

**Hand - 5 : 1**

**Soul - 1 : 2**

**Damage - 5 : 5**

**Front Rows : Chain-attack Sutherland - Hanayo Five (VG) - Chain-attack Sutherland : EMPTY- Super Dimensional Robo, Daikaiser (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows : Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga - Hanayo One - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

"Stand and draw."

Mitsusada stood up Daikaiser's card up and drew his next card. Placing it into his hand, he took ahold of the other card he was already holding and held it up high into the air.

"Break Ride!" he declared.

As the Dimension Police user placed his card on top of the Vanguard circle, a bright light emitted from the top of the battlefield roof as a new unit was descending onto the battlefield. Daikaiser gazed up at the figure, eventually recognizing what exactly it was.

"Shadowkaiser!" it announced in a bold voice.

A slimmer Battleroid with blue armour and red coloured hair flowing from the back of its head in addition to wielding a large blade in each of its arms came soaring down towards the towering black and red giant. Daikaiser eventually leaped into the air on its heavily damaged foot jets as the two Dimensional Robos came closer and closer towards one another. In an insant, Shadowkaiser changed its appearance in a matter of seconds to resemble that of a plane of some kind as both of them became bathed in a bright green light.

"Docking Formation!" the two of them and Mitsusada called out in unison.

As the damage to Daikaiser slowly began to reverse due to this procedure, the wings of Shadowkaiser's jet mode snapped onto its back as several other parts covered over both of its shoulders, fists, legs and chest panel. A large chunk of blue coloured armour snapped onto the head of Daikaiser as a faceplate was immediately attached on followed by the appearance of small golden wing like structures with a green gem in the center of them appearing on the forehead. A pair of cannons materialized over the shoulders followed by smaller ones on each of its wrists. As the new titan landed on the ground of the battlefield with a large thud, both it and the Dimension Police user announced its name.

"True Ultimate Dimensional Robo... Great! DAI-KAI-SER!"

**True Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daikaiser/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Dimension Police/Star Gate/Battleroid**

"Wha...? It's Great Daikaiser, but different?" Kamui murmured.

"I didn't even think Daikaiser had an evolution," Ruko breathed.

As Futase couldn't help but widen her eyes a little, Ulith simply kept her smirk, having now been even more intrigued. Jillian and Sharlene looked up at the towering titan in awe, amazed that Mitsusada was able to hold onto a final card such as this for that long. Even Kiyoi could not help but express a similar expression from just looking at it alone.

"So this is Mitsusada's new potential," Kai murmured.

"With the Break Ride skill, add 10000 power and an extra Critical to True Great Daikaiser," the Dimension Police user spoke "In addition, if the Drive Check reveals a Grade 3 unit, I can retire an opponent's guardian and nullify any effects if it was a Perfect Guard."

"Heh, just go ahead and try!" Akira sneered as she glanced down at her hand, containing two copies of Seal Dragon, Rinocross.

_My ultimate defence isn't broken yet. I'll show you that no world crosses with Ulith-chan and dares to get away with it!_

Taking a deep breath, Mitsusada glanced over the field in front of him, noting that he was still in quite the tough situation. As he called the final card in his hand, Dimensional Robo, Daitiger to the rear-guard circle behind Daikaiser, he then held out one hand over his drop zone.

"Seek mate!"

_(Insert Song:[Vanguard by JAM Project](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXzlU2nUWpo))_

As a blinding white glow emitted from his drop zone, Goyusha suddenly rose up and appeared onto the battlefield alongside Dailander, Daidragon, Daibattles and Daimariner, much to nearly everyone's shock, as they knew those five units had either been taken out by retiring or previously used as Guardians against Akira's onslaught. As a single card from his deck went into his hand, he held it out in front of him.

 

"The righteous spirit is everlasting and blazes up even higher! Revive here now! Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha!" he announced "Legion!"

As Goyusha stretched out each of its limbs, Daibattles and Dailander respectively attached onto each of its arms, becoming a much further extension of them. Daimariner attached to its torso, further extending and reinforcing the legs whilst Daidragon attached itself to the back of what was once the smallest of the bipedal Dimensional Robos, now bringing it up to size. As the head section of the now giant Battleroid changed in appearance to look more grander than it previously was, Great Daiyusha landed on the ground beside Great Daikaiser, the two aces now united as one.

"Formation: Legion!" both of the tall giants echoed as a large sword manifested in Daiyusha's right arm.

**Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha and True Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daikaiser/POW: 32000/Critical: 2**

 

"It's a pity!" Akira cackled "But I was more than prepared for your little Break Ride trick! Go, double Seal Dragon, Rinocross!"

As she threw away Gattling Claw Dragon and Hanayo Two from her hand to her drop zone, both copies of the Perfect Guard unit appeared onto the battlefield in front of Hanayo Five, deploying barriers of their own to block the attack that was about to be sent hurtling their way.

"Too bad for you!" she declared "With that, you'll have to check two Grade 3 units in a row to break my Guard! And with four of them already on the board, I'd say that chance is impossible!"

"She's right...!" Sharlene gasped "Four of his Grade 3's are no longer in his deck!"

"Calm down Sharlene!" Jillian interjected "Mitsusada still has chance to break through, right Kai?"

But as the seconds passed by, all the twins got from the Kagero user was utter silence, as if he had already knew the answer to their query and Mitsusada's newer dilemma. That was when Kiyoi decided to interject her views on the matter, having worked out the answer to that question for herself.

"Weren't you listening to him earlier...?" she murmured in her usual monotone "One card can change the outcome of an entire fight."

Whilst Sharlene looked at her in confusion, everyone then turned their attention back to the fight as Mitsusada reached out for his deck.

"Twin Drive!" he declared "First check!"

The first card that was unveiled was Dimension Robo, Daibattles, a Trigger unit. This only caused half of the viewing audience to groan as they realized that Mitsusada seemingly had no chance of breaking through Akira's defence now.

"Critical Trigger!" he announced "I give all effects to my Legion!"

**Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daiyusha and True Ultimate Dimensional Robo, Great Daikaiser/POW: 41000 - 46000/Critical: 3 - 4**

"Hah...!" Akira laughed "With that, you've missed your only chance to get a double Grade 3! I win!"

Reaching for the top of his deck, Mitsusada prayed that it would respond to his dire request of assistance right now. Taking ahold of the top card, he pulled it away slowly before turning it over, revealing a second copy of the original Daikaiser.

"Break Ride skill!" he called "I retire Rinocross!"

Slamming both of its knuckles together, Great Daikaiser charged up the cannons mounted on both of its wrists before unleashing several beams that broke through one of the barriers standing before it and retiring one of the two Rinocross that were on the defence.

"And with that your turn has come an end," the Selector smugly remarked "It's been 'fun' 'Mitsu-dan', but this is game..."

"Great Daikaiser's other Legion skill activates!" he interrupted.

"Huh...?!"

Turning over a single card in his damage zone as the cost for this sudden maneuver, Mitsusada then gazed up to Great Daiyusha who bellowed loudly as it began glowing bright gold.

"Since I checked a Grade 3 unit during its Twin Drive and Great Daiyusha's Critical is at least 2 or greater..." the Dimension Police user explained before pointing towards the other Rinocross with the checked Daikaiser's card in his hand "The same skill as the Break Ride triggers!"

Akira screamed in horror and disbelief as Great Daiyusha stepped forwards before holding its large blade high into the air and slamming it down on the other Rinocross effortlessly with a mighty swing. The impact had not just retired the Kagero unit itself, but it had also shattered the remaining barrier in one fell swoop, leaving the Selector and her imaged version of Hanayo Five alone, and now completely defenceless.

"No way..." she breathed, stepping backwards in disbelief "He had something like that ready the whole time...?!"

With the path now clear, Great Daiyusha with the assistance of the wings granted by combining with Daidragon took to the air as the cannons of Great Daikaiser were now almost at its peak, ready to fire on Mitsusada's command.

"This is for all of the fighters you hurt and whose passionate feelings you disrespected!" he declared "Go!"

"Burning Justice Combination!"

As he and his two strongest units yelled out the name of their combined attack at the same time, Daikaiser unleashed the full power of its shoulder cannons as two large blue coloured beams came towards and struck Hanayo Five in a large explosion, that covered over to Akira's side of the field as she tried desperately in vain to shield her face from both the impact and the resulting shockwave.

"T... this isn't possible...!" she screamed "Not when I had this superior deck ready to crush Kai Toshiki!"

Before she had time to rant on, she looked up to see that Great Daiyusha was now right above both her and the downed Hanayo Five, ready to deliver the finishing blow to end the fight. She knew half of her Heal Triggers were already gone and that the Legion's Critical of four was more than enough to end the fight in Mitsusada's victory.

"Burning Heart of Justice!" the giant Dimensional Robo bellowed as it brought down the glowing blade it wielded onto both of its opponents, bringing up another large explosion that knocked Akira onto her back as the sixth point of damage came out from her deck as Calamity Tower Wyvern.

Once the final blow had concluded and the smoke had cleared, all of the imaged units on the battlefield with the exception of Hanayo Five began to fade from the plain that they were on.

_(End Insert Music)_

"He did it!" Christopher cheered.

"Told you he'd do it!" Kamui interjected.

Lee, although unable to speak any words for the time being, could not help but offer a smile in compliance, indicating to Ali that his recovery from Ulith's earlier torment was going well if his reaction to the fight was anything to go by.

"Amazing Ru!"

All of Team SIT Genius then turned to Ruko upon hearing Tama's voice call out from her pocket. Upon seeing the confused and somewhat curious glances sent her way, she soon realized this meant that they too could hear the LRIGs she held, making her wonder if all the cardfighters in this world were capable of doing so, given that Kamui and Ishida from her experiences around them possessed no powers of their own.

"Um... please don't be angry," she said "But I have LRIGs of my own... I'm not with Akira and the others though."

Digging into her pockets, she eventually brought out the cards that had both Tama and Yuki as the three boys and the girls of black and white looked at each other.

"I told you to be quiet until Ruko could properly introduce us to them," Yuki muttered exasperatedly.

"But Tama didn't want to miss the fight!" Tama interjected "Yuki found it amazing too, right?!"

"I... suppose so," she replied as she turned her attention back to Christopher.

Before either side could speak a word, they heard a whimpering noise from the battlefield as they saw a bright red aura enveloping Hanayo Five's card and the imaged LRIG itself as she rose into the air. Akira could only move backwards in fear as she stared at Hanayo Five, much to the confusion of Mitsusada who was watching from the other side.

"T... This is...?!" she gasped as the fiery aura on the card grew larger and larger "W... Wait...!"

Then, unbeknownst to everyone present in the institute campus, even to the person standing beside her at this moment, Ulith closed her eyes and quietly uttered a single word that nobody else heard.

"Judgement."

Immediately, Hanayo's eyes flashed a bright red as she screamed loudly for a moment, much to the shock of everyone else, but the cruel demanored Selector and Christopher themselves. Raising her whip into the air, the LRIG slammed it down onto the ground as orange coloured cracks started to appear and grow larger with each pulsation beneath the terrified Akira. Before she could move any further, a large column of orange coloured flames erupted from beneath, consuming her in an instant and forcing her to scream loudly in pain as the fire soared high into the sky.

"Akira...!" Mitsusada gasped in horror.

"This feeling..." Kiyoi muttered as she gazed at Hanayo Five as she slumped down before the image vanished "There's no mistaking it!"

As the sky was briefly torched orange for a few more moments, Akira continued to scream in pain from the intense heat of the flames until it and the battlefield eventually faded out, leaving her severely weakened and several bowels of smoke pouring from her clothes as her deck scattered onto the ground in front of her.

"What on earth was that...?" Ruko breathed, mortified by the sight.

"There's no doubt about it now," Yuki interjected, bringing everyone's attention to her and Tama "For a brief moment now... the imaged Hanayo somehow became replaced by the real one!"

"Tama agrees!" Tama replied "Tama definitely felt Hanayo there for a moment!"

As Mitsusada was hurrying over towards the downed Selector, now feeling bad that his victory had caused her to be injured, even if it was because of her own card, Akira snarled and threw a knife from her hoodie right back at him in retaliation. As he stopped, realizing he didn't have time to dodge, Kai quickly pulled him out of the way by the arm, just in time. As the two looked back her, they saw Ulith who came over towards her, seemingly not disappointed by her efforts at all, keeping her cruel smirk on her lips. Akira hung her head down before looking back up at the person that she had admired deeply within her own affections.

"I'm... not a complete failure..." she cringed as she reached into her pocket, presenting a large stack of Wixoss cards to her "I have the units I did manage to win, as promised."

Ulith took the cards from her and inspected them closely, indeed confirming that despite her failure to defeat Mitsusada, she had kept her end of the bargain and brought her a haul of captured units for her 'boss'.

 _Despite that failure against Mitsusada, she managed to complete her haul regardless_  she murmured musingly in her thoughts  _I_ _suppose I can let this slide... for now._

"You did well, Aki-lovely," she said, putting the captured units away in her pocket "Despite this setback, you proved your worth in your haul today."

"Ulith-chan..." Akira said, blushing brightly as she did so.

"Wait!" Mitsusada called "We had a deal on those stolen units!"

"Too bad for you!" she spat back, sticking out her tongue childlishly in response "You weren't marked by me already, so I don't have the eligible right to return those units!"

Whilst the Dimension Police user could only stare at her, realizing that his efforts to save Christopher's captured units along with any others from fighters that the Selector had previously beaten were all for nothing, Kai could only gaze at Ulith who looked smugly back at him.

"I'll be certain to tell 'him' the good news that you are all safe," she said in a soft, yet sinister tone "As it will be the last piece of 'happiness' he'll ever have."

"What are you planning for Aichi now?" the Kagero user questioned, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

"My, that would be rude of me to spoil my own surprises," Ulith replied as Futase eventually came alongside her "But I guarantee we'll be seeing each other again soon, Kai Toshiki."

Holding up a blank card into the air, she announced "Open!" as a bright flash covered the area, blinding everyone but those that were in close vicinity of the cruel demanored Selector. After a few moments, both the light and the three figures were all gone, leaving only a confused Mitsusada and SIT Genius who just stared at where the battlefield previously was and a concerned Ruko and Tama who were now wondering what Mayu had planned for them now. The Dimension Police user then turned towards Kai, believing that he would understand more from asking him a few questions that were on his mind.

"You've been through a lot lately since you disappeared," he said "But what exactly is going on?"

As the others eventually came behind him, the Kagero user eventually gave his response to Mitsusada.

"Since we are all here," he began "I believe it's time that you and Christopher Lo know about what it is that we are dealing with now."


	86. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 86: This Full Gathering

**Wixoss World: ?**

Hanayo stirred for a moment as she struggled to open up her eyes once again. Just like before when she had staggered around on her feet in Yuzuki's body leading up to her eventual discovery of the ominous black ring now hovering above her home world, that sensation had happened to her again, only this time, the result was not as she had hoped for. Not only did the Judgement she was forced to inflict upon Akira after her cardfight with Mitsusada drain her more, but it had done so to the point of causing her to black out from having to forcefully commit to that command multiple times throughout the day against her will. Now she was sitting in a hospital room, feeling even more guilty about what had happened and couldn't help but worry for the real Yuzuki.

"Yuzuki!"

Looking to her right, she could see that seated beside the bed she was resting in was both Kazuki and Aichi who were relieved to see that she had finally awoken from her long slumber. Although Hanayo was relieved to see the Royal Paladin user, inwardly, she knew that she would have to now keep up the deception that was Yuzuki's wish in order to avoid causing any more trouble for herself than she was already in.

"Kazuki-kun..." she groaned as she moved towards him, cringing a little as she did so.

"Take it easy Yuzuki!" cried Kazuki "Aichi and I found you unconscious on the streets just a little while ago and brought you here."

"What happened out there?" asked Aichi.

Clutching her head, Hanayo tried to recall everything she had been experiencing and thinking of a way to translate it over to Kazuki, without mentioning any details of the Selector Battles in turn.

"I was walking across the street earlier today..." she said "Then I started experiencing some very painful headaches. I thought I was dehydrated, but the day wasn't even hot and I had definitely drunk enough water this morning... After it happened a few times, I blacked out."

"Did you see anything strange before then?" asked Kazuki, worried for his sister.

"I... I thought I saw a black ring in the sky before I lost consciousness," she replied, biting her tongue a little and briefly noticing Aichi's concern in response to her statement "I might have just been hallucinating it though."

The older brother of Yuzuki simply sighed a little, unable to comprehend how such a thing could happen to the person he believed was his sister during this moment. He rose up from his seat and began to head towards the door.

"I'm going to see if I can get some medicine for these headaches you're now having," he said "Aichi, can you keep an eye on her until I come back with the doctors?"

"I will," the Royal Paladin user replied.

And with that, Kazuki got up from his small chair and departed from the hospital room, leaving Aichi and Hanayo on their own for the time being. Now seeing that she had an opportunity to speak about it more with him, she looked over to him.

"You've seen it too, right?" she asked.

"I did," he answered "The black rings have always been a symbol of the Star-vaders' presence and with one appearing only to Selectors and our group, I'm even more worried. If one has appeared in this world now though..."

"Then Mayu's plans must be closer to completion," the LRIG interjected.

Aichi grimly nodded in agreement, having come to the same conclusion that Hanayo had managed to work out on her own intuition. Neither of them knew what that sign could possibly mean for this world, but they knew that nothing good could be coming from it. His thoughts then turned to Kai, Ruko, Kiyoi and Kamui, still concerned for their safety and anxious in regards to their whereabouts, which he still knew nothing about. One thing was certainly clear in his mind as he pondered deeply on the matters at hand, as Umr could tell from her card. Things were not going to get any easier for them in their quest to stop Mayu and Chaos Breaker, and what happened to Hanayo was seemingly a sign that things could at any moment could go from bad to worse.

* * *

**Vanguard World: SIT Premises**

Soon, Christopher had gathered his things that he would require for the long repairs on the teleporter back in Japan and had rejoined the others in the lobby area of the institute. When he finally sat down alongside Ali and Lee, the latter of whom who no longer seemed to be in as much of a state as he was earlier in the day, they and Mitsusada turned their attention towards Kai, Kamui, Kiyoi and Ruko, along with the latter's two LRIGs so they could finally get an understanding of everything that had been happening in that world. Before beginning, the Nova Grappler user was quick to interrupt, wanting to help clear up the identity confusion between Kiyoi and Remember quickly before they started their tale.

Having been involved for the longest time in the Selector Battles themselves before the cardfighters' respective arrivals, the former blue LRIG and Ruko first gave their own stories on how they came to be involved within the battles themselves, what little they knew about Mayu from their own personal experiences and encounters with her and the struggles each of them and their companions had to go through before finding themselves at the point they were now. Even though Kai and Kamui had not even begun to share their ventures yet, what the others were hearing so far was enough to leave them shocked.

"So now Akira's motives make sense," Mitsusada said, recalling the times throughout the fight where Akira had declared her vengeance on the Kagero user and anyone from this world "Kai tainted her wish and after re-entering these Selector Battles, those further losses have now created a vendetta against all of us."

"But still..." Ruko murmured "Mayu said she was aiming to destroy both of our worlds. Akira may be self-centred, but she doesn't seem like the kind person who would support those kind of views..."

"Unless Ulith is intentionally keeping her in the dark about it," Yuki answered "Or at least only making her aware of this world's planned destruction."

The Selector could only ponder in concern, if only for the fact that Akira had seemignly no idea that she was playing along with not just the destruction of this world, but her own too if Chaos Breaker and Mayu's plans came into fruition. All three members of Team SIT Genius and Mitsusada looked at one another, each feeling just as baffled or surprised as the other before looking back to Ruko and Kiyoi.

"Sounds like you two have had it rough," said Christopher "It's one thing to know that this has been going on for a while in your world... but a whole few years?"

"I can't imagine what all those girls must be going through," Ali commented "Then again... the idea of having a girl of your dreams within a card does sound..."

He was immediately silenced as he saw a glare by Yuki and Kiyoi, who could easily tell that this was his way of trying to show off his interest in trying to hook himself up with a girl or two by his terrible attempt to make a joke out of the situation. Lee, having mostly recovered from the torment Ulith had put him through, coughed a little to get the conversation back on track.

"After everything Ulith put me through... showing me horrifying images of being shunned by my family for failing to stop her or even failing to win the Asia Circuit..." he shivered "I can't imagine what kind of image she could have shown Aichi like she told me."

Kai's expression could only grow grim, knowing that Ulith had intentionally shown Aichi such an image during their battle in an attempt to completely destroy his beliefs and force him to question the morality of any and all decisions he made. The fact that she had not even shown a hint of disappointment despite losing to him back then had only reinforced his concerns further, especially with their encounter a few hours earlier. She was bound to be concocting another vile scheme for the Royal Paladin user when she returned back to her own world, but he didn't know what.

"Tama thinks it will be alright!"

Everyone looked over to the girl of white, who was trying to lift everyone's spirits up from the depression that all of them were feeling after exchanging information with one another about the Selector Battles and how they affected both of their worlds now.

"If Kai could beat Mayu once before, Kai and Ru can definitely do it again!" she called.

"Your enthusiasm is appreciated..." Yuki muttered "But Mayu was limited to her use over me and Ruko's deck at that time. If we face her again, it will be against her full power this time."

"Yuki..." Ruko breathed, seemingly worried over the girl of black's viewpoint.

As Kai and Kamui continued to roll the conversation along with their own personal experiences of their time within her world to the other cardfighters, she couldn't help but fall into a bit of a slump as she sighed depressingly. Kiyoi noticed this and turned to her, knowing that the thought of Mayu's threat looming over the horizon along with whatever fiendish schemes that Chaos Breaker had in mind were not the only matters that were affecting her at this point.

"I'm worried Kiyoi..." she murmured "It was one thing to find out this whole mess has been going on for years without us knowing. But to find out that my own mother was involved as well and now be stranded in Kai's world..."

"You're homesick."

The Selector blinked for a brief moment as she gazed at the former blue LRIG, wondering how it was that she had managed to deduce something like that.

"How did you...?" she began to ask.

"From what I learned of your entire situation when we told our respective stories to Jillian and Sharlene, this hasn't been the first time you've been away from family against your wishes," Kiyoi explained "The fact we cannot contact them in any way for the moment is adding to your anxiety now."

"Yeah," Ruko murmured sadly "I just feel horrible about all of this. Being away from grandmother and onii-chan with no way to let them know I'm alright and finding out my mother was part of a decades-long conspiracy..."

Sharlene then sat down next to the Selector, wanting to find a way to help cheer her up in the face of their current circumstances.

"Look on the bright side!" she said enthusiastically "You got around the changes to your decks, there are no consequences for your cardfights... well, except the ones by those nasty people from earlier."

"And Ru can battle as much as she likes!" Tama interjected "Tama remembers Jillian saying about strong people in this world's Japan!"

Though it had done little to change the overall mood she was experiencing, Ruko was able to smile in response, feeling as if a large weight had just been lifted from her shoulders without even realizing it. If she was indeed here in this world, accustomed to her changed decks and finding out that all of the cardfights not engaged by Mayu's troupe had seemingly no catches at all to them for neither the winners or losers, perhaps trying to make the best of the situation by having as much fun as she could would help her get through the ordeal much easier. After seeing that the conversation about recent events was now being exchanged between Kamui and Team SIT Genius, she looked over to Mitsusada.

"Um... Mitsusada-san," she said, bringing his attention to her "I just wanted to say that your units looked amazing back there. I just wish that... my first introduction to Dimension Police wasn't through that clone LRIG mother was controlling my brother with."

"Thank you," he replied kindly "I do hope Chris is able to help you and Kiyoi get you back home. Maybe I might get a chance to introduce you to Yuri and Gai when I return to Japan in a few days before you have to go back."

"Oh yeah... Kai told me you led a team in this world," the Selector pondered, having heard of the entirety of Team Caesar from Kai after they had explained everything about the Selector Battles to Hatsu "I guess there's a lot of new faces to meet around this world."

As both she and the Dimension Police user, along with Tama in tow, continued chatting with one another, Kai having finished giving his recap of what he had been through for the duration of this adventure up to the return to his own world, looked on at her. Jillian and Kamui noticed this and turned their attention back towards him, wanting to know what was making him feel the way he was now.

"Something wrong Kai?" she asked.

"You are aware of how dangerous Miyako is," he replied, his tone being rather stern but not quite loud enough to distract Ruko from her current conversation "We may have been fortunate that she did not appear on the island, but I'm certain that she still has something to carry out for Mayu. And I have a feeling that it still involves Ruko and her LRIGs."

He then went deep into thought, thinking about the story that Ruko's former mother had given in regards to Mayu's death and how her spirit had seemingly not passed on, allowing her and Chaos Breaker to work together to create the Selector Battles that existed within the Selector's world. Most of the origin had been given out now by what little Miyako and Yuki had said respectively about the Battles' mastermind which had now cleared up some of the mystery, but there were still some gaps in the jigsaw that prevented him and the others from understanding the full picture. And that was only serving to make him feel more uneasy about the whole scenario.

* * *

The very next morning, the group had already bid farewell to Mitsusada, Ali and Lee before setting off on Leon's yacht onto the open sea once more to resume their path to Japan to reunite with Kai's remaining companions. With no telling how much time was off the essence from the completion of Mayu's plans, they intended to not just bring all of Kai's remaining companions up to speed about her and the Selector System, but pray that Christopher could repair the teleporter very soon. After a few long hours had passed by, they soon arrived into the port of Koto as Jillian eventually brought in the yacht to dock there. Kamui was the first to immediately jump off the yacht and onto solid ground, much to the older twin's slight annoyance as she finished towing the boat in and safely guided the others off onto dry land.

"Ah, it's good to finally be back home," he sighed with happiness as he stretched his arms and legs.

"It certainly has been a while for most of us, I'll say," Christopher remarked as he pulled up his bag onto his back.

Everyone then started walking over to the edge of the port, knowing that they still had a short journey to make before they could reach Card Capital to bring everyone in their circle up to speed on what was happening. Needless to say, some of the enlightenment they would recieve would be a little earlier than expected.

"Yo there!"

The group then looked over to the street in front of them as they saw Miwa waving happily towards them. His smile was noticably brighter than usual, presumably from finally being able to see Kai in person for the first time in a long while.

"Miwa," the Kagero user murmured as they came over to one of his closest friends.

"It's good to finally see you in the flesh again, you gave me quite a scare when you vanished," he said as briefly put a hand on Kai's shoulder in greeting before looking over to the others. That was when he had remembered something. "Ah Kamui, I managed to keep your Raizer deck safe after you vanished with... Remember, was it?"

"Yeah," Kamui replied as he was handed the deck "Thanks for holding onto it for me!"

Miwa then looked over to Kiyoi who looked blankly back at him. He was now aware, much like the rest of Kai's companions of the fact that it was Remember who had masqueraded as the former blue LRIG through her own body during the period of time they saw her as Kiyoi until the Kagero user's return to this world. The whole debacle of the body switch however was still something that was confusing to him, having not heard any details about the Selector Battles as of yet.

"It's nice to meet you Miwa," said Ruko.

"Ah, you must be Ruko then," he greeted as he turned to the Selector "Kai told me a little bit about you and those... LRIGs you had. Then again, it's not every day he finds new friends that often, let alone ones from other worlds or something like that."

As she simply smiled, feeling much better compared to the previous day's mood, Kai simply let out a small quiet huff in response to Miwa's comment.

 _It's not like I have been 'anti-social' as I used to be_ he thought to himself.

"Tama says hello Miwa!"

Before anyone could comment on the girl of white's sudden and rather loud 'Hello' of sorts to Miwa, the group immediately saw that her loud cry had also gained the attention of other nearby people in the port, which only resulted in Ruko feeling rather flustered as she noticed their stares were directed at her.

 _So just about anyone in this world can hear Tama?!_ she gasped in her thoughts _This is rather embarrassing!_

"Um... sorry about that, just got overexcited!" Sharlene called back, trying her hardest to mimic the LRIG's voice "Nothing to see here, carry on!"

Shrugging to themselves, the people that had been staring at the Selector just carried on with whatever it was that they were doing, leaving the group to themselves.

"That was too close..." Ruko sighed in relief as she then pulled out Tama's card.

The LRIG simply looked downcast, wondering if she had upset her Selector somehow from her sudden outburst of excitement. Miwa however smiled back in response, understanding the situation and how they felt about it immediately.

"It's alright Tama," said Ruko "Just try not to be so loud when we're in crowded areas."

"Tama understands..." the girl of white replied quietly.

"It's not that big of a deal," Miwa interjected "I guess that Ruko just doesn't want the wrong kind of attention towards you, seeing as you're alive inside a card anyway."

"Just think of it like my time at school," the Selector continued "I'm sure it won't be long before we find a place to talk with Kai's friends."

As soon as the group had left the port behind them, they took the remainder of the journey to their destination by train before continuing on foot for the rest of the way. Eventually, they had finally arrived at the shop Card Capital by the time the mid afternoon had begun to roll around, standing just a little in front of the door that led right into the store itself.

"So this is the store you guys go to?" Ruko asked as she looked up at the sign.

"That's right," Miwa replied "We pretty much meet up here almost every day, so you're always bound to find at least most of us here."

"In any case, it is best we start our discussion with Tokura after the store closes," Kai spoke "There's much for the rest of our comrades to take in."

Leading the way, the Kagero user and his closest friend approached the entrance as the door slid open to one side allowing the group passage to enter the store. Ruko could not help but stare in wonder at the interior of Card Capital, seeing all of the different people that were there talking with one another and in the midst of heated cardfights with each other. She had known Card Luck back in her world could be quite busy whenever lots of people would appear for whatever reasons they had in regards to the Wixoss card game, but she had never know the atmosphere within the shop here to not quite be what she had expected. She had been so busy being lost in her thoughts however that she didn't notice that she had walked ahead of the group until she saw the 'Assistant Manager' cat at the end of the counter yawning for a brief instance.

"Welcome."

Blinking for a moment, the Selector looked back over the counter to see Misaki look over towards her, having finished reading a few pages from a book that she was holding.

"Hello," she spoke "My name is Ruko. A... Are you one of Kai's friends?"

"That is correct," the Genesis user replied "Tokura Misaki. It is nice to meet you."

"We're finally back!" Kamui announced.

Almost everyone else in the store, or at least everyone else that was familiar to them turned to one side to face the group, a few began murmuring amongst themselves, mentioning Kai and Kamui's names in their little conversations as they did so. That was when Reiji and Eiji who had finally seen that their friend was safe and back home, immediately got up from the nearest table and ran towards him.

"Kamui-san!" they called.

By the time Kamui had heard them call out to him, the two of them had unintentionally tackled him to the ground in the midst of trying to hug him at the same time. Despite that though, he was nonetheless happy to see them again after being in Ruko's world for several days.

"Reiji! Eiji! It's great to see you guys too!" he replied as they eventually got off the floor "You okay?"

"We're much better now that you're back!" Reiji replied, wiping away his happy tears "We've been really worried about where you'd gone and Nagisa's really gotten cranky ever since you disappeared!"

"MBN, yo!" Eiji interjected.

"Welcome back, Kai," Misaki greeted.

Kai simply nodded in agreement, sharing his regards in that a part of him was finally glad to be back home, even if the stay had to be temporary at best for the sake of overcoming the obstacles they now faced.

"I didn't think we'd end up stopping by here this soon before this whole mess began," Christopher commented.

"Then again, it has been a while since that shop tournament for most of our friends' graduations," Jillian murmured. _Only I'm glad Ali isn't tagging along this time._

As Kiyoi stepped into the shop interior, she could not help but feel the gaze several of the people that were looking at the group glance directly towards her in particular, some of them seemingly becoming rather venomous before turning away from her in disgust. She knew that it couldn't be helped that they wouldn't know that it was Remember who had previously marked them before Kamui had defeated her former compatriot and undid all of their marks as well as returning all of the stolen units to them. Before the Nova Grappler user could comment on the scenario, Misaki had come up to the former blue LRIG.

"You must be Kiyoi then," she murmured "I don't know what exactly has gone on with you and this... imposter that Kai mentioned, but if he and Kamui are willing to trust you..."

"Note taken..." Kiyoi replied in her usual monotone "Then again, I cannot entirely blame their hostility. Some of my actions as an LRIG to get revenge on the one who masqueraded as myself may be considered questionable as well."

The Genesis user could sense that there was some truth to her words just now, despite having only met her in person for the first time. As Reiji and Eiji looked over towards them, Kamui tapped the latter on the shoulder.

"It's okay now, Kiyoi's cool with us," he said "She's just... not the most talkative person around."

"Showdown!"

Upon hearing the loud and somewhat bold voice that had pronounced his declaration quite clearly, everyone turned to a tall boy with spiked black hair that pointed upwards in two directions and brown eyes. With the exception of Ruko and Kiyoi who had no idea as to who this person was, everyone else remained quiet as they knew who it was that had done so.

"Kai Toshiki, I've been waiting for a long time since you upped and disappeared from here!" he boldy proclaimed "But now that you've come back, it's time we decided who really is the strongest player from our Cardfight Club since our graduation!"

"Oh, it's you Lose-umi," Kamui replied with a cheeky smile "Sorry to have kept you waiting."

"The name's Katsumi! Not 'Lose-umi!"

As Miwa, Misaki and Kai could only sweatdrop a little at the two of them for getting at each other once again for the first time in a long while, Ruko looked back towards them.

"Is he really good?" she asked.

"That might depend on your 'definition' of good for Morikawa..." Miwa replied as he laughed a little nervously before looking to his friend "Well Kai?"

Though the Kagero user did not answer in response, his gaze turned over to Kiyoi who had just walked past Kamui and stopped a short distance in front of Morikawa. Confused by this, he looked down upon the former blue LRIG.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Mizushima Kiyoi," she calmly answered as she brought out her deck case "You sought a fight, did you not?"

"Alright then. I suppose a warm up with the strongest deck in existence today couldn't hurt," he replied with a confident smile "Certainly, it's annoying the recent rule changes prevents me from utilizing ALL of my most powerful Grade 3s at once, but this strongest deck is still a powerhouse of its own!"

As the two of them approached the nearest standing fight table in the center of Card Capital, Kamui had immediately dashed over to Kiyoi as she was about to take out her new deck.

"You sure you wanna bother with Lose-umi?" he asked "I mean... I could find a better opponent for you to try out that new deck of yours."

"Is there a problem...?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll probably find out in a minute or so..." Reiji answered, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"YPFO yo," Eiji interjected.

Uncertain of what to make from their comments just now, the former blue LRIG simply decided that it was best that she would discover that meaning for herself, whatever that would be. After both of them had finally finished preparing for the fight to begin, Kamui and his two friends joined Kai and Miwa to observe how things were going to unfold. Needless to say, they had more or less estimated how the fight would indeed progress if nothing had changed in the Kagero user's absence from this world.

"How many turns do you think he'll last this time?" Christopher asked dryly.

"I'm wagering about 7 or 8, if he even gets a single Trigger to his hand," Jillain replied offhandedly.

"Do your best Kiyoi-san!" Sharlene called.

After a few long moments, both competitors then turned their attention over towards their starting Vanguards, ready to begin the fight.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" Morikawa declared as he flipped up Mecha Trainer "Mecha Trainer!"

"... Open, Vanguard..." Kiyoi spoke monotonously, revealing a Grade 0 card that displayed a white coloured Battleroid wielding a blade in its left arm and a shield on the lower portion of its right arm. "Morgenrot."

At this moment, Kamui and Ruko could not help but widen their eyes in surprise at the unit that the former blue LRIG had chosen to begin the fight with, also confirming that the clan that unit belonged to was perhaps the last clan they had in mind of her choosing. Miwa noticed this and could not help but blink in wonder as to why they had reacted this way whilst Misaki looked over to Kai, wondering if he had an explanation for why.

"This deck's playstyle isn't what you would associate with her?" she asked.

"Kiyoi, even as Piruluk, has always been associated with hand destruction and hindering her opponent's forces," he answered "Certainly, she did use Kamui's deck in their final stand against Remember, but I'm certain that's not the real reason for choosing the units she has now."

"Prepare yourself, new girl!" Morikawa declared "Now you'll experience the true terror of the true, strongest Grade 3 deck in all of Vanguard's history! Trademarked by your's truely."

...

It wasn't even seven minutes into the game however that Kiyoi had come to somewhat regret her decision in choosing to fight her opponent in Kai's stead as one could tell from her slightly deadpanned expression. Not for the case of how the fight itself was unfolding her end, but on the opposite side of the battlefield instead. As almost everyone else knew and had come to expect, Morikawa was stuck on Wonder Boy throughout the whole game up to this point and his hand after guarding her last two attacks just moments ago was filled with nothing but numerous Grade 3 Spike Brothers units.

"I did try to warn her..." Kamui muttered.

"Oh! Why must the great evil spirit mock me so?!" he wailed as he groaned at his inability to ride to the next Grade, for the umpteenth time "The strongest deck in the strongest hands shouldn't be getting stuck on the weaker Grade for this entire game!"

Sighing internally for a brief instance after having to listen to his own rants, again, Kiyoi proceeded on with her current turn as she looked down to a Grade 3 unit she had rode earlier on.

"Stern Blaukluger attacks your Vanguard," she announced in her usual monotone "Break Ride skill."

Within the image of their fight, Morgenrot along with Clay-doll Mechanic, Grosse Baer and Jupiter Blaukluger all rose back onto their feet as a golden aura enveloped each of them. As the azure coloured Battleroid that was her Vanguard raised up its cannons and the blasters that it wielded in both arms, Morikawa through the image of his Vanguard, alone on the battlefield alongside Mecha Trainer could only panic as the armaments began charging up. Eventually, Stern Blaukluger let loose of all of its power right at Wonder Boy, engulfing him in a massive explosion as the fight came right to an end. As Morikawa 'fainted' in a overly-dramatic fashion after his sixth damage came out as Treasured Black Panther, Kiyoi left the table, feeling much better now that the game had come to an end.

"It's a wonder that he even managed to score a few lucky Critical Triggers," Miwa sighed exasperately.

Kai simply uttered a quiet grunt, seeing that even in his absence from his world, some things would indeed never change. Ruko simply sweatdropped a little, wondering for a minute if Morikawa was the least bit alright. Then again, no one would really know when it came to him.

"Gotta admit... Nova Grappler was the last choice I expected her to make, let alone the Blau series," Kamui murmured to himself.

"Is he going to be alright...?" the Selector asked nervously.

"I wouldn't worry."

Turning around, the entire group could see Shin had finally returned back to the store followed by Neve and Ratie as everyone looked towards them.

"Oh, welcome back Kai," he kindly greeted "I was told by Misaki that you and Kamui had finally managed to make your way back here."

"There is much to talk about later," Kai replied "And it may concern all of us."

Before anyone else could open their mouths, other fighters in the store had turned their attention towards the former two Quatre Knights, some even letting out gasps of surprise upon seeing them enter Card Capital.

"Hey, that's Phillipe Neve, one of the strongest fighters in the Euro League!" one boy called out.

"And that's the uncrowned witch, Ratie Curti!" a girl interjected.

As small crowds of them rushed past Kiyoi and the others to meet the two fighters for themselves, Ratie was quick to greet them as she was happy to talk to the fighters that had come over to her. She brought out and opened a large box of doughnuts, to which they were all too happy to share the kind gesture that she had offered to them. Upon seeing Neve for herself for the first time, recalling that Ayumu had used a few of his own units when he still had the clone LRIG and that he was present when Miyako had defeated Gaillard, Ruko knew there was much indeed to talk about with him when she would get the chance to do so.

"You must be new here."

She then looked over to Shin who had turned his attention over to both her and Kiyoi.

"Are you by any chance the 'arrivals' that Kai told Misaki about two nights ago?" he asked.

"Y... yes," Ruko answered "My name is Ruko. This is Kiyoi."

"Pleased to make your acqaintance, sir," Kiyoi spoke in her usual monotone.

"Then I am pleased to formally welcome you to Card Capital," the manager replied as he shook hands with the Selector who smiled back in response.

It had taken some time, but the rest of the crowd had eventually left both Ratie and Neve back on their own, the two of them then approaching Kai and the rest of the group and stopping a little in front of them.

"It has certainly been a while, Kai Toshiki," the older of the two Quatre Knights spoke "I believe that you will now enlighten us on what is really going on?"

As Kai nodded in response and Reiji and Eiji went back to continuing with cardfights of their own, all of them along with Misaki exited the shop through the front doors and went into the single alleyway that ran alongside the left side of Card Capital, giving them the space they needed to begin their discussion without any further interruption. Before they could begin however, they heard a panting sound as Shingo came rushing into the alleway, stopping to catch his breath and fiddling with his glasses for a brief instance.

"Apologies for my lateness..." he panted "I needed to take care of something on my end and lost track of time in regards to Kai's return."

As the group waited for him to regain both his stamina and breath, he eventually looked over to them, ready to listen to what they had to say. Kai and Kiyoi turned to Ruko as she then cleared her throat and reached into her pocket.

"Before we start, I think I should introduce you to my LRIGs," she said before revealing her two cards to those who had not met the LRIGs before "Here is Tama and Yuki."

Seeing that she could finally talk to the people in front of her without attracting any unwanted attention as Miwa had pointed out to her earlier, the girl of white smiled brightly at the group, catching Ratie's attention as came over to the card containing her and gazed at her in wonder. Whilst Yuki observed Misaki, Shingo and Neve closely, noting their bewildered, but somewhat intrigued expressions, indeed confirming that anyone in the world they were in now could see them, the Genesis user could now confirm for herself that the Anne that was imaged on the battlefield during her confrontation with Futase was indeed the real LRIG and that there would finally be some answers to clear up any questions she had to what they were in her own world. Tama looked back at Ratie and cheered loudly.

"Tama says hello!" she called.

"You look rather cute," the former Quatre Knight replied as she lightly pressed her finger on the card, gently tickling Tama on the forehead much to her slight surprise as the LRIG giggled a little uncontrollably.

"Sometimes, I still wonder how she can still maintain such an innocent expression after all we've been through," Yuki murmured.

The girl of black then looked back to Shingo who had presumably come over to inspect her card for himself. Then again, with Wixoss only being native to Ruko's world, it was bound to have raised some kind of intrigue from him.

"How interesting..." he pondered "These cards seem to somehow house you in a reality different from our own. I wonder how that's even possible."

"I guess only Mayu really knows the answer to that," Kamui muttered.

Whilst those unfamiliar with the events that had transpired in the world that the Selector Battles took place within raised a curious eyebrow at the name that the Nova Grappler user had dropped, Kai made a silent gesture to indicate that they were finally ready to tell the entire story. Deciding to start from the beginning with how Ruko came to be within the Selector Battles, the Selector herself began her tale from the moment that Ayumu had unknowingly given her the very deck that contained Tama's card to meeting the very people that would become her friends and foes in addition to learning both sides of the coin that was the victory and loss conditions for participating in the Selector Battles and what really lay in store for people that were unfortunate enough to discover for themselves.

At that point, Kiyoi briefly took over from Ruko's story to outline how losing three times within the Selector Battles would result in that Selector's wish being tainted with terrible consequences being wrought upon them as a result whilst becoming an Eternal Girl, really meant becoming an LRIG whilst the one that they wielded would now be burdened with living in their body to carry out their wish. Though what they had shared so far was only the basic logistics of what had really been going on, that was enough to leave some form of shock on the faces on those that were now understanding this for the first time.

"Just what kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into this time?" Miwa pondered.

"Well we know now that the vague descriptions in Futase's note seem to line up with what you two have been telling us," Misaki spoke "I can't help but wonder what she might have gone through before we fought."

"A Battle Royale that is only hiding a can of worms for all within them," Neve muttered "And I have the feeling from what you've told us so far has only scratched the surface."

"That is correct," Kai replied as both Ruko and Kiyoi along with the two LRIGs looked to him "Mayu has been working with a much higher power to ensure that she even has this vision of hers achieved."

Noticing the sudden change in his tone as he gave out his answer to them, even Shingo and Kamui could tell that the Kagero user was still somewhat unsettled, despite the seemingly safe environment that all of them were currently within together. Closing his eyes, he eventually gave out the further clarification as to what that higher power was.

"Mayu was able to manifest the Selector Battles within the physical world outside of her White Room... with the help of Chaos Breaker Dragon."

Neve glanced sharply at him, still feeling partially resentful towards his actions in starting the Link Joker invasion of their world in the first place. It was only through Ratie holding onto one arm in concern did the former Quatre Knight release a deep breath to calm himself down once more.

"So... that scary unit you used before is helping Mayu?" she asked.

Kai simply nodded, confirming to them that Chaos Breaker was just indeed in as much control of the Selector Battles and the system that ran around them as Mayu already was. Everyone else with the exception of those that already knew, could only feel grim knowing that the enemy that they had defeated once before was very much still operating within another world and it seemed to them that it had already been doing so long before their friend had fallen to Reverse by his own will. Deciding to continue with her story for a little longer, Ruko told them a bit more in depth of how Yuzuki and Hitoe had discovered both penalities for achieving success and failure within the Selector Battles themselves before the former had become the latter's LRIG, allowing Hitoe to re-enter the battles whilst her wish was still initially tainted.

After telling them of the Selector Tournament that Yuki had held whilst she was in possession of the body of Urazoe Iona and the battle that the two of them had, resulting in Tama's initial 'betrayal' then and the girl of black's presence at the time slowly infecting her with Reverse, she looked over to Kai, knowing that was when he had more or less appeared into her world. Resuming the tale from where Ruko had stopped, the Kagero user told them of how he had discovered Tama after Takuto had helped her to escape from Mayu at the expense of being captured himself, resulting in the ongoing situation they now faced. He told them of how he manged to find Hitoe and Yuzuki and slowly adjust himself to the rules of Wixoss before confronting their friend in an attempt to bring her back home, not knowing of what she was going through before the end of the battle.

"As it was then, had Tama not brought me back to my senses and had it not been for Aichi's arrival into this world," he spoke "... One of us would have been in the permanent grip of Reverse, regardless of the battle's outcome had the field not collapsed."

"..."

Yuki simply glanced down at the space of her card, clearly feeling uncomfortable about going back over the events that were being recapped to the remainder of the group. As Ratie looked over towards her, wondering what to say to her after what they had just heard, Tama caught her attention.

"Tama doesn't blame Yuki..." she murmured "Yuki just wanted to prove she was better than Tama... Yuki had no idea of what she was doing then."

"Really?" the former Quatre Knight asked.

Ruko nodded in response to her question, feeling sorry for Yuki having to go back over these events that she now had regrets over.

"When Kai battled me against, this time with Aichi fighting alongside him," she continued "We learned that not only was the real Iona somehow stranded on Cray, but that Yuki had gone behind Mayu's back in her efforts to surpass Tama as the strongest LRIG in the past. Because of what happened back then before I even met Tama, Mayu... she took over my body and turned Yuki into a horrifying dragon for the rest of the battle. Aichi and Kai eventually defeated Mayu and was able to save both of us from much worse. I understand why you might be mad at Yuki now... but if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have known more about Mayu and I wouldn't have saved onii-chan from... my mother."

"Mother...?" Miwa murmured in confusion "So if Kominato is your last name..."

"That woman we saw then...!" Neve gasped "Are you saying that it was your mother that took Gaillard's units?!"

"... Yes..." the Selector answered, a part of her still feeling uncomfortable in admitting that her mother had her own role in the entire conspiracy.

Sensing discomfort from Ruko over this subject, Yuki glanced up to her before looking back to the remainder of the group, deciding to tell the full story about how the Selector Battles came to be and the story behind Miyako's involvement with the battles. As the sun began to set, indicating that the evening was now on the horizon, the girl of black had eventually concluded her tale, leaving those who were hearing for the first time all in a state of shock whilst Jillian, Sharlene and Christopher looked away, not having any more words to add after having heard about this before.

 _Poor Ruko..._ Misaki murmured in her thoughts _I certainly understand why her mother would be angry for the neglection and death of her friend... but that's no excuse for the actions she's committed and her final goals!_

"Wow... I didn't think you had it that rough," said Miwa as he looked over to Ruko who could only offer a single nod in response.

After a brief silence had gone through the alleyway to give almost everyone else the time they needed to regain their composure, Shingo fiddled with his glasses before looking up to Kai.

"I know you said that Sendou-kun didn't come through this... wormhole you said that brought you to Leon's island," he said "But I just want to know. Aside from helping you free Ruko and Yuki from this Mayu, how is he?"

"He has been holding up fine, for the moment," the Kagero user answered "He should still be in that world's version of Tokyo with Leon, Ren and Ishida. Before we saved Ruko, his composure was briefly shattered during a battle with Ulith, but he has since managed to recover from that."

"Aside from that, Aichi has also been helping Hitoe to overcome her social anxiety," Ruko interjected "I think she's really starting to come out of her shell ever since he arrived in my world."

With the reassurance that Aichi was at least doing alright, Shingo let out a sigh of relief whilst Ratie and Neve smiled warmly in compliance. That was when Miwa turned his attention to Kiyoi.

"So what's your story in all of this?" he asked "And how did we get someone running around here as you?"

"Uh..." Kamui murmured "That's..."

"It's fine, Katsuragi," Kiyoi interrupted "I am willing to tell them everything, even if those memories are painful."

The Nova Grappler user said nothing more, now seeing that the former blue LRIG did not have as much of a problem disclosing her entire past to the rest of the group herself. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Kiyoi began with a brief introduction to both her life's story and Sakaguchi Ayumi, leading up to the accident that put her friend into a life-threatening coma. She told everyone of how she put her trust in Remember to save her when she became an Eternal Girl, only for the latter to twist the meaning of her wish to 'justify' the murder of her friend shortly afterwards. After noting the horrified expressions on those that stood in front of her, she continued with her time as the LRIG Piruluk, up to her first encounter with Kai and eventually coming into possession of Amika.

"So Remember came here as you and took Kamui back to your world," Misaki murmured "With those glances I saw at you in Card Capital earlier today, I'm not certain how we can prove to those fighters that it was her who took their units and not you."

"With revenge being set on my mind at the time, before I met Katsuragi," Kiyoi replied "Perhaps some of their anger and those of the girls I had served before coming to Amika would be justifiable."

She then told them of how she and Amika encountered Kamui with the latter teaching him the rules of Wixoss briefly before she had challenged him to a Selector Battle in hopes of making her wish to save her mother come true. He then told them how his efforts to stop her during their first clash ended up coming to naught and that he didn't have a likeable opinion of Kiyoi then until Hatsu reminded him that she had to have her own reasons for the way she was, even if he didn't know about her past at the time. Returning the tale's point of view back to the former blue LRIG, she spoke of how both she and Amika made a final stand against Remember and that she was only able to change the meaning of the Selector's wish before they were reversed so when the Nova Grappler user had tainted it, the result would not be an immediate death for her mother.

"But we only managed to borrow ourselves some time," he continued "Remember having been annoyed at things not going the way she wanted, decided to pull the plug on Amika's mother herself unless I beat her. One of the units she took in addition to my Raizers was one of Gouki's and she used Cocytus to pull Sakaguchi back from the dead and trap her in a defaced version of Ultimate Raizer. But Kiyoi and I managed to take care of things there and then and Remember's not gonna be ruining Amika's life anytime soon. After that, we caught up with the others and... well, you know the rest."

With the evening sky now setting in as the last few people within Card Capital had left the store, everyone in the alley now knew there was much to contemplate on and that aside from protecting their own units from Mayu's forces, getting back to Ruko's world was the first priority. Aichi and the others were bound to be searching for them there still, meaning that the sooner they could get there, the better chances they had of helping him could increase.

"So... how are you two going to spend the night now that you're here?" asked Christopher as he looked to Ruko and Kiyoi.

The Selector's expression then grew puzzled, upon realizing that she did not take into account where exactly she and the former blue LRIG would be sleeping as a result of them making it to Japan.

"It's not like we can just bring them to your apartment Kai," Miwa commented "You only have a single bedroom and the last thing anyone would want to think is..."

"I believe you already made the situation clear, Miwa," Kai interrupted, causing his friend to sweatdrop a little as he looked over to Misaki "If it isn't too much to ask for, would it be possible for Ruko and Kiyoi to stay with you and Shin until Chris and Tetsu can repair the gateway?"

"That won't be a problem."

Everyone turned around to see that Shin after closing up the store had overheard the last portion of their lengthy conversation and from his answer was seemingly willing to help them out.

"Misaki can be in charge of your sleeping arrangements and whatever spare clothes you need until we can get you back to your world," he said.

"Alright then," Misaki replied as she looked back to Kai "Until we can make it back to their world to help Aichi and our remaining companions, we'll be happy to look after Ruko and Kiyoi."

"T... Thank you Misaki. You too Shin," said Ruko.

The manager of Card Capital kindly smiled in response as Misaki and Ratie led both the Selector and Kiyoi up the stairs towards the upper levels of the building that acted as her home. She waved goodbye to Kai, knowing that they would meet up again very soon once a good night's rest was in order after their long journey to where they were now. The Kagero user simply waved back once as he watched the girls disappear through the door at the top of the stairs before it closed behind them.

"Tetsu said he'd be willing to lend me a room at Foo Fighter whilst we're getting this whole mess sorted," Christopher spoke "I'll meet up with you guys if I figure out anything."

"We're counting on you Chris," Kai replied "Right now, this isn't just about making it to Ruko's world."

"Got it. See you around."

As the Great Nature user left the alleyway followed shortly by Shingo who was leaving for home, Jillian and Sharlene began to leave, but not before looking back to Kai.

"We'll head down to Hong Kong first and make sure nothing bad happens there," the older twin said "We'll come back later if anything happens."

And with that, the two of them left the alleyway followed shortly by Neve, leaving Kai and Miwa all on their own as the evening continued to settle over the sky above them. Deciding that there was nothing more for them to do for this day, they decided to head back to the former's apartment and catch up with one another there. As time passed on and they got closer to the building where it lay, Miwa turned to his friend.

"Well Kai, it looks like we've gotten ourselves in another bind," he commented "Though I can't say you didn't have me worried sick after Takuto had 'accidentally' got you over to that world."

"It's not like I asked him to bring me there," the Kagero user replied "But at the same time, it has made us aware that not only is Chaos Breaker not amongst those of Link Joker that were accepted by Cray, if Mayu's plans had succeeded already, our world would be in danger again without our immediate knowledge."

Before Miwa could reply to him, a small but sinister giggle caught their attention to the street up ahead of them as Kai narrowed his eyes upon recognizing who it was that was standing before them. She turned to her left and glanced upon the pair, smiling deviously at them.

"Ulith...!" he muttered.

"Hello again, Kai Toshiki," she spoke "I see you finally got the worldy reunions that you desired, scum."

"So you're one of the Selectors helping Mayu in her plans then?" Miwa asked.

"You catch on quick," the cruel demanoured Selector sneered "But, I'm not here for a simple case of causing my usual streak of despair."

"What do you mean?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes as he did so.

Ulith kept her confident smirk as she reached into her pocket and took out a single Vanguard card from her pocket, leading both of the boys to immediately assume that she was going to challenge one of them to a fight right on the spot. As the Kagero user kept a close eye on the card she held, she turned it around with a single motion within her right hand's fingers, revealing Tawil displayed on the card's image and the name "Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life". Upon seeing said name, Kai immediately realized that this was the other LRIG that was the byproduct of Ut'ulls and that it confirmed to him that now both the cruel demanored Selector and Aichi were in possession of both halves of that one being.

"Is something wrong, Kai?" asked Miwa.

"Oh, don't throw a fit," Ulith interrupted smugly "The Tawil I have with me isn't the real LRIG. She is still incomplete back at the White Room, so I can't use her in the Selector Battles in my world just yet. But in the meantime... shall we commence with our 'meet and greet'?"

Kai said nothing in response, bringing out his own deck to declare in his own way of saying that he would accept her challenge.


	87. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 87: This Unnerving Invitation

**South America**

Within another section of the Serra mansion, Miyako was keeping her metallic arm laid down to a table as Morris continued with his tinkering onto the cracked gemstone that continued to spark every few seconds. The woman coldly kept a close eye on the butler of Raul Serra, not wanting him to falter in his efforts in making even a little progression with the current repairs. Needless to say, he wasn't even the least bit fazed by the baleful glare of the general of the Selector Battles, as if this was simply just another hobby he was attending to for the family name.

"I see that a smile is rather difficult for you," he spoke "But then again, I can't say that I can put you at fault with recent events."

"Do not test my patience Morris," she snarled coldly "This is merely a setback in the Grand Design for Mayu's vision. You should be fortunate that no one outside of this country is even aware of how Serra apparently recovered his lost memories."

Morris simply said nothing more, taking no notice of her tone or gaze as he examined the gemstone on her metallic hand much more closely before tapping the edge of a small tool that he was holding in his gloved hand, causing sparks to surge through it. Eventually, a light shone through the cracks as a small holographic screen seemingly flickered to life. Unbeknowst to the disgruntled woman, the butler kept a hidden smirk to himself for a split second.

"If I may," she said, getting up from her seat.

"But of course," he replied in a calm tone "Take as much time as you need."

Exiting through the doors to a lone room, the same one from where she had previously observed Kai and Ruko a few hours ago through her damaged metallic hand, Miyako took a deep breath and brought up her right arm, a part of her hoping that the repairs that Morris had provided thus far would at least be enough for what she was about to attempt next. Shaking it once more, the gemstone sparked for a brief moment as she held the metallic limb in front of her, a small screen of some kind fuzzing to life.

"Mayu, can you hear me?"

"M... Miyako, thank goodness," the mastermind's voice echoed, with some noticable noise of static from the damage still sustained by the gemstone "Where are you now?"

"I am within Kai Toshiki's world, in the South American continent at the Serra residence," she explained before briefly rolling her eyes for a moment "Home to that failed 'agent' of Chaos Breaker's who apparently got his lost memories back. As much as it pains me to address this, I am currently stranded with no means of returning back to you."

As the room around her and the White Room from Mayu's end fell silent respectively, the latter herself pondered on the situation, a part of her still feeling infuriated that Kai had managed to defeat her only friend to the outside world from her domain and that Ayumu was the sole cause of the situation they now faced.

"I see... I will have Photon begin work on creating a new Teleport Card and have Ulith deliver it to you," she spoke "Do you believe there may be any value in relying on the Serra family after their previous failure to Chaos Breaker?"

"I trust Raul and Morris as far as I can throw them," the general hissed, quietly enough so that neither Morris or Serra would not overhear her comment "But they may be of use to my objectives, for the time being."

"And what of Shiro and Kuro?"

Miyako didn't say a word in response, knowing that she had initially planned to challenge Ruko to take her two LRIGs back to their creator before Kai had taken her place back then. She had realized Yuki in particular had proven to be a much bigger problem that she had expected when she regained control over the dark power that she was cursed with, even though the clone LRIG had recovered her data before its destruction afterwards.

"Though Ruko has outlived her usefulness for Project: Locked Soul, it seems that disregarding her position over the possession of the girls of white and black was a mistake," Miyako spoke as she briefly glanced back to the doorway "And I believe that I have found just the way to bring them to me."

* * *

 

Meanwhile back in Japan as the night sky drew over the cityscape, Kai and Ulith were within another part of the city where there were little to no people roaming the streets nearby to the park that they had just entered. As they were standing at opposite ends of the large area, prepared to fight, the cruel demanored Selector then glanced towards the Kagero user, noting his stern expression.

"Oh yes, I'd almost forgotten," she smirked "I believe unlike Aichi and the others, Takuto's abrupt summoning actually put you at a disadvantage in the Selector Battles. Well then... allow me to return the favour."

As her right hand grew a dark purple aura to it, she snapped her fingers, much to her opponent's and Miwa's initial confusion. Then in a flash of light, Kai silently gasped as several cards manifested in his otherwise closed left hand. When the light eventually faded, he cautiously gazed upon them before turning them over to reveal at the front of the small pile was something he had not expected to find back in his possession. It was the remaining cards that had gone missing from his possession after he had been abruptly summoned to Ruko's world and now they were sitting in his hand once more. Despite his initial surprise to this, the Kagero user still remained cautious, knowing what Ulith was capable of.

"Not a thank you for managing to find and give back the units that Takuto's abrupt summoning caused you to lose inbetween dimensions?" the cruel demanored Selector said in a playful tone "I expected more from a solitary fighter. Then again, seeing as that particular Overlord is out of our reach along with Percival and Aglovale from our own time, I hardly see the point in taking the card back to Mayu."

"You knew that units had been missing from my deck since the beginning," he replied "But, I believe I see the reason behind this. Ulith, you take pleasure in breaking people at their brilliance as you have stated previously yourself. So by giving back my strongest units that were previously lost, you're planning to merely set up a fall for me in this fight."

"Perhaps," she replied calmly "But, who is to say that I always do what Mayu tells me? Or if I'm even in the mood for that?"

After Kai switched out a few of the cards in his deck with some of the ones he had managed to reacquire, Ulith simply held out one card in front of her as the familiar purple boundary from the fights that took place in Singapore appeared once more. Miwa having little time to react at all jumped clear to avoid being affected by the walls, but had ended up now being trapped inside the battlefield itself.

"Well I've gone and done it now..." he muttered to himself as he looked back to the Kagero user.

"Stay clear," he said resolutely "The damage from the images in these fields are seemingly real."

Two dark red tables manifested in front of both combatants as they placed down their starting Vanguards and decks before taking ahold of the cards that would form their starting hands. Reaching out for the cards they laid, their gazes crossed one another.

"Stand up, (the) Vanguard!" they called.

As the image of Dragon Knight, Sadegh manifested itself onto the battlefield before the two of them, shortly afterwards in a flash of pink light, an image of Tawil herself appeared in front of Ulith's table. Her turqoise coloured eyes had very little light within them and seemed almost completely blank, as if they were a mere reflection of the 'incomplete' LRIG that the cruel demanoured Selector had briefly been talking about before they began their fight. Kai simply gazed upon the other half of Ut'ulls, not quite knowing or feeling what to expect now that he had some knowledge about Umr from the deck Aichi had been given from Hatsu.

"Tawil..." he murmured to himself "Just what kind of power does she possess?"

Sensing his unease, Ulith simply smirked as she immediately drew a single card to begin the first turn of the fight.

"Ride!" she called as a bright light enveloped Tawil "Tawil=Ett, Prolonged of Life!"

As the flash eventually died down, not much of Tawil had changed in her appearance aside from the stockings on her legs becoming a little longer and the wings on the upper portions having grown a little larger. A small object shaped like a trumpet that was downsized greatly in size manifested in her right hand as a few small bubbles exited the end of it. As Ulith kept her somewhat smug smile, Kai began his turn as he looked over the field and the cards he held, contemplating on what was happening so far.

She didn't bind a Grade 5 from her deck, he muttered in his thoughts as he took ahold of one card Is it already in her hand then?

"Ride! Dragon Monk, Gojo!"

As Sadegh leaped back a little ways, the gillman clad in robes and dragon scaled shoulder plated armour rose up onto the field in a bright orange flash as he gazed upon its two opponents. Spinning around his staff with a crescent shape near the edge of the tip, he summoned a torrent of fire that soared towards Tawil and engulfed her immediately as Candlelight Angel landed in Ulith's damage zone face up. As the smoke eventually cleared up, the cruel demanored Selector drew her next card and immediately threw it down onto the Vanguard circle.

"Ride! Tawil=Två, Prolonged of Life!" she declared "And call!"

Within a bright glow, the imaged Tawil's appearance was altered once again as the wings on her legs grew longer and her stocking disappeared altogether. Her new weapon of choice consited of two handles each with a circle with smaller blades attached to them. To her right appeared an Angel with multiple wings, blondish coloured hair and wielding a large bow with multiple arrows already loaded on.

"Nociel's skill," Ulith spoke "Placing a second Tawil in my damage zone, I add Candlelight to my hand."

As Candlelight Angel appeared Tawil, the imaged LRIG gained a fiery aura around herself as she was boosted for the next attack. She took flight using the wings on her legs and charged straight towards Gojo as Kai remained sternly motionless. Ulith then revealed the top of her deck for her Drive Check, uncovering the Angel Feather unit Boquet Toss Messanger.

"Draw Trigger," she smirked "Power to Nociel."

As Tawil slashed down the front of Gojo who groaned in pain, Kai's first damage flew past him as Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame before the card landed in his damage zone.

"Candlelight Angel's skill," Ulith spoke "I discard 1 card and draw."

After drawing her next card, she pointed over towards Nociel without uttering a single word, only a confident smirk. Responding to her command, the Angel Feather unit pulled back on her bow and after aiming it towards her target let loose all of the arrows that were on the bowstring. As Gojo held out its staff for self-defence, Kai immediately placed a card on the Guardian circle of his table.

"Blue Ray Dracokid guards!" he responded.

As the small blue dragon appeared in front of the Dragon Monk, it snarled before firing back at all of the incoming arrows with the blaster mounted on its right arm, incinerating the projectiles with ease before vanishing from the battlefield shortly afterwards. The cruel demanored Selector was not disappointed in the slightest, having sensed that her opponent wasn't planning on taking any chances around her.

"1 damage apiece," Miwa murmured "Tawil doesn't seem to have any abilities that make her a threat, but..."

Kai immediately began his next turn by drawing another card as he then placed down it straight down onto the Vanguard circle.

"Ride!" he declared "Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon!"

Gojo then vanished from the battlefield in a blazing whirlwind of flames as a grey coloured Flame Dragon with yellowish wings emerged from amongst the inferno and gazed upon Tawil with its intense orange eyes. Its stature was similar to that of Vortex Dragon, one of the Kagero user's older units, but had a vastly different body shape and was littered with more spikes across its body. To its right appeared Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon as the right cannon mounted on its back moved to the right before firing a beam of fire at Nociel, retiring her from Ulith's field.

"Sadegh's skill!" Kai continued "Candlelight Angel retires!"

Sadegh then hurled his flaming spear at Candlelight Angel, both units immediately vanishing after the resulting impact brought up a small explosion.

"Go, Whirlwind Dragon!"

Whirlwind Dragon then roared loudly and flapped its wings before taking flight into the air, still keeping its fierce gaze upon the only target remaining, the imaged Tawil herself. Kai then pulled and turned over the top card of his deck for his drive check, revealing Embodiment of Spear, Tahr.

"Got a Critical Trigger!"

Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon/Critical: 1 - 2

Perdition Dragon, Menace Laser Dragon/POW: 9000 - 14000

The grey coloured Flame Dragon then opened up its jaws and unleashed a torrent of flames towards the LRIG who remained motionless as they struck her directly in an instant. As embers spread around Ulith's side of the battlefield, she simply watched on without seemingly a care in the world as her next two points of damage came out as Burst Shot, Bethnael and Sunny Smile, Angel, the latter of which glowed brightly.

"Heal Trigger," she smugly remarked before moving Bethnael from her damage zone to her drop zone "I give 5000 power to my Vanguard."

"Next!" Kai called as Menace Laser Dragon unleashed two streams of fire from each of its cannons towards the downed Tawil.

Before they even made contact with her, a smaller unit whose appearance resembled Nociel appeared in front of the imaged LRIG and projected a green coloured barrier in front of herself, deflecting the attack with relative ease. Both Kai and Miwa could only stare at this unit, having recognized it from their own experiences through Vanguard before this fight.

"Battle Cupid, Nociel's skill," Ulith smirked "I switch out the Draw Trigger in my hand for the Heal Trigger in my damage zone."

After she did the exact action, Nociel vanished from the battlefield along with the torrent of flames as Menace Laser Dragon's attack had come to an end with no success gained from it.

"Even with that Critical Trigger, Ulith still ended up taking 1 damage for the turn," Miwa commented before looking over to his friend "I suppose you weren't joking when you said she was formidable."

Kai didn't reply back, instead choosing to remain keeping a close eye on his opponent as she began her next turn by drawing her next card. But instead of choosing a card to ride immediately afterwards, she gazed back towards the Kagero user and his closest friend, a seemingly soft and somewhat playful glint in her eyes laced with a hint of ulterior motive.

"You're not using the SIGNI that you modified your deck with in the Selector Battles?" she commented "Could I be sensing a hint of 'fairness'? Or pride from wanting to cardfight with your units and only your units?"

"SIGNI...?" Miwa pondered before suddenly remembering something from earlier "Wait... you mean those other cards with no clan name?"

"Only a fighter themselves decide the way they choose to fight," Kai interjected "Even at my lowest, I have always remained true to that."

A small chuckle escaped the cruel demanored Selector's lips in response to his statement, having found some kind of sick twisted amusement to enjoy from just listening to him say those words. But she didn't feel prepared to push him any further through whatever scheme had concocted itself into her mind. At least, not for the present moment.

"But moving on to more pressing matters," she continued "Your defiance against Miyako is to be commended. Even if it had to be by my enemy, it's about time someone brought that 'child' that calls herself an adult above humanity down a peg. Though I must say that I never expected she intended to 'adopt' you had this world fallen to ruin by your actions."

As Miwa raised an eyebrow in confusion, having not been told about this subject in regards to the topic that was Ruko's mother and her goal to wipe out humanity in addition to bringing the world outside of Mayu's White Room to an end, he looked back to Kai and suddenly grew even more concerned. He could see that the Kagero user's left fist had been clenched tightly as he tried to restrain his anger the best he could.

"Kai!" he called "She's not being serious, is she?!"

The lack of an immediate answer however had only confirmed his fears from what he was witnessing. Seeing Kai angry for personal reasons alone was rare sight even in recent times, but whatever Ulith had just revealed to him now had an effect on his perceptions from the time of the Link Joker invasion. Losing his friend to the darkness of Reverse was already harrowing enough for him, but from what he knew of Miyako through Yuki's words along with this information had only worried him even more.

"Well frankly, wherever the hell Miyako is now, I can hardly care less," she said cooly "Though I must say, seeing your twisted expressions in the midst of said defiance was quite the amusement. I wonder what else I can pull from 'him'."

Kai clenched his teeth, knowing full well that she was referring to her continued interest in pursuing Aichi for her own goals after he had barely escaped the mental torment that she had inflicted upon him during their first confrontation. And now that she was using Tawil's cards as her own, even if she currently did not possess the real LRIG for the time being, that only brought up even more concerns in his mind. Was she merely planning to try and break down his composure again? Could it have anything to do with Ut'ulls now that he had Umr in his possession? He didn't know what exactly she had in mind for the Royal Paladin user and that only served to make him relatively uneasy.

"Ah yes, I believe it was still my turn," Ulith spoke out, eventually picking out a card from her hand and placing it down onto the Vanguard circle of her table "Ride!"

As Tawil was enveloped in a bright white coloured light, the back of her hair grew much longer from the otherwise shorter state that it had always been in from previous forms. When the flash eventually died down, her weapons of choice this time around were a pair of gold coloured pistols that she clutched ahold of in both of her hands as she pointed one towards Whirlwind Dragon. The cruel demanored Selector sneered as she announced the name of this new form to the LRIG that served as half of Ut'ulls.

"Tawil=Tre, the Guide!"

Tawil=Tre, the Guide/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 10000/'?'/United Sanctuary/Human;LRIG

As the imaged LRIG glanced back at the Kagero user, he too gazed back, now sensing that at this stage into the fight as it was thus far was the point where she would unveil what kind of abilities she had.

"What do you think, scum?" Ulith smugly remarked "This card like many is merely the prelude to Tawil's capabilties before she truely awakens."

Kai said nothing in response as he and Miwa watched her turn over one of the cards that was in her damage zone face down.

"Tawil's skill," she spoke before picking up and fanning out the cards of her deck, eventually selecting one and revealing it to her opponent "Another Nociel is added to my hand as she happens to be an Angel. Then call!"

As an unfamiliar Angel by the name of Ciel, Fictitious Love appeared onto the battlefield to the imaged Tawil's left once again, Sunny Smile Angel and a second Tawil=Ett appeared behind the pair as they all turned their attention towards the two lone units that were on their opponent's field. Then to the right of them appeared a new figure that was unfamiliar to all present but the cruel demanored Selector herself. She was an Angel much like many of the units that had been used throughout the fight and wielded a large hammer that she then proceeded to smash into the ground.

"At the cost of resting Nakirun whilst I have Tawil as my Vanguard, I add any Angel I want from my deck to my hand," Ulith continued as she picked out a card by the name of Pure Keeper, Requiel.

"She was able to get a Perfect Guard that easily?!" Miwa gasped.

Kai didn't respond, but he could tell that there was one aspect of Ulith's deck and stratagem that was fully clear to him now. Tawil seemed to revolve around the concept of Angel units and SIGNI, but so far, all he could gather from what he had seen so far was the fact that she was gathering them to her hand to either rebuild her formation or bolster her defences for his next turn.

"Well then, here I come," the cruel demanored girl spoke in a soft, yet sinister tone "Tawil attacks your Vanguard."

As a green aura radiated around Tawil from both the boost and the effects of Sunny Smile Angel, she immediately took aim at Whirlwind Dragon, preparing to fire both of her pistols at it.

"No guard," the Kagero user replied.

"Twin Drive."

Ulith reached out to her deck and turned over a second copy of Tawil=Tre as her first check. Adding the card straight to her hand, she then did the same action once again for her second check, this time revealing Happy Bell, Nociel as the card glowed bright yellow.

"Stand Trigger," she smirked "I give all the effects to Nakirun!"

Tawil then fired several shots of what appeared to be bubble shapped projectiles as they came rushing in towards Whirlwind Dragon, exploding on contact as they hit it head on and the impacts forcing Kai and Miwa to shield their faces.

"Okay, now you tell me the damage is somewhat real!" he remarked.

Kai didn't say anything in response as he gazed at his damage zone to see Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev enter it with no Trigger marking to help him as of yet. He then turned back to Ulith, anticipating her next attack as she pursed her lips.

"Nakirun attacks your rear-guard."

Nakirun then took flight towards Menace Laser Dragon and slammed down her hammer onto it, retiring it from the battlefield in a series of red sparkles as the card landed in the Kagero user's drop zone. After that had happened, Ciel who had leaped into the air then slashed down the front of Whirlwind Dragon, causing it to growl in pain from taking the brunt of the attack head on.

"Damage check," Kai spoke as he flipped over the top card of his deck, revealing Gattling Claw Dragon "Got a Draw Trigger."

As he drew another card from his deck, Ulith simply took ahold of Sunny Smile Angel and shuffled it back into her deck, signalling the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kai vs Ulith**

**Hand - 6 : 5**

**Soul - 2 : 3**

**Damage - 3 : 2**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon (VG) - EMPTY : Ciel, Fictitious Love - Tawi=Tre, the Guide (VG) - Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb**

**Back Rows : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Tawil=Ett, Prolonged of Life - EMPTY - EMPTY**

"She managed to reverse the position just like that," Miwa breathed "And aside from maintaining her hand size, she rebuilt her formation from the ground up."

Kai gazed at the field that his opponent had managed to assemble in the span of the previous turn. He had a suspicion that Tawil would be a formidable opponent from merely being half of Ut'ulls and he had certainly not expected her capabilities to help Ulith rebuild the formation he had burned away on his last turn. Then he looked to Ulith who had continued to remain as smugly confident as she was as he began his next turn.

"Ulith, no matter what intentions you have for me in this fight," he spoke as he held out a card in front of him "I won't falter to your trickery!"

"Then show me," she replied calmly "Show me that you simply didn't just have fortune on your side after that crushing defeat to Mayu's defective Queen."

"Lead to destruction with a flaming whirlwind!" the Kagero user announced before placing down a card onto the Vanguard Circle "Ride the Vanguard!"

As a vortex of flames erupted from the ground and enveloped Whirlwind Dragon, it vanished from the battlefield as a taller shadow began to rise from amongst the flames. The stature alone seemed to resemble that of Dragonic Overlord's stance but several shapes made it clear that this wasn't the unit or any of its other forms that Kai was calling upon at this moment. As the flames eventually vanished, the unit was mostly coloured a greyish silver with several dark bluish scales and several turqoise coloured gems littered on its body. It roared loudly to make its presence known as Kai annouced its name.

"Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonewt!"

Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonewt/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Kagero/Flame Dragon

Immediately afterwards, Calamity Tower Wyvern appeared behind the tall dragon, flapping its wings as it was surrounded in a bright red aura for a brief moment as he drew his next card before holding his free hand over the Vanguard circle.

"Seek the mate!" he declared.

A golden aura rose from the table as Menace Laser Dragon, Gojo and Blue Ray Dracokid flew up from his drop zone and landed on top of his deck whilst he snatched Whirlwind Dragon's card as it was hovering amongst the other cards.

"Its roar opens a path where none exists. Those flames burn everything in this world to nothing! Stand in line, purgatory dragons. Legion!"

As the Legion symbol flashed to all for a brief few moments, Whirlwind Dragon appeared once again onto the battlefield as the two dragons roared loudly in unison as a result of the successful Legion. Then to their left and right appeared Dragonic Neoflame, Tarayev and Gojo who all took offensive stances as they each prepared for the oncoming battles ahead.

"That's the way Kai!" Miwa cheered, feeling a little relieved that what Ulith had mentioned about Miyako to him had seemingly only had a temporary effect on his friend.

"Watch closely Ulith!" Kai announced "This is the power of the units that you chose to 'recover' for me!"

As two of the three cards in his damage zone turned face down, he threw a second copy of Vortex Dragonewt from his hand into his drop zone before pointing towards her field.

"One! Two!"

Bursts of flames erupted from the ground in front of the cruel demanored Selector's table, retiring both of her front row rear-guards in an instant as they vanished. Despite this blow to her formation, she was still not concerned in the slightest.

"And the third one!" the Kagero user continued "Trinity Crimson Flame!"

As a fireball began to manifest itself in Vortex Dragonewt's right claw and Whirlwind Dragon's jaws, the imaged Tawil simply gazed motionlessly towards them as if she knew what was about to happen next. Both units then unleashed two blasts of fire that merged into a single beam that struck both the LRIG and Ulith at the same time as she briefly cried in pain. But after only a second or two had passed, what became more unnerving to Kai and Miwa was how she was seemingly laughing off the pain from the enhanced attacks as a result of the boundary's properties. In fact, from the small squeal like noise they heard before said laughter, it sounded as if she was actually enjoying it.

"Beautiful..." she breathed as the flames eventually disappeared "I haven't felt like this in ages."

"That was weird..." Miwa murmured, unsure of how to best describe what he and his friend had just witnessed.

Kai simply kept his gaze upon her as she revealed the top card of her deck as a second copy of Pure Keeper, Requiel before placing it face up into her damage zone, still smirking despite being in pain from the enchanced attack just now.

"You seem to enjoy pain for some reason, even on yourself..." he murmured.

"On the contrary, I find it fascinating to say the least," the cruel demanoured Selector replied "But I believe that you're not quite finished with that onslaught yet."

He simply nodded before turning over to his damage zone and flipping the last card that was there face down and pointing towards the rear-guard Tawil. Dragonic Neoflame growled loudly and spat a large fireball at her, the projectile exploding on contact and retiring her in an instant, leaving Ulith's field all empty again save for the imaged Tawil that was still her Vanguard. Vortex Dragonewt glowed brightly as it gained more power from the consecutive skills that had just went off altogether.

Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonewt and Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon/POW: 20000 - 29000

"Vortex Dragonewt, Whirlwind Dragon... unleash a roar that will shake the world!" Kai declared as he rested both cards and Calamity Tower Wyvern's "Legion Attack!"

The Legioned pair took flight into the air and soared towards Tawil as Ulith simply chose to remain silent in confidence, having no intention of guarding the attack at all.

"Twin drive!"

The Kagero user revealed his first check as Wyvern Guard, Barri and added the card straight to his hand. Turning over the second card from the top of his deck, it was revealed as Embodiment of Spear, Tahr.

"Got a Critical Trigger!" he announced "I give power to Tarayev and the Critical to Legion!"

Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon now upon Ulith's entire side of the field growled respectively before opening up their jaws and covering over the cruel demanoured Selector and the imaged Tawil with a shower of flames that engulfed them. Despite being in pain again due to the attacks being enhanced by the boundary's properties, her smile was still enough to keep her opponent and Miwa on their guard.

"Damage check," she spoke as she revealed the first card as Aglaea, Innocent Brightness which glowed a bright yellow "Draw Trigger!"

Tawil=Tre, the Guide/POW: 10000 - 15000

After the imaged Tawil powered up from the trigger effect as the smoke had cleared up, Ulith's second check had revealed Love Machine Gun, Nociel with no further trigger effects to help her out.

"Next!" Kai declared as he rested Tarayev's card.

The brown haired Dragon Knight then pointed his large firearm towards Tawil and fired a series of large fiery bullets in her direction. Then in front of the imaged LRIG appeared a second Tawil=Två who had just enough shield to defend her from harm as she projected a green barrier that deflected the shots before vanishing after the attack had concluded.

"Neoflame!"

Dragonic Neoflame then slithered across the battlefield as it then coated itself in a series of hot orangish coloured flames and charged towards the seemingly defenceless Tawil in an attempt to strike the finishing blow. Between them however appeared a second Battle Cupid, Nociel who took the brunt of the attack head on and screamed in pain before vanishing from the battlefield, her efforts being enough to stop the Flame Dragon in its tracks. Ulith simply smiled deviously as she exchanged the Happy Bell, Nociel in her hand for the Requiel in her damage zone.

So even though Ulith took three damage, Kai didn't manage to dent her hand by much and she now has two Perfect Guards in her hand Miwa muttered in his thoughts But at the very least, he managed to burn down her entire formation again.

"Turn end," Kai spoke.

**End of Turn 6**

**Kai vs Ulith**

**Hand - 5 : 4**

**Soul - 1 : 3**

**Damage - 3 : 5**

**Front Rows : Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev - Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonewt and Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon (VG) - Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame : EMPTY - Tawi=Tre, the Guide (VG) - EMPTY**

**Back Rows : EMPTY - Calamity Tower Wyvern - Dragon Monk, Gojo : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

"Not bad, scum," Ulith remarked smugly as she drew her next card "I can see now that we're fortunate that those some of those units you have can't be used in the Selector Battles as they no longer exist in Cray's present time."

"That may be true," he replied calmly "But even if my units change regardless of the circumstances, my will shall always remain as it is."

The cruel demanored Selector simply remained smug from his words, having expected this from him to an extent.

"Your will? Regardless of your units?" she spoke in a soft, yet creepy tone "I wonder what happened to that will, when you willingly sold yourself out."

Though the Kagero user did not respond to her statement, having already dealt with the subject matter enough times to the point where he wasn't able to flinch in the face of the truth from past events, Miwa on the other hand was not planning on having any of it.

"Hey! Kai's already been ragged on about his past mistakes enough times!" he responded "If you're stealing other units and tormenting others like he and the others say you are, you don't have as much of a right to drag him down any further!"

Ulith simply ignored his words, knowing that they didn't mean much, if at all anything, to her of all people or LRIGs for that matter. However, the anger from him that was even rare to those that knew him well... that was definitely something of intrigue to her. But that subject she felt was something she could study for herself another time as right now, she was still in the midst of fighting her potential target's closest friend. She then took ahold of a card from her hand and threw it down onto the Vanguard circle, the image displayed seeming very familiar.

"Ride!" she declared "Tawil=Tre, the Guide!"

The Tawil on the battlefield rose from the ground for a brief moment as a bright turqiose coloured light enveloped her, erasing all of the scratches and dirt that was on her body and clothes, but not changing her overall appearance in the slightest.

"She rode the same Vanguard?!" Miwa gasped in disbelief.

Even Kai could not help but a express a little bit of confusion on this manuver, having expected her to Ride Tawil up to Grade 4 at this point. But as he had already known from the fight so far, there was a good reason why she would choose to do so.

"Tawil's skill," Ulith spoke as she turned over a card in her damage zone "Add any Angel of my choice from my deck to my hand."

After revealing another copy of the Grade 3 Angel known as Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb from her deck and shuffling the remaining cards, she immediately called it to the rear-guard. But what was even stranger to both Kai and Miwa, the latter moreso was that this time, she had chosen to call it to the back row as it appeared to the right circle that was behind Tawil. She slammed her hammer down into the ground once again, indicating that the cruel demanored Selector was using her skill to search out for another Angel to which she immediately did before calling it to circle that was directly in front of Nakirun. This one yet another Love Machine Gun, Nociel who glowed brightly as Ulith placed another Tawil=Två into her damage zone whilst picking out Aglaea and calling it to the back row immediately.

"Aglaea's skill," she continued as the SIGNI appeared behind Nociel "I reveal the top three cards of my deck and place them back in any order I want. Of course, if all of them happen to be Angel units, I can add one of them to my hand instead. Of course, what fun would that be if I just revealed them all at once?"

Kai and Miwa simply gazed towards her deck, despite having the knowledge that she was intending to reveal what the future of this fight would hold for the Kagero user from her next three cards, even if she was planning to reveal them one at a time. Neither of them knew what to expect since all of Ulith's cards with the except of those depicting Tawil were all Angels themselves. Smiling deviously, she turned over the first card of her deck and placed it face up in the little space of the table that was directly in front of the pile. It was an Angel Feather unit by the name of Critical Hit Angel.

"Critical Trigger," she said gleefully before shrugging her shoulders in a seemingly playful mood "Well, I'd like to say."

She then revealed the next card as Burst Shot, Bethnael, another Angel Feather unit that happened to be an Angel as well. Then she revealed the final card which only served to shock Miwa as it was yet another Critical Hit Angel.

"Her top three cards had a double Critical?!" he exclaimed.

"That's not all," Kai muttered as his friend looked over to him before realizing what this had meant.

"Since the revealed cards are all Angels," Ulith smirked "I add Bethnael to my hand and place the Critical Triggers on top of my deck."

Immediately after she laid both Critical Hit Angels back on top of her deck, both Bethanael and a second Ciel, Fictitious Love appeared in the remaining empty circles of her rear-guard, ready for battle with the other units and the imaged Tawil that were still standing. An aura glowed around Ciel as she powered up from being in the presence of other Angel rear-guards.

Ciel, Fictitious Love/POW: 9000 - 12000

"Well then, scum, let us begin," she sneered before resting Bethnael and Tawil's cards "Tawil attacks Vortex Dragonewt!"

As Bethnael flapped his wings and fired off several shots from his own firearms into the air, Tawil took flight on the wings that were on the upped portions of her legs and took aim at Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon who gazed up at her. With knowledge of his opponent's double Critical Trigger coming towards him with this attack, Kai looked down at his hand and knew there was only one way out of this situation.

"Perfect Guard!" he declared as he threw down Barri's card and discarded a second Calamity Tower Wyvern from his hand.

"Oh? You can't afford a Shield of 20000 at this point?" Ulith remarked cooly as she revealed her first Critical Hit Angel from the top of her deck, with Nociel glowing a bright yellow from recieving all of the trigger effects "You must really be that desperate to hang on now."

After revealing the second Critical Hit Angel from the top of her deck, Nociel once again powered up from the card's effects.

Love Machine Gun, Nociel/POW: 8000 - 13000 - 18000/Critical: 1 - 2 - 3

The imaged Tawil then charged up a large mass of energy in her twin golden pistols and pointed them down at the Legioned dragons before unleashing a pair of large bubble like projectiles at them. Wyvern Guard, Barri manifested between the opposing combatants and soared towards the oncoming projectiles. The knight riding atop the mechanical Wyvern leaped from his ride as it crashed head on into one of the large bubbles in a large explosion before taking the sword on its back and slashing down the front of the other, a large explosion following shortly afterwards as the unit vanished from the battlefield. Despite the attack not being successful, the shockwaves from the impact were enough to force Kai and Miwa to fight to keep their balance. Ulith wasn't concerned with the failed attack as she then turned her attention to one of her rear-guards.

"Ciel attacks Tarayev," she spoke in a soft but sinister tone.

Ciel then leaped up into the air and intended to land a hard blow with her blade upon the Dragon Knight that she was commanded to attack. To her surprise though when she brought down the blade, it was Dragonic Neoflame that took on the full brunt of the attack. When the serpent-like Flame Dragon disappeared from the battlefield with its role of interceptor coming to an end, Ulith then turned to Nociel.

"Now then... show me that you won't go down that easily," she spoke in a soft, yet sinister tone as the Angel Feather unit, empowered with Algaea's boost took aim at Kai's two dragons, intending to end the game here and now.

"Guard!" he responded as Embodiment of Spear, Tahr and Gojo appeared in front of the Legioned pair to protect them from the multiple arrows that Nociel had fired upon them.

After the arrows had struck the two guardians head on, they immediately vanished from the battlefield having done their duty to the Kagero user in his hour of need. He then gazed down at the only card was now left in his hand and looked back towards Ulith, now seeing her overall intent for this turn after she had chosen to ride a second Tawil=Tre, the Guide instead of advancing to Grade 4 as he had intially expected in his earlier caution.

**End of Turn 7**

**Kai vs Ulith**

**Hand - 1 : 4**

**Soul - 1 : 4**

**Damage - 3 : 5**

**Front Rows : Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev - Perdition Dragon, Vortex Dragonewt and Perdition Dragon, Whirlwind Dragon (VG) - EMPTY : Love Machine Gun, Nociel - Tawi=Tre, the Guide (VG) - Ciel, Fictitious Love**

**Back Rows : EMPTY - Calamity Tower Wyvern - Dragon Monk, Gojo : Agalaea, Innocent Brightness - Burst Shot, Bethanael - Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb**

I see... Her aim wasn't to finish me off this turn. With the double trigger set up from Aglaea and her knowledge of Barri from my previous turn, she knew I would have to give up most of my hand to stop her attacks from finishing me.

"Stand and draw."

After drawing his next card, he looked over to his damage zone, seeing that he was in fact still at three damage, but only from his efforts to block two of Ulith's attacks that would have otherwise given him the remaining three damage in addition to her choice of attacking his rear-guard. With that in mind and all of the cards there still face-down that it wasn't the only issue he had to deal with this turn.

By attacking this way, she's also prevented me from acquiring Counter Blast for my unit's skills to retire her rear-guards he muttered in his thoughts She's obviously trying to buy herself some time, but for what?

Looking down to the two cards that he now held and thinking about what to expect for the upcoming turn, he eventually made a decision.

"I call Menace Laser Dragon!" he declared as a second copy of the Grade 2 unit that was alongside his Vanguard appeared to the right of the Legioned pair.

Miwa could only stare at Kai's field, knowing that despite him remaining in the lead on damage, Ulith was still managing to keep up the pressure on him thanks to the last turn with Agalaea stacking the top of her deck and reinforcing her rear-guard back to the way it was. Turn after turn, his friend kept burning away at her rear-guards only for more to swarm the field with the size of her hand barely changing at all.

I hope you know what you're doing Kai... he murmured in his thoughts.

"Tarayev attacks Nociel!" Kai declared.

The Dragon Knight then aimed its large firearm towards the Angel Feather unit and struck her down with a series of consecutive fiery blasts, retiring the Angel from the battlefield in an instant.

"Next!" he continued as Vortex Dragonewt and the Legion-Mate Whirlwind Dragon took flight into the air.

Both of the silvery grey Flame Dragons set their sights upon the imaged Tawil who remained motionless and watched on as the two units roared loudly before unleashing two beams of flames from their jaws towards their target. Before they could make contact, Pure Keeper, Requiel appeared in front of the LRIG and generated a barrier to shield her and Ulith from the attack itself.

"She was bound to use one of them sooner or later...!" Miwa muttered as he watched Ulith discard a Critical Hit Angel from her hand.

"Twin Drive!" the Kagero user announced revealing his first card as Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great "Second check!"

When he revealed the second card, it glowed brightly as it was revealed to be Dragon Monk, Genjo. He could only frown a little as he added the card to his hand, just as the rear-guard Menace Laser Dragon powered up from the trigger effect.

"It seems shredding through most of your hand with my last attacks wasn't the only disadvantage you recieved," Ulith remarked "Then again, had you chose to let Tawil's through on purpose for whatever reason, you still wouldn't be help to heal any damage thanks to my own count."

"Menace Laser!" Kai called.

The remaining rear-guard then shot out a single blast of fire from one of its cannons towards the imaged Tawil who remained motionless once again as Ciel and Critical Hit Angel came to her defence, blocking the attack by taking the full brunt of it until they were retired from Ulith's side of the field. The cruel demanored Selector smiled as she placed both cards in her drop zone, having yet again barely managing to survive another turn at five damage.

"Darn, he almost had her!" Miwa groaned.

The Kagero user simply remained silent as a harsh breeze whistled throughout the entire park that this boundary was mostly covering, with the three occupants being the only people there to participate and witness this fight as the eighth turn then immediately came to an end.

"Quite the formidable force," Ulith spoke as if she was complimenting him in some kind of a mocking tone underlaced with a softer approach to her voice "But then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from Chaos Breaker's former student. It is such a shame that once I defeat you, not only will the cards I willingly recovered for you belong to Mayu, even if she cannot summon them to her domain, but all of the other Kagero units you have on you since arriving back in this world will be hers as well."

"Chaos Breaker has no influence over me or the way I fight," he sternly replied "That is all."

Scoffing lightly in the midst of continued defiance to the weight about his past actions, she then began her next turn as she drew another card to add to the one Perfect Guard that she had remaining in her hand.

"Nakirun's skill!" she declared with a sinister smile as she rested the Grade 3 card "I add another Bethnael to my hand!"

As the Angel SIGNI slammed her hammer into the ground once again to use her skill, this time after a few seconds, she vanished from the battlefield in a bright flash of white as Bethnael appeared onto that exact rear-guard circle in her place. Then right in front of the Angel Feather unit appeared yet another copy of Agalaea as she glowed brightly for the effect of her skill and it was one everyone knew could make or break the outcome of this fight right now.

"Here she goes again!" Miwa exclaimed as he saw the cruel demanored Selector reach out for the top card of her deck.

"Well then, let's see if this proves to be your misfortune," Ulith sneered.

Flipping over the first card onto the table, it came out as Ciel, Fictitious Love, Critical Hit Angel and Happy Bell, Nociel all of which were once again Angels.

"I'll add Ciel to my hand and place the other cards on top of my deck."

As soon as she did that, Miwa could only sigh deeply in relief that the cards that had been revealed meant that things wouldn't be as bad for Kai or so he had believed.

"Thank goodness..." he breathed "She only managed to set up one Critical Trigger. But... she still managed to get a Stand Trigger."

Kai now having seen what Ulith had set up for her next Twin Drive simply watched on as Ciel was called to the rear-guard and powered up through her own skill, now completing Ulith's entire formation for her full frontal assault this turn.

"Consider this an honor to be a willing test subject for an early glimpse at Tawil's potential, scum," the cruel demanored Selector said "Now to see if you will crack or live to fight on for one last chance."

"Come then," he spoke calmly.

"As you wish!" she replied with a crazed smile on her face "Bethanael and Agalaea switch positions! Then he attacks your rear-guard with a boost!"

As Bethanael pointed its guns towards Menace Laser Dragon, it let loose a barrage of bullets that showered over the Flame Dragon until it fell onto one side and vanished from the battlefield.

"Tawil attacks your Vanguard with a boost from Bethnael!"

As Tawil soared up high into the air again whilst preparing her golden pistols for an all out attack against Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon, Miwa glanced over towards the Kagero user in slight worry at the assault that was coming his way. Kai simply kept his eyes closed, having already had knowledge of what the cards from the coming Twin Drive would be thanks to Agalaea.

"No guard."

"Twin drive," Ulith sneered "Not that it matters what it is at this point."

Wasting no time with what knowledge she already had about the two cards that were on top of her deck, she pulled over Happy Bell, Nociel, the card glowing as it was revealed to all once again.

"I give all the effects to my other Bethnael," she smirked before revealing her second check as the Critical Hit Angel "Power to Ciel, Critical to Tawil."

Ciel, Fictitious Love/POW: 12000 - 17000

Tawil=Tre, the Guide/Critical: 1 - 2

As Tawil was powered up by the effect of the Critical Trigger, she was now in range of her two opponents as she began charging up her golden pistols once again. Then in a matter of seconds, she unleashed a barrage of oval bubble shaped bullets that rained down upon Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon, causing them to screech in pain as small explosions rocked Kai's entire side of the field as he fell to one knee, just as his two damage checks came out as Dragonic Neoflame and Vortex Dragonewt.

"Five damage!" gasped Miwa "And she still has another two attacks!"

"Now then, let's not let an intercept ruin this for me now," the cruel demanoured Selector spoke "Bethnael attacks Tarayev!"

Bethnael opened fire on Kai's only remaining front row rear-guard, dispatching the Dragon Knight off of the battlefield with the greatest of ease due to Kai choosing not to guard this attack at all. Now all that stood between him and defeat at this point was her final rear-guard, Ciel who was now powered up by Critical Hit Angel and her own skill in addition to having a booster available to maximize the potent of her power.

"So this is what it comes down to," Ulith remarked "Aside from that 'alternate' Overlord that I heard ruined Photon's previous attempt to invade Cray, you only have 10000 shield left in your hand. Unless that card you drew last turn has a shield value also... I believe you already know the rest."

Kai simply remained as he was, as if he was not concerned about the situation that was seemingly about to befall him, simply gazing back towards Ulith with a small glare. The cruel demanored Selector simply smirked, believing for an instance that she had him right where she wanted him and that this final attack would be the one that could decide the outcome of the fight.

"With a boost from my other Agalaea, Ciel will finish it!" she declared as she rested both of her remaining rear-guards.

Ciel upon recieving more power from Agalaea, held her blade high into the air as a large radiant aura enveloped the weapon itself, signalling that the Angel SIGNI was about to unleash all of her might at once against Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon as well as claiming victory for Ulith as a result of the attack being successful. When the aura was large enough, she made a mighty swing that sent an arc of solid light hurling towards the Legioned pair and exploding on contact, sending smoke everywhere across half of the battlefield.

"Kai!" cried Miwa.

As Ciel returned to her normal stance, Ulith simply gazed over towards the smoke, awaiting the result to see if she was indeed triumphant as she confidently believed she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-Adapted Cards debuting this chapter:**  
>  Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life  
> Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have "Tawil" in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RG).  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card with "Tawil" in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with "Tawil" in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> Tawil=Ett, Prolonged of Life  
> Grade 1  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 7000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named "Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.  
> [AUTO](RG): [Choose a Grade 3 or greater card from your hand and discard it] When this unit is placed on (RG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 card with "Tawil" in its card name, reveal it to your opponent and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> Tawil=Två, Prolonged of Life  
> Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](VG): If you have a card named "Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life" in your soul, this unit gets [Power]+1000.
> 
> Tawil=Tre, the Guide  
> Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO] [Counter Blast (1)]: When this card is placed on (VG), you may pay the cost. If you do, search your deck for up to one Grade 3 or less {Angel}, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
> Agalaea, Innocent Brightness  
> Grade 0  
> Trigger: Draw  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 4000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Angel  
> Unit Type: Trigger Unit  
> [AUTO]: When this card is placed on (RG), reveal three cards from the top of your deck and you may place them back on top in any order. If three {Angel} were revealed, you may add one to your hand and place the other two on top in any order instead.
> 
> Ciel, Fictitious Love  
> Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Angel  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](RG): If you have another {Angel} rear-guard, this unit gets +3000 Power.
> 
> Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb  
> Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 9000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: United Sanctuary  
> Clan: United Sanctuary  
> Race: Angel  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [ACT](RG): ['Rest' this unit] If you have a Vanguard with "Tawil" in its card name, search your deck for up to one {Angel} other than "Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb" and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.


	88. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 88: This Chaos Exemplified

**City Park  
**

Billows of smoke continued to rise from the ground as Ulith and the imaged Tawil on her side of the battlefield gazed at that very spot, curious to see if her opponent had either taken a fall or somehow managed to fend off her assault. Miwa could only watch on anxiously, worried for Kai's safety and what she intended to do next if she had proven to be victorious in their bout. Moments later however, a green light shone through the smog and cleared it out in an instant, revealing the presence of a battered Wyvern Guard, Barri that had barely managed to protect Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon from harm as the Kagero user was still standing firm. From what could be seen, he had discarded Genjo as the cost leaving Dragonic Overlord the Great as the only card left in hand.

"You still had a Perfect Guard, huh," the cruel demanoured Selector scoffed smugly as Barri vanished from the battlefield "But even with that alternate Overlord left in hand for your next ride, I still succeeded in decimating your rear-guard. Unless you think about this next attack carefully, victory is mine. Turn end."

"That was way too close," Miwa breathed as he let out a sigh of relief.

Kai drew his next card to start the turn ahead, gazing across to Ulith's completed formation and noting the cards that were still in her hand, one of which he still knew was a Perfect Guard she could drop at any time.

 _The logical approach would be to call my remaining cards to increase the number of my attacks_ he muttered in his thoughts _But... Ulith has been very confident in her abilities with Tawil in her limited state up to this point. In that case..._

Holding up the last card he had been holding onto since the previous turn above him, a whirlwind of embers began to rise from the ground beneath Vortex Dragonewt and Whirlwind Dragon.

"You burn in the scorching heat of purgatory, but you're resurrected again and again, emperor dragon! Feel uplifted among the flames, my avatar!" he announced before throwing down the card onto the Vanguard circle atop his Legion "Ride the Vanguard!"

The whirlwind then erupted into a fiery explosion of orange coloured flames as a familiar, yet different giant shadow began to rise from amongst the inferno that lay on the battlefield. Then with a defeaning roar, the fire disappeared to reveal the alternate appearance of the crimson red dragon that was the definitive avatar of Kai himself. It held a total of four swords, two in its regular arms and two larger ones in the giant muscular arms and claws that sprouted from its body. It gazed upon both Ulith and the imaged Tawil with its fierce yellow eyes as Kai announced its name.

"Perdition Emperor Dragon... Dragonic Overlord the Great!"

**Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Kagero/Flame Dragon  
**

"And then... Seek the mate!"

Moments after his declaration, a golden aura enveloped Dragonic Overlord the Great as four cards from out of the Kagero user's drop zone flew up into the air as he immediately snatched ahold of one of them.

"Amid the purgatorial flames that consume everything, a new avatar of flames is born! Perdition Dragon, Dragonic Neoflame! Legion!"

After throwing the card onto the table alongside Overlord's, Dragonic Neoflame burst from a brief column of fire as it then slithered alongside the crimson red dragon, the Legion symbol flashing before all. As this happened, Tarayev appeared to the right of the Legioned dragons in front of Gojo, priming his firearm for battle as he took up an offensive stance. Upon seeing what exactly this had meant for her now, Ulith glanced at her hand for a brief instance before returning her confident gaze to Kai.

"Calamitous flames and a burning soul! Render all walls meaningless that stand before two fiery dragons!" he called as he rested the two cards on his Vanguard circle "Attack Ciel!"

"Twin drive!" he announced as he revealed his first card as Vortex Dragonewt before turning over the second card as Blue Ray Dracokid "Got a Critical Trigger! I give power to Tarayev and the Critical to my Vanguard!"

Throwing one of its larger blades to the side, much to Miwa's slight discomfort as it flew right past him, Dragonic Overlord the Great held out its larger and more muscular right arm as Dragonic Neoflame hovered up before coiling itself around the entire limb and setting itself ablaze. Growling loudly, it pointed its right arm towards the defenceless Ciel before unleashing a blast of flames from its jaw, as did Neoflame in tandem, both attacks combining into a single blast that incinerated the Angel SIGNI in an instant. As the card landed in Ulith's drop zone, a fiery orange coloured aura surrounded Tarayev as the Dragon Knight himself powered up from the success of the attack.

**Perdition Dragon Knight, Tarayev/POW: 14000 - 19000**

"Overlord's Legion skill!" Kai continued as he discarded the two cards he had picked up from his Twin Drive "Overlord and Neoflame, stand again!"

Dragonic Overlord the Great then immediately set its sights upon the seemingly defenceless Tawil that was still imaged on Ulith's side of the field before lowering its stance for a brief moment, only to soar into the air in an instant immediately afterwards. Calamity Tower Wyvern then flapped its wings as a bright red aura enveloped the Kagero user's two Vanguards, preparing them for battle. With Neoflame still ablaze on the larger of its right arms, it reeled said arm backwards as it dived down towards its target. Kai kept his serious gaze upon the cruel demanoured Selector, knowing that there was seemingly only one way out of this situation for her.

_She still has a Perfect Guard in her hand... even if she uses it now, my rear-guard's attack will..._

"No guard."

Both he and Miwa suddenly gasped in shock to Ulith's sudden declaration, just as Dragonic Overlord brought down its larger first with the blazing Dragonic Neoflame still coiled around it down onto the ground with a mighty explosive smash that shook the entire battlefield. Then it opened its jaws and unleashed a large torrent of flames that covered over the imaged Tawil and the cruel demanored Selector, who simply, but briefly squealed before laughing off the pain once again like before.

"What?!" Miwa exclaimed "Even if she had to let the other attack through from a lack of shield... not using the Perfect Guard here means...!"

"Damage check," she smirked before flipping over the top card of her deck onto the table, revealing Sunny Smile Angel "Heal Trigger."

As she moved over the card to her damage zone, she then reached out to her deck once more, smirking confidently as she placed her fingertips on top of the next card. Kai gazed closely towards it, his eyes narrowing at the developing scenario.

 _Now it makes sense..._ he muttered in his thoughts _By returning the first Sunny Smile Angel to her deck after recovering it from her damage zone with Nociel, she's been filtering her deck with the skills of Tawil and Nakirun. Even so, with Overlord's Critical now... is she really that confident to get more Heal Triggers now?_

The tension in the air rose as Ulith slowly picked up the top card of her deck, leaving Miwa far more anxious than ever, worried that Kai's large attack with Dragonic Overlord the Great could now possible seemingly be all for naught. When she gazed down at the card however, despite keeping her calm and collected smile, she turned over the card and placed it into her damage zone face up, revealing it as Nakirun, Younger Sister Deity of the Holy Tomb.

"So this is what pushing my luck feels like, huh," she muttered to herself before glancing to the Embodiment of Spear, Tahr that was in Kai's right hand after his second Twin Drive "Not that it would have mattered in the end."

Within seconds after she had finished up her sentence, the purple boundary disappeared as well as the imaged Tawil and all of the units on the battlefield. The two combatants gathered their cards back together before the red tables disappeared with nothing more taking place after that. The Kagero user knew Judgment would not be cast even with Ulith's loss as she had not rode Tawil all the way up to Grade 5. She had mentioned that the real LRIG was still 'incomplete', but he didn't think that it would extend to her current deck until a single thought had crossed his mind.

"You never intended to win at all, didn't you," he murmured.

"Who knows?" she scoffed bemusingly, shrugging her shoulders as she did so "But at the very least, I can confirm the potential of Tawil's strength for myself before she truely awakens."

Kai simply narrowed his gaze, knowing for a fact that Umr would not be in the possession of Aichi as of the night both he and the Royal Paladin user saved Ruko and Yuki from their terrible fate had it not been for the intervention of Takuto Tatsunagi. From what little word he could go on from Miyako, since both LRIGs were once part of a much stronger entity who only came into being for merely a few moments from Mayu being unable to control such raw power that she attempted to infuse into one of the 'original' LRIGs when the system began, it would stand to reason that their recent plans could stem from the name Ut'ulls. However, the mere thought of Umr alone fitting into said plans with Tawil yet to awaken was not the only concern on his mind regarding the overall subject.

"So what's gonna happen if the real Tawil over in your world wakes up?" Miwa asked.

"Well, I'll just have to wait and see," Ulith replied smugly "Not even I know what she's currently like with how much Photon insists I keep my distance from her for the time being." She then looked back to Kai. "You know that Tatsunagi Takuto helped Umr escape to Sendou Aichi's possession by temporarily calling on Ezel to wreck the lab briefly. But... with the forces at work in Mayu's domain, how do you believe they even made it that far?"

As the Kagero user's best friend blinked in confusion for a moment, Kai's eyes suddenly widened as he suddenly realized that there was only one way that an opportunity like that would seemingly come to pass for both Umr and Takuto back then.

"That's right, I convinced Photon to let her escape to him," she continued with a devious smirk "Did you really think that the Star-vaders, let alone that 'Clown' would get anywhere with them if their personalities remained blank slates in that lab?"

The Kagero user could only remain even more unnerved, now seeing that this 'conicidence' by chance was now all a set-up by the cruel demanoured Selector from the very beginning of that moment. She then pursed two fingers to her lips, her smile deepening and her soft gaze appearing far more eerie to the eyes of those that stood directly before her.

"It's ironic when you think about him. The tainted wishes and crushed hopes of all those in the Selector Battles that he still seeks to prevent," she spoke in a creepily soft whisper before gazing up to the full moon in the night sky, a thought now crossing her sick and twisted mind "I imagine from where we stand at this moment, it won't be very long now... before the 'blood' of a wish through those battles is spilt on his own hands."

"What are you planning with Aichi?!" he demanded "Does it have anything to do with Ut'ulls?!"

"I told you, I don't simply spoil all of my surprises, scum," the cruel demanored Selector spat "But, I suppose I can tell you my preferred outcomes. I could always throw another image to crack him, find some 'cheap' method to make him hate himself to the point where he may as well end his own miserable existence like a 'few' others. However, my greatest treat I imagine would be... seeing 'that' side of him, previously dormant for the last three years."

Though it had taken a few long moments for the two boys to understand the meaning of her words, a horrifying thought crossed over Kai and Miwa's respective minds as their expressions grew disturbed. In the back of their minds, the Aichi that was standing there was dressed in a pair of black trousers and wearing a red sweater along with a green coloured jacket. He slowly turned around with a sinister smile adorned on his face and in his eyes, the unmistakable rainbow coloured glow of PSY Qualia adorned with a dark blue aura. Before either one of them could respond to Ulith in disgust, they watched on to see that she had already picked out a blank Wixoss card with a White backing and announced 'Open' before vanishing in a bright flash of dark red.

When she had vanished, the empty park darkened by the night sky fell silent once more as Kai simply stared at the spot that the cruel demanored Selector had vanished from, praying that his remaining companions in Ruko's world and Hitoe were not just keeping up their guard, but also keeping a close eye on Aichi. The fight itself and what had been revealed afterwards had turned the day of long awaited reunions with other comrades and allies to a night of shocks and sinister surprises. Miwa, still noticing that his friend was feeling the way he would sometimes do so, decided to speak up.

"Well, that fight was certainly something..." he muttered "Are you alright Kai? She said some worrying things."

"I'll be fine Miwa," Kai grunted "Nothing was ultimately lost in that fight... except for my pride."

"But, those things that she said about Ruko's mother considering adopting you had the Link Joker invasion been successful... she was lying, right? You never said anything of the sort to us when you told us about what was going on."

The Kagero user, not wanting to allow the subject to boil up his personal anger for the second time this night, took a deep breath as calmly as he could and faced his closest friend.

"No, Ulith was speaking the truth," he answered before looking down at the ground "Lately, I have been thinking back to the way I was back then. I always believed that despite taking on that power for myself, before Aichi stopped the other Takuto, I had always followed that path I had chosen to walk on my own way. Now I don't know what to believe anymore."

Sensing the discomfort from Kai as he walked away slowly from the park and back to his apartment to hopefully catch up on a good night's sleep, Miwa said nothing more as he watched his friend disappear into the distance. Though he didn't have more words to offer that could do anything for him for the time being, his gaze showed one of concern as he eventually walked back to his own home.

* * *

**...**

Meanwhile, within the upper floors of the building above the store of Card Capital itself, Ruko was sitting down on a spare futon that was supplied to her by Misaki earlier in the night as she was sitting in the latter's bedroom with Tama and Yuki's card laid out on the small blue table in front of her. She was currently preoccupied in her mind and unable to think of anything to say to her two LRIGs or the Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user herself as the sound of running water from the bathroom next door was all there was to otherwise occupy the silent room, save for the occasional noise by the girl of white.

Looking over to a picture on the back end of the single bed, the Selector could see that it was one displaying Misaki along with Kamui, Aichi and Kai during their earlier days together as Team Quadrifoglio. All them, save for the Kagero user who kept his serious expression in the photo, seemed like they were happy together when they started out and all four of them had been through much since then. Though all four members were not together within the same world as of current circumstances, she was still happy that she had gotten to meet and know about each of them for herself.

"So you guys were really close," Ruko murmured "You must have had a really good time together as a team."

"Some of us admittedly had our differences," said Misaki "But even now, I still treasure the times we had. Even if Q4 is still in a somewhat disbanded state with recent graduations to the next part of our respective lives for myself and Kai, all four of us are otherwise still close friends."

"I see," the Selector replied as she looked back to her "So... you actually play with two clans if remember right. Genesis and... er..."

"Oracle Think Tank," Yuki interjected, helping her to remember the other clan "Though we haven't seen any units of that clan in our own world yet, Aichi mentioned that he saw a few Genesis units as green SIGNI when Sakuya still had Midoriko."

"That does make sense..."

Tama blinked for a moment as she looked up to Misaki, curious as to her exact comment in regards to the statement that the girl of black had given to both her and Ruko.

"What does Misaki mean?" the LRIG asked curiously.

"From what you and Kiyoi told of me of the Wixoss card game in your world," she began "Green cards are more accustomed to Ener Charging to power up their SIGNI and paying higher costs for more powerful effects. That's why Yuki's answer didn't come across as much of a surprise."

Ruko gazed at Misaki in a small bit of awe, having been aware of the fact that the Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user despite having no Wixoss cards of her own, save for the one of Anne that Futase had dropped behind at their end of their cardfight during Schwarzschild Dragon's escape had not been otherwise confused by the change in the rulings between their respective games. She briefly recalled that Kai told her about her having a 'Perfect Memory' or something similar as far as she could remember herself, but she didn't think that would allow her to come up with quite the accurate deductions. After a brief silence had passed by, Kiyoi had come back into the bedroom wearing a white gown and having a towel wrapped up in her hair.

"You have my thanks in letting me borrow your shower," she spoke in her usual monotone.

"That's fine," Misaki replied as she watched her walk over and take a seat at the small desk beside the curtain covered window.

From what the girls could see, the former blue LRIG had laid out her deck and had recently been observing the choices of cards that she had picked out from what was available to her out of the drawer she had gone through back in the kitchen on Leon's island. Curious to what she was thinking about, Ruko peeked over her shoulder at the cards laid out. The fact that Kiyoi had chosen to build a Nova Grappler deck of her own did come as a surprise to most of the group when she had fought Morikawa earlier in the afternoon, Kamui moreso having had the greatest amount of experience around her usual tactics from their numerous encounters back in her world.

"So what made you pick that clan?" Ruko asked curiously, having only battled against her once as an LRIG in Akira's possession giving her limited knowledge about her preferred style.

"I suppose you could say that I find the Blau series a more offensive take on my usual tactics," Kiyoi calmly answered "Katsuragi simply assumed I would pick Megacolony for the similarities between Paralyze and Freeze or that I would take up Nubatama for dealing with the opponent's hand directly. But with the amount of experience Remember has had around me and Mayu's associates having knowledge of that, I believed a simple change of approach was in order."

"I see."

Misaki then came over to join the Selector in sharing a look over at the deck that was laid out on the desk before her, making note of each and every card she could see having come across them at least once in her time as Card Capital's clerk, much like almost any other card from the game of Vanguard she could think of that had entered the store itself and from her respective travels. Though her mind told her that Kiyoi had managed to put together a decent deck from what she could scrounge up from the island, her heart on the other hand told her that was still a hint of dissatisfation that she could sense from the former blue LRIG as she looked down at the cards in front of her.

"You feel as though your deck is incomplete," she murmured.

"That would be correct," Kiyoi replied "I was only lucky to find a single unit with a Break Ride ability to increase the pressure of Stern Blaukluger's attack. Aside from that, despite having a focus on the Blau series, I currently have only few cards related to them."

"Don't worry about it," Ruko interjected "I'm sure you can find the remaining cards tomorrow from the stock or display cabinets downstairs in Card Capital."

Kiyoi didn't utter another word back to the Selector, but she silently nodded to let her know that was something would turn to when Shin would eventually open up the store in the coming morning. Placing the deck as it was back into her blue coloured case, she placed it down on the desk as the three girls then turned their attention to settling down for the night.

* * *

**Mall Basement**

The very next morning, Christopher along with Tetsu, Neve and Ratie had gone to the location where the 'gateway' to the Sanctuary that once lay on the moon still lay with the shards to the broken keystone now removed from the empty hole that now replaced it. The Great Nature user had already set up the small laptop that he had brought with him along with other bits of technology and equipment from his dormitory room at SIT back in Singapore. With some help from Tetsu, he was able to link both the computer and the remanant of the teleporter together with a makeshift cable as a window opened up on his screen displaying a pattern of some kind that changed in appearance with every passing second.

Despite her lack of familiarity with some of the more advanced forms of technology before her, Ratie had shown some intrigue at what she had been seeing on the screen for the time being whilst Neve simply stared at what remained of the 'gateway', wondering if it could even be fixed at this point with his and the other Quatre Knights' talismans having disappeared after Kai's final confrontation with Aichi on the moon quite some time ago. After a few long minutes had passed by with mere observations having took place for the time being, Christopher stood up and looked up to Tetsu to give his verdict on what he could find.

"Well, I can definitely confirm that Kamui wasn't kidding when he said that Aichi, Leon and Ren planned to use their PSY Qualia in an attempt to forcefully activate it to send them and Ishida to a location other than that Sanctuary that no longer exists," he said "Though I can't sense any leftover residue with my own, I have been able to trace that there is still a live frequency similar to theirs in the remnant of the powerless 'Gateway'."

"So you might be able to fix it?" the Dark Irregulars user asked.

"Well... I can say it's possible," he replied "But from what I could find, it may be a matter of trial and error before I can even try and activate the panel without the keystone, let alone see if it can teleport anyone over to the world they went to."

"If it can?" Ratie pondered in concern "You don't sound that sure."

"Naturally, with using this teleporter for something outside of its intended purpose, let alone without the true means to activate it," Neve replied "If Chris doesn't approach this carefully, he could potentially send Kai and the others to a completely different world or worse..."

Everyone remained silent with slight unease, knowing that he had indeed raised a point about this whole situation. If the time did come and the teleporter did not work as the way as they had hoped it would... who knew what could happen next.

"In any regard..." Christopher spoke, attempting to break the ice "I'll start by testing to see if I can power the gateway on and if I can do so by replicating the frequency I picked up."

"Then we wish you and Testu the best of luck," Neve replied before looking down to Ratie "Let's go."

"Yeah!" she replied happily as the two of them then left the basement of the mall.

By now, the marked fighter and the Dark Irregulars user were on their own and faced with the difficult task that now stood before them. They knew time was off the essence with neither of them or Kai's group knowing how long they had to get to Aichi and the others before Mayu and Chaos Breaker's plans could reach fruition in the other world. As Christopher got back down onto his laptop, he looked back up at Tetsu who seemed deep in thought as he gazed at the mural, though he knew that the teleporter was not the only thing that was on his mind.

"I'm sure Ren is handling himself just fine," the Great Nature user said with a reassuring smile "Sometimes, even his less... serious side has caught me off guard."

"It's not his behaviour that worries me," Tetsu replied "If the information you and Kai gave me is true, I wonder how it is this Mayu plans to respond to him in particular. That and Asaka has recently been growing more anxious about his safety, not helped by the fact she lost Luquier and the entire Silver Thorn series to this Ulith when our headquarters was attacked. We're only thankful that I was able to lockdown her room at the time before she could reach it and steal any more of her other units from there."

"Still, these marks..." Christopher murmured as he held his marked hand up, as did the Dark Irregulars user in return "I find it surprising that it also links our cards to the units that are now captured."

"You mentioned that any cards you touch that belong to the same series or possess the same names as the ones lost immediately turn blank like the ones you hold," he spoke "Is that true?"

"Yeah... Before I left Singapore, Mitsusada gave me a spare Triangle Cobra that he got from the card shop near SIT to test that theory. Needless to say, it does hold true, believe it or not."

Tetsu's expression grew grim as the reality of the statement that was made clear to him and all those marked back at Foo Fighter was now settling in as the cold hard truth of the matter. Deciding that it was for the best to not dwell on the subject any longer and help Christopher making at least some kind of a start in trying to power on the teleporter to the same frequency that his laptop had picked up on.

"Well then, shall we begin?"

"Yeah."

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

Meanwhile within the single bedroom of his home, of that he was glad to be back within after everything he had been through up to this point, Kai was sitting down on the mattress and was deep in thought. There was no doubt that from the fight last night that Ulith had intended to provoke him in one way or another, even if the approach was different from the way she would normally try to break down all of her victims. And as much he had hated to admit it, even if she did not succeed in tearing his overall composure to shreds, she had certainly found success in getting under his skin and riling him up when she revealed the potential endgames she had in mind for Aichi when they would next meet back in her world.

Thinking over back to all of the attacks on his world that had happened so far, he soon realized that despite hearing word that he was recovering from his unfortunate encounter with Miyako, he hadn't spoken to Gaillard since his abrupt return. Recalling that he still had a means to contact him since his graduation from Hitsue High, he looked back to his bedside desk that had a card with a small trail of numbers on it. Bringing out his mobile phone from his trouser pocket, he inputted the number that was displayed and awaited for the ringtone to finish. When it did however...

"Hello, amigo! What can I do for you?!"

An unfamiliar energetic and somewhat lively voice suddenly sounded out aloud into the Kagero user's right ear, causing him to wince a little as he moved the phone a little away from his ear on instinct.

"I'm making a call to Olivier Gaillard," he spoke calmly, hoping that whoever had answered on the other end would calm down in return as well "Tell him that Kai Tos..."

"Amazing!" the voice on the other end replied "I can't believe I'm speaking with the infamous Kai Toshiki at last! I must say, it's nice to finally speak to you even if master Leon's little surprise for our eventual meeting in the Euro League was inter... Huh...? Ah, sorry! I'll pass you over right to him!"

Kai simply sighed quietly, having not expected that his call through to the former Quatre Knight would be seemingly as much of a hassle for him as he had found out. But at the very least, it seemed that the voice on the other end had finally broken out of his excited distraction and was now allowing him to speak with Gaillard at last.

"You've certainly caused quite the hassle for Aichi-san to be worried sick about you," Gaillard's voice echoed "But given the circumstances, it is good to see you back in this world, Kai Toshiki."

"The feeling is mutual," the Kagero user replied "Are you doing alright?"

"Yes. Most of my wounds from Judgment have faded and I'm able to walk again," he answered before letting out a small sigh "... Though I wish he would tone down his excitement, especially for times such as this, please forgive Jaime. He means well and has taken good care of the kids whilst I've been resting."

"I see," Kai murmured "I assume Neve and Ratie have told you everything about what we are up against now?"

"That's correct. It still disturbs me that the one who made Aichi-san scream is amongst those attacking fighters across our world."

He simply nodded in agreement, the events of last night still being very fresh in his mind as his calm expression had turned grim once more with uncertainty building up in the back of his head.

"Indeed," he spoke "And if my encounter with her last night has taught me anything... she definitely will try again soon."

"In any case, I will be planning to meet up with all of you in Japan soon," Gaillard replied "I've heard word that one of you is trying to repair the gateway to get us to that other world since it broke after Aichi-san used it recently."

"Yes," said Kai "If we are fortunate, we can reunite with Aichi and the others and help them in putting an end to the Selector Battles and Chaos Breaker's plans. Take care for now, Gaillard."

After bidding him farewell, the Kagero user ended the call and got up from the bed that he had been sitting on, now seeing that Gaillard had more or less managed to recover everything from his loss to Miyako, save for his pride and the Bluish Flame Liberators. Thinking about the woman for a moment and how none of their group had seen her since all of them vanished through the wormhole caused unintentionally by Ayumu's efforts to prevent her escape back in her world. He recalled that Ulith had alledgedly praised him during their fight for 'bringing her down a peg' by defeating her and that she called her a child trying to be an adult that was above humanity.

Though he wasn't sure about what exactly the cruel demanored Selector had been getting across to him through her opinion of Miyako, decietful words or not, he could sense that the woman's burning hatred for humanity since Mayu's death as a human had overridden nearly all logic that she functioned off of and her attempts to justify all of her actions since becoming the General of the mastermind's forces placed her above the race she sought to bring to extinction when the Star-vaders would invade her world had only confirmed what little suspicions of her character he had before encountering her for the first time when he re-encountered Noriko. Before he could dwell on this any further, he heard a doorbell go off as he opened the door to find that Miwa and Ruko were standing outside.

"Good morning Kai," the Selector greeted.

"The same to you," he replied as he moved aside to allow them inside.

"So, did you manage to get through to Gaillard?" asked Miwa, to which the Kagero user nodded in response.

As Ruko wandered around the single room apartment, surprised that it even functioned as his single bedroom compared to her own apartment back in her own world where she, Ayumu and her grandmother Hatsu at least had small, but seperate bedrooms of their own, she could hear Tama yawning loudly as she picked out the cards containing her and Yuki. The girl of black was still feeling a little drowsy as she rubbed her eyes whilst the girl of white on the other hand was still in quite an energetic mood as ever.

"Good morning Ru!" she called loudly.

"Good morning, Tama," Ruko replied with a cheerful smile "Good morning, Yuki."

Yuki simply tried to smile in response before she fell back to sleep with her drowsiness getting the better of her, much to Tama's slight confusion. The Selector simply kept her kind smile in understanding, knowing that the girl of black didn't exactly get the best of sleep from last night for whatever reason it was.

"Kiyoi is not with you?" Kai asked curiously.

"She said she wanted to familiarize herself with the city a bit more," Ruko answered "After that, she said she'd come back to Card Capital later."

"I mean no offence to her, especially after what she's been through," Miwa commented "But I gotta say, she seems like one of Kamui's more stranger choices of friends."

"Kiyoi originally viewed the world and the people around her as an enemy first and foremost," the Kagero user replied "It is only now that she's begun to try accepting the trust of others around her."

"But... people still think Kiyoi is Remember, right?" Tama murmured.

Everyone in the apartment said nothing back, knowing that Misaki had observed several people in Card Capital the day before had not taken kindly to Kiyoi's presence due to Remember marking them previously and stealing their units using her body and identity to do so. Ruko knew with Misaki that this was yet another challenge that the former blue LRIG was going to have to overcome for the duration of their stay in this world. Thinking about her now only had her pondering on how she was doing and where exactly she was now.

* * *

**City Streets  
**

Meanwhile across several streets of the city, close to where the headquarters of Foo Fighter was located, Kiyoi was wandering by herself. Though she had memorized her entire route she had taken from Card Capital so that she could easily return to the store if needed be, she had wanted to familiarize herself with the world around her a little more from what even she could assume was inner curiosity, something that her old self would normally object to. Turning a corner, she began walking down an narrow, but mostly empty street.

"So even if I'm familiar with Japan, especially this city," she murmured to herself "There are some noticable differences from the one from my world. Our worlds having more in common, yet so different at the same time."

Walking onwards towards the end of the street she was in, a small creak from underneath her feet caught her attention as she stopped in her footsteps to find that she had unknowingly walked onto a large wooden circle of some kind with two small straight bars running down either side. Before she had time to comprehend what she had stepped onto, everything suddenly went dark as something large had fallen down from above and covered over her in an instant.

"What the...?!" she gasped in shock as she touched the 'cover' to find that it was made of wood and that it curved all around her, save for a small hole in the side.

"We got her, kaboom!" a voice called from outside "Sending the victory message to Gouki now!"

"Nice one! Now let's hurry up and get this wannabe thief back to Nagisa!"

Kiyoi soon realized from her predicament that she had walked into a trap set by these two men and now she was stuck in a barrel that had somehow landed perfectly over her. Upon hearing the name Gouki and how Kamui had mentioned that the captured Cocytus was a unit from his deck that Remember had captured, it all started to make sense. These people were previously forced into fights by her former compatriot and were unaware of the fact that she had done so as herself and now, they believed that she was Remember and had captured her because of that oversight. Before she could say anything, she felt the ground of the barrel that served as her cage being lifted from the ground as the two outside were now hauling her to Nagisa.

"Let me out!" she called "Let me speak with Katsuragi!"

But it was to no avail as she felt the barrel wobble a little from the increased pace of the two that were carrying it from outside. It seemed all that she could do was wait until they reached the younger Daimonji sibling and see what it was that they were after from their understandable belief that she was the attacker that had marked them previously.

* * *

Minutes later on a street not that far away from Card Capital, Kamui, Reiji and Eiji were on their way down to the store itself as they were engaged in discussion about everything that had been going in the time that they had spent away from each other. He had been telling the two boys a little more about Kiyoi, Amika and Remember in seperate discussions, offering his views on the three of them and occasionally mentioning other people and LRIGs he had encountered in their world like Chiyori, Hitoe and Yuzuki.

"Sounds like you had the crazy ride alright," Reiji commented.

"CRA, yo!" Eiji interjected.

"Believe me, you don't know the half of it," the Nova Grappler user replied "I've pretty much been caught up in a whole mess with body swaps, bad grudge and other things over there. But those girls really need our help or that whole thing we stopped a year ago is gonna come back for a second round."

"There you are Kamui!"

Everyone blinked as they looked ahead to see that Gouki was standing before them as he grinned triumphantly, wanting to tell Kamui of the 'good news' that he had recieved during his search for him.

"Gouki, it's been a while!" he greeted with a wave "You managed to get your units back alright?"

"We sure did," the Granblue user replied "And to top it all off for today, we even managed to catch the thief just a few minutes ago."

"Thief?" Kamui pondered in confusion "What do you mean?"

"Nagisa's little trap worked liked a charm," Gouki answered "We finally managed to catch the one that marked us, Mizushima Kiyoi!"

Then it was his turn to be surprised as Kamui's expression turned to utter horror as he soon realized that the whole of Team Handsome had just made a huge mistake. As Reiji and Eiji looked to one another, unsure of how to interpret the situation at hand, the Nova Grappler user wasted no time in uttering out his response to what he had just found out now.

"Gouki... you guys have nabbed the wrong girl!"


	89. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - This Absurd Turnabout I

**Shop Handsome**

With a judder and a rough shake, the bottom of the barrel dropped open as Kiyoi fell to the floor in an instant, now noticing where exactly she was and who her captors were. From what she could gather from the two men she saw and heard earlier, she could now see that each of them wore a red bandanna and that their appearances differed from one another with one being tall and thin whilst the other was shorter with more bulk to his body. They quickly surrounded her from behind, having had no intentions on letting her escape the place that she was inside. The shop interior seemed to resemble more of a building that one would find near the coastline with the porthole shaped windows and the way that the wooden walls were built as well as some of the ornaments on them seeming like they belonged to a ship of sorts more than a card shop.

"Looks like we managed to catch our thief hook line and sink before she could make another attempt on us, kaboom!" the shorter man said in triumph.

"All that's left now is for Gouki to come back here so we can choke some info out of Kiyoi here," the taller man replied "I even heard he's managed to find Kamui before he got our message."

Kiyoi despite being less than thrilled to being stuck in the situation that she was in now, courtesy of Remember's previous 'visit' to this particular shop, could at least find solace in that Kamui was bound to have discovered from Gouki that she was indeed captured for the crimes of her former LRIG. All that she knew however was that the sooner he would arrive here, the sooner this entire case of mistaken identity could be cleared up and hopefully put behind her for the time being.

"Kaoru, Hiroshi, you've done a great job for me and my sweet Kamui-chan!"

Upon hearing Nagisa's voice congratulate her two captors for their efforts, Kiyoi turned around before being shoved forward by Kaoru to meet with the one who had organized the trap that she had been ensnared in earlier. The much younger Daimonji sibling had her arms crossed and despite her happier tone at the news she had gotten earlier, her face had become that of a frown once she was now face to face with the person she believed was the same one who had marked her and Gouki several days ago. From what she could gather from her words earlier, this was the same person she had heard one of her two captors mention shortly after she had been trapped.

"So we meet again, Mizushima Kiyoi," she said as she glared up towards her "You've got a lot of nerve to come back here, especially with what you did before."

"I presume you're this Nagisa?" she murmured calmly. Her answer along with her tone however had only served to seemingly annoy the young girl in front of her.

"We've already met!" she replied, shaking her fist in overly exaggerated anger "Are you telling me you've forgotten about our last encounter on purpose?!"

As the former blue LRIG did her best to avoid the urge to roll her eyes in response, she knew that Nagisa was far from done with whatever it was that she had to say towards her.

"Well, it doesn't make that much of a difference anyway," she continued "With you in our hands, not only can we lure in any of your partners in crime to us, but my big brother and my beloved Kamui-chan will take care of them all at once!"

"Even if I was Remember, your real attacker, I would solely doubt Mayu would have any interest in ordering the pick up of someone who let themselves be captured," Kiyoi replied "If you would just be patient enough for Katsuragi to arrive here..."

"Not only did you have the nerve to take mine and my brother's units until we somehow got them back, but you also took Kamui-chan away from me!" Nagisa interrupted before looking away from her with a seemingly sad expression "And just when we were finally making arrangements for our wedding... you had to go and spoil it by kidnapping him and putting him under your own spell!"

Despite feeling the added glares of Hiroshi and Kaoru down her neck after the latest accusation to the list of charges that should be rightfully applied to Remember, Kiyoi couldn't help but question the logistics behind this so called 'wedding' that the girl in front of her had brought up. She had never heard of the younger Daimonji sibling or her supposed relationship with Kamui prior to being captured and as a result, this had only left her in utter confusion with no understanding of the additional accustation that she had now brought up.

"... I'm sorry, what?"

* * *

 

 

**City Streets**

"You gotta be kidding me...! Out of all the stupidest things..."

Kamui moaned for a brief moment as he was finally being filled in on the 'charges' that Nagisa had brought to the table as he walked across the city to reach Shop Handsome. He had a feeling Kiyoi was bound to have been approached by fighters who still believed she was Remember, but the last thing he had expected was for Nagisa to somehow be dragged into the whole mess as well. As Reiji and Eiji trailed behind him having shared only confusion in their expressions as they listened to what Gouki was telling them about, the Granblue user continued with the explanation that he had gotten.

"That's what she heard from your quote-on-quote imposter," he said "But given how long you've been away from here for, are you sure that nothing weird's happened between you and this... Remember, let alone Kiyoi?"

"Wha... no!" the Nova Grappler user replied with his face having gone red out of embarassment from just even the slightest thought on the so-called matter "I might like Kiyoi more than I did when I first met her, but this is ridiculous!"

Upon hearing some nervous sounds escaping both Reiji and Eiji and noting that Gouki's stance on the subject had seemingly not changed despite his response, he soon realized that he should have picked a better choice of words. Shaking his head to clear off the red colour from his cheeks and calm himself down, he coughed lightly and decided to try and reword his answer.

"I mean, I had a better opinion of her!" he said "If anything, she's had it rougher over in that world than I have!"

"You really need to be more careful when choosing your words about this around Team Handsome in general," Reiji muttered.

"BMC, yo," Eiji interjected.

Huffing for a moment, Kamui decided that now wasn't the time to be getting flustered over baseless accusations that Kiyoi was now having to endure and decided to continue with the three others around him to Shop Handsome in the hope of freeing the former blue LRIG, clearing up all of the identity confusion between her and Remember and just as importantly to him... avoiding getting roped into marriage with Nagisa, again.

* * *

 

**Shop Handsome**

As Hiroshi and Kaoru simply held blank looks of confusion towards Kiyoi in regards to her response to Nagisa's latest accusation, the younger Daimonji sibling however was not convinced by the questioning tone that she had given throughout her speech. The former blue LRIG had not said another word or made even a single noise after she had expressed her legitimate confusion on the implications of said accusation.

"Don't play dumb with me!" she replied "During our fight, you not only said I'd never see Kamui-chan again, but that you were having fun playing around with him before you took him and had great plans for him!"

With the noise having long passed over, Kiyoi still remained unfazed and completely silent. Though part of her was curious about whatever Remember may had said to Nagisa when she had attacked Shop Handsome previously, a part of her couldn't help but inwardly sigh at the apparent situation that her captor had claimed that her former compatriot had supposedly dragged her into now.

"Nagisa, are you sure we got the right girl?" Hiroshi asked "Our attacker wasn't exactly the silent type when she showed up before."

"Of course it's the same Kiyoi!" Nagisa replied as she then went around various angles of the former blue LRIG "She's even got the same bluish eyes and brown hair."

After she had tugged at a bit of her hair to prove her point, Kiyoi though still unfazed was beginning to lose her patience with the younger Daimonji sibling and decided that now was the time to stop playing the role of the somewhat willing captive and bring an end to situation she was in, regardless of whether Kamui made it to the shop or not at this point. And from what she had been hearing from her captor's accusations and obsession over the Nova Grappler user, she believed that she had the means to begin working her way out from where she was.

"I could hardly care less for a 'wedding' or whatever it is you're roping Katsuragi into," she spoke "But it seems that arguing over the true identity of the one who previously attacked you isn't getting us anywhere."

"What are you getting at, kaboom?" Kaoru questioned.

Their answer soon came in the form of the former blue LRIG reaching into her pocket for her deck case, soon seeing that she was wanting to cardfight her way out of her captive stance.

"If my words won't convince you, then perhaps a fight might do so."

Upon hearing that Kiyoi had now made her challenge to them clear, Kaoru and Hiroshi looked to one another, recalling the last time that they were attacked when the units displaying Remember had utterly decimated them, Gouki and Nagisa leading to their marks back then as well as the loss of their units. Still convinced that the girl in front of them was their real attacker, they weren't sure on whether to accept her challenge to teach her a lesson as they saw it or to decline and further reinforce their hostage situation until Gouki and Kamui arrived at the shop.

"Fine by me," Nagisa spoke as she regained her smile for the first time since speaking to the former blue LRIG "You know... a part of me actually wanted to fight you again for Kamui-chan's sake and so we can all get some payback for the time your marked us."

"H.. hang on!" Hiroshi called "If you lose, you might get your units stolen agai...!"

"That won't happen!" she replied confidently "I've come prepared since the last time we fought, with the very deck that almost wed me and Kamui-chan at the Asia Circuit! My love-love Anti-Paralyze/Freeze deck!"

As the younger Daimonji sibling brought out a pink case containing the deck that she had just described, Kaoru immediately came between her and Kiyoi for a brief moment to bring over one of the fight tables that was around the otherwise empty store. After he had placed down a small stool on the other side for Nagisa to reach the height of the table, she and the former blue LRIG stepped up to the battlefield before themselves and laid down their starting Vanguards. Once the two had finished arranging their starting hands, they reached out for the cards that they had laid down on the Vanguard circles.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" Nagisa called as she flipped over Death Army Pawn.

"Open, Vanguard," Kiyoi calmly spoke as she revealed Morgenrot, much to the surprise of Kaoru and Hiroshi.

"Morgenrot?!" the taller man gasped.

"She's using a completely different deck, kaboom!" the bulkier fighter interjected.

Whilst Nagisa couldn't help but express slight confusion over the starting Vanguard in front of her, especially since she had expected it to depict Remember in LRIG form instead, she immediately shook her head, still convinced that her opponent was the same person that had attacked them previously.

"So you're using a different deck to try and confuse me further," she said "But it won't work on me! I'll beat you and break Kamui-chan out of your little spell!"

Kiyoi said nothing back in response, feeling that at this current moment with the way things were, there was no way to attempt to reason with Nagisa or convince her that she wasn't Remember. The younger Daimonji sibling drew to begin the first turn before placing down a unit from her hand that was unfamiliar to the former blue LRIG.

"Ride, Death Army Guy!" she called "Death Army Pawn moves!"

 _She called it an anti-Freeze deck..._ Kiyoi pondered in her thoughts as she drew a card to start her first turn _Nova Grappler can Stand their rear-guards during the Battle Phase, but there has to be a reason she's called it that on the assumption Remember would go after them again._

"Ride, Dancing Wolf."

After placing down the card on top of Morgenrot, she immediately moved it to the back left circle on her rear-guard. On the field imaged in their minds, Dancing Wolf leaped into the air and performed a consecutive series of somersaults that propelled it towards the black armoured Battleroid before landing a large kick that knocked it backwards with the jets on the unit's back being the only thing that kept it stabilized. As the grey coloured Warbeast leaped back to Kiyoi's side of the field, Death Army Guy glowed in a bright orange coloured light before vanishing in an instant.

"I love-love ride, Death Army Rook!" Nagisa's voice echoed as a larger Battleroid with a similar build and stance entered the battlefield before jetting over towards Dancing Wolf and landing a hard punch in the gut.

Kiyoi moved the card Clay-doll Mechanic over to her damage zone where it joined Pluto Blaukluger as her second damage in comparison to the one point that was on Nagisa's side of the field.

"Alright, that Critical Trigger got up a march on our thief, kaboom!" Kaoru cheered.

"I guess switching decks to try and throw off Nagisa didn't make a difference in the end," Hiroshi commented.

The former blue LRIG took no notice of the comments regarding her current situation in the fight, knowing that it was still early on and that occurrences such as the seemingly lucky trigger or two were bound to happen regardless of whose side it was from. After drawing her next card, she placed it into her hand and picked out a different one for her next ride.

"Ride, Jupiter Blaukluger," she spoke softly as she placed down the card, followed shortly afterwards by one that depicted a giant brown coloured Battleroid named Mars Blaukluger "Call."

On the imaged battlefield, the brown coloured Battleroid manifested itself alongside the green coloured Jupiter Blaukluger before charging straight towards Death Army Rook whilst gaining a white coloured aura from Morgenrot's boost. Taking ahold of its rifle mounted on its waist, Mars fired a narrow but long beam at its target, scoring a successful direct hit followed by a small explosion.

"Next," Kiyoi commanded in her usual monotone as Jupiter Blaukluger soared into the air and brought down its blade towards Death Army Rook.

However, the Critical Trigger unit Red Lightning came between them as it projected a green circle to fully deflect the attack right there and then. Back in the shop, the former blue LRIG revealed the card for her drive check as Grosse Baer with no Trigger marking to aid her. After the younger Daimonji sibling moved Red Lightning from the Guardian circle to her drop zone, she had no other option but to end her turn there.

"So you were aiming to use the skills of Morgenrot and Mars Blaukluger to get another attack this turn and look at the top three cards of your deck for a Blau card," Nagisa murmured "But, guarding that was easy as you didn't call any units to boost Jupiter."

Kiyoi did not answer in response, having expected her opponent to have some knowledge about the Blau series from playing Nova Grappler extensively much like Kamui as she watched her draw her next card and keep her confident smile.

"My love for Kamui-chan fuels my strength in fighting, just as the hardened steel strengthens the armour and iron will of this Battleroid!" she declared as she then threw down a familiar card onto the Vanguard circle "Love-love Ride!"

As a bright yellow glow enveloped Death Army Rook, it vanished immediately to allow for the new towering presence to take form on the battlefield. It was a green armoured Battleroid with several golden plates of armour acting as shoulder blades and wings as it hovered down to the ground, allowing Kiyoi to recognize the very unit that the younger Daimonji sibling had just rode.

"Mond Blaukluger!"

**Mond Blaukluger/Grade 3/Twin Drive/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Star Gate/Nova Grappler/Battleroid**

"So she has that unit as well..." the former blue LRIG murmured quietly, still noting that she had not seen any skills in play from any of her opponent's Death Army units and curious as to why this unit was in a deck that revolved around them.

As Nagisa continued with her turn by calling out Death Army Lady, a second Death Army Rook and Death Army Bishop, her formation seemed ready to go all out on this turn.

"Death Army Lady attacks Mars Blaukluger!" she declared.

On the imaged field, Death Army Lady dodged the retaliation shots by Mars Blaukluger with elegance before landing a hard kick on the Battleroid to knock it to the ground and retire it from the battlefield. Through her image of Jupiter Blaukluger, Kiyoi simply gazed at the spot where the brown coloured Battleroid once stood before turning her attention back to Mond Blaukluger who deployed several hovering bits of sorts similar to those wielded by Ethics Buster Extreme.

"No guard," she spoke.

"Then let's see about my love-love Twin Drive!" Nagisa called as she revealed her first card as Infinite Corrosion Form, Death Army Cosmo Lord.

"There it is, the Death Army's strongest unit, kaboom!" Kaoru called out.

"And that's not all," Hiromi replied.

"Death Army Lady's skill!" the younger Daimonji sibling continued as she moved her hand to the card "When the drive check reveals a Grade 3 unit, she stands!"

After performing the action to do so, she then reached out to her deck for her second check, this time revealing Shining Lady as the card glowed brightly.

"Got a Critical Trigger!"

**Death Army Lady/POW: 9000 - 14000**

As Death Army Lady powered up from part of the trigger effect, Mond Blaukluger glowed brightly as it received the Critical effect before the hovering bits fired a series of lasers that struck Jupiter Blaukluger in multiple places, damaging it immensely.

"Damage check," Kiyoi murmured calmly as she revealed the first card as Stern Blaukluger before placing it into her damage zone. "Second check." Upon revealing the second card, it glowed brightly before it was revealed to be Schnee Regen. "Draw Trigger."

Nagisa could only pout in annoyance as soon as she realized that the power from her Critical Trigger on Death Army Lady was now wasted due to her opponent not having any other front row rear-guards to attack with.

"How annoying," she muttered before turning to her left column "With Bishop's boost, Rook attacks your Vanguard!"

Kiyoi said nothing back in response as she calmly placed down the card known as Polar Stern on the Guardian circle, blocking the third attack of the turn with ease. As placed the card in the drop zone shortly afterwards, she noticed that the younger Daimonji sibling had gone into a bad mood again, despite taking the lead in the fight so far.

**End of Turn 5**

**Kiyoi vs Nagisa**

**Hand - 6 : 4**

**Soul - 1 : 2**

**Damage - 4 : 2**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Jupiter Blaukluger (VG) - EMPTY : Death Army Rook - Mond Blaukluger (VG) - Death Army Lady**

**Back Rows : Morgenrot - EMPTY - EMPTY : Death Army Bishop - Death Army Pawn - EMPTY**

"I'm curious," the former blue LRIG spoke, getting Nagisa's attention back to her "What exactly was it that you thought I had said to you."

"I already told you, you said that you took Kamui away from me and that you were planning to have more 'fun' with him in wherever it was you sent him off to!" she replied before looking down for a brief moment.

**Flashback**

Quite some ago, on the day that Remember had chosen to attack Shop Handsome for the purpose of capturing Cocytus for Mayu and Miyako, Nagisa was on her knees along with the rest of Team Handsome including Gouki as blank cards scattered across the room with Marks of Penalty engraved on top of each of their right hands as they stared up towards their assailant. The person that they all perceived as Kiyoi at the time kept her innocent, yet somewhat sinister smile on her lips as she smirked at the prize she had caught, Ice Prison Necromancer, Cocytus.

"W... Wait...!" the Granblue user called as she was about to exit "What do you want our units for?! And where's Kamui?!"

Remember then stopped and began pondering for a brief moment in mock thought before she then snapped her fingers as if something had just come to mind.

"Ah yes, the first of my victims in this world," she replied "I almost forgot how much fun it was to rile him up during our fight. As for where he is, I'll say he's in my world, but not even I know his exact location yet."

Both he and his younger sister clenched their teeth at the exact confirmation that they needed to know about Kamui's fate at the time, feeling angered that he was currently in a location that they knew nothing about and had no idea if he was even safe and sound.

"As for your units, well," Remember continued as she placed Cocytus' card in her pocket "My mistress wants them as part of her retribution. Apparently, Sendou Aichi and Kai Toshiki really managed to piss her off to the point of waging war against this world. Though this particular unit I've now obtained, well... let's just say I have big plans for an 'old friend' of mine."

"What kind of plans?" Gouki questioned as he narrowed his eyes.

"Who knows," she mused as she shrugged in a playful manner.

As she was walking towards the doors that led out of the shop, without any further interruption to stop her from leaving and returning to Mayu at any given time, she suddenly stopped willingly, as if the former LRIG of the real Kiyoi had had something more to say.

"He did mention that he sought to challenge our might again," she said "I look forward to having more fun with him."

As soon as Remember had uttered those final few words, that was enough to spark off a hint of anger from Nagisa as she ran towards her. She smirked before holding out a hand that glowed an icy blue colour as the younger Daimonji sibling's Mark of Penalty suddenly lit up and emitted a sharp pain through her right hand, forcing her to the ground on one knee.

"Nagisa!" cried Gouki as he broke into a run towards her, only for the same scenario to immediately befall him.

Sensing some enjoyment out of kicking her victims whilst they were still down, Remember decided to delay her exit from the shop for just a little longer as she then walked towards the pair and knelt down to meet their gazes.

"You seem to be quite the attached one for Katsuragi," she spoke "But do not fret. I can assure you when the time comes, I'll take good care of him."

And with that, she left the store to continue with her streak of capturing units and handing them over to Mayu later in the day, giggling softly to herself as all of the marked Team Handsome could do nothing but watch as she left through the doors, powerless to stop her. Nagisa could only keep her earlier glare towards her direction, pondering more about what she intended to do with Kamui and where exactly she had sent him away to.

**Present**

Now that she listened to what she at least presumed was the description of the events that depicted whatever it was Remember had said to the younger Daimonji sibling after she had previously invaded the store in her own guise, Kiyoi could at least understand the reasoning behind her anger. Though she couldn't entirely blame her for mistaking her for her former compatriot who had been using her body at the time of the attack, the fact that was she was implying that she did something to Kamui, save for the temporary injury she had unintentionally inflicted on him whilst she had been reversed, on the other hand had left her confused. Before she had any time to ponder on this...

"Kiyoi!"

Upon hearing the voice that called out to her, she turned around to see Kamui burst through the doors of the shop, panting from having run ahead of Gouki, Reiji and Eiji to see what was going on for himself, the latter three soon joining him shortly afterwards. Once the Nova Grappler user had regained his breath, he looked over towards Nagisa, not being exactly pleased to see her given the circumstances.

"Kamui-chan!" she gasped as she looked upon him with a smitten expression, much to his annoyance "You're finally here! Now we can finally get married once I...!"

"Hey Kiyoi, they didn't do anything weird to you, right?"

Immediately after realizing that she was being ignored, she looked ahead to see that Kamui was talking with Kiyoi much to her slight shock. As this was happening, Gouki walked over to Kaoru and Hiroshi who had been watching on in confusion.

"What's going on?" the taller man asked.

"I'm not quite sure," the Granblue user replied "But Kamui's convinced that someone calling herself Remember was the one who attacked us then. He's insisting we got duped."

As Reiji and Eiji chose to remain silent, unsure of how to add to either of the ongoing conversations, especially given that Kiyoi was still in the middle of fighting her opponent at the table, Nagisa's right hand trembled as she watched the former blue LRIG and Kamui discussing about the supposed situation they were now caught up in. As this was happening, an image started manifesting in her mind based on watching her 'beloved' and the girl she believed was their attacker were interacting now.

In said image, the Nova Grappler user still had a Mark of Penalty engraved on his right hand in the exact same spot as it was before and his eyes had become blank red shells of their former selves. Yet despite this, his expression was still one that appeared lovestruck as the younger Daimonji sibling would always dream about if that gaze was directed towards her. However, in this imaged scenario that had suddenly popped up in her mind, Kiyoi was standing opposite him having held the same unnatural smile that was on her lips, normally otherwise seen only for the duration of when Remember had possessed her body.

"Now then," she spoke, in a tone that was also otherwise heard from Kiyoi's former compatriot before gently cupping Kamui's chin with her right hand "Shall we see to that fun I told her about?"

"I guess the 'real' goddess was the one who abducted me in the first place," he replied in a trance like tone "Who would had thought?"

As the two closed their eyes, the imaged Kiyoi pulled him in slowly, closer and closer... until the imaged scenario abruptly ended as Nagisa loudly gasped, grabbing the attention of everyone else in the room. As Kamui couldn't help but stare at her, she then pointed a finger towards Kiyoi, who believed now that her opponent would finally stop speaking in riddles about what Remember was seemingly implying to her during their fight.

"This isn't about our units or whoever you say you are anymore!" she declared "I will make you pay for defiling Kamui-chan after you abducted him!"

"Defiled...?" the Nova Grappler user pondered as he blinked in geniune confusion before looking back to the former blue LRIG "What does she...?"

"Now her hyperactive desire to try and marry you makes sense in this situation," she muttered in her usual monotone as she simply shook her head slowly.

"It was already annoying when Kamui-chan had his sights set on that other girl," Nagisa huffed "But now you had to come in a while ago and mess it up even further!"

Whilst Kiyoi had remained virtually unfazed in response to her opponent's newest acusation, save for a brief raise of her right eyebrow, Kamui on the other hand had completely dropped his jaw in utter disbelief, complete with a beet red face.

"H... hang on! How did we go from mistaking her as Remember to thinking she's turned our 'situation' into a love square?!" he exclaimed "And second off, 'that girl' has a name you know!"

Just as he had expected however, Nagisa and the rest of Team Handsome had seemingly took no notice of his response to her latest accusation at Kiyoi. Kamui knew that the younger Daimonji sibling had a tendency to either jump to conclusions or flat out make up stories when it came to her smitten feelings for him, but the last thing he expected was for this to somehow tie into the claim that she was the same person who had attacked them and abducted him to the other world previously.

"But now that Kamui-chan is back here," she continued as her expression turned to a seemingly innocent smile "I can defeat you as revenge for abducting him and the two of us can finally get married!"

"Here we go again..." Reiji murmured nervously.

"HWG, yo," Eiji muttered in agreement.

"AGH!" Kamui moaned before looking back to Kiyoi "Go get her Kiyoi! Beat her so you can get us out of this mess and prove your innocence!"

Though the former blue LRIG said nothing back to him, her slight nod was enough to relieve him in that her intentions on winning to fight to prove her innocence in regards to the attacks on him and Team Handsome had not changed in the slightest. Standing both Jupiter Blaukluger and Morgenrot on her field back up, she drew her next card to start the next turn.

 _The Death Army doesn't seem much different from other Nova Grappler units_ she pondered _But Nagisa's Twin Drive revealed what one of my captors suggested was their strongest unit. In that case..._

Taking out one of the other cards that she held in her hand, she placed it down on top of Jupiter Blaukluger's card in a calm manner, much to the slight confusion of Gouki. To the surprise of Kaoru and Hiroshi however, this unit was very familiar, if not identical to the one Nagisa rode on her last turn.

"Ride, Mond Blaukluger," she spoke.

"She doesn't sound that fired up..." Reiji pondered as he looked over to Kamui.

"Kiyoi still needs a bit of work on ethusiasm," the Nova Grappler user answered as he laughed nervously.

"Call, Energy Charger," Kiyoi continued "With it's skill, draw 1 card. Then call again."

On the imaged battlefield, alongside the former blue LRIG's own Mond Blaukluger, Morgenrot and the Battleroid with fuel lines for arms known as Energy Charger, a second Mars Blaukluger along with Dancing Wolf and Grosse Baer. As the six units set their sights upon their opponents a little way across the metallic arena they were fighting within, Nagisa could only hiss that her opponent had been holding onto most of those units throughout the entire match and still had a sizable hand before her next wave of attacks.

"She managed to deploy her formation all at once!" Hiroshi gasped.

"But Nagisa's still at two damage!" Kaoru interjected "There's no way our thief's finishing her this turn, kaboom!"

"With Morgenrot's boost," Kiyoi began "Mars Blaukluger... attacks Death Army Lady."

As Mars Blaukluger pulled out the rifle that was holstered on its waist armor and aimed it towards one of Nagisa's rear-guards, the younger Daimonji sibling could only groan as she considered the options she had available with the four cards that were in her hand.

"... No guard!" she declared.

Back on the imaged field, the brown coloured Battleroid struck down Death Army Lady with its laser rifle via a large orange coloured beam that was unleashed from the firearm

"Mond Blaukluger attacks your Vanguard," the former blue LRIG's voice echoed as her own Mond Blaukluger scattered the hovering bits and began charging up a multitude of lasers within each of them.

"Of course I'll let this one through too!" Nagisa declared "You might have stolen away Kamui-chan once before, but it's useless in the end! My passionate feelings for MY Kamui-chan will prevail over you!"

"Twin Drive."

The younger Daimonji sibling blinked, having been caught off guard by the fact that her opponent did not even attempt to defend herself from any of her claims, even up to this point where she had just flat out ignored her for the sake of continuing her attack. Kiyoi flipped over her first card as Polar Stern and added it to her hand before revealing her second check as Regenbogen.

"Got a Heal Trigger," she spoke in her usual monotone "I recover 1 damage and give power to Mars Blaukluger."

Within the image, Mars Blaukluger glowed a bright green as it powered up from the trigger effect, just as Mond Blaukluger unleashed all of the lasers from its floating bits at Nagisa's own, who simply dodged each of them with seemingly little effort. However, it failed to notice its copy charging straight towards her and landing an uppercut, knocking off several bits of armour from the blow alone. The younger Daimonji sibling placed Twin Blader's card in her damage zone, a little annoyed that she did not manage to get a damage trigger.

"Mars Blaukluger's skill, stand with an extra 5000 power," Kiyoi continued as she performed the action before turning over a second card in her damage zone face down "Furthermore, Morgenrot's skill."

She then removed the top three cards of her deck and scanned each one of them closely until she found a certain card amongst them that she was seeking out.

"I look at the top three cards of my deck and add Galaxy Blaukluger to my hand," she spoke before revealing the Grade 3 unit and shuffling the rest back into the deck.

"Alright! She's managed to set up for a Break Ride on her next turn!" Kamui cheered "Keeping pushing on Kiyoi!"

As Gouki observed the Nova Grappler user closely, checking on him to see if he was behaving strangely as Nagisa claimed he was from the time he spent around Kiyoi, the younger sister of the Granblue user had quickly lost her earlier frown.

"Mars Blaukluger attacks your Vanguard," the former blue LRIG spoke as she rested it.

"Damage check," Nagisa spoke before her eyes lit up in happiness as she saw that it was The Gong "Love-love, Draw Trigger! I draw one and give power to... Death Army Rook!"

As everyone in the shop breathed in confusion as to why Nagisa had chosen to give her power to a rear-guard instead of her Vanguard, Kiyoi on the other hand was easily quick to see the reason as to why.

 _Nagisa is obviously planning to use Shining Lady to guard my next attack and keep the damage count at the minimum to trigger Mond Blaukluger's Break Ride skill_ she murmured in her thoughts _She gave the power to the rear-guard as the Shield would be enough to defend for that also._

"What's wrong?" the younger Daimonji sibling questioned with a smile "Have you realized that you've fallen short to my passionate feelings for Kamui-chan?"

Ignoring her once again, Kiyoi rested Grosse Baer and Dancing Wolf's cards to signal her final attack of the turn. On the imaged field, Shining Lady appeared in front of Nagisa's own Mond Blaukluger to defend it from the bursts of the blue and white coloured Battleroid's energy rifle. Knowing there was nothing more she could do for the time being, the former blue LRIG silently chose to end her turn there.

"Darn it. It would have been better for her next turn if she managed to push Nagisa to five damage," Kamui muttered "Still, at least she's back down to three damage from that Heal Trigger."

As Nagisa drew her next card, she smiled as she saw that the pieces for her finishing move were now all in place thanks to the damage she had now accumulated and that the loss of Death Army Lady on the previous turn was now a minor inconvenience. She then looked over to the Nova Grappler user and winked at him, much to his slight irritation.

"Just a little longer now, Kamui-chan!" she called "Once I finish off this thief, I'll break that spell she's put on you and we can get married!"

"First off, Kiyoi didn't do anything to me!" he snapped "Second, if you wanna be angry at the girl who attacked us and stole our units, save it for her old LRIG Remember!"

"LRIG...?" Gouki pondered as he suddenly thought back to the day of the attack Come to think it...

"You mean... that same Remember on that card Miwa showed us then?" Reiji asked.

"TSO, yo?" Eiji interjected.

As the entire room went silent, pondering over the supposed revelation that was now in effect from Kamui's namedrop of Remember and Reiji's mention of the card that depicted her form as an LRIG, Nagisa on the other hand was not having any of it.

"Of course I 'remember'!" she replied as she shrugged "There is one person who attacked us and that's the one in front of us!"

"You're not listening!" the Nova Grappler user replied "The LRIG's name is Remember!" He then huffed and gazed down at the floor as he processed the entire misunderstanding through his head and though back to the time he had spent in the other world. "... If only guys knew what Kiyoi really went through...!"

That was enough to finally cause the younger Daimonji sibling to snap as she stared at Kamui after his claim that none of them, not even herself, would even understand what Kiyoi had gone through to reach this point. Thinking back to her previous claim that she placed against the former blue LRIG, she gritted her teeth and glared back to her as she took ahold of a card from her hand.

"Unforgivable...!" she snapped "It's one thing to defile Kamui-chan, but to have him defend you... that's the final straw! Now prepare to suffer his true beloved's full wrath! Love-love, BREAK RIDE!"

On the imaged battlefield, as Nagisa's Mond Blaukluger disappeared in a blinding white flash, the ground beneath where it once stood suddenly burst open as a new figure emerged from the hole that now appeared in the metallic arena. A tall black figure clad in grey armour that had several blue coloured drills pointing of it, had eight eyes on its alien face and had a crescent shaped horn of some kind on the top its head. Energy crackled its hands as it landed on the solid floor with Nagisa announcing the name of this unit at last.

"Infinite Corrosion Lifeform... Death Army Cosmo Lord!"

**Infinite Corrosion Form, Death Army Cosmo Lord/Grade 3/POW: 10000 - 20000/SLD: 0/Star Gate/Nova Grappler/Battleroid**

Cosmo Lord growled as energy crackled aboved its crescent shaped horn, gazing in a hostile manner towards Kiyoi's Mond Blaukluger and preparing to strike when the moment was right. As this happened, a second Death Army Bishop appeared in Nagisa's back row to the right of her starting Vanguard, Death Army Pawn.

"Cosmo Lord's skill!" she declared as she rested all of her rear-guards, one after another "For every two Death Army rear-guards I choose to rest, it gains 5000 power until end of turn!"

"And with the four she just rested, she's already got it up to 30000..." Reiji murmured.

"30 yo!" Eiji interjected.

Upon seeing that was indeed Cosmo Lord's speciality now, the former blue LRIG initially assumed that the plan for the younger Daimonji sibling was to use the Break Ride ability of Mond Blaukluger to stand all of her rear-guards that she rested so she could still attack with them. However, she knew there had to be more to her opponent's plan that just powering up Cosmo Lord this way.

"Call!" Nagisa called "Death Army Knight's skill stands two rear-guards! Then I rest them again to power up Cosmo Lord!"

As each of the Death Army Bishops on the imaged battlefield took a stance on their knees once again, Cosmo Lord growled as it continued to grow even stronger than it was previously.

**Infinite Corrosion Form, Death Army Cosmo Lord/POW: 30000 - 35000**

"Then, Rook retires and I call another Knight!" Nagisa continued "Stand two rear-guards, then rest all four to power up Cosmo Lord by 10000!"

"She's really going off on it!" Hiroshi gasped.

"Keep powering it up and knock Kiyoi into next week, kaboom!" Kaoru cheered.

"I'm not done yet!" the younger Daimonji sibling declared as she turned over two cards in her damage zone "With my two Bishops' skills, stand four rear-guards then rest them to add another 10000 power!"

After she had done the exact action, Kamui noticed that all five of her rear-guards were now at rest, seemingly leaving her with only three attacks if the Break Ride skill was taken into account.

Why the heck did she do that? he pondered in confusion Cosmo Lord's Limit Break requires the last two face-up cards in her damage zone to use. She wouldn't just waste both of her Bishops' skills like that to render the Break Ride skill unusable... unless...

"My passion for my beloved Kamui-chan is insurmountable!" Nagisa declared as she pointed a finger to Kiyoi who still remained unfazed "And I won't let you take him away from me again! Cosmo Lord's... love-love, Limit Break!"

On the imaged field, a grey coloured Vanguard circle flashed above Cosmo Lord before it raised its hands and sent energy coursing through all of her rear-guards, standing them back up and causing them to take up offensive stances. As this happened, the armoured black alien had a golden aura coursing through it as it powered up as well from the skill as well.

"Then I rest two rear-guards to add 5000 power!" Nagisa continued "Finally, I retire Bishop and call Clay-doll Mechanic! With it's skill, turn over a card in my damage zone."

"Whoa... I knew Dimension Police could hit high numbers for a Vanguard, but gimme a break!" Kamui gasped, slightly worried on how Kiyoi was going to pull through.

Everyone save for the former blue LRIG stared in awe at Cosmo Lord's card now that the younger Daimonji sibling had used a combo of skills to power it up immensely and to give her five attacks for the turn thanks to the skill of Mond Blaukluger's Break Ride.

"Are you prepared?" she asked "This is for stealing away Kamui-chan and having your way with him! My two Knights attack!"

On the imaged battlefield, the two Death Army Knights dashed across the arena until they came in close towards Mond Blaukluger. Once they were in range, they slammed down their whips respectively upon the green armoured Battleroid, smashing off several bits of plating and destroying the floating bits that were used for its long ranged laser attacks.

"Kiyoi!" gasped Kamui as he watched her perform her damage checks.

With the first attack's damage coming out as Polar Stern, things were not looking hopeful for the moment. Then, she turned over the top card of her deck, coming out as her next damage being Schones Wetter.

"Critical Trigger," she calmly spoke "Power to my Vanguard."

"But, it's already too late!" Nagisa called with a smile "My Vanguard has 60000 power and an extra Critical! There's no way all of the cards in your hand will be enough to block this! And then, my long awaited wedding can finally commence!"

"Do something Kiyoi!" cried Kamui, already dreading the outcome at hand if it would come to it.

Within the image of the arena, Cosmo Lord began charging a large sphere of energy above its crescent shaped horn as it began crackling and growing larger and larger with each second. As this happened, both Death Army Knights, Bishop and Clay-doll Mechanic stood back up in preparation for the next wave of attacks to come, not that the younger Daimonji sibling would even care at this point given how confident she was that victory and immediate marriage to the Nova Grappler user, regardless of his say in it or not, was at hand.

"At long last... my dream has finally come true!" she announced "Kamui-chan and I will finally be together with no one, not even freedom, to seperate us!"

"I'm curious."

The image of the battle suddenly faded as Nagisa suddenly blinked in confusion at what Kiyoi had to say towards her. Even Kaoru and Hiroshi couldn't help but expression confusion towards the former blue LRIG's statement.

"Nagisa," she spoke "Have you ever even considered about Katsuragi's own feelings on this 'matter'?"

"What are you saying, thief?" the younger Daimonji sibling asked accusingly.

"From my experience, this kind of relationship requires the committed efforts and shared feelings of both parties involved willingly to make it work," she continued, keeping her seemingly uninterested monotone throughout her entire speech "If Katsuragi does not wish to reciprocate those feelings, then I'm afraid the relationship you wish to enforce is entirely one-sided at best."

"Thank you!" Kamui huffed, having had some relief that Kiyoi, let alone anyone in general was willing to take his side of the argument for once.

"One-sided...?"

Nagisa shuddered, now that her feelings for the person she so desperately wanted to marry at any cost were being called into question for the first time by anyone other than the Nova Grappler user himself. However, once she convinced herself that this was the same person that attacked her previously, no matter how many times Kamui insisted otherwise, she regained her resolve, but only a mere fraction of it.

"Lies... Lies... LIES!" she screamed "Cosmo Lord, obliterate her!"

As Cosmo Lord within the image charged up energy in its hands as well, it unleashed what was built up in them and the sphere above its horn as the three beams combined into one and came hurtling straight towards the heavily damaged Mond Blaukluger.

"Perfect Guard!" Kiyoi's voice announced as a small white armoured Battleroid appeared in front of her Vanguard and projected a barrier to shield themselves from the attack "Blau Dunkelheit!"

As Hiroshi, Kaoru, Reiji and Eiji gasped in shock that the former blue LRIG still had a means of defending herself from a 60000 power attack within her hand the entire time, Kamui's shock turned into a smile as he soon realized that the earlier damage trigger was now potentially going to save his friend from defeat. Nagisa on the other hand could only stare in disbelief as then turned to her deck, hoping in desperation to end the fight here and now.

"T... Twin drive!" she gasped as she turned over another copy of The Gong "Draw Trigger! Power to my left Knight and I draw!" Turning over the second card immediately after drawing, she saw that it was the exact same card she had checked "Love-love... Draw Trigger!"

After drawing her next card, she then turned her attention to the Death Army Knight on her right column and rested it along with the Death Army Bishop that was directly behind it. Within the image, Death Army Knight attempted to swing down its whip right onto Mond Blaukluger, only for Regenbogen and the Grosse Baer on Kiyoi's rear-guard to intercept the attack by catching ahold of it to stop the impact. The form of Cosmo Lord shuddered in response to Nagisa's failing composure as she then turned her attention to the other Death Army Knight.

"D... Death Army Knight attacks Mond Blaukluger!" she called as the unit rushed off towards its target "This will end it and then Kamui-chan will...!"

"Guard."

The younger Daimonji sibling could only watch in horror as Kiyoi placed down Polar Stern and Red Lightning on the Guardian circle, effectively stopping her attack and ending the turn right there.

"Phew, that was a close one!" Kamui breathed as he wiped his forehead.

"Still..." Reiji murmured "Kiyoi still has Nagisa's four cards and two intercepts to break through. We don't know if she's managed to draw a Perfect Guard amongst them."

"WDK, yo," Eiji replied.

As Kiyoi stood her units back up and drew her single card, she looked back to Nagisa who was not only shaken up by the fact she had effortlessly blocked her strongest attack on the previous turn, but the fact that she had called her obsession over the Nova Grappler user into question.

"Is that the best your one-sided feelings could accomplish?" she muttered.

"... Y... You're one to talk!" her opponent replied "W... We're not the first to have had units taken by you like you said!"

"And what does that have to do with Remember, the girl who really took our units!" Kamui groaned, still annoyed by the fact that he wasn't even given a chance to explain the circumstances.

Looking back to him, Nagisa rather than replying back to him, immediately regained as much of her earlier demanour as possible and stared back at Kiyoi.

"You know what I think..." she said "Questioning my love for Kamui-chan like that... you have no one to love you back! The only reason you stole away Kamui-chan back then was to show us that you weren't alone, as you thieves should be!"

As soon as she had said those words however, the air in the shop suddenly seemed to grow colder as Kiyoi's eyes were suddenly hidden from sight, even though her lips seemingly indicated that she was in her usual self. Kamui on the other hand could only grow worried as he slowly began to back away from the shop with Reiji and Eiji slowly eying him as he did so. Whilst Kaoru and Hiroshi had their attention focused on the former blue LRIG, Gouki then began to walk over towards him, wondering if he had an explanation as to why he was now feeling this way and what was seemingly about to transpire if his worries were confirmed.

"We'd better run..." he murmured in a low whisper.

"Why?" Reji whispered back.

At first, the Nova Grappler user's only response was a nervous gulp. Then, he began to give a worded answer as to why he believed that the atmosphere around Kiyoi may had suddenly grown much colder than it was normally.

"Nagisa... might have just pressed the Sakaguchi button."


	90. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 90: That Absurd Turnabout II

**Shop Handsome**

As the seemingly icy chill air in the shop's interior remained as it was, Kamui could only stare in worry at Kiyoi who had remained seemingly motionless since Nagisa snapped back at her questioning of the former's supposed 'one-sided' feelings for him. Now that he had sensed there was a possibility of her exploding at her opponent for stirring up unpleasant memories of her past and claiming that no-one 'loved' her at all in an attempt to supposedly deflect blame for the crimes that had been commited by Remember in her body, he had quietly chosen to try and find a place to 'duck for cover' even if that meant leaving the shop itself, knowing that he had been on the recieving end of her anger once before and for practically the right reasons back then.

 _Wait... what am I thinking?!_  he muttered in his thoughts before shaking his head  _I came here to sort out Kiyoi's identity issues with these guys and now I'm just thinking of abandoning her?!_

"Hang on," Gouki spoke in a whisper, taking the Nova Grappler's earlier presumption into account "Are you saying Nagisa might have somehow angered Kiyoi about something in the past?"

"It's something personal and really nasty with the 'real' LRIG who took our units, Remember," he replied back in a hushed tone, trying not to let any other personal details of Kiyoi's past slip out without her consent.

This had now left some intrigue with not just the Granblue user about Kiyoi, who Kamui had insisted to him was not their previous attacker Remember, but with Reiji and Eiji as well. Looking back to the fight before them, they watched as the former blue LRIG picked out one of the three cards in her hand and held it out before her, her eyes still remaining out of sight from Kaoru, Hiroshi and Nagisa. The younger Daimonji sibling although partly confused by sudden change in her opponent's expression and noting her slow breathing was still confident that she could pull through the turn and finish her off immediately afterwards. Finally, after seemingly managing to calm herself down, Kiyoi lifted her head slightly as she turned her gaze upon the person directly in front of her.

"Even though I wasn't the one who attacked you, I won't deny that I've done things that I'm not proud of," she spoke "Things to this day that a part of me wishes I could just take back, no matter how impossible it is."

"Exactly," replied Nagisa "There's no way we'll ever let you take back what you did to us and Kamui-chan. People like you who take our units and what we care about deserve no future!"

"My future isn't set in stone and I won't allow my past or anyone else to dictact who I really am," the former blue LRIG continued as she held out the card she picked above her head "You who fights amongst the stars above your mother planet... revive now and soar across the skies of Cray! Break Ride!"

After throwing down the card on top of Mond Blaukluger, a neon green light erupted in the imaged arena as Nagisa through her image of Cosmo Lord stared up at the tall shadow descending from the sky above. As the column disappeared, it revealed that the figure was indeed yet another Blaukluger unit, only this was armoured blue and had several plates of armoured shaped similarly to that of Stern Blaukluger which had several neon green lines running across some of them. A set of three pronged wings were mounted behind each of the shoulders and it wielded a long barreled rifle in its left arm. Its green eyes flashed for a moment as it landed on the arena floor with a large thud as Kiyoi confirmed the name of this new unit.

"The evolved blue warrior... Galaxy Blaukluger!"

**Galaxy Blaukluger/Grade 3/Twin Drive/SLD: 0/POW: 11000 - 21000/Nova Grappler/Star Gate/Battleroid**

With the exception of Kamui, everyone else gasped in shock at the sight of the new unit that the former blue LRIG had now rode into battle with, having not seen this particular Blaukluger before despite being aware of most of the other cards in the series. The Nova Grappler user on the other hand was almost in awe, having not expected this particular unit to end up in her possession from the cards that she put her deck together with. Nagisa, having regained her composure after a long few moments gazed back to her opponent who had changed the outlook of her gaze one bit.

"You are already aware of Mond Blaukluger's abilties, so there's no point in me explaining," she spoke in her monotone as she placed down Red Lightning's card on her empty rear-guard circle before shoving it straight into the soul beneath Galaxy Blaukluger "With Red Lightning's skill, I turn over one damage. And call."

On the imaged arena, a smaller Battleroid with black and white armour as well as a variety of light blue and orange coloured lines running across it, appeared into the spot where Red Lightning formerly was, wielding a large cannon in its right hand. It then immediately took aim towards Nagisa's side of the field as the firearm began charging up.

"Starker Wind attacks your rear-guard," Kiyoi spoke "Since my Vanguard is a Blau unit, add 3000 power for the duration of the battle."

"No guard...!" Nagisa hissed as she moved one of her Death Army Knights to her drop zone.

"The same for Mars Blaukluger," she continued "Attack the second Death Army Knight."

After her opponent had moved the other Knight to her drop zone from the successful attack, Kaoru and Hiroshi looked on nervously as they weren't feeling so sure that their companion was going to survive the turn.

"Nagisa's intercepts are gone," breathed Reiji.

"And Kiyoi's still got another three attacks under her belt!" Kamui chimed in.

Kiyoi then turned her attention to her Vanguard, placing her fingertips on top of the card before turning her attention back to the person that was directly in front of her. Nagisa despite being annoyed that she had lost two of her shields to defend herself from her opponent's remaining attacks quickly regained her confidence as she looked to the four cards she held in her hand.

"It doesn't matter that my intercepts are gone!" she called "I can still protect myself and finish you from your lack of shields on the next turn! Then Kamui-chan can be broken from your spell so we can be married!"

"For the last time, Kiyoi didn't...! You know what, I give up..." the Nova Grappler user groaned, seeing that not even his side of the story was going to get through to her.

"Galaxy Blaukluger attacks Cosmo Lord!" Kiyoi declared as she rested the card "With Mond Blaukluger's skill, stand all of my rear-guards and add 3000 power to Dancing Wolf!"

Galaxy Blaukluger then charged up the rifle in its right arm and pointed it towards Cosmo Lord as a loud whirring noise rang out across the battlefield. As this happened, all of the former blue LRIG's units got back into fighting stances for the next two battles to come as Dancing Wolf howled loudly with a white aura surrounding it.

**Dancing Wolf/POW: 7000 - 10000**

"Twin Blader!" Nagisa's voice echoed as the small Battleroid landed in front of Cosmo Lord and stabbed both of its blades into the arena floor.

Galaxy Blaukluger then unleashed the energy gathered up in the barrel of the rifle right towards its opponent only for a barrier to be created by Twin Blader to deflect the mighty beam as it crashed right into the shield in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared up, Cosmo Lord was unharmed, but the smaller Battleroid that protected it was damaged heavily and fell to the ground before vanishing in a flash of orange coloured sparks. Back in the shop, Nagisa tossed one of the two copies of The Gong that she had in her hand to the drop zone before gazing to her opponent's deck, partially anxious to see what her Twin Drive would unveil.

"Twin Drive," Kiyoi murmured as she turned over the top card of her deck "First check."

As it was revealed as Jupiter Blaukluger, Kaoru and Hiroshi sighed in relief whilst the younger Daimonji sibling kept her confident smile.

_Yes! I can protect myself! Even with a trigger now, it's useless!  
_

The former blue LRIG then placed the card into her other free hand before reaching out to her deck once again, this time turning over the card Schones Wetter which flashed brightly.

"Critical Trigger," she spoke "All effects go to Starker Wind."

**Starker Wind/POW: 4000 - 9000/Critical: 1 - 2**

"Starker Wind's skill will boost itself to 22000 thanks to Dancing Wolf and one of Nagisa's shields is only 5000!" Kamui cheered "If Starker Wind's attack makes it through, she'll win!"

 _This doesn't make sense_  Gouki muttered in his thoughts as he pondered back to the previous turn  _If Kiyoi wanted to keep attacking with a full frontal assault, she would have kept Grosse Baer on her rear-guard, guarded with Starker Wind and then called Polar Stern over Morgenrot. There's no way she would have defended the way she would have last turn and attacked Nagisa's intercepts first unless..._

" _The evolved blue warrior... Galaxy Blaukluger!_ "

His eyes suddenly widened as he suddenly managed to seemingly decipher the possible reason behind the former blue LRIG's actions up to this very point. He watched her as she rested the cards to signal her next attack. In the imaged arena, throwing the large cannon it had to one side, Starker Wind took flight on the jets that were on the bottom of its feet and soared towards the seemingly defenceless Cosmo Lord. Back in the shop, Gouki looked over towards his younger sister and immediately called out to her.

"Nagisa, let the attack through and hope for a Heal Trigger!" he cried "Kiyoi is probably planning to...!"

"Guard!"

Back in the image, Wall Boy and The Gong came to the defence of the giant black alien plated in silver armour, deflecting a punch that Starker Wind had tried and failed to use to breach the defences and land the finishing hit. As Nagisa slammed the cards straight into her drop zone, she looked back at the Granblue user with a very annoyed expression on her face.

"Are you suggesting that I LOSE on purpose to a knockoff Turboraizer?!" she snapped before glaring back to Kiyoi "Besides, I'm just a single turn away from getting back Kamui-chan from this hag over here! A hag that doesn't deserve have any love from him or anyone el...!"

"I've heard enough."

The younger Daimonji sibling's expression at first changed to confusion as she blinked for two seconds before she silently opened her mouth in recoil upon seeing that the former blue LRIG had put up with her words for the very last time.

"Mars Blaukluger attacks your Vanguard," she spoke, her tone having grown harsher, but only slightly.

With her opponent having no guardians from her hand and no units to intercept with to block this attack, it was very easy for the imaged Mars Blaukluger to blast Cosmo Lord in the chest from a long distance with its large rifle. The fifth point of damage emerged into Nagisa's damage zone as a second Clay-doll Mechanic with no further trigger effects to aid her in this current situation.

"I win!" she declared "Even with my intercepts and guardians gone, I've outlasted all five of your attacks!"

"It seems your obsession with Katsuragi has blinded you once again," Kiyoi replied, her tone from a little earlier remaining as it was "You should have taken Gouki's warning and prayed for a Heal Trigger as your sixth damage."

"What are you talking about?!" the younger Daimonji sibling exclaimed in shock "All of your units are at rest and my damage count is five! You can no longer attack me!"

"Since the attack of a Blau unit hit the Vanguard," the former blue LRIG continued before turning over two cards in her damage zone and throwing away the two cards she had gotten earlier into her drop zone "Galaxy Blaukluger's Limit Break. Stand."

Within the image of Cray, a light blue Vanguard circle flashed above Galaxy Blaukluger as a neon green aura surged through the battleroid, causing it to take up an offensive stance once again. Cosmo Lord stumbled backwards in shock having not expected something like this to be, as did Nagisa who was just as surprised as she could do nothing but watch as her opponent stood her Vanguard back up, ready for another attack to come her way.

"And because you used Red Lightning to still have an open damage for Mond Blaukluger..." she breathed before gasping "Y... You tricked me!"

"From one perspective, I could see why you would think that," Kiyoi replied "However, it seems a lack of foresight and faith in your own deck is what brought this upon you."

On the imaged field, Galaxy Blaukluger's eyes flashed as its wings folded down behind its back and slowly began to walk towards its target, a blade extending from its right wrist as it did so. Loud thuds were heard from each of its footsteps as the giant Battleroid continued in its approach towards the armoured black alien that was only a short distance in front of it. As this was happening, a golden aura enveloped Dancing Wolf, Polar Stern, Mars Blaukluger and Morgenrot as they turned their attention towards the helpless opponent before them.

"S... Stay back...!" Nagisa screamed as her image of Cosmo Lord frantically hurled bolts of lightning from its horn towards the slowly advancing Galaxy Blaukluger.

It was futile however as all of the electric projectiles missed their target or struck the ground a little too far in front of the giant blue armoured Battleroid. When it eventually came within close quarters range of Cosmo Lord itself who was now completely frozed, it raised up its right arm before performing a large slash across the chest armour of its target. The score exploded sending the defeated alien flying into the air and landing a little outside of the arena edge on its back, the ground beneath it cracking on impact. As the sixth and final damage emerged into Nagisa's damage zone as Mond Blaukluger, the result was now clear to everyone in the store that Kiyoi was the undisputed victor of the fight.

"Let me give you one clear piece of advice, Daimonji Nagisa," she spoke, her somewhat harsh tone remaining as it was for one last time "There is more to love than just blindly gushing over the other person. Remember that well."

Whilst the younger Daimonji sibling could only stare down at the cards still on the field, still believing that the former blue LRIG was the same person who had taken her units previously, a sudden thought had crossed her mind. She then gazed back at her victorious opponent, panic immediately arising as she believed what was going to happen next. As she closed her eyes, awaiting for the inevitable to befall her once again, Kiyoi closed her eyes and took a deep breath to relax herself from the earlier stress that had been on her mind since the start of her final turn. She then began walking over towards where Kamui, Reiji, Eiji and Gouki were, leaving Kaoru and Hiroshi confused on why she had supposedly not chosen to mark Nagisa and steal her units, still believing that she was Remember.

"Hey, Kiyoi..." the Nova Grappler user murmured, recalling her earlier state "Are you alright?"

"Hurt, but not as angry," she replied, her calm tone having somewhat returned to her.

"Listen, about me mentioning Saka..." he began, before immediately being cut off.

"Forget about it," the former blue LRIG interrupted, putting a hand on his shoulder "You did what you had to."

Nodding grimly, Kamui felt a slight bit of relief waver over him in that he had not overstepped his boundaries when it came to mentioning any personal details about her past to the people beside him. Upon seeing that Nagisa had finally discovered that she had indeed not been marked and that her units were still as they were without any changes to the cards, Gouki then turned his attention over to the girl in front of him.

"I don't know why Kamui has put that much trust in you," he spoke "But I could tell you definitely didn't seem like the same person who attacked us previously."

"And how is that?" Hiroshi asked curiously.

"I thought back to the fights we all had against 'Remember' then and compared it to this one," the Granblue user explained "Whilst Kiyoi approached the fight in a calm as possible manner until her last turn, the girl who fought us then was constantly using fortunes to predict and dictate the outcomes in a way she could achieve them including all of her trigger checks."

"But that still doesn't explain why we've got the same girl here!" Nagisa replied.

"Same looking maybe," her older brother answered as he looked back to her "But when Kamui mentioned the term LRIG, I could finally piece everything together. During our fights, an aura always surrounded 'Remember', displaying her LRIG form as shown on her Grade 0 card to us for brief moments whilst no such things happened when Kiyoi fought."

Sensing that there was still some uncertainty amongst the remainder of Team Handsome, Kamui suddenly remembered that he still had one final piece of evidence that could lead to proving Kiyoi's innocence in regards to the previous attacks committed by Remember. Digging into his pockets franctically, hoping he had still had whatever it was he was looking for there much to the confusion of everyone else save for the former blue LRIG herself. Eventually, he had taken out a single card that he had previously been given as a Wixoss card, now changed to the Vanguard card game like the majority of Ruko's cards.

"That weird aura showing Remember's real appearance to us really threw us off," he said "But if Kiyoi here was really the same person you thought she was, then that weird aura would have shown her like this!"

He then turned around the card, revealing it to be one that depicted Kiyoi as the blue LRIG Piruluk, much to the surprise of nearly everyone in the shop. It was the exact same Code Piruluk card that Hatsu had given to him during his stay in the other world when he was still worried about Amika in regards to how she was pursuing her wish at the time.

"T... That unit almost looks exactly like Kiyoi!" gasped Hiroshi.

"You gotta be kidding, kaboom!" Kaoru interjected.

When Nagisa stared at the card, a part of her wanted to dismiss the claim on the basis of the blue hair and the garb that Kiyoi had worn during her time as Piruluk. But the more she thought back to her previous fight with Remember when she recalled that the aura had shown her true appearance in brief instances along with the points that Gouki had brought up about the different behaviour the former blue LRIG had to her attacker, the more she began to believe that maybe the girl she had lost to may not have been the same person that stolen their units once before. Wanting to trust her better judgment, she walked over to the former blue LRIG who simply stared back at her.

"Listen... I may have been out of line with what I said earlier," she said "But if you're really not the same girl who attacked us and have Kamui-chan's trust without any spell or gimmicks, then you're free to go."

Though she said nothing back in response, Kiyoi simply gave a single nod to assure her that she would not do anything more to her from this point forward.

"Which reminds me!" she called in an overly cheerful mood once again "Would you help me with the soon to be wedding for Kamui-chan and myself?!"

"No."

Upon pouting in response, Nagisa simply turned away from the former blue LRIG and started muttering to herself about anything to do with her beloved 'Kamui-chan' and matrimony in general. As Kaoru and Hiroshi followed her away from the remainder of the group, Gouki turned back to Kiyoi.

"I don't know if I'll have much success," he said "But I'll let any fighters I see know that you're not the same as your imposter was then."

"You have my gratitude then," Kiyoi replied calmly before she turned back to Kamui "Let's go, we've wasted enough time here."

"Agreed..." he quietly muttered as they walked out of the shop together, followed shortly after by Reiji and Eiji who were careful not to resume Nagisa's direct attention to their friend.

* * *

**City Park**

Eventually, the four of them had walked through the city back to the park where Kamui had first fought Remember and were sitting down on the large steps that were in the amphitheatre like area. As he and Kiyoi shared stories from their more recent adventures in the other world and up to their arrival into this one, including a brief summary of both Amika and Remember in general, Reiji and Eiji couldn't help but feel that the two of them were very lucky to have endured through the trials and tribulations of the Selector Battles in addition to overcoming Remember herself to get back some of the stolen units that were captured in the Pit's prison compound within Mayu's domain.

Now that two of the Nova Grappler user's closest friends were enlightened on most of what had been going on in the other world that he had been taken to, he sighed as he now thought back to over the day's events up to this point.

"Man... I didn't think Nagisa would had it in for you," he muttered as he looked to Kiyoi, feeling bad that she had to go through a case of mistaken identity after getting her body back.

"Given that you've clearly pointed out that you don't have feelings for her in spite of her relentless presistence," she murmured calmly "I'm geniunely surprised you haven't filed a restraining order."

"You think I haven't tried that..." he moaned "She always has Gouki and the rest of Team Handsome to try and find a loophole to force us to tie the knot whether I like it or not. But still, I'm just glad we managed to clear up the confusion between you and Remember with those guys."

As the early afternoon continued onwards, the Nova Grappler user's remaining friends then looked over to Kiyoi, finally having an opportunity of sorts to properly speak with her.

"You gotta admit, the way you tricked Nagisa into dropping her hand early with Galaxy Blaukluger was pretty cool!" said Reiji.

"WPC, yo!" Eiji interjected.

Though the former blue LRIG was not one to normally accept praise, regardless of whether it was from her own Selectors or just another human being around her in general, she smiled a little bit in response to acknowledge their compliments.

"Still though, I wish Nagisa didn't have to make that comment at you," Kamui muttered "Even if it was just your memory I saw, it was still the whole thing. It just frustrates me a little that she wouldn't understand in the slightest even if I told her."

"I would prefer it if I could just move on from my past without any further hindrance or mention," she said "But, I appreciate you trying your best to stand up for me during the debacle."

"Hey, what are friends for anyway?" he replied with a smile "I'm sure Amika would do the same for you if she was here or if the same thing was going on over there."

Now that he had indeed brought up the subject of her former Selector, both the Nova Grappler user and Kiyoi gazed up the sky above thinking about what could possibly be happening in their unintended absence from there. Both knew that Aichi and Hitoe already had some kind of acqaintance with Amika and it was already likely that one of them by this time had already informed her of the current circumstances, knowing how much distress this was bound to have on her after having just fought through tooth and nail with them to save her own mother's life.

"Well, if there's any justice, at least Gouki's hopefully gonna clear things up between you and the cardfighters Remember had marked before we beat her then," Kamui murmured.

"Though I am relieved to be back in my own body after nearly a year," Kiyoi replied "I can't help but ponder how Remember will start her hunt for units all over again. She was still as an LRIG when I last saw her and I could sense she wasn't with either Futase, Akira or Ulith when we were in Singapore."

"You think she might con another Selector into giving her their body so she can come after us?" he pondered.

"Perhaps."

No one said a word after that, knowing that Remember would have no intention of taking her previous defeat lying down and would do anything to get back into the battle. And after what the Nova Grappler knew of the past between her and Kiyoi, there was no doubt in the back of his mind that the latter's former compatriot would also be seeking another way to try and ruin the former blue LRIG's life again.

"Say, since you were kind enough to turn down Nagisa's offer of you helping her to marry the great Kamui," Reiji spoke "Would you be willing to help him get closer with Emi-san?"

"WYH, yo?" pondered Eiji.

"I'm a close acquaintance, not his dating counsellor," Kiyoi replied "I have no bearing on what Katsuragi chooses to do in the pursuit of his own feelings and that's all there is to it unless we say otherwise."

"If you say so," Kamui shrugged before suddenly realizing something "Though now that Kai and I are back here..."

"Is something the matter?" the former blue LRIG asked.

"Well... Aichi onii-san didn't know how long it would take for him to find Kai, let alone bring him back here before we found out what was really going on," he explained "And Leon went against inviting more people to join them out of worry of getting lost in your world. Thinking Emi-san wouldn't believe him on the whole thing about other worlds or that she would insist on coming along and he'd be worried that he'd lose her... he and all of us back here kinda fibbed about Kai's whereabouts to her..."

Kiyoi merely shook her head, now seeing that things between him and Emi were bound to become more complicated than they already were once she would discover that Kai had indeed returned to her world without Aichi in tow.

"Believe me, I wanted nothing to do with the whole cover story," the Nova Grappler user continued "But Aichi onii-san was really worried that Emi wouldn't let him travel to your world if he tried to tell her about Kai being in another world and not believing him, and he insisted that we all did our part until he came back with him. I was even planning on breaking my word to tell her the truth before Remember showed up and challenged me."

"If she isn't aware of the recent attacks that have been occurring either," she replied "Then telling her everything, even what her brother omitted should be your priority."

Knowing that the former blue LRIG was indeed correct in regards to how Emi was now in just as much danger as any other cardfighter in this world and there was no doubt she would be a future target, Kamui decided that keeping up the requested deception to her was finally over. Nothing was worth keeping up a lie if it had meant her safety was at risk and there was no telling if Mayu or any of her associates had managed to deduce that she was Aichi's younger sister.

"Alright then," he said as he hopped up from the step he was sitting on "We'll go and find Emi and meet up with Kai later. At least she might believe his word since Aichi went to look for him in the first place."

Nodding in agreement, Kiyoi, Reiji and Eiji followed him out of the park and decided to begin their search for Emi in the hopes that they could reach her and tell her everything before any of Mayu's forces could reach her before them.

* * *

**Kai's Apartment**

Meanwhile within the single room apartment of the Kagero user himself, Ruko was seated at his desk with all of the cards depicting Yuki in front of her in addition to the few Shadow Paladin cards she had in that particular deck during her time in the Selector Battles. Whilst Kai had been observing her efforts to reconstruct that deck for use in cardfights from the end of his bed, Miwa had taken the interest in looking over the ARTS, Servant SIGNI and Spells from both of the Selector's original Wixoss decks for his own curiosity.

"Well, these are certainly something," he commented "I'm even more surprised that Kai managed to wrap his head around all of this before Aichi found him."

"Kai had help," Tama replied "Tama taught him everything Tama and Ru learned!"

"That would explain some things," Yuki pondered "Then again, I can imagine his natural strength with Vanguard allowed him to quickly adapt with your advice in mind."

After the girl of black had shared her opinion on the subject, she could hear a slight hum from under her Selector's lips as he looked at the options that were available to her, in addition to the Shadow Paladins were amongst Kai's non-Kagero loose cards, she was looking over the cards Iona, Zero/Maiden and Creeping Dark Goat in thought.

"Is something troubling you?" the Kagero user asked.

"I'm just thinking about something..." Ruko murmured "Although my Shadow Paladins worked with Yuki previously as they were SIGNI of the same colour... since there doesn't seem to be any restrictions on her cards save for any that are Grade 4 or Dragmiko... I was thinking of maybe doing something a little different."

"I guess it kinda makes sense."

The two then looked over to Miwa who came over towards them, wanting to offer his view of the current dilemma regarding the Selector's other deck based around the girl of black.

"Yuki's Grade 1 form allows you to search any Grade 3 or greater version as long as you get rid of a card from your hand of the same grade," he began "If you ride it over her Grade 0 form, it allows you to search any Grade 2 or greater form of hers."

"I'm just thinking back to my fight with Jillian," she replied "If I'm not able to get that benefit off that specific ride, then her Grade 0 form becomes like any other Forefunner unit. That's why I was thinking of maybe keeping Yuki's forms to the higher Grades and tweaking my Grade 1s and starting Vanguard a little."

"It is ultimately your deck after all," Kai interjected "Whilst Miwa and I can offer advice, how you approach building it is entirely up to you."

Ruko nodded in agreement, knowing that she would have to make those choices alone and how effective those choices would be were to be decided in any future cardfights she would choose to participate in. Thinking about it carefully, she began arranging the cards that she thought would be useful in her upcoming battles on the desk that was in front of her, moving all of her triggers, including three cards that were named Howl Owl to where all of her Grade 2 and higher forms of Yuki along with her Dark Shield, Mac Lirs and Creeping Dark Goat to one side of the surface in front of her. Eventually after a few minutes, she had finally gotten her deck back together with the remaining cards back in the bag that was now behind her waist.

"I think I might ask Ratie or Misaki for a chance to fight when we get to Card Capital," she said "I'd be interested in seeing what the Witches or either of Misaki's decks do in this world."

Before either Kai or Miwa could offer a response of any kind, a faint purple glow from the window of the apartment suddenly caught their attention as they looked out to the horizon of the city. From a few streets across, they could see a flowing black column with purple hues bursting from the distance for a few seconds as Tama and Yuki suddenly gasped, before it disappeared a few seconds later.

"Tama felt the same as Tama did in Singapore!" the girl of white gasped.

"Then... are they already marking more fighters here?!" Ruko exclaimed.

"Then we better hurry before they can make an escape," Kai interjected as he led the way out of the door to his apartment with the three friends now in pursuit of the next Judgement that had been cast.

None of them knew who they would possibly encounter at the scene if they were swift enough in their efforts to hurry that place, but they knew that none of Mayu's associates could be underestimated that easily, even if the attacks today were being conducted by just one of their number.

* * *

**City Streets  
**

Meanwhile in a large open area on the other side of the city, not too far from where the earlier column of light had erupted from, Emi was walking on her way to Card Capital herself with much on her mind. Alongside her was a close friend she had known for a long time with greyish coloured hair and purple eyes who at first seemed like being in a happy mood before noticing that the younger sister of Aichi was not feeling like her usual happy self.

"Is something wrong Emi?" she asked.

"It's just bugging me Mai," Emi huffed "Aichi leaves with Ren, Leon and Ishida to look for a missing Kai, then nearly two weeks pass and I haven't heard anything back from him. I can't even contact his phone for some reason."

"It's possible he might be having reception trouble in wherever it is he went to," Mai replied "Sometimes, you seem to worry about him too much."

The orange haired girl merely sighed a little, knowing that the possibility that her friend had raised could have been a possible reason given her lack of awareness of the other world in the first place.

"I just wish he would say something," she said "Let me know how he's getting on in his search for Kai or what it's like in wherever it is he's gone to. I swear Aichi can drive me up the wall sometimes with how much he worries me."

"Do tell."

The two girls suddenly stopped in their tracks, wondering who the voice was that had suddenly addressed Emi when she made her comment about her concerns for Aichi clear. Then before any of them could react, a circle of purple coloured flames suddenly erupted around them and cut off their exit as they encircled across a large portion of the open street.

"W... what is this?!" gasped Mai, too shocked to properly assess their situation.

A sinister giggle suddenly caught their attention afterwards as they turned around to find that it was Ulith who had summoned the barrier of flames to prevent them from leaving until the fight she had in mind came to a conclusion. The cruel demanoured Selector kept her creepy smile upon her lips as she gazed upon the two girls that she had ensnared. As Mai moved nervously behind her friend, Emi stared back at the one who had cast the barrier in bewilderment and confusion, unsure of why she had come after the two of them.

"At last we meet, Sendou Emi," Ulith spoke "I wonder if it is fate that I find you here after my ventures today? Or is it my craving for another stain on the Sendou name today?"

"Who are you?" Emi asked, raising an eyebrow as she did so.

"You may call me Ulith, scum," she scoffed "Not that I would expect that you would have heard of me, let alone my activities."

"Activities...?" Mai pondered in confusion.

Opening up her palm for a brief instance, a brief flash was displayed by the dark power of the cruel demanoured Selector which showed for a mere few seconds the symbol that was the Mark of Penalty. When it vanished, that was when Emi suddenly realized who it was that she was now face to face with and the peril that she and Mai were now in.

"That symbol..." she breathed "Are you one of the people that attacked cardfighters over at Foo Fighter and Singapore?!"

"So news of our endeavours have spread," Ulith muttered with a sneer "But that is hardly of any concern to me. I'm more interested in the younger sister of the one who banished Link Joker's evil from this world. And what twisted delights I can pull from her."

With a wave of her hand, two dark transparent red fight tables manifested in front of both her and Emi, a signal that she was challenging the latter to a cardfight with no choice in the manner, given that her prey was now trapped in her circle of flames. The younger sister of Aichi then stepped up to the table in front of her and the two of them prepared for battle as Mai moved a little to the side so that she wouldn't be in the way of their conflict. Eventually as their starting hands were decided, Ulith and Emi reached out for their starting Vanguards.

"Stand up, Vanguard!" they declared as they flipped over their cards.

"PRISM-Duo, Tisza!" Emi called as a mermaid with a blue tail, pink hair and a black dress appeared as her first Vanguard.

"Ulith, Enma," Ulith calmly spoke as her Level 0 LRIG self appeared onto the battlefield.

Both the Bermuda Triangle user and her closest friend could only gasp slightly, having not expected their opposer's Vanguard to bear the same name as herself, leading to both wonder and confusion. As this happened, a card flew out from the cruel demanoured Selector's deck and bound itself face down, leading them to wonder what she had in store for them this way. Deciding not to let it shake her, especially in the dangerous scenario she had now found herself trapped in, Emi decided to take the first turn as she drew her first card from her deck.

"I pretty Ride, Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana!" she called as a mermaid in a black dress appeared in a bright pink glow "Tisza moves!"

After Tisza reappeared to the left portion of her back row, she gazed over to Ulith signalling the end of her turn. The cruel demanoured Selector then softly giggled as she drew her first card before going into a seemingly pouty mood as she placed the card into her hand.

"Hmm... Hold on a minute..." she muttered, much to the sudden surprise of her opponent.

"Huh...? Is something wrong with your hand?" Emi pondered in utter confusion.

"You could say that..." Ulith continued before soon recovering her smile "But, I can live with this. Ride! Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins!"

As the Ulith, Enma on her side of the field vanished in a black flash, the purple skinned Devil SIGNI appeared as her Vanguard whilst the former had reappeared into the front row of her rear-guard. As this happened, a second Grim appeared behind the pale LRIG to assist her in the coming attacks for the turn.

**Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins/Grade 1/Boost/SLD: 5000/POW: 7000/?/Dark Zone/Devil**

"Attack!"

As soon as the command was given, Grim took flight on her wings and dived down towards Parana in preparation to strike her directly with the red coloured trident she wielded. Ulith then turned over the top card of her deck from the attack's Drive Check, revealing it as Baal, Reason of the Mortal Sin which glowed brightly.

"Draw Trigger," she smirked as the Ulith on the battlefield powered up "It seems this minor setback was meaningless for concern after all."

Grim then slashed across the mermaid directly in front of her, causing her to scream as several scales fell from her tail upon it suffering from the impact of the razor sharp trident. Ulith, Enma then began giggling in a sinister tone, one that was very much almost identical to the real Ulith as a sphere of purple flames manifested in her gloved hands before throwing it at her target, causing Parana to scream loudly in pain as Emi moved back to avoid being singed by some stray embers. She then placed the card Duo Dream Idol, Main into her damage zone which was already home to PRISM-Duo, Slaney.

After seeing that her opponent had ended her turn there, she then drew her next card before pondering on what exactly was in front of her and what she could see of the cards that were on Ulith's table.

"I've never seen any of those units before..." she breathed before taking a card from her hand and placing it onto her Vanguard Circle "Ride! Duo Mini Heart, Rhone!"

A red haired mermaid with blue eyes and also dressed in black then manifested itself onto the battlefield as Emi's new Vanguard, gazing upon Grim as a new mermaid with greyish hair and purple eyes appeared to the left of her.

"Peace attacks Grim!" she declared as the new arrival charged towards the Devil SIGNI that was her opponent's Vanguard.

"Guard," Ulith said calmly as Baal came to the defence to protect Grim from harm before vanishing shortly afterwards.

As Rhone cast a torrent of water that struck her target head on, she swam through the tunnel that was created at high speed, just as Emi was conducting her Drive Check which revealed Duo Pride Crown, Madeira showing that she also got a Trigger, this one being a Critical. Rhone rammed straight into Grim which knocked the Devil SIGNi onto her back as Baron Amadeus and Ulith, Vermilion Enma landed in Ulith's damage zone.

"Good Emi!" called Mai "You've managed to tie with Ulith!"

"Rhone's Counter Blast!" Emi called "Peace returns to my hand and I add another copy to my hand from my deck!"

"I see," Ulith smirked "Bermuda Triangle's speciality and a means to strengthen your offensive and defensive options. I can see why you have quite the contrast to your brother as I've noticed for myself."

Whilst her opponent could only blink in confusion, wondering how she had such knowledge of both herself and her own brother despite this being the first time meeting the cruel demanoured Selector face to face, the latter then drew her next card before placing a different one from her hand over Grim's card, causing the Devil SIGNI that was her Vanguard to disappear.

"Ride, Cosmo, Symbol of Immorality!" she called as a SIGNI riding atop a strange grey coloured demonic creature with red eyes imbued into its claws appeared in the place of Grim.

"Another unit we've never heard of..." Mai breathed "Just what are those cards Ulith has?"

"I think the bigger question we should be asking is why there's a unit with the same name as herself," Emi interjected.

That one answer was all the confirmation that Ulith had needed however as her lips pursed a devious smile, as if that one confirmation was all she needed to carry out the next part of whatever twisted scheme she had in her mind. And right now, her previous victim's sister was the target that was before her.

"Oh? You know of my actions, yet not of my cards?" she spoke in a seemingly questioning tone "I thought that circle of fighters that gather at that shop would have everyone in the loop."

"What do you mean?" the Bermuda Triangle user asked, confused by her sudden comment.

"I wonder why it is they never really told you," Ulith continued with her eyes closed and a sneer present on on her face "The real location that Aichi had went to find his 'precious' Kai Toshiki who had seemingly vanished without warning, did he not. That being... my own world."

Whilst Mai was simply confused, having had no understanding of what her friend's opponent was even saying at this point, seeing as it was more like a riddle that an straight answer at this point with the only clue seemingly being that the real location Aichi had travelled to, that being her own world.

"Are you saying you know where Aichi is now?!" Emi demanded, now seeing that the answer she had wanted all this time was now within her grasp "And what do you mean by other world?!"

"Know? I've met him myself and I would say he's doing just fine," Ulith replied smugly "But then again, your logic had you be able to see him now would dictate otherwise. Besides, are you telling me that he never said a word about where he was really going or why?"

The Bermuda Triangle user wanted to voice a reply to her answer, but then stopped upon taking in the words of what she had just mentioned and processed them through her mind. That was when a horrible feeling started to well up in her stomach, soon raising a possibility she had never wanted to consider since the very last time she had talked to her brother.

"That reminds me," the cruel demeanoured Selector continued "Didn't you happen to have a memory where you claimed to an unsuspecting Kai Toshiki that you were an only child? How do you believe that you even came to think of that in the first place?"

"N... No..." she breathed, taking a step back in trying to process this supposed information through her head "A... Aichi would never lie to me! He... He's not that kind of person and... there's no way that he could put in a bad dream in my head!"

"Then I'll enlighten you," Ulith continued "That was real memory, caused by four individuals under the very command of Sendou Aichi himself!"

Emi was now frozen still as she still could not believe in horror that not only was the reason she even said such words to Kai was because of the Quatre Knights changing her memories under Aichi's command, but that he had even lied to her about the fact that he had supposedly no idea of where he was going or how long the search for Kai was supposedly going to take.

"Besides, I think the rules of the Selector Battles will make my world a fitting home for him," she sneered before palming her face and giggling to herself.  _Ah, if only he knew about 'it' before today's events._

Emi could only clench her open fist tightly, her earlier disbelief now replaced by sheer anger. Anger from that she had been lied to by her own brother, having her own memories manipulated temporarily without knowing the truth behind it and the fact that everyone she befriended at Card Capital seemingly had knowledge about these two instances that they seemingly weren't even willing to share with her. Mai could only watch on in worry as this supposed truth was bound to have an effect on her composure for the rest of the fight and that whatever happened from this point forward, things were bound to get ugly between Emi and Aichi sooner or later, if the two were to ever reunite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Code Piruluk**  
>  Grade 0  
> Ability: Boost  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> Clan: Magallanica  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When a Grade 1 card that does not have "Piruluk" in its name rides this unit, call this card to (RC).  
> [AUTO] (Soul): When a Grade 1 card with "Piruluk" in its card name rides over this unit, search your deck for up to one Grade 2 or higher card with "Piruluk" in its card name, reveal it and add it to your hand. Then shuffle your deck.
> 
>  **Cosmo, Symbol of Immorality**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 10000  
> Power: 5000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human/LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit


	91. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 91: The Stained Siblings

**South America: Serra Residence**

As dusk approached the continent with the sun beginning to go down over the horizon, Miyako walked down the stairway that had led to the main hall of the estate, approaching both Serra as well as his butler. Morris bowed once seemingly as a greeting to the General of Mayu's forces as she walked past him with nearly no regard for his presence, not noticing a smile curl across his lips. A small clattering noise was made as she flexed her mostly repaired metallic hand before stopped in front of the master of the estate and the traitor of the Quatre Knights himself. One who was supposed to be amnesiac as punishment for his crimes against his former companions or so everyone who had witnessed and had been informed of those events had intially believed.

"Our transport to Japan has been arranged?" she asked sternly.

"Of course," he answered calmly "With Gaillard still believing that I no longer have my original memories, masking myself in plain sight amongst the fighters outside of South America will be an easy task until we deem the time for ourselves to strike correct."

"Excellent Serra," Miyako replied, though her tone remained the same as it was "You may be a part of humanity worth keeping around for Mayu after the Great Cleansing befalls both of our worlds."

And with that, the three of them exited the estate through the doors and left for the transport that Serra had arranged for them to get them over to Japan, for their schemes to be put into effect.

* * *

**Japan: City Streets**

Meanwhile, within an empty street of Tokyo, the fight between Emi and Ulith continued into the beginning of its later turns with the younger sister of Aichi having taken a lead with two damage to the cruel demanoured Selector's three. Her vanguard was currently a unit by the name of Duo True Sister, Meer, who had pink hair, teal eyes and a yellow mermaid tail in addition to the black dress she wore. Her rear-guard was the same as before from her second turn whilst Ulith still had Cosmo as her Vanguard with her Level 0 self from the front row having been defeated by a previous attack. Mai watched on nervously from the edge of the battlefield as close to the wall of flames as she could stand.

"Stand and draw," the cruel demanoured Selector spoke as her lips pursed into a smile "I like your expression. It's been a while since I last savoured the taste of a sibling falling out myself."

"What are you saying?" Emi questioned, rasing an eyebrow as she did so.

"This is just simply another day for me," Ulith continued as she picked out a card from her hand "This fight is only a savouring for what I intend to do next with your brother. I simply can't want to pull more twisted expressions from him, when I deem it's right to telegraph your defeat to him."

She then held up the card into the air as it flashed a blinding dark purple before placing it down onto her Vanguard circle on top of Cosmo's card as the Devil SIGNI disappeared from the battlefield.

"Ride!" she declared with a sinister smile "Ulith... Three Paths Enma!"

Black smog descended from the light that was shining from where Cosmo previously was before pulling back to reveal one of the many Level 3 forms utilized by the cruel demeanoured Selector whilst she was an LRIG. The Ulith on the battlefield was dressed in her usual one piece tights, only they had a skirt attached to the lower half and she wielded a white umbrella as a weapon with the inside of it resembling that of a giant fiery eye. She sneered as she glanced towards Meer, only resulting in Mai feeling very nervous of her presence.

**Ulith, Three Paths Emna/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 10000/?/Dark Zone/Human;LRIG**

"I... It's that other Ulith again," she breathed "Only, it's her Vanguard now."

Emi whilst staring at the new Vanguard in bewilderment glanced back to her opponent who still had a very smug smile on her face.

"Even if you're saying that Aichi lied to me, I won't let you take my units!" she snapped "And why are you so obsessed with these 'twisted expressions' you keep talking about?!"

"I don't just live for it," Ulith answered cooly, before placing down two cards onto her rear-guard "I hunger for it."

Onto her side of the battlefield joined a second Cosmo in front of Grim and behind the Ulith that was her Vanguard was a Spike Brothers unit that was familiar to both her opponent and Mai. He had pale white skin, a pair of wings sprouting from his back along with a horn from the top of his head and was dressed in a teal uniform with teal colouring and red armour on his shoulders, back and knees.

"And I'll savour it more, when I bring you to despair!" she declared with a crazed smile before resting all the units in her middle column "Attack! Dudley Dan's skill!"

As the Ulith on the battlefield twirled her umbrella and charged towards Meer, she turned over two cards from her damage zone before placing a second Ulith, Three Paths Enma into her soul and picking up her deck.

"I Superior Call Highspeed, Brakki!" she announced as the purple armoured Warbeast appeared to her left.

**Highspeed, Brakki/Grade 2/Intercept/SLD: 5000/POW: 9000/Spike Brothers/Dark Zone/Warbeast**

"No guard!" Emi called.

"Twin Drive."

Ulith then picked up the first card to reveal it as Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers before adding it immediately to her hand. She then picked the second card from the top of her deck and turned it over to reveal Cheer Girl, Tiara before it glowed brightly.

"Heal Trigger," she smirked before reaching out for Baron Amadeus that had Counter Blasted moments ago "I recover one damage and give the power to Brakki."

The Ulith on the battlefield giggled sinisterly before spinning around her umbrella, causing it to light ablaze with purple flames before slashing it across Meer, causing her to scream in pain as embers singed her skin and tail. The next card to enter Emi's damage zone was Duo Pretty Horn, Ural with no trigger to help her defend against the next two attacks.

"Brakki attacks next," Ulith continued as the Warbeast rushed off "Soul Blast. Add 5000 power."

As she moved the second Ulith, Three Paths Enma from her soul to the drop zone, the card suddenly glowed a dark purple, much to the shock of Emi and Mai.

"What?!" gasped the latter.

"Is that a skill from the drop zone?!" the Bermuda Triangle user exclaimed.

"That's right," the cruel demanoured Selector continued "Whenever I Soul Blast Ulith, Three Paths Enma as a cost, I can add any Dark Zone unit of my choosing to my hand from my drop zone, provided the card isn't an LRIG."

She then picked out a certain card on her mind and placed it back into her hand, revealing it to be Baron Amadeus much to her opponent's annoyance as Brakki rammed itself into Meer who cried in pain before vanishing in a purple light as the card shuffled itself into the deck.

"Four damage," she mused "Certainly, I could try and push you to five, but what fun would that be?"

She then rested Grim and Cosmo's cards to signal her third attack as the creature the latter of the Devil SIGNI was riding atop roared loudly before it took flight towards a seemingly defenceless Rhone.

"Guard!" Emi declared as two units by the name of Duo Petit Etoile, Peace and Duo Tropical Healer, Medjerda manifested to block the oncoming attack.

Cosmo and the creature she was riding atop could only hiss in annoyance as they retreated before the two Mermaid guardians left the field, the cards entering the drop zone as this happened. Ulith however was not concerned in the slightest as she playfully shrugged her shoulders to signal the end of her turn.

**End of Turn 6**

**Emi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 6 : 6**

**Soul - 2 : 2**

**Damage - 4 : 2**

**Front Rows : Duo Mini Heart, Rhone - Duo True Sister, Meer - EMPTY : EMPTY - Ulith, Three Paths Enma - Cosmo, Symbol of Immorality**

**Back Rows :** **PRISM-Duo, Tisza - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Dudley Dan - Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins**

"4 damage to 2," Mai murmured "Ulith's managed to turn it around in an instant and recover a Quintet Wall."

Emi breathed to regain her composure, but it was to little avail however as the thought of Aichi deceiving her and her other friends save for the one on the sidelines were seemingly in on the deception still remained. Though some of her initial anger from the revelation had faded since her third turn, it was still fresh in her mind and she felt she wasn't going to be as forgiving to any of them when they next met.

"Emi-san!"

Upon hearing that familiar voice, she gazed back through the flames to see that Kamui, Kiyoi, Ruko, Miwa and Kai had hurried over to where the fight was taking place, having reunited and noticing the glow of the barrier a little earlier. With the thought still brewing in her mind then, her gaze had turned into a glare when her eyes fell upon the Kagero user himself.

"We're too late!" the Nova Grappler user cried "Ulith's already fighting her!"

"Well, at least things can't seem any worse than they are," Miwa murmured nervously.

"Worse?!" Emi exclaimed, much to their shock before resuming her gaze upon who she had faced earlier "Where have you been all this time?! Was Aichi with you?!"

"Emi..." Kai murmured, confused by the sudden venom in her tone "Aichi was with some of us in Ruko's world and..."

"So what she was saying was true!"

Everyone blinked in confusion before soon realizing that there was only one way that the Bermuda Triangle user could have had prior knowledge about the other world and that was through the opponent she was currently facing. A snicker was heard from Ulith as she was relishing in every moment of the explosive confrontation between Emi and the other fighters and Selectors outside of the barrier.

"K... Kai," Mai murmured nervously "Is what Emi's opponent saying true...? That Aichi lied to her about where he was going to find out and that everyone else back here was in on it?"

"Lied...?" he breathed in disbelief "I was wondering why he avoided my questions about Emi before we searched for Ayumu, but..."

"I can only assume he did it to prevent Emi from following him," Yuki spoke from her card "Whilst he dodged your question, he did say that he didn't want to risk her to end up separated from him in our world."

Emi having broken out of her anger for an instant turned her attention towards the cards containing both the girl of black and Tama herself, now bewildered once again as she stared at the latter who simply waved hello to her.

"That card... just moved?!" she gasped "What is going on?!"

"D... Don't be scared Emi!" called Ruko "It looks like any cardfighters can hear Tama and Yuki, whether they've been in my world or not."

"W... What are you saying?" the Bermuda Triangle user stuttered in disbelief.

"Whether you wish to believe it or not now," Kiyoi replied "All of us are now involved in this battle. In Kai's efforts to end the Selector System with his comrades, Mayu has declared war on this world. Whether your brother left or not, the situation is still the same. You need to win to escape that barrier and slow down Mayu's plans for now."

Emi now hearing from the two girls that she was meeting for the first time trying to speak out for Aichi, of which she was still furious now when it came to her brother, she glanced at Kai one last time before turning back to face her opponent.

"As much as I would like to shout at Kai for causing my brother to lie to me now, you do have a point...!" she muttered "Ulith's one of those girls that has been going around and stealing units from fighters they defeat, like I heard before."

"Before...?" murmured Miwa.

"The previous attacks by Mayu's troupe in France, Japan and Singapore must have made international news for cardfighters across this world," Yuki pondered "It might not be a surprise that Emi is at least aware of their actions."

Deciding to save her pent up anger until a little later, Emi immediately started her turn by drawing her next card before placing it amongst the rest she held in her left hand and picking out a different one to use. Having been on the side of the battlefield since the beginning, Mai quietly gasped as she could see from an angle for a brief moment that it was a certain card that could help guide her friend to victory.

"You who brings happiness and joy to those around you, hear my cry for help and end this fight in my victory!" the Bermuda Triangle user declared "Super cute Break Ride!"

As Meer vanished from the field in a bright blue light, a torrent of water surged from the ground as a silhouette rose throughout it before bursting from the top of the column. The figure that landed back onto the ground was dressed in white and had pinkish white hair, red eyes and was a mermaid much like every other Bermuda Triangle unit that was played by Emi. She hummed to herself as she leaned up from the ground to face the Ulith, Three Paths Enma that was the cruel demanoured Selector's Vanguard.

"Duo Temptation, Reit!"

**Duo Temptation, Reit/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000 - 21000/Bermuda Triangle/Magallanica/Mermaid**

"Is that...?" Tama pondered.

"It's Emi's new ace!" Kamui cheered "With a unit like that and the Break Ride skill at her disposal, there's no way Ulith's getting through this turn!"

Whilst Ruko and Miwa could only smile in agreement, Kai and Kiyoi on the other hand didn't seem quite as sure as their attention was focused on Ulith herself. Despite the conditions that were now set against her, the cruel demanoured wasn't seemingly appearing concerned in the slightest, as if she had been expecting that particular unit to show itself before her. As they continued to ponder on this, three more units appeared into Emi's rear guard to both the right and behind her Vanguard. All of them bore black dresses and were ready to take on the menace that was the true appearance of Ulith as an LRIG that was her Vanguard.

"With a boost from Tisza, Rhone attacks!" Emi declared as Peace charged towards Ulith, Three Paths Enma.

"Intercept," the cruel demanoured Selector replied calmly as Cosmo and the beast she rode upon blocked Rhone's path, preventing her attack from succeeding.

"Then how about this!" the Bermuda Triangle user continued "Syr Darya with a boost from Parana!"

This time, the unit known as Syr Darya continued in her charge through a torrent of water towards her target, intending to land a hit for Emi this time. However, Cheer Girl, Tiara manifested from Ulith's hand and took the brunt of the attack head on.

"She blocked both of them!" gasped Mai.

"But Emi-san's not done yet!" Kamui interjected "Ulith's gonna see that Bermuda Triangle isn't something you can't just push around!"

"Reit attacks your Vanguard!" Emi declared "With her skill, return Parana to my hand! Furthermore, my cute Break Ride skill! Return two rear-guards to my hand and call two cards to my rear-guard!"

As Syr Darya, Parana and Rhone returned to her hand, Syr Darya and Parana immediately reappeared onto the empty right column, preparing to strike against Ulith once again. When this occurred, Reit sang out a small tune before surrounding herself with water and charging straight towards Ulith, Three Paths Enma who took up a defensive pose.

"No guard," the real Ulith replied smugly.

"Twin Drive!" she called as she turned over the first card as Duo Grampus Turn, Shannon "Critical Trigger! I give all of the effects to my Vanguard!"

**Duo Temptation, Reit/POW: 21000 - 26000/Critical: 2**

"She gave the effects to her Vanguard?" Ruko pondered in confusion.

"Then this must mean..." Yuki murmured.

"Second check!" Emi called as she turned over her next card as another Duo Grampus Turn, Shannon which shone brightly "Again, I give all of the effects to my Vanguard!"

Reit sang out a triumphant melody as she soared through the water that surrounded her and crashed right into Ulith, Three Paths Enma, knocking her down onto the ground. Seeing that the attack was a success, Mai, Miwa and Kamui cheered loudly to celebrate the Bermuda Triangle user's success in getting a lead up on Ulith at last once again.

"Double Critical!" Tama exclaimed.

"That puts Ulith on five damage!" Miwa interjected.

"Emi-san's got this wrapped up!" Kamui called.

"No."

Everyone with the exception of Kai and Yuki turned their attention to Kiyoi who had somewhat made an objection towards most of the group's assumptions for the result of the fight.

"What are you saying?" the Nova Grappler user asked in confusion "Emi's still got a attack with her rear-guard and thanks to those drive checks she's got now, she can let loose another skill."

"That's not what concerns me," the former blue LRIG replied "Look at Ulith."

It was only until they turned their attention towards Ulith herself did they finally understand the point that Kiyoi was trying to get across to them. She was sneering to herself as she reached out for the top card of her deck to perform her three damage checks.

"First."

She turned over the card to reveal Cheer Girl, Marilyn before moving it straight into her damage zone and reaching out for the next card. She then turned it over to reveal Cheerful Lynx which shone brightly.

"Draw Trigger. I give the power to my Vanguard," she smirked before drawing her single card and reaching for her deck one last time "Final check."

She turned over the last card as a third copy of Ulith, Three Paths Enma which she then placed into her damage zone, now bringing the total of the cards there to five, leaving her only one damage away from defeat. Mai could only smile once she saw that the supposed outcome for Emi's victory was now within her grasp, having been familiar with all of her new Duo cards before this fight.

"I'm not done yet!" Emi called "The melody of temptation will drag anyone to fall before her! Liet's super cute Limit Break!"

A turquoise coloured Vanguard circle flashed above Liet as she sang a loud melody out aloud, before the Bermuda Triangle user turned over two cards from her damage zone, leaving her with only a single one face up, before discarding both of the Critical Triggers she had just checked in her previous Twin Drive.

"As much as would like to have had Normal Units for the cost," she continued "I discard my two Triggers since they have the same name and Stand my Vanguard with an extra 3000 power!"

As the melody ended, Reit surrounded herself in a veil of water in preparation for the next attack to come her way. As this happened, Syr Darya charged at the Ulith that acted as the Vanguard, only to be stopped in her tracks once again, this time by Dudley Dan. However, that didn't seem to worry most of the group watching from outside of the barrier of flames.

"Emi's Vanguard is still standing!" Tama called "And she hasn't boosted it yet!"

"If this attack goes through, then Ulith will hit six damage!" Mai cheered.

Whilst Kamui and Miwa looked on with hopeful expressions, Ruko couldn't help but turn her attention towards Kai as she noted his view of the situation.

"Emi's brought up her Vanguard's power to 34000 with a boost available, but you think the second attack won't get through that easily?" she asked.

"Ulith is still holding 5 cards in her hand," he replied "There has to be something that happened before we arrived to have Emi put the power from the trigger effects to her Vanguard."

As the two looked back to the battlefield before them, the cruel demanoured Selector was softly giggling to herself, as if she was once again not even concerned in the slightest about the situation she was currently in.

"What's so funny?!" Emi snapped.

"The irony is delicious," Ulith chuckled "You did all that work just to power up my defences and add a card to my hand. Did you ever stop to think that dealing me that much damage at once was an intelligent move?"

"It doesn't matter!" she replied "My Vanguard with a boost will be at 41000 power and your Quintet Wall alone won't be able to stop it! Go Reit!"

Reit sang a new melody as she charged through her watery aura towards Ulith, Three Paths Enma whilst the units Rhone, Parana and Syr Darya disappeared immediately. The latter two reappeared onto the battlefield in the same column as before whilst Rhone's card reappeared amongst the cards in Emi's hand. As the torrent of water came closer and closer...

"Yes, that's the look I wanted to see!" Ulith cackled "Resentment, envy, bitterness...! I'll savour every last drop of it from you when I drag you to the depths of my own personal hell! Perfect Guard!"

Much to the shock of almost everyone else, the succubus Spike Brothers unit Cheer Girl, Marilyn appeared in a flash of purple light and threw one of her yellow pom-poms out to form a green barrier to stop Reit dead in her tracks, much to the mermaid's sudden shock as she was immediately deflected off the barrier and sent hurtling into the top of the barrier. The rebound from it sent her crashing back into Emi's side of the field, causing a massive dent into the ground.

"... What?!" she gasped.

"She still had a Perfect Guard?!" gasped Kamui.

"Ulith made all of the extra power go to waste!" Miwa interjected.

"And as the cost..." Ulith continued "I discard my Quintet Wall, Baron Amadeus."

"You're discarding your own Quintet Wall?!" Mai exclaimed as she watched the cruel demanoured Selector place the revealed card into her drop zone.

Emi could only stare down at Reit's card, shocked that all of her efforts had now been reduced to naught from a single card she had not been aware of since the beginning of the fight.

"Don't tell me..." she breathed "When you added back Amadeus after healing and recovering it, you tricked me into wasting my trigger effects on my Vanguard!"

"No trickery, no cheating, scum," Ulith replied smugly "It's true, Amadeus was the Sentinel I added back to my hand. I never said it would be the one I would use, you just foolishly assumed it."

"Still...!" Emi continued "Twin Drive!"

She then turned over the first card from the top of her deck, revealing the first card as a second copy of Duo Temptation, Reit, much to her slight dismay. The Bermuda Triangle user then closed her eyes and moved her hand back to the top of her deck once again, praying she could at least pull another trigger to help with her final attack of the turn. After pulling it from the top, she and everyone else save for Kai and Kiyoi could only widen their eyes in shock as the second card was revealed as PRISM-Duo, Aria.

"No... trigger..." she said, unable to hide her disappointment before regaining a bit of her composure and turning her attention to her rear-guard "Go Syr Darya!"

"Guard," Ulith calmy replied as Highspeed, Brakki came to the defence, easily blocking the last attack of the turn.

Mai and everyone else outside of the barrier could only watch on in concern as Ulith began her next turn by drawing a new card to her hand. All of them seemed rather worried for Emi now that the cruel demanoured Selector had easily survived through the last six attacks with very little lost from her hand.

"So hitting Ulith with three damage at once backfired?!" Miwa gasped.

"It's just like when we last fought," Kai replied "She intentionally gets her opponent to push her to the edge and starts getting serious then."

"I'm only familiar with a little of what I've seen of her as an LRIG," Kiyoi spoke, glancing down at Yuki briefly "But your deduction is rather accurate to what I witnessed then."

"Still," Kamui interrupted "Emi's got 8 cards in hand and an intercept! There's no way Ulith is breaking through this turn!"

"Who said that this turn would be the one to finish her," Ulith spoke out, shocking the Nova Grappler user briefly as she sharply glanced at him "I've still got my trump card hidden from sight. Did Emi honestly think she would defeat me when she used yours up early?"

She then placed down a new Grade 4 card depicting her form as an LRIG onto the field, this one being different from the one Miyako had used in her fight with Gaillard.

"Ride!" she called "Ulith, Vermilion Enma!"

A series of purple flames engulfed the Ulith on the battlefield, causing her to cackle loudly despite the pain she was suffering. Her dress save for a few folds of her skirt was now nothing but a pile of cinders as the demonic eyed umbrella was replaced by a blood red stained spear and several loose bandages with their ends stained in the exact same colour hung loosely from her one piece outfit.

**Ulith, Vermilion Enma/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 13000/?/Dark Zone/Human;LRIG**

"G... Grade 4?" Mai breathed nervously.

"All but one turn now remains before I can truely bring you down, both inside and outside," Ulith spoke in a soft, yet sinister tone.

"I'm not giving up!" Emi called "Even if I'm angry at Aichi for lying to me, I can't let you get away with stealing our units!"

"Yes, that it is certainly true," she replied before her lips pursed into a devious smile "But tell me something, Sendou Emi. Even under the circumstances I told you about, do you really believe you're more innocent than your brother?"

Whilst the Bermuda Triangle user could only blink and ponder on those words in confusion, the cruel demanoured Selector continued on with her turn as she turned over the Cheer Girl, Marilyn in her damage zone as the cost for a skill.

"With Vermilion Enma's skill," she continued "When I ride her, add any Dark Zone unit from my Drop Zone to my hand, as long as the card I choose isn't an LRIG."

She then picked out the Baal, Reason of the Mortal Sin in her drop zone as the target for her skill and placed it straight back into her hand before placing it down onto the rear-guard circle where Highspeed, Brakki previously was.

"Then by resting Baal, I look at the top card of my deck."

Ulith then turned over the top card of her deck, revealing it as a second copy of Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins.

"Since it's a Devil, I add it straight to my hand," she spoke "Then I Soul Blast. I retire Baal and recover one damage."

Everyone's eyes suddenly widened in shock as the Cheer Girl, Marilyn in the cruel demanoured Selector's damage zone moved to her drop zone along with the two remaining cards in her soul and Baal's card.

"She can recover damage without a Heal Trigger?!" Kai muttered.

"And since she Soul Blasted that Grade 3 Ulith...!" gasped Mai, bringing the attention of the group outside of the barrier to her.

"With Three Paths Enma's skill," Ulith explained cooly "Since she was used as a Soul Blast cost, I add Cheer Girl, Marilyn from my drop zone to my hand."

"Now she has a Perfect Guard back in her hand...?!" Emi breathed.

The cruel demanoured Selector cackled madly to herself as she then placed down Grim along with two copies of Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers who appeared to the left and right of her Vanguard, each of them and the Grim that was just called resonating with the Normal Units in her drop zone as evidenced by their black coloured auras.

**Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers x2/POW: 3000 - 5000 - 12000**

**Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins/POW: 7000 - 10000**

"Well then," Ulith chuckled "Shall we begin our examination of how innocent you really are! My left Alma attacks Reit your rear-guard!"

The Bermuda Triangle user could only cringe as Alma blew a kiss which turned into a dark pink heart that soared towards Syr Darya and exploded the moment it made contact with the mermaid, retiring her in an instant. The blast expanded to the area where she was standing, causing her to grab onto the table to keep her balance on her legs.

"Gg..! That impact now...!" she gasped.

"Next!" the cruel demanoured Selector continued "Vermilion Enma attacks your Vanguard!"

Emi immediately resumed her attention back towards Ulith, Vermilion Enma who immediately wrapped her loose bandages around Reit, causing her to scream as she struggled to break free of her bind. Realizing the situation she was in, she immediately threw down three cards from her hand.

"Guard!" she cried as the three units she had chosen came to Reit's defence "Tisza! Rhone! Liffey!"

The three mermaids generated a green barrier that deflected the spear from hitting them head on and cutting the bandages to free their comrade from the bind that Ulith had trapped her within.

"Twin Drive!" the cruel demanoured Selector announced before turning over the first card as Sonic Breaker "Critical Trigger! All effects go to my other Alma!"

As the second Alma powered up, she turned over the next card as another Baal, Reason of the Mortal Sin, causing Mai to panic.

"Double Trigger?!" gasped Kamui.

"This is bad!" Miwa cried.

Ulith sneered as she rested the final two cards on her table, signalling the powered up Alma to attack as she performed the same action as the first, blowing a kiss that turned into a darkened heart crackling with energy as a result of the Critical Trigger that flew towards a seemingly defenceless Reit.

"Perfect Guard!" Emi declared as Aria in a white dress came to her aid by shielding her Vanguard from the attack.

"Oh, so you had one too," she muttered with a smile "But with your hand reduced and your resources gone from the Break Ride turn, your Vanguard is completely powerless. Turn end."

**End of Turn 8**

**Emi vs Ulith**

**Hand - 3 : 4**

**Soul - 0 : 0**

**Damage - 4 : 4**

**Front Rows : EMPTY - Duo Temptation, Reit - EMPTY : Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers - Ulith, Three Paths Enma - Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers**

**Back Rows : EMPTY** **\- Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana - Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana** **: Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins - Dudley Dan - Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins**

Emi breathed slowly to regain her composure as she drew her next card before calling two Rhones and Peace to her rear-guard, now filling it back up to a full formation that she could attack with.

"Reit attacks your Vanguard!" she declared as Reit charged in a torrent of water towards Vermilion Enma.

"Waste of time," Ulith retorted as she called out Cheer Girl, Marilyn once again to block the attack with ease "After that 'explosive' Break Ride turn failed to finish me, what good do you have left aside from praying for triggers?"

"Twin Drive!" the Bermuda Triangle user called, trying to ignore her opponent's taunts with little success.

She turned over the first card as another Duo Afternoon Tea, Parana with no trigger marking to help her out this time. She immediately turned over the second card to reveal it as Duo Pride Crown, Madeira which shone brightly.

"Critical Trigger!" she declared "I give all the effects to my right Rhone and attack with her!"

Upon the trigger effects being assigned to her, Rhone charged towards Vermilion Enma in a desperate attempt to end the cardfight in victory for her owner. However, a spiked ball immediately struck her in the chest, preventing her from advancing any further from the immense pain she now suffered from. Emi could only gasp that it was Sonic Breaker this time that had managed to block her attack with ease thanks to the thirteen thousand power that Vermilion Enma possessed for both offence and defence, making her as potent as a unit with the Crossride ability.

"Where was that explosiveness from the last turn you intended to carry over?" Ulith taunted with a sneer "You disappoint me, sister of Sendou Aichi. Then again, for someone who really isn't as innocent as she claims to be, that is to be expected."

"What are you saying?!" Emi demanded as she turned over Rhone's card to signal her last attack.

The Duo mermaid idol then rammed herself into Vermilion Enma who brushed it off after the impact, bringing out Ulith's fifth damage as Grim, Melancholy of Lesser Sins. Before the cruel demanoured Selector chose to begin her turn, she snapped her fingers in an instant as a hole suddenly emerged in the barrier around them before Mai was suddenly forced out of it unexpectedly. Once she was outside, the hole was replaced by newer flames to prevent her from coming back in.

"I mean exactly what I say," she answered as she stood her units back up "You are not the so-called reliable sister that your brother believes he has to count on time and again, even after he had overcome his fears back then."

"But I am reliable for him!" Emi replied defiantly "Even if I sometimes get annoyed by his slow pace of growing up..."

She then stopped abruptly as she saw Ulith's lips curl into a sinister smile, as if she had been expecting her to say those words just now. The cruel demanoured Selector then took ahold of the card that was face down in her bind zone and held it up into the air, blinding everyone else with a bright purple light that emitted from it.

"With thy contract with nothingness, grant me destructive powers that can bring even the most resolute of souls to their innermost despair!" she declared as she placed the card down onto her Vanguard circle "Limit Override!"

As she did so, a purple aura suddenly surrounded her before the eyes of Urazoe Iona's body became blank and slightly limp, much to the confusion of only Emi who could fight past the brightness of the glow as she was the closest to her. Once this had happened, the outside of the barrier suddenly became enveloped in a thick black coloured fog, preventing anyone outside from seeing what was going on within the battlefield now.

"Emi...?!" gasped Mai.

"Just what is going on in there now?!" exclaimed Miwa.

"If she said Limit Override or whatever it's called now..." Kamui breathed, causing the latter two to turn to him.

"It's here," Kai muttered with a stern expression "Her Grade 5 unit!"

Meanwhile, within the barrier itself with the fight still raging on, a purple bolt of thunder suddenly struck Ulith, Vermilion Enma as she screamed out in pain before shortly cackling as the entire left side of her body turned into pitch back as solid crystal wings of that colour grew out of her back. Then the blackened side of her body transformed into a similar state as her hand turned into the end of a trident with a yellow eye present beneath the sharp tips along with her arm growing in length. Her right eye was now nothing but a series of purple flames erupting from where it normally was.

"Now you have no choice but to submit you insignificant little vermin!" Ulith declared in a warped voice from the new form itself "Right now, I am... Ulith, Enma of Empty Fortune!"

**Ulith, Enma of Empty Fortune/Grade 5/Triple Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 15000/?/Dark Zone/Human;LRIG**

"Now it's Grade 5...?!" gasped Emi, her hand now quivering in shock from the new revelation and the words that her opponent had been saying to her earlier "Is that what you meant when you claimed I used my trump card early?"

"That's correct," the cruel demanoured Selector replied from her new form "And the trump card... that will reveal to you how Aichi really feels about your 'treatment' of him!"

"What do you mean?!" she demanded, still feeling a little nervous.

Ulith darkly chuckled as she raised her left arm before showing the eye on her trident and allowing it to flash a bright yellow as everything around the two became a complete blank.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

* * *

**...**

Emi opened her eyes to find herself in a pitch black space with only a white floor that was somewhat allowing her to see in the darkness all around her. She quietly gasped in surprise upon discovering that she was no longer where the fight was taking place as evidenced by the lack of her units' presence. Then upon looking around the space she was now within, she saw someone not too far from her and from what she could tell easily from the blue hair the figure had, he was more than familiar to her.

"A... Aichi?"

But Aichi did not respond, much to her confusion as she stepped towards him, wondering what exactly was going on. At first, she wanted to have her previous anger from the fact that he had lied to her about where he was going to find Kai, but the recent few minutes of the fight along with the strangeness of the scenario she was now currently in had only made her more uneasy than cross.

"Aichi?" she asked once again.

This time, Aichi turned around to face her with his PSY Qualia already active within his angry eyes with a dark blue and black aura surrounding him shortly afterwards, much to Emi's shock. She had recognized this kind of appearance before and it was one she had hoped never to find again.

"What do you want, anchor?" he spat in a cold tone.

"Anchor...?!" she gasped, confused by what he had just addressed her by "What are you saying Aichi?!"

"That's exactly what I mean," he continued "An anchor who chained me down from reaching my full potential. One who even believes that I'm still the same weak person I was a long time ago."

"... What do you mean?" the Bermuda Triangle user replied, still confused by his words, but now having a welling feeling within her.

The dark aura around her brother only intensified more as he closed his eyes and pursed his lips into a cruel smile, much like the one that Ulith had always been bearing on her lips the entire time.

"Tell me something Emi," he chuckled darkly "Your continued 'worries' and your false beliefs that I have become the same person I was before I met Kai-kun... did you really think you were helping me?"

"What?!" she exclaimed, now starting to quiver at the sound of his words.

"No," the darkened Aichi continued before his expression turned to a fierce scowl "As far as I was concerned, you were just a nuisance who couldn't accept that I had grown up. Someone who would chain me down to satisfy her needs, even if it meant taking away what was precious to me by force."

"... T... That's... that's not true...!" she screamed.

"Is that so?" he answered back "Then why do you insist I do everything wrong? That I'm still someone you could babysit to your heart's content?"

"... That's..." Emi stuttered, now unable to stop any tears from running out of her eyes or say another word at all.

As this was happening, Aichi with his PSY Qualia now fully powered up opened up his hand and held out his hand towards the ground that his younger sister was now standing upon.

"Disappear, worthless anchor!" he declared "You won't chain me down anymore!"

Before Emi could even break out of her tears or attempt to respond to him, the white coloured ground beneath her cracked and split apart, causing her to fall straight into the pitch black abyss that was beneath her before landing on a hard surface beneath her. She was now unable to see anything but pitch black all around and Ulith who was now behind her in her Grade 5 form.

"So now you finally see the truth, scum," she spat with a smirk "All this time, your thoughts of helping Aichi actually drove him to attaining the dark side of his PSY Qualia and erasing your memories for a period of time."

"I... I was only trying to help him...!" Emi cried "I... I didn't mean to push him like that...!"

"Oh really?" Ulith replied with a sneer "Was your definition of helping continuing to babysit him, even at the height of his triumphs and self-confidence? No wonder he quickly turned to the power he possessed, before Kai had to interfere. Your constant 'concerns' and your inability to let him be who he was meant to be, was the true part of the reason he turned to PSY Qualia's darker side and now running without restraint through my world in the Selector Battles."

As multiple Aichis then began to appear around the two of them in the dark space that was surrounding them, the Bermuda Triangle user could only start to panic once she soon caught wind of the frowns that were adorned upon each of their face.

"No way..." she breathed in disbelief "The reason he altered my memories... and went crazy over that power... it was because of me?!"

"Anchor."

Emi soon heard all of the Aichis present before her begin to start chanting that word constantly as she could only collapse to her feet and attempt to shield her eyes from the noise with Ulith's mad cackling now not making things any easier as more Aichis continued to appear around them.

"Please... stop it!" she screamed, tears now leaking out of her eyes.

But the noise continued to grow louder as even more copies of her brother appeared saying the same single word over and over as Ulith was now unable to contain her laughter before the space soon turned into pitch black.

* * *

Emi panted as soon as the image she had been through came to an end with all of the same emotions she had been through all at once still being there as tears were still streaming down her cheeks and dropping onto the table in front of her. Sensing that she had done what she had came to do, Ulith sneered as she now chose to begin her attacks of the turn.

"Accept it," she sneered as the seemingly uninhabited body of Urazoe Iona rested the card on her command "Your failure to be the sister you thought you were."

Alma chuckled darkly as she blew a kiss towards Reit which turned into a large heart with dark purple sparks flying towards the mermaid before exploding on contact the moment it had hit her directly. The impact of the explosion shook Emi as she cried out in pain for a few moments before reaching out for the top card of her deck.

"D... damage check...!" she cried before turning it over to reveal Duo Morning Charm, Liffey "D... Draw Trigger!"

**Duo Temptation, Reit/POW: 11000 - 16000**

"Accept your punishment, by my hands!" she announced with her voice becoming distorted once again before taking flight and charging towards Reit.

As this happened, Dudley Dan glowed in a bright purple as the body she left behind unconditionally turned over two cards in her damage zone, placed the last card in her hand into the soul and called Highspeed, Brakki from her deck as the Spike Brothers Warbeast entered the battlefield once again.

"...P... Perfect Guard!" Emi screamed as Aria appeared in front of Reit to block Ulith in her path as she stabbed the spear into her barrier.

The cruel demanoured Selector, now within her strongest form as an LRIG on the field of battle did not care in the slightest as she felt her victory was still within the rather easy reach of her grasp.

"Triple Drive!" she declared as the body she was still tied to turned over the first card as Dudley Dan which then shone in a bright purple glow "Got a Banish Trigger!"

"B... Banish Trigger?!" the Bermuda Triangle user gasped.

"I give 5000 power to my Highspeed, Brakki and retire one of your rear-guards in rest!" Ulith declared.

As she pointed her spear towards the Rhone on her right before firing a purple beam at the mermaid and retiring her from the front row in a painful manner, her next check was revealed as Silence Joker.

"Critical Trigger! I give all the effects to Brakki!"

Brakki glowed a bright yellow as it was assigned both of the Critical Trigger effects as the final check was revealed as Cheer Girl, Marilyn, which shone a bright purple like Dudley Dan did previously.

"Got another Banish Trigger!" Ulith cackled in triumph as she pointed her spear over to the other Rhone, blasting her as well and retiring her from the front row.

The cruel demanoured Selector then retreated back to her side of the field in her new form as she then closed her eyes and smirked in the success of what she had now managed to succeed in doing.

"I give the power from the Banish Trigger effect to Brakki again."

**Highspeed, Brakki/POW: 19000 - 24000/Critical: 2**

"What gives...?" Emi breathed in shock.

"It's simple," Ulith smugly replied "Whenever I check a Normal Unit that isn't an LRIG, I can retire a rear-guard of yours in rest. Then, if the unit I checked was during my Triple Drive, one of my units gets 5000 power like any other trigger."

The Bermuda Triangle user could then only quiver as Brakki soon recieved power from the Grim that was now behind it before charging off and gaining even more power from its skill. As the warbeast rushed closer and closer towards Reit who could only close her eyes and wait for the inevitable to befall her, Emi threw down all three of the remaining cards in her hand to block the attack.

"GUARD!" she screamed as her units appeared "Liffey! Parana ! Madeira!"

The three mermaid units dressed in white created a barrier to prevent Brakki from succeeding in hitting Reit head on as it crashed into it in an attempt to shatter it with no success as it was forced to retreat afterwards. That meant nothing to Ulith however as the body she possessed rested Grim and Alma's cards to signal her final attack.

"The time has come," she spoke in a gentle, yet unnerving tone "Prepare yourself for your punishment, Sendou Emi!"

And once again, Alma performed the same action that she had always done for the very last time as she blew a kiss that turned into a heart with purple sparks raging across it that flew right into the defenceless Reit and exploded on contact, marking the hit successful. As this happened, the blast knocked over Emi and began to clear away the fog covering over the barrier as everyone outside could soon see.

"It's clearing up!" called Ruko.

Everyone watched on as the smog disappeared to reveal Emi on her back as she struggled back up to look at the table and see along with everyone else that her sixth damage came out as Aria.

"No way..." Kamui breathed in disbelief.

"Emi lost?" Miwa gasped softly.

"Look at that!" Tama called, bringing everyone's attention towards Ulith in her ultimate form now sneering in the glory of her victory.

"W... What is that?!" cried Mai.

The cruel demanoured Selector smiled once more before the eyes of Enma of Empty Fortune turned blank as she returned back into the body of Urazoe Iona that she now possessed once more, breathing heavily for a moment as she did so.

"So that's the price of using that form, eh?" she muttered to herself "... Not that it matters."

"But if Emi loses to a Grade 5..." Ruko breathed.

"Then that means!" Yuki finished for her.

"That's right," Ulith replied, confirming everyone's suspicions as the card on her Vanguard circle began emitting black smoke "It's time for your punishment, Sendou Emi!"

As Emi could only widen her eyes, the cruel demanoured Selector announced "Judgement!" before slamming down her closed fist on the card to initiate the process. The imaged Enma of Empty Fortune began cackling loudly as she then stabbed her spear into the ground, causing a strange circle with runes within its boundaries to appear beneath the Bermuda Triangle user. Before she could react, she was struck by a beam that erupted from beneath her causing her to scream in pain as the voices from her earlier image began echoing in her head again as tears began to leak from her eyes.

"Aichi...!" she cried as she tried to stave off the pain "I'm sorry!"

As soon as the beam stopped erupting, she fell to the ground as the barrier dropped down along with the fight table, causing her deck to spill out onto the ground as everyone else rushed to her aid.

"Emi!" cried Kai as he came alongside her with Ruko and Kamui.

"Are you okay?!" the Selector interjected.

"I..." Emi sobbed before suddenly feeling a stinging sensation in her hand.

"Look!" gasped Miwa as everyone saw her cards turning blank as the Mark of Penalty became engraved on her hand.

Ulith giggled in triumph as she saw Tempation Duo, Reit amongst the units she had now transformed into LRIG and SIGNI cards now in her possession and ready to deliver to Mayu when she would return to the White Room.

"You...!" Kamui growled "How dare you do this to Emi-san!"

"Oh? The one who defeated Remember," she pondered "Well, you could say she destroyed herself. But for now, I have other business to attend to. Business involving Sendou Aichi that is."

"W... What are you planning for him?" Emi whimpered.

"All of you will see soon enough," the cruel demanoured Selector chuckled "If you want to stop me before then, then get to my world as quickly as you can. That is, if you can at all from what I hear."

She then brought out the blank card she used to travel between worlds and the White Room before declaring "Open!" and disappearing from the street, cackling madly as she did so and causing Kai to clench a fist, angered that she had gone out of her way to target not just Aichi for her schemes, but his own younger sister as well who nearly everyone he knew back in his world had intentionally kept her in the dark about such events until now.

"Emi-san...!" cried Kamui "I'm sorry for not telling you soon as I had planned to. If I did, you'd...!"

"Would someone please tell me what's really going on...?!" she sobbed "Anyone?!"

All members of the group looked to one another as they knew even Mai had no knowledge about the Selector Battles or what was really going on between their two worlds. Knowing that it was his unintentional arrival into Ruko's world that had started this whole chain of events that led to his world's involvement in the conflict at hand, Kai knelt down and looked to Emi with his usual serious expression, his eyes now ladened with a hint of remorse for her.

"We'll tell you everything from the beginning," he said "About how I disappeared from this world and the battle that all of us have now been dragged into and one that Aichi is still involved with."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-adapted Cards Debuting this Chapter:**
> 
>  
> 
>  **Ulith, Three Paths Enma**  
>  Grade 3  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 10000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [AUTO]: When this unit is placed into the drop zone as part of a [Soul Blast] cost, you may choose up to 1 non-LRIG Dark Zone card from your drop zone and put it into your hand.
> 
>  **Ulith, Vermilion Enma**  
>  Grade 4  
> Ability: Twin Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 13000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](Hand): Unless you have a Grade 3 card on your (VC) with "Ulith" in its card name, you cannot Ride this card.  
> [AUTO][Counter Blast (1)]: When this unit is placed on (VC), you may pay the cost. If you do, choose up to 1 non-LRIG Dark Zone card from your drop zone and put it into your hand.
> 
>  **Ulith, Enma of Empty Fortune**  
>  Grade 5  
> Ability: Triple Drive!  
> Shield: 0  
> Power: 15000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [Limit Override] _(When the game begins, if your starting Vanguard is a LRIG, search your deck for this card (if it is not in your starting hand) and bind it face down. Only one card can be bound by [Limit Override]. Whilst in the bind zone this way, it cannot leave except by the following effect; "When your turn begins and you have a Vanguard with "Ulith" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4, you may skip your Draw Phase. If you do, Ride this card onto your (VC) from your bind zone".)_  
>  [CONT](Hand): You cannot ride this card unless you have a Vanguard with "Ulith" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4. (If in [Legion], treat is as a Grade 4 for the Ride Step only)  
> [AUTO](VC): When this unit attacks, if you have 18 or more Devil in your drop zone, your opponent cannot call Sentinels without an effect that calls guardians from their deck to (GC) until the end of that battle.  
> [AUTO](VC): When your Normal Unit is placed into the Trigger Zone, treat it as the activation of a Banish Trigger. _(Choose one of your opponent's [Rest] rear-guards and retire it. The +5000 [Power] from the trigger effect only applies during this unit's drive check.)_
> 
>  **Alma, Lesser Sin of Gravekeepers**  
>  Grade 2  
> Ability: Intercept  
> Shield: 5000  
> Power: 3000  
> Critical: 1  
> Nation: Dark Zone  
> Clan: Dark Zone  
> Race: Devil  
> Unit Type: Normal Unit  
> [CONT](RC): If you have 2 or more Normal Units in your drop zone whilst you have a Vanguard with "Ulith" in its card name, this unit gets [Power]+2000 during your turn only.  
> [CONT](RC): If your Vanguard with "Ulith" in its card name is Grade 4 or greater, this unit gets [Power]+7000/[Shield]+5000.


	92. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 92: The Fall of the Wind I

**Hong Kong**

As the evening drew over the Chinese region, Jillian and Sharlene were walking back to the yacht they had parked in the bay. Much had been on their minds today as they walked through the city nearby to the harbour and the two of them were still feeling rather uneasy from their findings in Hong Kong as they were planning to inform Kai and his group when they would return to Japan. Their journey had brought them face to face with many local fighters having succumbed to Mayu's forces by being marked for their losses and their punishments being their units captured by the mastermind of the Selector Battles, to remain prisoners within the Pit's prison complex of her White Room.

Even to their surprise, a rather promising team that their friends previously encountered in the Asia Circuit that was well versed in Tag Fights had fallen victim to Mayu's forces as well, leaving them to ponder on how strong their opposition truly was since Kai's return into this world. As they were returning to the yacht to report the news over to the Kagero user and the rest of his group, the older twin was feeling rather anxious about the recent events and the burden that Leon had placed upon her before leaving for the other world and Sharlene could notice that.

"Um Jillian... are you alright?" she asked in concern.

Jillian stopped in her footsteps and said nothing for several seconds before slowly turning around to face the younger twin.

"With everything happening as it is, I'm really worried for Leon-sama," the older twin replied as she pulled out the deck that he had entrusted her with, gazing down at Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom which sat atop "Was leaving them with me a good idea?"

"I'm sure Leon-sama is fine," Sharlene said with an optimistic smile "I'm sure he's keeping a good eye on Aichi until this whole mess blows over."

"Yeah," she murmured "I hope."

As the two continued through the city back to their yacht that was parked in the docks, the younger twin kept a concerned look at her sister, wondering if she was really alright from everything that had being going on as of late. She had known Jillian to be concerned about scenarios at times when she wasn't being serious, but the fact that fighters were being marked all across their world in addition to Leon having not returned from the other, that was only serving to make her just as worried for her sister as their friend. Suddenly, the temperature around the two began to drop as they noticed their very breaths had condensed into small brief clouds.

"What's going on?!" Jillian pondered as she struggled to resist the urge to shiver.

Before Sharlene could voice her confusion, a wall of purple flames erupted in front of them and circled around a large portion of the area that they were standing in, trapping the two of them and whoever had summoned the barrier inside.

"Isn't this...?!" the younger twin gasped.

A small "Fufufu" caught their attention towards the one who had ensnared them. She then stepped out from the shadow obscuring her, revealing the person to be the same girl that had previously defeated Kyou several nights ago. Her long pale brown hair wavered in the wind as did her frilled dress as her purple eyes then gazed upon the twins with a seemingly innocent expression within them.

"Who are you?!" Jillian demanded.

"Oh, me?" the girl replied as the wind eventually died down around them "Honestly, I would have thought she would have told you at some point if she figured it out."

As the twins simple stared at her, the girl pulled out a card from her pocket and turned it around, displaying the true form of the LRIG Remember on the image. She sneered as her eyes flashed blue for a split second before a silhouette of the LRIG replaced her body.

"Wh... What the?!" gasped Jillian.

"Then... is that...?!" Sharlene interjected.

"Indeed," the girl replied as the silhouette vanished "I am Remember. Master of my own fortunes, former LRIGs to many unfortunate individuals and one of the troupe that serves the mistress of the White Room, Mayu."

Now having that very confirmation with her mind, Jillian could only clench a fist upon realizing who this new opponent of theirs was capable of and more importantly, what she had done to one of their group. Having gotten to know Kiyoi a little more than her older twin, even Sharlene could not help but be somewhat angered at Remember.

"Then you're the same Remember that's caused Kiyoi all of her misery!" snapped Jillian.

"Misery? I just simply granted her wish," she scoffed "But enough about the ethics behind my methods. Once I defeat you two, all of the Aqua Force that remain in this world's cards will belong to Mayu and Cray's Naval Force will be all gone."

"All gone...?" Sharlene breathed in disbelief, before shaking her head "Not all of it! Leon-sama still has his units! There's no way he'd lose to guys like you!"

"Oh, the sweet joy of false hope," Remember muttered with a smile "If you two really think you stand a chance of defending the Aqua Force remnants from my hands, then by all means. I challenge you both at the same time!"

As she concluded her declaration, a red tile appeared in front of her to create a fight table for herself whilst one of double the width and having two Vanguard circles idented instead of one manifested in front of the twins. Both of them were very confused as this would indicate the sign of a tag fight, but their only opponent was the former LRIG herself.

"With the rules of this fight," she began "Both of you will take turns attacking me after each of my respective turns and the rules for tag guarding for each other will remain the same. I cannot Normal Ride during the Ride Phase of the turn after the twin who was second to take their first turn, I can only attack the player who attacked previously during my Battle Phase, but I am permitted to target any of your rear-guards for my card effects. Finally, the first side to reach 9 damage or run out of cards from a player's deck loses. Are there any objections?"

"A tag fight where the only opponent is you?" Jillian pondered "Interesting."

"I... I won't let you down Jillian!" Sharlene replied as she immediately set down her starting Vanguard on the table.

"I'm counting on you, Sharlene," the older twin interjected as the three combatants readied themselves with the cards they now had in their hands.

"Stand up, Vanguard!"

In three respective flashes of light, the first Vanguards of the two on one tag fight appeared within the field with the flames acting only as a barrier to prevent intruders from entering or anyone from leaving until the fight came to an end. Jillian's was easily recognizable as it was Blue Storm Cadet, Marios, Sharlene's was a teal coloured Dracokid that had pink horns as well as gems of the same colour that were littered across its body whilst wielding a blue coloured dagger. As for Remember, it was no surprise that her starting Vanguard would be the Level 0 version of herself as depicted in the Selector Battles and the Wixoss card game itself. Suddenly, a card from the former LRIG's deck moved out of it to the right and drop down on that portion of the table face down with a purple aura surrounding it.

"That's her Grade 5 unit, right?" Sharlene pondered as she turned to Jillian.

"Yeah," the older twin replied "We gotta beat her before she gets to Grade 4 for a Superior Ride on the turn after."

With that grim knowledge in mind, they watched Remember draw her first card to begin the fight.

* * *

**Card Capital**

Once Kai and the rest of the group had eventually returned to the alleyway that was to the left side of Card Capital with the partially injured Emi to explain all of the events that had been occurring since he first arrived into Ruko's world and why Aichi had gone there in the first place, Misaki and Shingo had eventually joined them, shocked to find the Royal Paladin user's sister in the state she was currently in. Emi still held her head down, feeling utterly humiliated from her earlier loss to Ulith and still trying to deny that she was responsible for Aichi's previous descent into darkness along with his self-sealing nearly a year prior. The cruel demanoured Selector had indeed been triumphant in her recent venture without revealing any more secrets in regards to what Tawil was holding in store for those that knew about the other half of Ut'ulls.

Whilst Miwa, Ruko and Tama watched on in concern for the Bermuda Triange user, Kiyoi and Yuki kept neutral expressions whilst Kamui could only hang his head down in shame, feeling that most of the responsibility for today's events and what happened to the person he cared about were now shouldered on him. He briefly opened his mouth, wanting to speak out to Emi, but immediately shut it in the hope of not making things any worse than they already were. Eventually, when he sensed that she had calmed down enough from her recent struggle, Kai sat down on the bench beside her and began to tell the tale that all of them were now experiencing for themselves in one way or another.

Despite being unable to express anything but sadness the whole way through as even as the others around her began sharing their personal involvements in the battle to end the Selector System in Ruko's world and stopping the war Mayu had declared upon their own. Kamui was initially hesitant to tell his side of the story, both out of guilt for not telling Emi about Aichi's whereabouts earlier and knowing it would cross over into his discovery of Kiyoi's tragic past, but a stern gaze from the latter eventually broke him out of his stupor and got him to talking about his own adventures as of late, even apologizing over and over to the Bermuda Triangle to which she eventually accepted, but only after telling him to stop repeating with his apology.

"With this, you now know everything that has been happening as of late," Kai concluded as he looked to young girl beside him "Is there anything else you wish to ask?"

"... No..." was all she could utter.

"Gosh... I knew she'd be upset, but I didn't think it would end up this bad..." Kamui muttered in shame.

"Of course I'm upset...!" Emi replied "The fact that Aichi doesn't trust me...! It just hurts thinking about it!"

"What did Ulith say to you?" asked Misaki.

"That I... my worries about him ended up being part of the reason he went crazy over that power he now has control over," the Bermuda Triangle user answered depressingly "And why he ordered four people to wipe my memories of him."

She then shuddered as she thought about Aichi in utter worry, unable to think of what madness or cruelty that Ulith had planned for him and the fact she still believed that she had a hand in causing past incidents involving him was only making her even more upset and very uneasy.

"I thought sometimes I worried about him too much..." she sobbed "But I didn't think I pushed him that far!"

"I knew it..."

Emi then gazed up at Kai who was looking down upon her with a serious glint within his eyes, having witnessed the trickery that Ulith had utilized before to break down Aichi in their previous battle.

"Ulith is a skilled manipulator unlike any we have seen," he spoke "She preys on the weaknesses and emotional turmoil of the people she challenges in the Selector Battles and the fights she's had so far."

"What do you mean...?" she asked.

"She sensed your suspicion on Aichi leaving this world without telling you the real reason why," the Kagero user explained "Once she discovered that was indeed the case..."

"Then... you're saying even though Aichi lied to me... Ulith tricked me?!" she gasped.

The long silence that had followed after her realization had only confirmed the Bermuda Triangle user's suspicions, leaving her even more humiliated from her earlier defeat and mental torture than she had already been before. Seeing the very situation before her was playing out very familiar, even down to the very cause of why Emi was so upset at the truth of the events she had now learned completely, Ruko came to the other side of the bench and sat down beside her.

"Emi..." she spoke, gaining her attention "I know... Aichi shouldn't have lied to you about travelling to my world. I can understand why you would feel that way."

"But I can't understand why he would do it in the first place," Emi huffed "Then again... I don't think you would probably understand why he would either."

"Actually, I do."

The Bermuda Triangle user blinked briefly in confusion as she was now curious to why the Selector had replied to her mutter the way that she did, considering that she too had no knowledge of Aichi's deception to his sister before coming across her during the fight against Ulith.

"Before Kai ended up in my world, even before I got infected with Reverse," Ruko continued "I had to keep my mouth shut about the Selector Battles from both my grandmother and Ayumu. There was no way they would believe me about talking LRIGs, body swaps or unfair outcomes before my mother found onii-chan. I think Aichi thought that you wouldn't believe anything about other worlds."

"I... guess you're right," Emi sighed "Even if I'm mad at him for not telling the truth, I suppose I would have never believed him in the first place."

"Even so, we should probably have you meet up with Neve and Ratie later so you three along with Gaillard when he arrives can clear things up between you," said Misaki.

"Thank you Misaki..." the Bermuda Triangle user replied as she gazed down at her Mark of Penalty "How on earth am I gonna explain this whole mess to mother? For one thing, she might not believe us about the other world went to or that Ulith came from there."

"I'll come with you if it makes things any easier," Kai spoke as he stood up "She'll be bound to know that I'm here whether you tell her or not."

Emi then stood up onto her feet and led the Kagero user on the way over to her house where they would have to disclose the details of her recent fight and the result of what had happened to them respectively to Aichi's mother. Everyone else watched on feeling very remorseful, even if not all of them had shown it within their outward expressions, with some now having had an idea of what Ulith was capable of. None were more devastated by the turn of events than Kamui who simply walked away on his own shortly afterwards, with Kiyoi just staring at him before he disappeared down a corner of the street they were all standing in. She then went after him as if she had something of her own to say to him after the events of this day had transpired.

"Poor Emi..." murmured Ruko.

"Tama feels bad for Emi..." Tama interjected.

"I guess we're just as at fault for not telling her sooner either, huh," Miwa pondered.

"I did try to warn Sendou-kun something like this could happen..." Shingo muttered "But then again... I can't fault him entirely for thinking Emi wouldn't believe him about that other world."

Misaki said nothing, having more or less agreed that he had indeed made a point regarding how Emi found herself into the situation that she did. A part of her couldn't help but ponder about Futase who was indeed still a part of Mayu's troupe in spite of what was really going on and Schwarzschild Dragon's influence over her actions. All the while, they could do nothing for now and await for an opportunity to make their next move as the sun continued to set over the horizon.

* * *

**Hong Kong**

Back within the arena that the barricade of flames had created, the fight between Remember, Jillian and Sharlene was seemingly going in the twins' favour at the end of the eighth turn with the former LRIG being pushed to five damage whilst Remember Morni, Star-Reading Miko was her current Vanguard with no rear-guards on her side of the field. Meanwhile, the twins had a mere two damage in comparison with Jillian having Gregorios as her Vanguard and Spyros to his right with both Marios and Wheel Assault in the back row whilst Sharlene had Storm Rider, Damon as her own Vanguard and Tidal Assault next to it with Bubble Edge Dracokid behind the latter.

Although they had a seemingly guaranteed lead before even getting to Grade 3, the older sibling couldn't help but feel uneasy by the fact that this was seeming rather easy for them. Remember had not called a single rear-guard throughout the fight and only guarded against a single attack throughout the eight turns that had already passed on. Sharlene noticed this and gazed back to their field, worried about what their opponent had in store for them and whether she could help Jillian in the slightest as they could do nothing but watch their opponent draw her next card.

"I must say, I expected more from a few of the last of the Soryu tribe," she muttered in a seemingly innocent tone as she glanced upon it "I already foretold your fate before I challenged you like this and what I have now is only a boost to my fortune telling."

"Boost...?" Sharlene pondered in confusion.

"You can't be serious..." Jillian muttered "If you wanted to get closer to your 'perfect' fortune telling, you would have used an Oracle Think Tank deck instead."

"I don't need to," Remember replied "The answer should have been right in front of you from the cards in my damage zone. In fact, I think it's time to show you... the force of the Aqua Force known as the wind!"

A sudden gale of wind erupted from around the former LRIG as Jillian and Sharlene could only gasp in shock, awe and horror at the same time from what they just heard and witnessed. It was and it shouldn't have been possible to them from what they knew about their opponent from Kiyoi and Kamui, one question was now indeed on their minds. How did Remember have access to the sacred wind that Leon commanded as his own when he went into battle with his own Aqua Force and more importantly, why? They didn't have time to ponder as Remember slammed down her chosen card on top of her Grade 2 form.

"Ride!" she announced "Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave!"

The Remember that was on the field was enveloped in a raging torrent of water as a shimmering blue light glowed from within to indicate the changing of the form. The towering torrent then suddenly froze into a column of ice that then shattered instantly, revealing the new form of Remember as an LRIG. She wielded a staff with a crescent moon at the tip and had a dark blue cape flowing behind her usual outfit with the skirt now being much longer than it normally was.

**Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Aqua Force/Magallanica** **/Human;LRIG**

After moving the staff she wielded to her left, more units began to appear to the left and right of the imaged LRIG, all of which wasn't recognizable by either of the twins. One was a green coloured amphibian Dragonman with a yellow mohawk and the usual white uniform that most Aqua Force units already possessed whilst wielding two sets of rifles with ammunition dangling from underneath the barrel. The second was Code Art WTC, a blue SIGNI that was normally associated with Kiyoi during her time as Piruluk. The third unit was another unfamiliar Aqua Force unit, this time being an Aquaroid with wild dark blue hair and wielding a multi-barrelled minigun in his hands pointing towards his opponents.

"Did she say... Blue Wave?!" Sharlene gasped.

"But... where did she get those units?!" Jillian interjected.

"WTC's skill!" Remember cut in as she pointed towards the younger twin "Freeze Sharlene's Tidal Assault!"

In an instant, Tidal Assault was enveloped in a prison of thick ice, unable to move or make a sound from within. This only led to Jillian gritting her teeth as she refocused her attention back to Remember herself.

_Because it's two on one, Remember can still choose either of our rear-guards for card effects unlike Tag Fights,_ she muttered within her thoughts  _She's trying to ensure Sharlene's frozen rear-guards cannot intercept as she's attacking me now._

"Furthermore, Brutal Trooper returns to the top of my deck," the former LRIG continued as the Dragonman vanished from the field as she shuffled the deck "In exchange, whenever my Blue Wave Vanguard like my new power attacks on the second battle or later, I can draw 1 card."

She then glanced towards Code ART WTC's card and rested it immediately as the Electric Machine SIGNI moved the holographic circles around her together, creating an electric beam that erupted towards Spyros who braced for the coming attack.

"Guard!" cried Sharlene as she placed down a card on her side of the table.

Battle Siren, Mallika then emerged in a flash of light to intercept the beam as she screamed in pain upon being struck by it, before shortly afterwards vanishing in a flash of green sparkles. A roar of water was then heard as the imaged Remember then raised her staff and flew towards Gregorios with a wave of water following behind her as she advanced.

"Remember attacks your Vanguard!" the former LRIG declared "With the skill granted by Brutal Trooper, I draw 1 card!"

Jillian glanced to the damage zone that she and Sharlene were sharing for the duration of the fight before turning back to her hand, eventually making a decision for herself.

"No guard!" she announced.

Both twins watched closely as Remember then moved her right hand towards her deck to reveal the first card of her Twin Drive for her other 'self's' attack on Gregorios. She then stopped as she then smirked to herself before pursing her lips and deciding to say something out aloud.

"Oh dear. It seems the arrival of the wind has brought the beginning of your misfortune," she said, keeping a mockingly innocent tone to her voice "Critical Trigger, all effects to my Vanguard."

"W... But you haven't checked for a trigger yet!" Sharlene gasped "Even then...!"

The former LRIG then immediately turned over the card to reveal Jet-ski Rider, causing the twins to gasp out aloud as the imaged Remember then recieved both the power and the Critical from the trigger effects. She then reached out for the second card, moving her hand towards her deck before stopping just short to perform the same motion as she did before.

"Critical Trigger," she murmured with her smile increasing "Everything is applied to Foivos."

_She just got a lucky guess with her first prediction...!_ Jillian muttered in her thoughts  _There's no way she can just guess the trigger checks that easily!_

Unfortunately, to her's and Sharlene's shock and horror, the second check of Remember's Twin Drive had indeed revealed another Critical Trigger, this time being Brutal Trooper which shone brightly. The Aquaroid that Remember had named Foivos raised his minigun as he received both of the trigger effects to power up for his turn to attack. The imaged Remember then soared into the air above the wave as it then froze into complete ice before she shattered it with the touch of her staff and sent bits flying right at Jillian and Gregorios, heavily wounding the latter. Two cards then flew into the damage zone, those being Wheel Assault and Blue Wave Soldier, Kitchen Sailor.

"Damn it..." she muttered at her frustration of the inability to heal any damage due to Remember's count "I give 5000 power to Gregorios!"

Gregorios then stood back onto his feet with the power of the Heal Trigger aiding him through a green aura that had surrounded him.

**Blue Storm Marine General, Gregorios/POW: 9000 - 14000**

Sharlene could only stare at Jillian in concern, realizing that Remember had now been holding back all of this time just to use the sacred wind of the Aqua Force she had now been given and not only had their opponent infused it with some of her own cards, but she now also had access to units they had never even heard of before. The two then gazed back to the former LRIG as she gazed to Foivos who took aim with his minigun as it begun to spin and whir loudly.

"Foivos' skill triggers at the beginning of the third attack," she explained as she turned over another Blue Wave unit in her damage zone by the name of Beragios "Add 2000 power and stand him at the end of the battle!"

**Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos/POW: 14000 - 16000**

Foivos then unleashed a barrage of light blue bullets that came soaring in fast towards Gregorios before a Wheel Assault stepped in to block the attack with a green barrier created in front of him. After he vanished, Foivos then took aim at the Blue Storm Senior and let loose another round of fast bullets at him.

"Accelerated Command!" Sharlene called as the unit manifested to protect Jillian's Vanguard from a second attempt of heavy damage. The older twin however didn't seem that pleased.

"Sharlene, you do know I have my own defensive cards!" she called.

"B... But...!" the younger twin replied "I can't just let you lose Leon's prized cards to Remember!"

"I know that! But we've still got four damage! We can pull through this turn just fine!"

A sinister giggle caught their attention back towards Remember who was observing their conversation with some amusement, now taking into account the situation before them.

"Sisterly love, huh?" she pondered "It's such a shame Sharlene. You could have risked extra damage if you only knew what was in store."

"What are you talking about?" Jillian question.

An icy breeze swept throughout the battlefield, dropping the temperature around them despite the boundary of the fiery walls not far behind any of them. Remember then turned over two cards in her damage zone before removing two cards from underneath her Vanguard in addition to two cards from her hand before placing them into the drop zone.

"At the end of the fourth attack of the turn, my Limit Break triggers!" she announced as a blue Vanguard circle flashed above her. Then she pointed towards Jillian's entire field. "I Freeze rear-guards you control up to the number of attacks that didn't hit any of your units this turn. Then, if the number of frozen rear-guard you have is 3 or more, I stand my Vanguard!"

The imaged Remember then giggled before pulling down her staff and pointing it straight at the three rear-guards that Jillian had, unleashing three seperate beams that struck them and encasing them in huge chunks of ice. The younger twin suddenly gasped at the predicament the two of them were now in due to her earlier defences and now, guilt was beginning to settle in her heart.

"To think this would have only happened if your idiot twin didn't guard all of my rear-guard attacks," the former LRIG chortled in her mockingly innocent tone "And now you're going to pay the price for her incompetence. I attack your Vanguard!"

As the imaged Remember came soaring in towards Gregorios, Jillian remained defiant on her own, not making a move at all. Remember's evil smile then softened a little as drew her card from Brutal Trooper's effect before moving to conduct her second Twin Drive.

"Consider yourself lucky this time," she said "None of my checks will reveal any Triggers."

She then turned over her checked cards to be Emerald Shield, Paschal and a second copy of Foivos which she then placed into her ever increasing hand size. The imaged Remember then struck across Gregorios with the tip of her staff through a massive smack. Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom and Tidal Assault entered the damage zone this time, bringing the total count up to six and leaving the twins only three damage away from defeat.

"I'll end my turn," the former LRIG concluded.

**End of Turn 9**

**Jillian and Sharlene vs Remember**

**Hand - 4 : 2 : 9**

**Soul - 1 : 1 : 1**

**Damage - 6 : 5**

**Jillian's Formation:**

**Front Row - EMPTY : Blue Storm Marine General, Gregorios (VG) : Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros (Frozen)**

**Back Row - EMPTY : Blue Storm Cadet, Marios (Frozen) : Wheel Assault (Frozen)**

**Sharlene's Formation:**

**Front Row - EMPTY : Storm Rider, Damon (VG) : Tidal Assault (Frozen)**

**Back Row - EMPTY - EMPTY - Bubble Edge Dracokid**

**Remember's Formation:**

**Front Row - Code Art WTC : Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave (VG) : Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos**

**Back Row - EMPTY : EMPTY : EMPTY**

Whilst Jillian did her best to keep herself from frowning over the result of the onslaught that Remember had laid down, including the entire of her rear-guard frozen for quite some time due to Sharlene's earlier worry, she turned her attention over to the twin in mind. She noticed that she was feeling very disappointed in herself for putting them at quite the disadvantage now that the former LRIG had acquired a powerful new form and the sacred wind to herself.

"Snap out of it Sharlene!" she shouted, getting the younger twin's attention immediately "We haven't lost this fight yet and I need you to pull it together!"

"But... You can't get to the fourth attack on your turn anymore," Sharlene sobbed "I got paranoid and..."

"Don't worry about me for now," Jillian replied "Right now, I need you to get us on the offensive and continue on with our attacks!"

"Even so..." she stuttered "How are we supposed to beat an LRIG... let alone one that can predict all of her triggers...?"

_(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Lies, Desire and Broken Mess)_

The lack of an answer from her older twin eventually caused her to shake her head and begin her turn, pondering over what little she could do after throwing away most of her hand to defend Jillian out of paranoia.

"Ah, but don't worry," Remember interrupted with her innocent tone "It's not like being the last of the Soryu tribe has brought too much attraction. It's not like you two will be able to manage the feats they and their clan have. Reading the waves, reading the waves..."

* * *

**Flashback**

"... reading the time. If you really are capable of that and none are before you, then the only thing that awaits them is a grim fate or worse, death."

Within one of the darker sections of the winding corridors of the White Room, close to the almost pitch black areas of the giant prison known as the pit, Remember within her form as an LRIG before claiming the body she would now be standing within the present day, was standing within one of those on the edge of the darkness facing a taller humanoid figure masked within the shadows.

"So then, you actually contacted us willingly before Mayu sent me after him," she scoffed "This is certainly a turn of events."

"Don't be mistaken," the figure replied, his voice being rough, but somewhat calm "My master's essence simply has ties with Mayu. She tells me you have a unique ability with fortunes and that I may be of a little assistance to you."

"You would be correct," Remember replied in her innocent tone before frowning "Mine has had no failure, until one of my former compatriots and that annoying fighter got in my way!"

A simple grunt was heard from the shadowed figure as he merely sighed, pondering if Mayu had made the right decision in letting him see this particular LRIG that had been serving under her watch.

"Very well then," he spoke as he brought his black gloved hand into the light.

Remember then handed several cards to the figure's open palm as she kept her right hand on top of the pile. Moments afterwards, a swirling wind enveloped the two along with a blue aura as the cards began to glow a bright white. Remember's purple eyes shone brightly as her sneer deepened before she felt some extra cards manifest beneath the pile she had placed in the figure's hand. Eventually, the sensation disappeared as the LRIG removed the cards and saw that the efforts of her companion had created two new cards for her, including the one named Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave.

"Do not merely use this power as entertainment," the figure spoke gruffly "Your primary mission outside of your hauls for Mayu is to acquire the remaining Aqua Force for the Pit. You were already reprimanded once, so I won't hesitate to remove it if I find that you prove to be less useful to her's and Chaos Breaker's cause."

A purple aura then surrounded him, revealing the shape of his shadow for several seconds before he had vanished. To where though, that was an answer only the inhabitants of Mayu's White Room would ever know. And that included Remember herself as she began to leave the corridor with her new cards in hand, keeping a calm and collected smile to herself.

"My fortunes will no longer fail me again," she hummed to herself "Thank for you for the gift, Apostle."

_(End Music)_

* * *

Reminiscing the events once more, if only to herself with the exception of the words the shadowed figure had told her, Remember now turned her attention back to the twins in front of her who still weren't quite sure about what to expect now that their opponent had not just the LRIG forms of herself to contend with, but Aqua Force units they never even heard of before until now. Taking Jillian's words into account, Sharlene drew her next card whilst trying to keep her nerves in check, especially with how little she held into her hand out of her earlier panic.

"Here... I go!" she called as she raised a card into the air "Level every hurdle to the ground, bring forth the glory of victory! That is your mission! Ride!"

After placing down the card on top of Damon, he disappeared in a blinding blue flash before the shadow of a much larger creature began to emerge. When the light faded, the new unit that the younger twin had brought into play was a Tear Dragon, but one with a rather strange shape. It was a mix of teal and dark blue colours and its wings were on the side of its thighs rather than the black. The unit also wielded a giant sword within its claws and had teal green eyes. Jillian could not help but be a little surprised at the appearance of this unit, knowing who had used it before.

"Last Card, Revonn!"

**Last Card, Revonn/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Aqua Force/Magallanica/Tear Dragon**

Remember simply remained rather smug at the appearance of Revonn, not concerned in the slightest with the little bit of offense that Sharlene had now managed to bring to the battlefield. Light Signals Penguin Soldier then appeared onto the field beside Revonn, glowing a bright blue shortly afterwards.

"With Penguin Soldier's skill, I draw a card!" the younger twin called "Then I move Bubble Edge Dracokid to the soul!"

As the starting Vanguard she had disappeared from the battlefield, Jillian could not help but express confusion, knowing what the skill that unit possessed on its own. But it didn't seem to matter to Sharlene as she turned over the only card on her side of the shared damage zone, causing an aura to surround Revonn as the humanoid like Tear Dragon powered up.

"Penguin Soldier attacks Remember!" she declared as the small Grade 1 unit charged towards the imaged Remember.

She however blocked it with ease by holding out her staff to deflect the attack and knock back Light Signals Penguin Solder back to the twins' side of the field.

"Next, I attack with Revonn!" Sharlene declared "Here's my Limit Break!"

A blue Vanguard circle flashed above the charging Revonn as it brought up its blade in preparation to strike the imaged LRIG who remained motionless in the face of the attack coming her way. The Wheel Assault that was in Jillian's portion of the damage zone turned itself over as another blue aura enveloped the Tear Dragon who was now halfway across the battlefield.

"Since I have my entire front row in rest, Revonn gains 3000 power and a Critical!"

**Last Card, Revonn/POW: 13000 - 16000/Critical: 1 - 2**

"No guard," Remember remarked smugly "Not that it matters. Your next Twin Drive will have no triggers."

"Now she's even predicting our triggers?!" Jillian muttered.

"I... It can't be true!" Sharlene replied as she turned to her deck "First check!" She turned it over to reveal her own Emerald Shield, Paschal. "Second check!"

Upon turning over the card, it only came out as a second Tidal Assault, shocking both of the twins that their opponent was once again exactly correct within her predictions. Revonn slashed down the imaged Remember who screamed in pain from the assault as the real Remember then turned her attention towards her deck and performed her two damage checks. The cards Foivos and Remember Morni entered the damage zone to join the five cards that were already there.

"No Triggers either," the former LRIG scoffed "And with that, your turn ends and Tidal Assault thaws."

The ice that had imprisoned Tidal Assault finally shattered, setting the Aquaroid free as he landed back on his feet and took up a defensive stance to prepare himself for the next wave of attacks to come his way.

"Stand and draw," Remember spoke as she began her turn "I call Brutal Trooper and return him to the deck. Furthermore call! Beragios!"

A new Aqua Force unit that was dressed in the clan's usual naval attire and wielding a sabre in his right hand appeared behind the imaged LRIG as Code Art JV let out a shower of sparks towards Penguin Soldier, retiring it from the battlefield.

"Next, Remember attacks Revonn!" she declared "With Brutal's skill, draw 1 card!"

Sharlene pondered on her options before looking back to Jillian for a brief instance and then looking back to Remember with her decision made.

"No guard!" she declared.

"Oh? You do realize if I pull a double Critical Trigger, this will be the end for you and the units you two wield," the former LRIG muttered "But let's see if the wind is in my favour."

She then reached out to her deck to perform her Twin Drive and make another prediction before frowning suddenly, much to the confusion of the twins.

"Your gamble has paid off," she muttered before regaining her smile "This time."

She then turned over her first card as Blue Wave Soldier Senior, Beragios and added it to the ten cards she already had in her hand before revealing the second as another copy of Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave. The imaged Remember that was on the battlefield then summoned several missiles of ice around her with her staff before aiming them towards Revonn and firing them at it. The Tear Dragon barely fended itself through the onslaught as missiles of ice crashed around it and Sharlene as she turned over her damage check to reveal it as Battle Siren, Mallika which shone brightly.

"Draw Trigger!" she called "I give power to my Vanguard!"

"In that case, Foivos attacks Tidal Assault!" Remember announced as the Marine General effortless took out the last rear-guard Sharlene had on her field before ending the turn to pass over to Jillian.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give us much," the younger twin sighed.

"It's alright," she replied "You did manage to stop her from getting another attack with her Vanguard by getting less than three rear-guards. Leave this next turn to me."

Sharlene smiled back in response as the older twin drew her next card before glancing over the options in her hand, knowing that she had to do something to deal with the colossal hand Remember had now gotten from her last few rounds of attacks in addition to the three frozen rear-guards she currently had on her board. Picking out the card that she had in mind within her hand, she held it high into the air.

"Dragon spun into existence from the warp of the wind and weft of the sea, live up to the legend in your ideal form!" she announced "I Ride Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom!"

Gregorios vanished in a roaring column of water that erupted beneath him before the shape of the Aqua Force's Vice Admiral appeared within the raging current. The water dispersed to reveal Maelstrom within its strongest form as it roared out loudly at Remember who didn't even flinch in the presence of itself. Jillian then turned her attention to the cards she held and made a decision.

"I call Gregorios, Hermes and another Spyros!" she declared as the frozen Spyros and Marios vanished from her field to make use of the three new units she called into play before turning immediately to her battle phase "Glory Maelstrom attacks Remember with Hermes' boost! Ultimate Break!"

A purple Vanguard circle flashed in front of Maelstrom as it roared loudly once again and power up before unleashing a stream of purple energy towards the imaged LRIG.

"Alright!" Sharlene cheered "Remember can't guard with Grade 1 or higher units and she's got 7 damage!"

"Guard!" the former LRIG announced as Jet-ski Rider and Brutal Trooper came her defence, joined by Code Art JV from the front row who created a barrier around them to protect the imaged Remember from Maelstrom's assault "You still don't get it. I control the flow of this fight, thanks to my superior fortune telling and the wind that only confirms it for me!"

"We'll see about that Remember!" Jillian replied "Twin Drive!"

"Too bad for you! Your next Twin Drive will...!"

She suddenly stopped as a huge gale of wind flew past her as Maelstrom roared loudly in tandem, causing the bluish glow in her eyes to suddenly switch on and off erratically.

"What the hell?!" she cried "Is Maelstrom somehow interfering with my fortunes and the wind I command?!"

"First check!"

Jillian's voice then caught the former LRIG's attention as she could only watch as her opponent then immediately turned over the first card to reveal Blue Storm Soldier, Missile Trooper.

"Critical Trigger!" she announced "All effects go to Spyros!"

**Blue Storm Marine General, Spyros/POW: 9000 - 14000/Critical: 1 - 2**

She then turned over her second card as Angler Soldier of the Blue Storm, another trigger that came at the perfect timing for her as the card shone brightly.

"I give the power to Spyros again!" Jillian declared "And I use the Trigger Effect to free Wheel Assault!"

She then pointed the card towards the frozen back row unit as it shot out a beam of light that pierced through the ice before shattering the prison completely, setting Wheel Assault free and allowing him to take an offensive stance back at his full power. Meanwhile, Maelstrom's beam did not penetrate the barrier enough to hit the imaged Remember, but the impact was great enough to create a large explosion that retired the guardians and shake the battlefield enough to force the twins' opponent to the ground.

"Spyros with its extra power and Critical attacks Remember!" the older twin continued.

"Guard!" her opponent declared as a unit by the name of Blue Wave Engineer, Refit Sailor appeared to take on the full brunt of the attack by Spyros' warcraft.

"Next, I attack Foivos with Gregorios!"

"No guard...!" Remember hissed as Gregorios blasted Foivos off of the battlefield with his rifle.

"Finally, with a boost from Wheel Assault, Spyros attacks your Vanguard again!" Jillian declared.

With a rush of water beneath his warcraft, Spyros soared across the battlefield towards the seemingly defenceless Remember who could only take up a defensive stance hurriedly. Suddenly, a green barrier came between the two and knocked Spyros off course and soaring back to Jillian's field as it was revealed that Paschal had dropped in at the last minute to save the former LRIG as she held up the card.

"Perfect Guard!"

"Darn it...!" the older twin groaned "I almost had her before she got to Grade 4!"

"But her front row rear-guards are gone and so is half of her hand!" Sharlene replied "Just leave the rest to me!"

Jillian now happy with the extra enthusiasm her twin had nodded in agreement as the two of them shared a high five before turning their attention back to a very frustrated Remember who was less than pleased with what Maelstrom had done to interfere with her abilities. She slammed a fist on the table in frustration before drawing her next card to start the turn.

"How annoying...!" she snapped "But with this next evolution, the remainder of the Aqua Force will belong to me and the wind will further benefit my abilities!"She then slammed down her next card on top of the Grade 3 Remember that was her Vanguard and as the twins could clearly see, it was indeed a Grade 4 unit. A blinding white light enveloped the Remember on the battlefield, changing up both her appearance and her staff drastically until the light faded to reveal the next form that she had undergone.

"Behold as a sweeping tide washes away all hope for a peaceful future and ushers in a new chaotic age!" she announced "Ride! Remember Eclipse, Neo Miko of the Blue Wave!"

**Remember Eclipse, Neo Miko of the Blue Wave/Grade 4/SLD: 0/POW: 13000/Aqua Force/Human;LRIG/Magallanica**

"So that's her Grade 4!" gasped Sharlene.

Jillian could only nod in agreement with clenched teeth knowing that she was going to have to do everything possible to outlast all of Remember's attacks to pass the turn back to Sharlene in the hope of finishing the former LRIG off.

"Remember's Limit Break!" Remember announced as she turned over two cards in her damage zone and took the previous form of herself out of the soul and put it in the drop zone "I Freeze all of your rear-guards Jillian!"

Without warning, all of the older twin's rear-guards were encased in ice much like how some of hers were the last time she had used such a skill. She could only stare at the four cards she held, wondering what else her opponent had up her sleeve.

"Furthermore, since you have 4 or more frozen rear-guards, my other self gains a Critical and can Stand at the end of the fourth battle my Blue Wave or Code Art rear-guard waged an attack!" the former LRIG continued "I won't let Maelstrom interfere with my fortunes again!"

Immediately afterwards, two copies of Foivos in addition to another Beragios and Code Art KEY appeared in an instant to her rear-guard as the one in front of the Electric SIGNI was the first to immediately wage an attack. He leaped into the air and fired his minigun away at Maelstrom before Gregorios moved in front to Intercept the attack.

"Not bad," Remember scoffed as her flashing eyes eventually turned back into a stable glow of light blue along with the wind swirling around her "But you cannot defend yourself against this!"

The imaged Remember then summoned a colossal tidal wave that came roaring right towards Maelstrom who could only remain in place whilst Jillian was making a decision.

"Blue Storm Guardian Dragon, Icefall Dragon!" Sharlene called out "Quintet Wall!"

Icefall Dragon along with Mallika, Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, Damon, a second Revonn and Battleship Intelligence came to the defence of Maelstrom as they formed a barrier to deflect the wave that crashed into it, shaking the ground as it dispersed into water droplets.

"My next Twin Drive will be one Critical and one Draw!" Remember declared as she revealed the first card to indeed be that, another Brutal Trooper "I give all of the effects to Foivos!"

**Blue Wave Marine General, Foivos/POW: 9000 - 14000/Critical: 1 - 2**

She then turned over the second card as another Code Art KEY which shone brightly as the imaged Remember glowed a bright yellow to show she would be the one to recieve the Trigger effects.

"Don't fear your misfortune! Accept it!" Remember called out with glee as the other Foivos made its first attack against Maelstrom.

"Guard!" declared Jillian as Brutal Trooper took the brunt of the bullets from the minigun.

"Foivos attacks again with a boost from Beragios!"

The Marine General then whirred up his minigun again before shooting off more rapid fire bullets that were headed for Maelstrom before Spyros and Angler Soldier moved in to block the attack before vanishing shortly afterwards. A golden glow enveloped the imaged Remember as the real one discarded two cards from her hand before standing her Vanguard back up for a final attack.

"Furthermore, with Beragios' skill, when my Blue Wave Vanguard stands, he stands as well!" the former LRIG declared "It seems like I'll defeat you without Judgement in effect after all."

"We're not done yet!" replied Sharlene "We'll hold out for Leon-sama's sake and I'll beat you with Revonn next turn!"

"Yeah, do your worst LRIG!" interjected Jillian "We know all of your tricks now!"

"Then let's see how knowing..." she replied as she rested the card "Will save you now!"

The imaged Remember with Beragios' boost then soared into the air and created another wave that came soaring towards the twins entire side of the field as Revonn and Maelstrom both prepared for the worst. She then waved her staff to turn the raging tide into a giant heap of ice which then shattered into large chunks that came crashing into the Vice Admiral and creating a large cloud of smoke from the impact that covered half of the battlefield from that end. However, a flash of green light dispelled the smoke in an instant revealing that Jillian used up her own Paschal to save herself by throwing away the last card in her hand.

"Persistent to the end, huh," Remember muttered as she conducted her Twin Drive, revealing another Beragios and then a third Code Art KEY "Draw Trigger."

"This is our chance now Sharlene!" cried Jillian "Don't let her get another turn or she'll bring out that Grade 5 in her bind zone!"

Sharlene didn't have to be told twice as she could already tell from her nerves by just looking at the dark purple flames that were emitting off of the face-down card that was there.

"I can do this," she breathed as she drew her next card "I will defeat you Remember and we'll be one step closer to helping Leon-sama in his fight over in that other world against Mayu!"

"Then by all means Sharlene," Remember goaded as she glanced over the cards she now held "Go ahead and try."

* * *

**Japan: Sendou Household**

Soon, Emi and Kai arrived at the house that was home to Aichi as the evening drew over the horizon behind them. They knew that they had no other option but to tell the truth to his mother about what had happened to his sister and the real reason about where he had gone. Despite knowing that this was the right thing to do, Emi felt strange that she was the one feeling nervous about the coming ordeal than the Kagero user beside her.

"I'm really worried," she murmured "It's one thing to tell mother that I've been caught up in the mess other fighters have experienced, but explaining why you came back without Aichi, let alone where you ended up..."

"Do not worry about me Emi," he replied firmly "Your concern must be with us getting the truth of Aichi's whereabouts and why I have ended up back in this world without him out to your mother."

"Right," she replied, breathing in to calm herself.

She then walked up to the door and knocked on it three times before stepping back off of the doorstep and waiting patiently for a few moments. Soon, the door opened up and out into the front entrance came a woman with teal coloured hair and matching eyes. Although she had expected to see Emi at this time of the evening or a little later, her gentle expression turned into a little bit of a surprise as her eyes landed on the unfamiliar boy that stood in front of her.

"Oh, hello there," she greeted, unable to hide her confusion before looking to Emi "Is this a friend of yours?"

"Actually, he's a friend of Aichi's," she corrected for her "He's Kai Toshiki, the guy he's mentioned to you about several times since he started playing Vanguard."

"Well then," she said with a warm smile "It's nice to finally meet you in person Kai. Aichi's told us a lot about you and I've been interested in seeing you for the first time."

"The feeling is mutual," he replied "But I'm afraid we haven't come here on a happy note. Earlier today, Emi got attacked by someone who has been marking cardfighters and stealing their units for their mistress."

His explanation alone was enough to suddenly send Aichi's mother into a state of worry as she looked down to her daughter who could only hold out her hand with the Mark of Penalty on, confirming her worst fears.

"I'm sorry mother," she said, feeling very guilty for what happened "It's just like the news said about what happened to other cardfighters."

"Did they hurt her badly?" she asked in concern, turning back to face Kai.

"Shin and Misaki have treated her injuries," he answered "We're only thankful that they were light after the fight had concluded. And there is also another matter on I imagine is now on your mind. On why I have suddenly returned without Aichi."

"I suppose you have an explanation for this too?" the mother asked, resisting the urge to raise an eyebrow.

"It's a long conversation that the others already had with me," Emi replied "It's hard to believe, but it's the truth. Let's go inside and we'll tell you the story from the beginning."

Although confused by how her daughter had worded things for her, her mother nodded in agreement and invited the two inside before shutting the door behind them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**
> 
> **Remember Twilight, Miko of the Blue Wave  
>  Grade 3  
> Twin Drive!  
> SLD: 0  
> POW: 11000  
> Clan: Aqua Force  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> [AUTO](VC)(Limit Break 4)[1/Turn]: At the end of the battle your rear-guard with "Blue Wave" attacked a Vanguard, if it was the fourth attack of the turn [COST|Counter Blast (2), Soul Blast(2) & Choose two cards from your hand and discard them], Freeze one of your opponent's rear-guards for every attack that didn't hit their Vanguard and had a card on (GC) during those battles. Then if your opponent has 3 or more Frozen rear-guards, [Stand] this unit.  
> [CONT]: If your starting Vanguard didn't have "Remember" in its card name, you cannot Ride this card.  
> [CONT]: This card is also treated as a card with "Piruluk" in its card name.**
> 
> **Remember Eclipse, Neo Miko of the Blue Wave  
>  Grade 4  
> Twin Drive!  
> SLD: 0  
> POW: 13000  
> Clan: Aqua Force  
> Race: Human;LRIG  
> Nation: Magallanica  
> [ACT](VC)(Limit Break 4)[1/Turn]: [COST|Counter Blast (2) & Soul Blast (1) Grade 3 card with "Remember" in its card name], Freeze all of your opponent's rear-guards. Then if the number of frozen rear-guards they have is 4 or more, this unit gets [Critical]+1 and "[AUTO](VC)[1/Turn]: At the end of the battle your rear-guard with "Blue Wave" or "Code Art" attacked a Vanguard, if it was the fourth battle of that turn [COST|Choose 2 cards from your hand and discard them], (Stand) this unit" until end of turn.  
> [CONT]: If your starting Vanguard didn't have "Remember" in its card name and/or your Vanguard doesn't have "Remember" in its original card name, you cannot Ride this card.  
> [CONT]: This card is also treated as a card with "Piruluk" in its card name.**


	93. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 93: The Fall of the Wind II

Hong Kong

Within the battlefield, no one had made a sound since the end of Remember's turn as she held onto the five cards that were now present within her hand after the previous round of attacks that she had made. The damage count between herself and her opponents, the twin sister companions of Leon Soryu were still tied at seven damage apiece with neither side willing to give an inch. Maelstrom and Revonn stood tall in the face of their imaged version of the adversary that stood before them.

Sharlene then looked to her empty board with only her Vanguard being present on the field ever since Remember had crushed her rear-guard upon seeing that she could not get the fourth attack of the turn with only two present. The pressure was still onto her, especiallly with what little cards she was currently holding in her hand.

"Go for it Sharlene!" called Jillian "Give it one final push!"

"Right!" the younger twin replied as she turned back to her cards "Stand and draw!"

After drawing the next card from her deck, her eyes widened as soon as she realized what card it was that she had drawn, causing her older sibling to raise an eyebrow whilst Remember remained smugly confident in the thought that her opponent drew a Trigger to waste. Sharlene on the other hand was a little mesmerized by what she had just obtained before looking down onto Revonn's card on her side of the double table.

You left this for me too Leon-sama? she pondered before closing her eyes I... I don't know how to thank you now. But I can make it up to you, by taking one of Mayu's number down with Jillian-chan!

The younger twin then held the card high up into the air as it shone in the evening light within a bright teal blue glow.

"With the mission you have been given, rise to new heights and fulfil our foes' enlightenment!" she declared before throwing down the card onto the Vanguard circle "Cross Ride!"

Revonn then began glowing a bright dark blue, blinding everyone else on the battlefield as it began to change shape with something new appearing on its shoulders within the shadowed silhouette of the new form that was about to transcend. With a slash of its massive sword, the mighty Tear Dragon reappeared in its newly changed state. It was now covered in white pieces of armour across its legs, upper arms in addition to its chest that had multiple hexagons littered across it and wielded a pair of shoulder cannons to boost its offensive capabilties. It roared in triumph as Sharlene finally announced the name of this brand new form.

"Trump Card, Revonn OVERDRIVE!"

Trump Card, Revonn OVERDRIVE/Grade 3/POW: 11000/SLD: 0/Aqua Force/Magallanica/Tear Dragon

"Revonn OVERDRIVE?" Remember mockingly pondered before shrugging "Now there's something you don't see everyday."

"I had a feeling Revonn had more potential with Leon-sama," Jillian gasped quietly "But to think he had a Cross Ride version hidden from everyone but Sharlene." She then gazed up at Revonn, both in awe of its appearance, but it quickly changed to confusion. "Wait Sharlene, why isn't Revonn OVERDRIVE gaining 2000 power if it's a Cross Ride?"

"Trust me, I'll get to the soul's Revonn in a bit," the younger twin replied before turning back to her field "But first, I call these three units!"

Immediately into both her front and back row, two more Tidal Assaults and a new unit that was once again unfamiliar to both Jillian and Remember from their knowledge of the Aqua Force clan. That unit was a Grade 1 Mermaid who had pink hair and was dressed in the Aqua Force's usual white naval uniform in addition to wielding a trident as her weapon.

"First, my Tidal Assaults will attack Remember Eclipse!" she declared.

The two Aquaroid units then immediately summoned their two sabers before charging off towards the imaged Remember who held out her staff for defence against the coming attacks. With little effort, she immediately blocked the attack of the first one before slashing the crescent end of her weapon at the other to knock it back across the battlefield.

Tidal Assault x2/POW: 9000 - 4000

Upon recovering after the power decrease, both Tidal Assaults then attacked Remember together, only for her to block them both so easily once again before smacking them away.

"And what was that supposed to be?" Remember pondered as she kept a close eye on her five cards in her right hand "Even if you draw a Trigger to Stand them, their power will only be 9000, their original values. Then again, I wouldn't expect anything less from the weaker twin."

"As much as I disagree with her insult, she has a point Sharlene," Jillian muttered "Even if you get a Stand Trigger, Tidal Assault can only go for the rear-guard. I just hope you have something else up your sleeve."

The younger twin nodded as she then turned her attention to Revonn who roared loudly in preparation for the coming attack. She then rested Cloris' card and then followed that immediately with Revonn OVERDRIVE's as she gazed towards her opponent.

"The trump card who has already broken his limits once before will perform yet another breakthrough!" she announced "Revonn OVERDRIVE's Ultimate Break! Cross Soul Blast!"

A large Vanguard circle then flashed above Revonn as the Tear Dragon then let loose two beams from its shoulder cannons which struck the ground right in front of the imaged Remember, causing her to fall over as a blue aura enveloped the two Tidal Assaults who rose back up and powered up from the sudden skill that had just gone off. Revonn also glowed a bright dark blue as it too was powered up from the skill that had just been triggered.

Tidal Assault x2/POW: 4000 - 9000

Trump Card, Revonn OVERDRIVE/POW: 17000 - 27000/Critical: 1 - 2

"By Soul Blasting the original Revonn on the third attack of the turn or later," the younger twin explained "For every two battles I've conducted, I stand 1 of my front row rear-guards that attacked and give it 5000 power! Then if Revonn is battling on the fifth attack, he too gets 10000 power and an extra Critical!"

"Amazing!" gasped Jillian "If you can get this through, Remember will be on 9 damage! It's our win Sharlene!"

"Is that so?" Remember chortled "As long as I can predict your Triggers, it will be all for naught. Furthermore, you two seem to have forgotten that you don't know what my two Draw Triggers have gotten me in the last turn."

"I don't believe you!" the older twin snapped back.

"Oh," the former LRIG pondered "Well then, since you'll be finished on the next turn by my personal hand, I'll tell you. Right in my hand... I have one Perfect Guard."

"What?!" exclaimed Sharlene, her composure having suddenly dropped.

"And... your next check will be a Critical Trigger," she continued, her eyes flashing a neon blue colour "In addition a Draw Trigger as well. It would be helpful if I didn't have the defence in my hand to stop another attack."

"Then..."

Jillian couldn't help but feel so utterly defeated at the prospect that fell before her and Sharlene. One thing was now clear. Remember was going to survive the turn with the cards in her hand and there was nothing the two of them could do to stop it. The younger twin kept her gaze on the field as she knew any minute now, Remember was going to block her attack with a Perfect Guard like she declared and that her next Critical Trigger was going to be a waste.

Think Sharlene! she groaned in her thoughts There must be something you can do to throw Remember off her stance! I've already used Revonn's skill and I can't get another copy into the soul if the attack doesn't hit! The Critical Trigger surely has to do something...!

Upon glancing at Cloris' card and remembering over the course of the fight that Remember had predicted every Trigger Check that was coming next before the Drive Check had actually occurred, her answer came to her.

"That's it!" she cried, causing her opponent to raise an eyebrow and Jillian to turn to her "Cloris' skill activates! With a Soul Blast on the fourth battle of the turn or later that she boosts, I bind the top card of my deck face up!"

Upon turning over the top card of her deck and placing it to the far left of the table past her bottom left empty rear-guard circle, it was revealed that it was indeed a Critical Trigger by the name of Battleship Intelligence.

"W... Wait a second!" gasped Remember "Why are you binding a 10000 point Shield even if your fate is sealed?!"

"Because I've already figured you out," Sharlene replied as Revonn came towards the imaged Remember Eclipse who gazed up at the giant sword of the Tear Dragon that came crashing down towards her.

"Perfect Guard!" she called as her copy of Paschal appeared to deploy a impenetrable barrier to deflect the attack "It doesn't matter if your first check is now your Draw Trigger! Your next one is...!" Realization then suddenly hit her after a few seconds of nothing happening. "Wait... why aren't my eyes...?!"

"Draw Trigger!" the younger twin announced as she reveal Mallika "I draw one card and give power to Tidal Assault! Second Check!"

She then turned over her next card from the top of her deck as Medical Officer of the Rainbow Elixir, a desperately needed Heal Trigger at this point in the long drawn out tag fight. The card which brightly as the other Tidal Assault also powered up from the trigger effect, just Sharlene looked to Jillian who then took one of her face down cards from her side of the damage zone and placed it in her drop zone. The fact they had gone down to six damage and outwitted her prediction for a second time caused Remember to scowl deeply at them.

"My first Tidal Assault attacks Foivos!" the younger twin declared.

The Aquaroid then activated his sabers and charged past the imaged Remember towards one of her two Foivos who could only stare up as his opponent slashed down the front of him, retiring him from the former LRIG's front row.

"The same with the other one!"

This time, Remember within her anger screamed as she threw down a third Paschal onto the guardian circle which deflected the other Tidal Assault's attack away from the other Foivos on her rear-guard. She clenched her remaining card tightly knowing that despite lasting through the turn, she had to use up a defence she intended for the predicted Critical Trigger instead of defending her rear-guard.

"Turn end," Sharlene announced as she looked to her twin sister.

"Even though you didn't finish her, you knocked her off her game now..." Jillian breathed before smiling "You might just have a chance getting through her Grade 5 now. You were actually wanting to keep Remember at 7 damage and pass the baton back to Glory Maelstrom."

"Well... what would I do without you?" the younger twin replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"You little bitch...!"

The two then turned back to face Remember who glared venomously towards the pair, an expression that she hadn't had for a long time until her more recent ventures with both Kamui and Kiyoi a while back. But this time, Sharlene had set off a very bad nerve within the former LRIG who was now struggling to keep herself composed.

"How did you do it...?!" she snarled under her breath "How did you break my prediction on your Twin Drive?!"

"I don't know..." Sharlene replied in confusion "I mean... I did bind my Critical Trigger to try and force you to predict my next check. I guess the Heal Trigger was a lucky draw."

"So then... you outwitted my power on luck?!" Remember hissed.

"Maybe," Jillian answered "But I have another theory. Before each attack was even declared, you announced the coming cards of our drive checks and your damage checks. But once the deck is altered in any way before the check occurs, you can't predict any of the new cards that would come. It seems that you were lucky that Sharlene didn't have a skill to shuffle her deck."

At first, the battlefield remained silent after that statement with realization that the theory was indeed correct for why her predictions couldn't be again used if the contents were altered after her predictions were declared, Remember then began laughing softly to herself as she began thinking back over events in the past in her world.

"Kiyoi-chan, you were the height of my fortunes..." she giggled, causing the twins to stare at her "Everything was perfect, until you and Katsuragi somehow broke my hold... well then..."

She then began laughing louder and louder and louder as she rose back up onto the field with her imaged LRIG self on the field beginning to glow a bright blue as her opponent's soon realized that this was indeed now the moment she had been waiting for. And for them, it was now indeed the moment of truth as blue flames began to rise from the face-down card in the former LRIG's bind zone.

"Well then. My fortunes have always been absolute and now's the time to show you they WILL always be!" she cackled as she closed her eyes before immediately opening them in a crazed stare "FINAL TURN!"

Jillian and Sharlene immediately tensed up as they knew that this was the time to see if they were to succeed in defending their share of the Aqua Force clan from Mayu's hands or to fail their companion Leon and weep and wallow in their despair of their loss of the units they held.

"Stand and skip the Draw Phase!"

Upon completing her announcement, Remember reached into the bind zone to recover her Grade 5 card and hold it up high into the air as a massive gale then suddenly surged through the battlefield, forcing the twins to stand their ground. A cold chill joined it as the two shivered in the wake of this sudden new development.

"What's going on now?!" exclaimed Sharlene.

"We better brace ourselves!" cried Jillian.

"Rest in peace, oh unfortunate souls! The true mistress of fate will now descend!" Remember announced as she then slammed down the card onto the Vanguard Circle "Limit Override!"

A blinding white light enveloped the battlefield as even Revonn and Maelstrom had to shield their eyes as the final form of Remember arose onto the battlefield in all of her magnificent glory. Having gotten rid of the naval uniform she wore in her previous two Grades, she was now back in her regular appearance as her hair was now large and wild and the shoulders of her dress were now enveloped in a black fabric which extended out into a cape depicting a starry night whilst her staff now had spikes pointing out of the crescent moon shape. Her purple eyes then opened and stared directly at Revonn as Remember herself announced the name of her final form.

"Remember... Dead Night!"

Remember Dead Night, Star-reading Miko/Grade 5/Triple Drive!/POW: 15000/SLD: 0/?/Magallanica

"So that's her Grade 5 form!" exclaimed Jillian.

"I mowed down all Selectors and LRIGs alike before Kiyoi came into my life," the former LRIG explained "I crushed their hopes, gave them terrible outcomes for their fate and they all fell as they tried so desperately to defy me."

"But, Kamui and Kiyoi stopped you once before!" Sharlene replied "We'll do exactly the same now!"

"Then let's see how you feel after this!" Remember cackled "Soul Blast! Then I use the same skill one more time! Sharlene, I Freeze your front row rear-guards!"

Remember Dead Night then shot a beam into the clouds that were now hanging above the battlefield before two blue coloured thunderbolts rained down from amongst them and struck both Tidal Assaults as they were imprisoned within icy prisons like with other units before them. Only this time, electrical bolts were now running across the ice's exterior as the twin's opponent cackled loudly.

"With this, whilst my ultimate form is present, all of your frozen rear-guards lose their abilities!" she announced "With this, there's nothing you can do now!"

"What?!" gasped Sharlene "I can't Intercept?!"

With no cards in my hand, there's nothing I can do to defend Sharlene! Jillian groaned in her thoughts Her Tidal Assaults are essentially motionless Grade 3s now and that's really got an impact on her Shields for defending this turn!

"And..." Remember continued "Allow me to show you, the one who gave me access to the very sacred wind that I wield in tune with my fortunes! Stand up, my mentor!"

She then placed down the card onto the empty rear-guard circle that remained on her field as a torrent of water burst out from the ground. A shadow rose through the flowing current before a large spear like weapon with yellow accents on the blades burst apart the column to reveal the very figure that gave Remember access to the wind whilst in Mayu's domain. He was an Aquaroid much taller than the previous few within the fight and had the weapon he wielded attached to a very strong cable whilst his uniform had yellow accents all across. One striking feature about the unit in question was his face. Aside from the silvery coloured hair, his right eye was covered up by a large black eyepatch whilst two scars were present beneath his other eyelid and above as well as below his lips. He opened the visible eye in a stern gaze as Remember gleefully announced his very name.

"Blue Wave Marshal, Valeos!"

Blue Wave Marshal, Valeos/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/POW: 11000/SLD: 0/Aqua Force/Magallanica/Aquaroid

"Valeos?!" gasped Sharlene.

"This one's another unit we haven't heard of before!" exclaimed Jillian "But... he's the one giving Remember all of this power?!"

The raging gale roared throughout the battlefield as Valeos reeled back his weapon into his right hand in preparation for the coming assault. Remember then giggled softly as she immediately rested Code Art KEY's card along with Foivos' own as the remaining Grade 2 unit revved up his minigun for yet another round. Once it began spinning at maximum speed, it fired off multiple bullets right in the direction of the younger twin as Revonn took the brunt of all of the direct hits as a shockwave from the last one knocked it down onto one knee.

"Damage check...!" Sharlene announced as she turned over the top card of her deck, revealing it as Last Card Revonn "No trigger..."

After placing the card into her portion of the damage zone, Jillian could only grimace that they were back up to seven damage and tied back up with Remember. In addition, she knew from Akira's fight with Mitsusada that their opponent's Vanguard now had access to three drive checks and that was only going to benefit her with the number of triggers she could acquire.

"Now then, prepare for the end!" the former LRIG declared with a gleeful smile as her eyes flashed a bright blue colour.

The twins could only grit their teeth as they knew Remember was planning to use her power of the wind to predict the triggers to come from her Triple Drive off of the next attack.

"I'm not giving up!" Sharlene replied "Even if Jillian can't help me now, I'll do everything I can to protect our Vanguard! And then, the Vice Admiral itself can finish this fight!"

"It's too bad for you," her opponent chortled "My revelation has brought me the appearance of a Perfect Guard and a Double Critical! And I believe you don't have enough shield to block my remaining attacks now that your Tidal Assaults have been Omega Frozen!"

She then rested both Beragios and the card representing her final LRIG form as the imaged Remember then leaped into the air before pointing her staff at Revonn and releasing a bright flash that had succeeded in blinding the Tear Dragon as it thrashed around its spot in fury that it could no longer see its foe as she was about to deliver the final blow. After that, the crystal ball within the crescent shaped moon edge began to gather energy in preparation for the 'final attack' of the fight.

Maelstrom could only glance towards Sharlene, knowing that its and the remaining units' fates were now within the hands of the younger twin in the face of certain doom before them.

"It's useless!" Remember cackled "I know you're holding a Perfect Guard in your hand and the remaining shield from the other two triggers are 15000! Once I apply the double trigger effects to Valeos, it's over! Not even a lucky Heal Trigger can save you now."

"Yeah, I know," Sharlene replied "I know the feeling of what it's like to be waiting to be saved from doom. Leon-sama has known that for too many times I can count and being the younger sibling, it's frustrating to know that Jillian can do more things on her own than I ever could."

"Sharlene..." Jillian breathed.

"But... I won't just sit back and let you deal out pain not just to Leon-sama, not me, but Jillian-san as well!" she continued "And I won't let you take her units either! Leon-sama gave us this mission to protect the Aqua Force and I'll do my part now!"

Suddenly, the card that the younger twin had bound with the skill of Cloris on her previous attack with Revonn glowed a blinding bright blue as it suddenly moved over to the Guardian Circle, much to Remember's utter shock as she struggled to make out any sight of the opposing table through the intense light that enveloped the battlefield.

"W... What is this?!" she cried.

"Cloris' skill activates!" Sharlene declared "Superior Guard with my bound unit, add 5000 to the shield value! Then guard with Medical Officer and Mallika!"

As Battleship Intelligence appeared in front of the blinded Revonn, Mallika and Rainbow Officer joined the defence as the three glowed a bright green from their combined efforts of a mighty defence.

Battleship Intelligence/SLD: 10000 - 15000

A beam unleashed from the imaged Remember's staff then came crashing towards the Tear Dragon and the three guardians, who in response created a green circle that was only just powerful enough to deflect the attack and send it soaring straight into the sky as it pierced the clouds above, revealing the evening sunlight once more as the attack eventually disappeared into nothingness. Remember could only shudder in utter disbelief, seeing that her most powerful attack had just been deflected by a skill she had not been aware of.

"I... Impossible...!" she gasped.

"You did it Sharlene!" cheered Jillian "But... why did you throw in an extra 5000 shield from Mallika?"

"I think we should just watch the Triple Drive first," the younger sister replied, a newfound confidence now shining within her.

"T... Triple Drive!" the former LRIG gasped as she turned over her first card as Brutal Trooper "Critical Trigger! I give everything to Valeos!" She then turned over an exact copy for her second check. "The effects also go to Valeos!" Finally, she turned over the last card as Jet-ski Rider, surprising Jillian.

"Then... she was wrong about predicting a Perfect Guard?!" the older twin exclaimed before soon realizing the reasoning for Sharlene's added shield "No. That's not it. After we deduced Remember's trigger guesses could be if the deck was altered after her declaration before the checks... Sharlene was prepared for her pulling a fast one on us!"

"... All the effects... go to Valeos!" Remember snarled as the Marshal powered up for the third time "Attack!"

Valeos then swung his spear-end above his head from the strong and tensile cable it was attached to before throwing it straight towards Revonn who by now had managed to regain its line of sight.

"Perfect Guard!" Sharlene declared as Paschal appeared and deployed a barrier to effortlessly deflect the attack, leaving her opponent in a fury.

"My Final Turn... my PERFECT Final Turn... FAILED?!" she screamed before glancing to the three triggers that now made up her hand "But... with your back row still frozen Jillian... your attacks won't land on me! On my next turn... you will...!"

"Didn't you say it yourself?" Jillian interrupted "You said it was the Final Turn. That means you have nothing left for us to stand in our way."

"I'm leaving it to you Jillian!" Sharlene called as she gave a thumbs up to the older twin.

After replying back with the same motion and a smile, Jillian's expression became serious as she looked to her back row, still encased in ice, unable to stand or move to the front row by any means other than a Stand Trigger. But with the knowledge that Remember's hand was only comprised of 10000 point shields and a single intercept by Foivos, she slowly felt some ease return to her.

"Stand and draw," she spoke, her right eye then glancing at the card she drew "I call Penguin Soldier. With the Soul Blast of 2, I draw one card."

As the familiar penguin unit appeared onto the battlefield in the only open circle within her back row, she placed the only two cards she had in the soul to the drop zone before reaching out for the deck, knowing there was only a single unit that could help her now.

"Leon-sama... you put your trust in me and Sharlene to protect the Aqua Force..." she murmued to herself "Now please, wielders of the sacred wind..." She then began to pull away at the top card. "RESPOND!"

With a massive swipe, she drew the top card of her deck in a swift motion as a large gale suddenly swirled up around Glory Maelstrom who roared loudly in triumph as this time, Remember was the one to take the brunt of the wind itself. Then, as it died down, Jillian finally looked to the unit she had draw and upon seeing what it was, she let out a smile.

"Time to end this!" she declared "I call Blue Storm Marine General, Lysandros!"

With a large blue flash of light, a new Aquaroid riding on a small blue board above the tiny spurt of water erupting from the ground beneath him, appeared onto the battlefield and drew his green coloured blade from the sheath he discarded shortly afterwards. Sharlene smiled in triumph upon seeing that her older twin had managed to build up a column that could break past Remember Dead Night's 15000 base power.

"Don't get too confident!" Remember hissed "With my power... I shall seal your...!" Upon seeing it wasn't activating again, this time under different circumstances, she gasped in horror. "No...! I can't lose my touch now! Is it because... I failed my Final Turn?!"

"Glory Maelstrom!"

Upon hearing Jillian's declaration, the former LRIG could only stare up at a very angry Glory Maelstrom whose sights were set upon both the imaged Remember and herself.

"Glory Maelstrom's Ultimate Break!" the older twin declared as she turned over one of Sharlene's face up damage "Add 5000 power and you cannot guard with Grade 1 or higher units!"

"Guard! Intercept!"

Jet-ski Rider and Foivos joined in a defensive stance which created a green barrier to deflect Glory Maelstrom's dark purple flame breath attack and dispel it immediately with little effort. Upon moving the cards to her drop zone, Remember tried her best to regain the calm composure she had when she previously brought out Dead Night as her vanguard.

"It's already too late..." she breathed hecticly, trying to regain her lost smile desperately "I have 20000 shield left for your rear-guard and Maelstrom's attack has been nullified! Even a Double Trigger cannot save you now!"

"Twin Drive!" Jillian called as she turned over the first card, Blue Storm Soldier, Missile Trooper "I give all the effects to Lysandros! Second check!" She then turned over the second card to reveal Deck Sweeper. "Again, I give power and Critical to Lysandros!"

Lysandros held his sword across and close to his chest as he powered up twice from the double trigger that Jillian and Glory Maelstrom had mananged to acquire for him.

Blue Storm Marine General, Lysandros/POW: 10000 - 15000 - 20000/Critical: 1 - 2 - 3

With the current attack at an end, both Foivos and Jet-ski Rider left the battlefield upon finishing their purpose as Remember clutched her remaining two cards with as much confidence as she could muster beneath her crazed expression.

"Go, Lysandros!" the older twin commanded "With a boost from Penguin Soldier, he attacks Remember Dead Night!"

Lysandros then soared towards the imaged Remember who could only panic and hold out her staff in front of her horizontally as two Brutal Troopers came to her immediate defence. The two Gillmen were then immediately slashed by Lysandros who didn't seem concerned that his attack had failed to close out the game.

"And with that, your turn has come to an end," Remember chuckled "It's been nice and it's not the way I wanted to end it. But this is the time for your misfortune. Stand and..."

"My turn isn't done yet!" Jillian declared, confusing her opponent "Lysandros' skill activates! It's the exact same as Spyros', meaning with an Especial Counterblast, he stands after the first or in this case... the second attack of the turn!"

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed loudly, her expression having dropped into immediate horror and twitching her right eye in utter disbelief.

"She's got nothing left now her hand's empty!" Sharlene interjected "Finish it with that 3 damage Jillian!"

"Go, Lsyandros!" the older twin commanded "Final attack!"

Lysandros then made a u-turn on his board away from Maelstrom and Revonn and charged back towards the defenceless Remember Dead Night who could only squirm in horror at her own misfortune before the Aquaroid slashed across her and knocked her onto her back. The real Remember could only turn over the first card of her damage check as Foivos, much to her annoyance. As for her second check though, she had turned over another Refit Sailor.

"Heal Trigger!" she cheered, moving it to her damage zone before taking away a face down card from there.

Jillian and Sharlene could only tense up from the sudden turn of events, realizing if she could acquire another Refit Sailor to nullify the third point of damage that was dealt, their efforts would have been all for naught.

"... That's right...!" Remember spluttered, unable to hide her crazed expression any longer "The result of my fortunes are absolute...! Even without the wind now, I can predict a second Heal Trigger...!"

Upon turning over the third card however, she could only drop it as the wind carried it over to the damage zone, revealing Remember Eclipse, Neo Miko of the Blue Wave as her ninth and final damage. She screamed loudly in frustration and annoyance as every unit on her side of the battlefield now vanished with the exception of Valeos who merely grunted as a purple coloured aura surrounded the Aquaroid Marshal.

"We did it Jillian!" Sharlene cheered as she jumped over and immediately hugged her older twin, too overjoyed in success to think too rationally at this point in time.

"Hey, easy on the hug there!" Jillian replied in mild annoyance, feeling too happy to be complaining about how tight her older twin was embracing her now.

Once their moment of victory was over, they looked over towards Maelstrom and Revonn who simply glanced back at them and let out a quiet, but non-agressive growl at them before vanishing from the field with the remainder of their rear-guards.

"Huh...?" the younger twin pondered "Even though this has Judgement from Remember's Grade 5, why is Valeos still on the field instead of Dead Night?"

"As much as I'm confused, Remember is also her own LRIG outside of that body," Jillian replied "Even so, I can't help but wonder why."

"How is this possible...?!" Remember growled as she clenched her fists, shaking with anger "For me to command the wind over two lowly Aqua Force users and have supreriority with my fortunes... losing to you two lackeys of Soryu Leon SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE!"

"Remember."

Everyone then suddenly gasped as they suddenly heard where the gruff and displeased voice had come from. It wasn't until his shadow was cast over her's did the former LRIG look up and see that Valeos without his weapon was now standing right in front of her table.

"V... Valeos!" she gasped, stepping back a little "I might have overstepped with wanting to take them both out rather than one by one... but surely you can reconsider what you're gonna do now..."

"Reading the waves," he interrupted "Reading the tide, reading the time. You let your arrogance get the better of you and have brought dishonour to Mayu and my master. You bring shame to the name, Blue Wave."

"How is Valeos talking like that...?!" gasped Sharlene.

Though Jillian could only stare towards the Blue Wave Marshal, black sparkles appeared beneath his feet and began to travel up his legs with his body slowly disappearing in turn. Knowing that this was due to the fight now at an end and his next action would be all he could do before he was forced to return to the White Room, he closed his right fist and slowly raised it into the air. Remember could only gasp in horror upon seeing what punishment she was now going to endure.

"This world shall.. be silent!" he announced as he slammed down his fist onto the card Remember Dead Night, Star-reading Miko "JUDGEMENT!"

Suddenly without warning, two cables erupted from the ground and ensnared her legs before a gigantic column of water burst from underneath. Within the raging torrent, although the binds had prevented her from being shot up into the sky, the speed of the flow and the icy cold temperature meant that the former LRIG could do nothing but struggle to move and scream out in pain as oxygen began leaving her lungs quicker than she had wanted to. As Jillian and Sharlene could only watch on in horror, Valeos having now half of his body disappeared turned his visible eye upon the twins, his stern expression having made them resist the urge to gasp out in surprise and a little bit of nervousness.

Eventually, the torrent dispersed and the binds vanished as a soaked and drenched Remember fell to the ground, shivering and coughing loudly, having not liked to experience her own Judgement upon herself.

"Well, I suppose there is a reward I can give you..." she spluttered, regaining a small smile and gazing to the twins "Even though I can't return any new units I've captured as you're not marked by me, I suppose there is something you'd like to know about your precious Soryu Leon."

"What are you saying?!" exclaimed Jillian.

"The reason I was able to come to the White Room and acquire more Blue Wave units," Valeos answered "One of our other comrades has already captured the units of your leader, Soryu Leon."

The revelation left both of the twins in both shock and disbelief with Sharlene's expression having turned to utter horror as she allowed the information to sink into her mind.

"That's not true!" the older twin snapped back "Leon-sama would never lose to someone to the likes of you two!"

"Whether you believe us or not, it doesn't matter now," Remember scoffed "If you ever get back to Japan, tell Katsuragi and Kiyoi... that I'm coming for them!"

As she glared one last time to the twins, Valeos then immediately grabbed her shoulder before both her and her vanished in a blinding purple light. When the two were no longer present, the flaming walls that made up the battlefield vanished too, leaving the twins free to fight another day and with their units intact.

"It's great we won and kept the units we have safe, but what was all that?" Sharlene questioned.

"First Remember controlling the wind, even if only to abuse it with her fortune telling," Jillian pondered "Now there's that Aqua Force unit we haven't heard of who helped and punished her. Valeos, just what is he?"

She then clenched a fist as Remember's claim that Leon had been defeated by one of Mayu's other forces still rang fresh within her mind, refusing to believe that the slightest was true and that Valeos had been contacted by other means.

"Anyway," the younger twin spoke "Shouldn't we head back to the yacht and tell Kai and the others the news?"

"You're right," the older twin replied "I feel bad for all the fighters in Hong Kong that got hit by Judgement and had their units stolen by Remember. Even as annoying as Team Battle Weeds are, they didn't deserve something like this."

As Sharlene nodded in agreement, the two of them then resumed their journey back to the yacht with happy thoughts of victory in their heads, but uneasy feelings brewing within their minds as they had much to think about when they would contact Kai and the others back in Japan. As they continued their journey, the evening sun had finally completely set over the sea's horizon.

* * *

 

**Japan: Sendou Household**

Meanwhile within Aichi's home, Kai, Emi and her mother had all sat down at the kitchen to discuss the matter at hand regarding the Bermuda Triangle's latest victimization at the hands of the sinister Ulith who had broken down her spirit and by a small extension, given her the hard truth about the very place that Aichi had really gone to in order to find the Kagero user who had been missing at the time. Although the mother of the two Sendou siblings was very bewildered by Kai's explanation of his circumstances at the time his disappearance had occurred, it was only through Emi's insistance, her displayal of her blank Duo units and his showcase of his ARTS and Servant SIGNI that hadn't changed into Vanguard cards upon his return did she slowly begin to believe their tale.

"With this Mrs. Sendou, you now know how it was I had vanished from this world," he spoke "I apologize that Aichi had worded the place I had ended up within differently so that you would believe him more easily and the fault is entirely mine."

"So... these Selector Battles you two have been caught within... this other world you say two friends of yours at Card Capital has come from," she replied slowly, doing her best to comprehend the details of the entire situation "Are you saying that your enemies there which have attacked my poor Emi trying to cause havoc the same way that you..."

She then paused in her sentence, a little hesistant about what she wanted to say to him next. She stared into the reflection of her tea within her small cup as Emi looked over to her worriedly.

"So Aichi has already told you about my time within Link Joker's thrall," Kai murmured "Given my sinful actions at the time, I don't blame him for his honesty in explaining my role in the events then. I'm only relieved that you've kept Emi safe during the final hours of the original invasion."

"It's not that I don't trust you Kai," she replied "It's just... having seen Emi the way she was and learning that Aichi went into a different world to look for you... it's just a lot to take in."

"I can assure you that Tetsu and Christopher are working on a way to bring us to that world to end the conflict there and to bring him and the rest of our comrades back from there," the Kagero user answered "This is also so that we can send Ruko and Kiyoi back home as well so they don't remain stranded in our reality."

Noticing the calm, but somewhat slightly serious look in his jade green eyes, Aichi's mother could see that he was truely being honest with her and as complicated as she would try and make the things he and Emi explained out, she knew he was the only way that this conflict that her daughter had been a victim of could end and she could see her son again was if he went back there to end it.

"Are you alright mother?" asked Emi.

"I'm alright," her mother answered after releasing a deep breath and taking a sip of tea from her cup "It's a lot to take, but I believe the both of you. If it isn't much to ask, could you introduce me to these friends from that other world you speak of?"

"That can be arranged," Kai answered as he got up from his seat "Thank you for your time Mrs. Sendou."

"There's no need for formality," she replied with a gentle smile "Please call me Shizuka. As long as you are willing to keep your promise, you're welcome to visit us anytime Kai Toshiki."

The Kagero user then nodded back in reply and left for Card Capital to seek out Ruko and tell her of the news and intrigue that Shizuka had in meeting both her and Kiyoi.

* * *

 

**City Streets**

"Damn it!"

Kamui slamed his fist into the wall of the alleyway he stood within, feeling very gutted with himself for what had happened to Emi. He knew there was a chance she could have learned the truth behind where Aichi had gone to find Kai and why he had gone there in the first place, if only he hadn't been so hesistant before Remember had challenged him to a cardfight in Kiyoi's body. He then slumped down to the concrete ground with his knuckles on his right fist now being very sore, keeping his teeth gritted to hold back any further frustration he wished to lash out at the wall before him.

"Is this what you intend to do now?"

He then immediately jump to his feet and looked to the entrance to the alleyway to see that Kiyoi was standing there, having followed him to this place and witnessing his self-harm out of his earlier anger.

"Oh... you saw all that Kiyoi," he muttered as he trudged over to her "I guess you already know why I'm feeling like this."

"It's rather obvious," she replied in her blunt monotone "Perhaps this situation would have been avoidable if you weren't so hesistant before Remember challenged you in this world."

"I know," the Nova Grappler user huffed as he put his back to the wall and slumped down onto the floor "It just really bites to see Emi angry at us for not telling her and now look where it's got her. A few scrapes by Ulith and all of her Bermuda Triangle Duo units gone."

The former blue LRIG chose not to comment about the cruel demanoured Selector, having now seen in full force from what she saw of Emi before the truth was told to her about what her opponent had been capable of. She had a faint idea of Ulith's character from the battles she had as Piruluk against Yuki, when Akira was still her Selector. But she didn't think that her taunts could easily have gotten to the extent that Aichi's younger sister had just gone through and from what she learned about the Royal Paladin user's previous experience, she knew even he couldn't have been the first to have been broken by her. All of this made her wonder why during those battles as an LRIG didn't Ulith come after her unlike them. Was it because she didn't know about her ties to Remember and Sakaguchi at the time?

All the matter, Kiyoi knew that was a subject she couldn't dwell on for now and she knew that one way or another, she would have to make Kamui release his own dwellings from that same subject.

"So then, what do you intend to do with your 'goddess' in the state she is in?" she asked.

"As much as I'd like to scour the city for Ulith, I've already had too many reminders of how nasty an LRIG centered deck can be," he muttered "But at the very least, I should do my part and protect her and all other fighters I know well from whatever Mayu and Remember have planned for us."

"That's probably the first most intelligent suggestion I've heard you mutter since our return to this world."

Kamui simply smirked back in response to the former blue LRIG's monotone, having known her all too well to make a monotoned remark such as that, even if it was indeed the truth. With a little bit of confidence restored from their conversation, he got up from the ground and faced her.

"I should probably head on back home and get some early shut eye," he pondered "Might take my thoughts off what happened today."

"Then I advise you be careful then," Kiyoi replied "Take care, Katsuragi."

He smiled back and then went on his way back home, leaving her nothing else to do but to wander back to Card Capital and rebuild her deck as she had originally intended to do before she had been captured by Nagisa earlier in the day. There was much to think about with how much time would pass until a solution would present itself to Christoper so that he could repair the teleporter and they could take the fight back to the realm of the Selector Battles. With the night sky now being a bluish black sky with stars glistening from it, the former blue LRIG continued down the street to her current residence with Ruko and Misaki, suspecting that today's attack would not be a sign that Mayu and her forces were going to let up at any time and that she and all of the cardfighters of this world would need to rest easy if they hoped to survive the many trials that lay ahead for them in one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Adapted Cards debuting this chapter:**
> 
> **Remember Dead Night, Star-reading Miko **  
> ****  
> Grade 5  
>  Triple Drive!!!  
> POW: 15000  
> Magallanica  
> Human;LRIG  
> Magallanica  
> [Limit Override] (When the game begins, if your starting Vanguard is a {LRIG}, search your deck for this card (if it is not in your starting hand) and bind it face down. Only one card can be bound by [Limit Override]. Whilst in the bind zone this way, it cannot leave except by the following effect; "When your turn begins and you have a Vanguard with "Remember" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4, you may skip your Draw Phase. If you do, Ride this card onto your (VC) from your bind zone".)  
> [CONT](Hand): You cannot ride this card unless you have a Vanguard with "Remember" in its original card name that is either Grade 3 and [Legion] or Grade 4. (If in [Legion], treat is as a Grade 4 for the Ride Step only)  
> [CONT](VC): All of your opponent's Frozen rear-guards lose all of their abilities.  
> [ACT](VC)[1/Turn]: {COST|Soul Blast (2)} Draw 1 card for each of your opponent's frozen rear-guards.  
> [ACT](VC): {COST|Soul Blast (1) (LRIG)} Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards and Freeze it.
> 
> **Story Original Cards debuting this chapter:**
> 
> **Trump Card, Revonn OVERDRIVE**  
>  Grade 3  
> Twin Drive!!  
> POW: 11000  
> Aqua Force  
> Tear Dragon  
> Magallanica  
> [AUTO](VC)[Limit Break 5][1/Turn]: (Wave 3rd or later) During the specified battle this unit attacks a Vanguard, {COST|Counter Blast (1) and Soul Blast (1) card named "Last Card, Revonn"}, for every two battles conducted before this card's attack, choose one of your rear-guards in your front row and [Stand] it. Those units get [Power]+10000 until end of turn. Then, if it's the fifth attack of the turn or later, this unit gets [Power]+10000 and [Critical]+1 until end of turn.  
> [AUTO](VC): When this unit's attack hits a Vanguard, {COST|Counter Blast (1)}, look at 10 cards from the top of your deck and search for up to 1 card named "Last Card, Revonn" and if you do, put it into the soul. If you put a card into the soul, shuffle your deck and draw 1 card.  
> [CONT]: Lord
> 
> **Blue Wave Marshal, Valeos (Limit Break)**  
>  Grade 3  
> Twin Drive!!  
> POW: 11000  
> Aqua Force  
> Aquaroid  
> Magallanica  
> [AUTO](VC)[Limit Break 4]: When your unit with "Blue Wave" in its card name attacks a Vanguard, {COST|Soul Blast 1 card with "Blue Wave" in its card name}, until the end of that battle, that Vanguard's [Power] becomes 10000 and it cannot gain or lose [Power] except by their guardian's [Shield].  
> [ACT](VC)[1/Turn]: {COST|Counter Blast (1) and choose a card with "Blue Wave" in its card name from your hand and put it into the soul}, choose one of your units with "Blue Wave" in its card name. Until the end of the first attack it declares, it gains [Power] multiplied by the Grade of the card put into the soul by this effect.  
> [CONT](VC): Lord


	94. Arc 4 (Side: Vanguard) - Ride 94: The Eventful Night I

**Japan; City Streets**

Later that evening outside of Card Capital, Miwa had been standing outside and pondering over the day's events to himself. He couldn't help but feel worried for not just Emi who had suffered at Ulith's hands recently, but for Kai as well. The sole reason their world was now brought into the conflict it was in being the cause of his friend's entry into Ruko's own and the units he had once stepped into the darkness alongside as his own pulling all of the strings of the Selector System itself. Needless to say, it was no question at all as to why he was feeling anxious at this point as Misaki could tell.

"You're worried about Kai aren't you," she spoke.

"You could say that," he sighed "Then again, with what he got caught up with this time, I guess you've hit the nail on the head huh."

The clerk of Card Capital walked over and joined him by the edge of the pavement, sharing some sentiment with the answer she had been given.

"You mentioned he was thrown off a little when he fought Urith last night," she continued "Do you have any idea what that might be about?"

"Well, he won the fight just fine," Miwa answered "But there was something that Urith said that really got under his skin. Something about Miyako and how his path with Link Joker then... might not have been within his control as much as he once believed."

He was unwilling to say anymore, knowing that what Miyako had intially intended for Kai had the invasion of their world been a success was rather personal to him and how infuriated he was with the way she had treated Ruko and Ayumu during his previous confrontation with her on the day he had returned after the battle's conclusion. He resisted the urge to clench one fist from just thinking about it until he turned around to find the Selector herself standing at the top of the stairs that was leading to the home that Misaki had above Card Capital.

"Is something wrong Miwa?" she asked as she came down the steps to join them.

"Oh, Ruko," he replied as he waved to her "We were just talking about last night and what we've gotten ourselves into now."

"Is something the matter?" asked Misaki.

"Not really," she replied "I just... overheard you two talking about my mother, that's all. That aside, Yuki just sensed something nearby now and I was wondering if you two wanted to tag along."

"Sure," Miwa said as he smiled back warmly "If you want us to come along, that's fine with me, right Misaki?"

"I suppose," she spoke as Ruko brought out Yuki's card to get directions to the source from her.

The girl of black then turned around to face her Selector and noted the company of both Misaki and Miwa before closing her eyes to try and sense the earlier disturbance she felt earlier.

"I can sense the disturbance not too far from here," she said "Follow my directions and we should be there."

Ruko nodded and walked off with her two companions as they left the premises of Card Capital and wandered out into the city in search of whatever it was that had caught the LRIG's attention recently. Along the way, they had passed several places that had been familiar to both Miwa and Misaki including Foo Fighter's Headquarters and Miyaji Academy itself, leaving the two curious as to where Yuki was leading the three of them to.

"Come to think of it," he pondered "Where is Tama?"

"She's back at the shop," Ruko answered "Shin was curious about her, so I left her to chat with him."

"I just hope nothing weird happens," Misaki muttered "You know how eccentric he can be on occasion."

"I'm sure Tama will be fine," the Selector replied with a smile "She's come a long way since we started the Selector Battles together."

As the evening sky began set into the dark blue colour above their heads, they continued on their journey to the source of the disturbance that Yuki had sensed. Most of them had their suspicions that it could more likely than not be a cardfight that was going on between one of Mayu's forces and any unfortunate fighter who had the displeasure of being in theirs, but they knew they could not jump to that conclusion so suddenly. As they were travelling along however, Yuki who had been busy trying to concentrate in order to guide Ruko and the others suddenly opened her eyes in surprise.

"Behind you!" she exclaimed.

Before any of the group had time to register the girl of black's sudden request, a purple coloured beam suddenly struck and wrapped around Misaki's right wrist as she cried out in surprise before being dragged a little ways.

"Misaki!" cried Miwa.

"W... What is this?!" she groaned as she struggled to try and remove the coil that she was bound with.

"It's useless."

Everyone suddenly glanced down the coil to find that it had led to Futase who had it attached to a bracelet she was wearing on her right wrist, similar to the one that Akira had when she roped cardfighters into fighting her in Singapore. This time, her cybernectic lens that was covering the left side of her face over her eye was fully visible to all as her long strand of hair that normally covered over it was completely to the side.

"Fumio-san?!" cried Ruko.

"Kominato Ruko, we meet again," she spoke, her voice holding an uninterested tone "Although, it would be correct if you referred to me as simply Futase."

"So you're the Selector Misaki fought once before?" Miwa asked.

"Indeed," Futase replied "I was unsuccessful the last time in my efforts to claim her units. But, I can assure you all that things will end differently this time. Very differently."

"Futase... what is with this rope?!" Misaki demanded.

"This is a Battle Anchor," she explained "Until you agree to cardfight me, you cannot escape the bind that is on your wrist."

Ruko and Miwa could only glance at one another in worry, knowing that they had been caught off guard in the midst of their search and now, Misaki was caught in a very difficult situation and they both knew that there was only one way out. As the Selector glanced down to Yuki out of curiosity, the LRIG shook her head in response to claim that this was not the disturbance she had sensed earlier.

"Go on without me," Misaki spoke "Head to whatever it is Yuki is sensing."

"But Misaki," said Ruko "We can't just leave you like this!"

"I'll be fine," the Genesis user replied "It's Futase I'm worried about."

Although Miwa was uncertain about what decision to make, after recalling what she had told him about the previous fight she had with her current opponent and how she claimed that Futase was seemingly unwilling to make the decisions she took, he soon fully understood about what this was all about and made a decision.

"Let's go Ruko," he said "Misaki can handle this."

"Are you sure?" she pondered.

"Definitely," he replied "If Misaki beat her once before, she can do it again. Let's have faith that it will be the case."

After reluctantly nodding in agreement, Ruko left both Misaki and Futase alone as she followed Yuki's directions once more as Miwa followed on behind her. The girl that was serving Mayu kept a close eye on the Selector with the eye that was behind her cybernetic lens before resuming her attention upon her opponent who remained serious towards her.

"If you would kindly follow me," she spoke before walking away from the street with the Genesis user walking with her to avoid being dragged along by the rope of the anchor.

Meanwhile further up the street, Ruko and Miwa continued to run in the direction of the disturbance before suddenly seeing a nearby purple glow from around an upcoming corner. Then as they got closer, they could see a small hint of purple fire from nearby as they both looked down to the card that was containing the girl of black before showing her what they were seeing.

"That's the source!" she called "It seems it was another cardfight I was sensing all along!"

"Then let's hurry!" Ruko replied as she and Miwa eventually ran over to the corner before coming into view of the edge of the battlefield.

Once they did, they saw that Kiyoi was around at the edge of the battlefield's fiery boundary and watching the fight that had been unfolding since it had first gone up recently.

"Kiyoi!" called Miwa as he caught the former blue LRIG's attention before he and Ruko stopped beside her "What's going on here?!"

"I think you can already tell," she spoke bluntly "Look."

Upon turning their attention to the fiery purple wall in front of them, they could see that Shingo was within the boundary and that he was fighting an opponent that was very familiar to three of the outsiders in this conflict. Her small chortle made it all too obvious as to who it was that his opponent was and the fact her Vanguard was Hanayo only confirmed it.

"A... Akira?!" gasped Ruko.

"Ah, Ruru," Akira scoffed "I had a feeling you'd show up again. Well, not that it matters."

"Shingo!" Miwa called as the person in question turned to him "What happened?!"

"Akira ambushed me on the way home!" Shingo replied "She's forced me into a fight to try and get Kai into her hands!"

"Kai..."

The blonde could only mutter his friend's name as he looked on towards Akira, just pondering the question of why she was so obsessed with paying him back for defeating her in the Selector Battles. As he watched on closely, Yuki glanced up towards Kiyoi for her own pegged curiosity in the progression of the fight that was playing out before her.

"How is Shingo doing?" she asked.

"Right now, it's the end of his turn," the former blue LRIG answered "He's succeeded in bringing Akira to 5 damage and he's managed to remain on 3. However... I can sense there's something different about the way Akira is playing unlike her fight with Mistusada."

Ruko could only ponder on that point alone, noting from what little she could see of Akira's damage zone that she was indeed still using Kagero units and that she had no rear-guards other than a strange looking dragon with bluish coloured armour behind Hanayo Three to bolster the offense that she had. The Selector in question scoffed to herself catching Shingo's attention.

"What's so funny?" he questioned, fiddling with his glasses as he did so.

"I find it ironic," she chortled "You think you have me all figured out from those fights I did in Singapore. Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the weak Akira that lost to a stupid Dimensional Robo user who beat me on dumb luck! Now let me show you... what the new neo Aki-lovely is capable of!"

Upon standing up her two units and drawing her next card, she immediately placed it into her hand before taking out another card from amongst them and holding it high into the air as a fiery aura glowed from off of it.

"Mistress of the four elements, arise in a tempest of hellish flames and incinerate this worthless ugly!" she declared before slamming the card on top of Hanayo Three's, causing the former on the battlefield to glow in a blinding orange flash.

The imaged Hanayo then re-emerged in a more elegant red dress with flower patterns present all over the red fabric whilst her socks turned into a dark teal colour and two portions of her hair had been braided up and dyed a dark blue colour. As a weapon, she wielded a fan with several flames searing off of it as she swung it in front of her as Akira announced the name of this brand new form.

"Hanayo Four... Snow, Moon, Wind and Fire!"

**Hanayo Four, Snow, Moon, Wind and Fire/Grade 4/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 13000/?/Human;LRIG/Dragon Empire**

"This is..." Kiyoi murmured.

"A new Hanayo Four!" Ruko gasped.

Even Miwa couldn't help but express some surprise that a Grade 4 LRIG could simply exist this way in his world, now pondering on how much strength that Christopher and Mitsusada dealt with when they previously fought Akira. And now, he couldn't help but wonder by his companions' reactions if she had really gotten stronger since that time and if her vengeance driven goal of defeating Kai was what allowed her to achieve this.

Kai... he pondered Just what kind of enemies have you made in that other world?!

"It's a different Hanayo Four from the description Kai gave us," Shingo murmured "But that's to be expected from those Selector Battles, right?"

"Of course I expected he'd tell you about my deck in this world," Akira replied smugly "But it's too bad he didn't expect that I'd change a few things around and you're gonna get the worst of it. Hanayo Four's Soul Blast activates!"

Upon taking out two cards from the soul and moving them straight to the drop zone, she immediately picked up the top three cards of her deck and put them straight into her hand, surprising everyone else.

"Wha?! She can draw 3 cards for just a simple Soul Blast?!" Miwa exclaimed.

"There has to be more to it!" Shingo interjected "Just what kind of skill is that?!"

"Oh, you'll see the drawback in the battle phase, but I'll get to that in a bit," the Selector scoffed "First I call these four units!"

Immediately onto the empty spaces on her rear-guard, Berserk Dragon, Mahoraga, Calamity Tower Wyvern and an unfamiliar form of Hanayo appeared onto the battlefield and took up offensive stances in preparation for battle.

"Berserk Dragon's skill!" Akira announced as she turned over two cards in her damage zone as the cost "Get out of here Oboro Cart!"

The two heads of the Flame Dragon roared loudly before unleashing two consecutive fireballs that struck the wheel shaped ghost as it was incinerated in mere seconds. Shingo moved the card to his drop zone, not concerned with the result having expected this from the way the fight had been playing out from the beginning.

"Hanayo deals with offense and the Kagero clan's nature of retiring rear-guards compliments her perfectly," he spoke "But I'm experienced with this strategem before and I won't falter this time!"

"Keh, then let's see how you like this!" Akira cackled "Hanayo Four's skill! During the turn I drew cards with her skill, I must discard my entire hand!"

A roaring fiery aura raged around Hanayo Four as the Selector threw her remaining two cards into the drop zone, much to the confusion of those that were watching from outside of the barrier wall.

"She drew cards to rebuild her formation, only to throw out her hand?" Ruko breathed.

"In exchange," Akira continued before sneering deeply "If I discarded one or more cards, my Vanguard during this turn gets an extra drive check!"

As Miwa and Shingo could only gasp loudly, Berserk Dragon roared loudly as it took flight before setting its sights upon the only rear-guard the Selector's opponent had left. It roared loudly before unleashing two streams of fire that struck a dragon with scarves wrapped around its neck and two katanas held upon its wings. It screeched loudly before it vanished as a result from being retired from the battlefield.

"Royale Nova..." the Murakumo user muttered before resuming his attention to Akira But... this is still alright.

"Hanayo Four is next!" she declared "Attack Kagura Bloome!"

As the Stealth Dragon took up a defensive stance, Hanayo ingnited the fans she wielded before sending them hurling one after another towards her opponent. Shingo however was not planning to let such an attack get through.

"Perfect Guard!" he declared as a Warbeast appeared in a immediate puff of smoke before striking the flaming fans with daggers attached to chains "Stealth Beast, Leaves Mirage!"

Akira simply scoffed in response to the fact that her strongest attack had been blocked completely, instead choosing to focus on conducting her Triple Drive immediately. She turned over the first card as Seal Dragon, Rinocross, a Perfect Guard of her own now being added to her defensive lineup for the turn. Her second card was then revealed as Seal Dragon, Artpique.

"Draw Trigger," she spoke "I give power to Hanayo Two Remodeled. Third check." She then revealed the final card as Perdition Dancer, Agafia "Heal Trigger. Power to my rear-guard and recover one damage."

Immediately after the effects had been applied, the Hanayo Two that was on the rear-guard who had black thorns wrapping around her entire body opened up the palm of her right hand before shooting out a beam of flames towards Kagura Bloome who took the attack head on as the Covert Demonic Dragon was engulfed in a large explosion that rocked the battlefield as Stealth Dragon, Magatsu Breath entered Shingo's damage zone.

"Well, I was expecting a little more from one of Kai's lackeys, but it seems this is all you've got," Akira scoffed "Ah well, I'll deal with him soon enough. Turn end."

**End of Turn 7**

**Shingo vs Akira**

**Hand - 4 : 4**

**Soul - 2 : 1**

**Damage - 4 : 4**

**Shingo's Formation:**

**EMPTY - Covert Demonic Dragon, Kagura Bloome - EMPTY**  
**EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY**

**Akira's Formation:**

**Hanayo Two Remodeled, Roaring Flame - Hanayo Four, Snow, Moon, Wind and Fire - Berserk Dragon**  
**Calamity Tower Wyvern - Dragonic Gaias - Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga**

"He managed to hang on, but if he doesn't finish Akira this turn..." Miwa murmured.

"She will get out Hanayo Five to give her rear-guards an extra Critical," Yuki concluded "Even so, something's different about the way Akira is playing."

Ruko couldn't help but blink in confusion to the girl of black's point, unsure of how differently Akira was playing from the last time she had fought Mitsusada. She knew the answer had to be in front of her, but she didn't know what that could be.

"Akira has definitely seemed more preserving of her resources and she hasn't retired many units with what little skills she's used," Kiyoi spoke "Even so, she's focused most of her attacks on Komoi's rear-guard and did not ride Hanayo at Grade 2."

As Shingo drew his next card to start his turn, he already had the situation laid out before him. Right now, Hanayo Five was waiting in the bind zone for the next turn to come around and he needed to get in as much offense as he could to win or at the very least leave her with no cards in her hand or her front row by the turn's end. He fiddled with his glasses as soon as he saw that he now had an opportunity to make that very much possible.

"You know Akira," he began "You've been talking all about your new power throughout this entire fight, but the only thing you've done is use very few skills to get rid of my rear-guards."

"Oh, defiance huh?" she scoffed "I see Urith wasn't wrong in your loyalty to Aichi-pon being unwavering. But, it's too bad you can't crack my defence at all. After all, you're dead the next turn anyway."

"We'll see about that!" he called as he raised a card into the air before placing it down on Kagura Bloome's card "Break Ride!"

Kagura Bloome then disappeared in a sudden tornado that erupted onto the battlefield before it was sliced away by a four bladed shurikens that spun wildly around the edge, cutting away the wind as it did so. The dragon that had emerged caught the shuriken back into its left claw whilst several daggers hovered in the air alongside a closed scroll. It roared loudly as Shingo announced the name of this new unit.

"Covert Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Typhoon!"

**Covert Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Typhoon/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000 - 21000/Murakumo/Abyss Dragon/Dragon Empire**

As Magatsu Typhoon powered up, two more suddenly appeared into the Murakumo user's back row in a instant through large puffs of black smoke, briefly suprising Ruko.

"Murakumo's speciality usually involves cloning their Vanguard or rear-guard with copies from the deck," Miwa explained, catching her attention "The downside is that they normally have to retreat during the end phase, but it's good for Shingo in this scenario."

"I see," she pondered "By retreating the clones, Akira won't be able to retire as many rear-guards."

"But, Komoi called them to the back row," Kiyoi murmured "Just what is he aiming for?"

"With Typhoon's skill," Shingo continued as he discarded a card from his hand "Superior Call a third Typhoon from the deck to the back row!"

As soon as the final Typhoon appeared onto the battlefield to join its clones in the back row, filling it up completely, the Murakumo user held his hand over the Vanguard Typhoon's card.

"Seek mate!"

As the central Typhoon unfurled its scroll, the runes encsribed upon it glowed a blinding bright purple as four cards then hovered out from the drop zone and landed on top of his deck. A file of light scrolled down through the pile until it reached the card he had in mind before pulling it out into his open right hand.

"Come to me, Magatsu Storm!" he declared before placing the card beside Typhoon's "Legion!"

The Legion Symbol appeared to all for a few brief seconds before a large explosion of black smoke erupted beside Magatsu Typhoon before the shadow of another Abyss Dragon began to emerge. Storm's appearance was almost identical to the Legion Leader's very own, even wielding the exact same shuriken with the exception that this one held four additional pink blades and that instead of multiple daggers and a scroll, this dragon only wielded a single dagger.

"Legion again, huh?" Akira yawned "I wonder if you even learned anything from Christopher Lo when he gambled everything on it."

"I'm not the same fighter who underestimated even the less famous fighters I went against and this next skill is proof of that!" Shingo called "Legion Skill! All of my Magatsu rear-guards gain 5000 power and can Boost even if they're not Grade 1!"

Suddenly, bright red auras appeared around the Magatsu Typhoon clones as they all powered up from the Vanguard Typhoon's skill as all three clones roared out loudly in triumph.

**Covert Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Storm x3/POW: 11000 - 16000**

"Then with my Limit Break!" he continued by turning over the last two face-up cards in his damage zone face-down "I superior call two more Magatsu Storms, this time to the front row!"

As a bright red Vanguard circle flashed in front of the Legioned pair, two more explosions of black smoke erupted on both sides of the team as two more Magatsu Storms appeared onto the empty circles to join the battle.

"He's managed to build an offensive formation with little from his hand and his Grade 3s can boost," Yuki murmured "This boy might have a chance of breaking Akira's defence after all."

"Go get her Shingo!" cheered Miwa.

"With a boost from Magatsu Tempest, my first Storm attacks Hanayo Four!" Shingo announced.

The first Magatsu Storm clone leaped high into the air upon recieving the large power boost from the Magatsu Typhoon clone that was directly behind it. It swung its shuriken out towards the imaged LRIG, spinning wildly until it had hit her head on before returning to its wielder.

"Damage check," Akira spoke before turning over the top card of her deck as Berserk Dragon "No trigger."

"Next, my Legion attack!" he declared.

As both the real Magatsu Storm and Magatsu Tempest recieved the power boost from the clone behind them, they threw their shurikens high into the air as they spun in opposite directions, creating a large twister that went swirling straight towards both the imaged Hanayo and the Selector that was commanding her in this cardfight.

"Perfect Guard!" she announced as Seal Dragon, Rinocross appeared in front of the LRIG and projected a barrier to keep the tornado at bay.

"Twin Drive!" Shingo called as he turned over the first card as Stealth Beast, Cat Tamer "Critical Trigger! Giving it all to my second Magatsu Storm clone!" He then turned over the second card as Fox Tamer, Izuna "The same effects will apply to my rear-guard!"

**Cover Demonic Dragon, Magatsu Storm/POW: 10000 - 15000 - 20000/Critical: 1 - 2 - 3**

As the twister died down, the second Magatsu Storm clone then trained its eyes upon the seemingly defenceless Hanayo Four and a rather bored looking Akira who merely fanned herself with the remaining two cards she was holding in her hand.

"His rear-guard has been powered up to 36000 with that large boost coming in," Ruko murmured "But Akira doesn't look worried at all."

"We don't know that for sure," Yuki replied "But there's only one way to find out now."

As the battlefield went silent for a brief instance, Shingo then rested the fourth Magatsu Typhoon's card before moving his fingers over to the second Storm clone's card in preparation for his all out attack.

"It looks like you won't get to unleash that power you've got from the bind zone after all," he mused as he briefly fiddled with his glasses.

"Oh?" Akira scoffed as she held up her remaining two cards "Then go ahead and try, ugly."

"As you wish!" he replied "Attack!"

Magatsu Storm then sent its shuriken spinning wildly through the air towards the imaged Hanayo Four who could only stare at the weapon as it came closer and closer towards her.

"Guard!" the Selector announced "Tahr! Agafia! Then intercept!"

The Embodiment of Spear, Perdition Dancer along with Berserk Dragon and the alternate Hanayo Two came to the defence of the Vanguard, creating a green coloured circle that deflected the attack and sent the shuriken spinning back to the clone who caught it effortlessly. Shortly afterwards, all of the clones vanished from the battlefield with large explosions of black smoke leaving no trace of them behind.

"Turn end," Shingo spoke "Magatsu Storm clones return to the bottom of the deck whilst the Typhoon clones return to my hand."

"He didn't make it through..." Miwa muttered "But at least he got rid of her hand and her front row rear-guards."

"In addition, by returning the clones to his deck and hand," Kiyoi interjected "He's given Akira no rear-guards to retire meaning her Demonic Dragon Mage, Mahoraga cannot power up. The power from his clones' ability to boost has greatly crippled her formation."

At first, the entire battlefield remained silent as everyone was waiting for Akira to begin her turn with the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to do much depending on the circumstances that she took. But then, much to their surprise, she started giggling before it suddnely erupted into sinister laughter, shocking Shingo.

"What's so funny?!" he exclaimed.

"Idiot...!" she chuckled "Did you really think you could get away with forcing me to drop my entire hand and intercepts?! I'm sorry to say, but you've just sealed your fate!"

"But, riding Hanayo Five from the bind zone forces you to skip your draw phase!" the Murakumo user replied "That means only your Vanguard can do any damage to me!"

But in response, he had only recieved more evil laughter from his opponent as she slowly began to contain herself before closing her eyes to take a deep breath and then reopen them with a crazed glare.

"FINAL TURN!"

Everyone could only stare at Akira with both tense and shocked expressions, surprised that she had now chosen to call Final Turn when her options to attack Shingo this turn had been severely limited from fending through his attacks. They watched as she stood up all four of her units that were on the board before she then reached out into the bind zone and took out the card that had been resting in there since the beginning of the fight.

"Limit Override!" she declared as she slammed down the card on the Vanguard circle.

A torrent of fire erupted from beneath Hanayo Four and engulfed her, forcing Shingo and everyone else outside of the battlefield's barrier to shield their faces from the intense heat that was bellowing from within. Soon, the flames began to die down as they revealed Hanayo within her dress, the skirt consisting of long flower petals whilst she wielded a flaming thorn whip within her hands. Akira cackled with glee as she announced the name of the all too familiar and all too terrifying form that the Murakumo user was now about to deal with.

"The vengeful inferno... Hanayo Five!"

**Hanayo Five/Grade 5/Triple Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 15000/Dragon Empire/Human;LRIG/Dragon Empire**

"Hanayo Five..." Ruko breathed.

"So this is a Grade 5 LRIG!" Shingo muttered "But with no cards in your hand, only a double trigger will allow one of your rear-guards to attack my Vanguard!"

His declaration was met once again with a giggle from Akira who was searching through the cards in her drop zone for two particular cards she had in mind, one of them being very recent.

"Tell me something," she chortled "Why did you think I chose to ride Berserk Dragon on my second turn instead of Hanayo Two Remodeled?"

The Murakumo user despite raising an eyebrow in confusion had a horrible feeling growing in his stomach as soon as she revealed the card in question to him and everyone else, she deepened her sneer.

"Time's up! I'll show you now!" she declared as she threw the cards she was holding back into the drop zone "With Hanayo Five's other skill, copy the ACT abilities of all Hanayo LRIGs with different names in the drop zone! First, Hanayo Two Remodeled's abilty! Counter Blast!"

After turning over three of the four face-up cards she had in the damage zone, Hanayo's eyes suddenly flashed a bright red colour as several cards in Shingo's hand began to glow the exact same colour as they suddenly began to turn completely blank.

"W... What's happening?!" he exclaimed.

"With this, you can no longer guard with any Grade 1 or lower cards for the rest of the turn against ANY of my attacks!" Akira cackled "Furthermore, I copy the skill of a Hanayo Four that was sent to the drop zone by my earlier Heal Trigger! Soul Blast to draw 3 cards!"

Upon performing the exact action, she immediately called two of them to the rear-guards, one being a copy of Hanayo One and the other being Seal Dragon, Rinocross. Both Kagero units glowed a bright red as they powered up from Hanayo Five's continuous skill.

**Hanayo One/Critical: 1 - 2**

**Seal Dragon, Rinocross/Critical: 1 - 2**

"What?!" gasped Miwa "She can shut down most defensive options and gain an extra drive check?! And her rear-guards gain a Critical?!"

"As compensation for this restriction however," Akira replied in a calm tone "Any Grade 3 cards you call from your hand to the Guardian Circle this turn will gain 5000 shield for your troubles. Not that it matters at this point."

Immediately, she threw away the last card that was in her hand to signal the start of the battle phase and that Hanayo Five was now going into battle this turn with four drive checks instead of the usual three.

"Now then, let's end this!" she declared in joy "Hanayo One!"

"Guard with Magatsu Gale!" Shingo cried as he slammed the card onto the Guardian Circle, the Abyss Dragon throwing several shurikens to force the rear-guard LRIG to retreat from her attack.

"It's useless!" Akira cackled as she rested Hanayo Five's card followed by Dragonic Gaias, the Tear Dragon now boosting the main LRIG's attack to 19000.

The Murakumo user could only look at his hand in worry, concerned about what he should do next and knowing that his opponent had one attack left to go with even if he could defend himself now. Whilst Kiyoi could only stare on with a stern expression, Miwa and Ruko could only pray that there was a chance their companion could survive the turn and hit Akira with everything he had on the following turn.

Right now, Hanayo Five's power is 19000 he pondered I have four damage to Akira's five and her next rear-guard's attack will already have a Critical. My Magatsu Typhoons will have 5000 shield if I guard with them, but if I use them and my other guard now, I'll be defenceless and have to rely on a Heal Trigger. In that case...

"No guard!"

"Oh, really now?" the Selector chortled "That really does take guts knowing what I can do now. Bye bye, Shin-go!"

"If she gets a Critical Trigger, he won't survive," Yuki murmured "It all comes down to this."

"Quadruple Drive," Akira spoke dryly as she turned over the first card as another Agafia "Heal Trigger. Power to Rinocross." Her second check then brought her Hanayo Three, Blazing Flame Dance, a Grade 3.

"It all comes down to the last two checks," Ruko murmured "Shingo..."

"Third check!" Akira declared as she slowly turned over the card and held it up to see what it was. Smirking, she then turned it around to reveal Demonic Dragon Mage, Rakshasha "Critical Trigger!"

Everyone save for Kiyoi and Yuki gasped in horror, realizing that this one trigger alone meant that Hanayo had enough power to end the game with the two damage that was needed.

"Final check," the Selector spoke before revealing it as Embodiment of Spear, Tahr which shone brightly "Drop dead."

**Hanayo Five/Critical: 2 - 3**

Hanayo Five then raised her whip above her head and began spinning it wildly as it caught ablaze before swinging it forward and sending a wave of flames that came towards and struck both Magatsu Storm and Magatsu Typhoon, igniting into a massive explosion that caught both units and Shingo in the blast as the latter screamed out in pain. As this happened, his final two points of damage came out as Royale Nova and Magatsu Storm, ending the fight right there.

"Oh no..." Ruko breathed.

As the units on the battlefield save for the imaged Hanayo Five disappeared from the battlefield, the card on the Vanguard Circle then began glowing in a bright red aura and everyone knew what that had meant. Akira then raised her fist into the air and slammed in down onto the glowing card.

"Judgement!" she declared.

Hanayo's eyes then flashed red as she screamed loudly before slamming down the tip of her whip onto the ground.

Suddenly, bright orange cracks appeared beneath the Murakumo user much to his sudden shock before a pillar of flames erupted from right beneath him, torching him alive and roaring right up into the night sky, painting an orange hue amonst the clouds.

"Stop it Akira!" cried Ruko.

"How about no," Akira scoffed, oblivious to the physical damage her punishment was dealing to Shingo.

Try as he could, Shingo could not endure through the intense heat of the flames and immediately passed out just before they disappeared, smoke pouring from his clothes as his cards spilled onto the pavement. As Ruko, Miwa and Kiyoi hurried over to him once the barrier had disappeared too, the Mark of Penalty became engraved on his right hand as his cards turned blank. Hanayo Five slumped over before disappearing from the battlefield.

"Well, that was easier than expected," Akira scoffed as she held the captured units in her hand before stuffing them into her hoodie's pocket "Not that it matters."

She then walked over to the unconscious Shingo whilst Miwa and Yuki glared towards her. The Selector merely ignored their expressions as she then glanced down at the fighter she had beaten.

"Where is Kai Toshiki hiding?" she asked dryly, awaiting for a response "I've got a score to settle with him and soon, it will be his turn to feel my wrath next."

When she got no response or even a word from him however, she moved the front of her right shoe to his head and was about to press it on top of it until...

"That's enough!"

She suddenly stopped in her movement before stepping back and glancing over towards Miwa who was not the least bit happy with her to say the least. He was trying to resist the urge to clench a fist as he glanced towards Akira.

"Why are you doing this?!" he demanded "And what does Kai have to do with you?!"

"And what if I am?" she scoffed before her gaze turned venomous, as did her tone "As for Kai.. he ruined everything for me. Everything was going fine in my initial run in the Selector Battles until he tainted my wish! I've tried numerous times to ruin everything for him... even commanding his own units as my own... and this time, I will crush him!"

She then clenched one of her fists tightly, her nails digging into the palm of her hand as she did so. She then eyed each of the group closely as she pondered on her next move, seeing that none of them had any intention on bringing Kai straight to her.

"So then, if you won't tell me where Kai is, I'll beat the ever-loving stuffing out you until he shows up," she muttered darkly "Who's next?"

Before Kiyoi could step forward to take up Akira's challenge, Miwa was the first to make a move however as he brought out his deck from his pocket and held it out before him.

"I'm the only one among us who can contact Kai directly!" he stated "If you beat me, then you have the right to have me call him here."

"Very well then," the Selector replied, regaining her composure "If Urith reminded me right... you're Miwa, right?"

He simply nodded as Ruko watched on in worry, concerned that there was a large possibility that he could not stand up to the sheer new power of Hanayo that Akira had dealt upon Shingo.

"Miwa, are you sure about this?" she asked "It might be difficult from what we've seen, but I can fight Akira."

"I'm not planning on letting her get to Kai," he replied "Besides, we all know what she did to him the last time they crossed paths."

"Miwa..."

"Let him."

The Selector then looked down to see that Kiyoi was helping Shingo up from the ground, glancing right at her. Although she didn't feel sure about letting one of Kai's closest friends fighting what should have otherwise been his own battle, she knew that Shingo was in bad shape and that he needed attending to at this point. Deciding to take the former blue LRIG's advice, she got underneath the other shoulder and began to leave the area leaving just Akira and Miwa on their own, face to face.

"I just hope Misaki is alright..." she pondered to herself.

* * *

 

**...**

Elsewhere, Misaki and Futase had finally found an open large square within the city to conduct their cardfight as the servant of Mayu deactivated the anchor to free her opponent's wrist. The clerk of Card Capital had something on her mind that she wished to speak to her opponent about before they could begin their cardfight and she was hoping that she would at least be willing to hear her view on the situation.

"Why is it you're following Schwarzschild Dragon's influence?" she asked "From our previous fight, you looked unwilling to do what you were set out to do."

Futase sighed under her breath and turned back to Misaki, having expected her to ask such a question. Her gaze was rather stern this time compared to the first time they had met each other.

"It makes no difference," she replied "Schwarzschild and its influences are just the means to an end for Anne and my only friend. That is all."

"Then are you even aware of what you're doing?!" Misaki demanded "About Mayu and Chaos Breaker's plans to destroy both of our worlds! Are you fine with that?!"

A long silence fell between the two as the Selector stepped away from her opponent until she was a reasonable distance away to start the fight between them. Then, she snapped her fingers and a wall of purple flames surrounded them to act as the barrier for outsiders to not interfere as the fight tables manifested shortly afterwards.

"Yes," she spoke as she laid down her starting Vanguard "I am fine with that sacrifice."

"Then I'll open your eyes," Misaki replied as she too set her starting Vanguard "Futase, here I come!"

"Stand Up, Vanguard!"

As they turned over the cards, two flashes of respective colours, green and black, emerged onto the battlefield as the units that were being summoned had their shadows materializing.

"Pray Angel!" the clerk called as the Genesis unit appeared from the silhouette.

"Star-vader... Robin Knight," Futase spoke with a lack of emotion laden in her tone.

A raccoon like figure appeared onto the battlefield, clad in white armour, wearing a visor over its eyes and having a black ring at the end of its black stained tail. It gazed emotionlessly towards Misaki and Pray Angel, leaving her curious about what she was now facing.

"It's not Micro-hole Dracokid," she pondered to herself "But..."

Her suspicions were indeed confirmed as a dark aura rose above Futase, revealing the omnionous presence of Schwarzschild Dragon above her, chuckling darkly to itself before vanishing as a card bound itself face down from the deck which shuffled itself before the Selector drew one card to begin the first turn.

"Ride," she spoke placing it down over Robin Knight's card "Demon Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum."

Robin Knight then leaped over to the back row as a humanoid like Star-vader with flames sprouting from its head and having a pair of large fiery claws for hands appeared in a black aura before taking up a defensive stance. Misaki then began her turn by drawing a card and placing it amongst the cards in her hand before taking out a different one from among them.

"Ride, Excorsim Regalia, Shiny Angel!" she called as Pray Angel moved to the back row for Shiny Angel to appear in her place "Attack!"

The Regalia Angel then absorbed energy into the talisman that was in the palm of her left hand before firing a beam that struck Lanthanum and knocked it off balance to deal the successful first blow. After it recovered, it then vanished in a black aura as a new silhouette began to appear in its place.

"Ride!" Futase called "Furious Claw Star-vader, Niobium!"

Another humanoid Cyberoid took the place of Lanthanum, taking up an offensive stance immediately. It had wild greyish white hair, horns sticking out from its visor and above the ears and a black ring hovered behind its back with red coloured patterns etched on it. Activating something on its right wrist, two purple claw like prongs materialized before it immediately leaped out and slashed Shiny Angel. She screamed loudly in pain as Misaki's first damage came out as Regalia of Fate, Norm, leaving the two combatants at one damage apiece with Futase's damage point being an unfamiliar Star-vader unit.

"She's being tentative thus far," the clerk pondered before drawing her next card "Is she holding back until she rides Anne?"

Thinking back to their first fight, Misaki could only ponder more about Anne's appearance then and what little Kai had learned about the green LRIG through Leon during his time in her world. With her also in the thrall of Schwarzschild Dragon, there was no telling what she could have been like before she had been corrupted by the enigmatic Cyber Dragon in its own twisted schemes. Schemes that Futase had previously been reluctant to have been involved with and now seemingly had no such fear compared to before. She then picked out the next card from her hand that she chose to put into play.

"Ride! Midday Regalia, Freyja!"

Shiny Angel left the battlefield in a bright flash of white light before it died down to reveal Freyja who had already activated her whips for battle, just as Battle Maiden, Mihikarihime joined her on the rear-guard. She then slammed down her whips on the defenceless Niobium who stumbled backwards before being struck by multiple bullets from Mihikarihime. The explosion caught the attention of two people from nearby as they came towards the barrier and they were indeed very familiar.

"Misakin!"

Misaki glanced through the barrier to see that her cardfight with Futase had caught the attention of Kai and Ratie who had now realized what exactly was going on.

"Kai Toshiki..." Futase pondered as she gazed at the Kagero user who in turn glanced back "I never thought we'd meet again under these circumstances."

"Why are you using Schwarzschild?" he questioned sternly "Aren't you concerned about what its doing to Anne?"

"That is of no concern," she replied as she turned back to face Misaki "I'm doing this only for my own sake. No one else."

"Kai, Ruko and Miwa might need you!" Misaki called "We were looking for something Yuki sensed until Futase forced me to challenge her!"

"Are you certain you can handle this?" the Kagero user asked.

After recieving a nod from the clerk, he looked down to Ratie who curiously gazed back up at him.

"Keep watch on this fight," he said "I'll return when I find Miwa and Ruko."

"Right!" the former Quatre Knight replied.

As soon as Kai had left shortly afterwards, Futase watched him disappear down the street before turning her attention back to the start of her next turn. After drawing her next card, she glanced at her opponent closely.

"I still wonder how you people can even trust him, after what he did to your world," she muttered "If he were like the people my former Selector encountered, I would have had endless hatred raging through my heart, a reminder of how much of the world can be a deception itself."

"Former Selector...?" Misaki breathed "But then... aren't you?!"

She was interrupted when she saw the Selector hold up a card into the air with streams of Reverse pouring down from it like smoke before it shone a bright dark colour in the night sky.

"Dragon of darkness, reborn from the dark fires of nothingness... revive now with your masters and revive the unyielding nightmare!" she called "Ride!"

As she placed down the card onto her Vanguard Circle, Niobium vanished into red embers as a dark red aura swirled violently around the battlefield until the shape of a familiar Cyber Dragon rose from within. With several sparks flying across the abyss, it dispersed to reveal Schwarzschild Dragon with new armaments and a strange modification to the middle of its chest panel. It chuckled darkly as Misaki could only glare towards it whilst Ratie could only stare in shock as Futase gave the name of this new appearance.

"Enigmatic Star-vader... Schwarzschild Instrumental Dragon!"

**Enigmatic Star-vader, Schwarzschild Instrumental Dragon/Grade 3/Twin Drive!/SLD: 0/POW: 11000/Link Joker/Cyber Dragon/Star Gate**

"This is...!" Misaki muttered.

"A new Schwarzschild?!" Ratie gasped.

"I call Lanthanum!" Futase continued as the familiar humanoid Cyberoid appeared into the back row "Skill activated! Schwarzschild locks two units in different rows!"

Schwarschild then manipulated its four arms in strange movements before two pairs black rings surrounded Pray Angel and Mihikarihime before they were ensnared and immediately imprisoned within them. Misaki could only grit her teeth as she had not expected Schwarzschild to enter the battlefield already, let alone begin locking her rear-guards before she even made it to Grade 3. As this was happening, Lanthanum powered up.

**Demon Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum/POW: 7000 - 11000**

"Call," she spoke as she placed a card by the name of Star-vader, Quark Shoebill "With the skill, move it to the soul and add 3000 power to Schwarzschild. If you believe that Locking your rear-guards was the only stratagem I have this time, you're sorely mistaken."

"What are you saying?!" demanded Ratie.

"Behold," the Selector spoke as she held out a card "This is the new power I have been bestowed with. One that will make you see reality for what it truely is! Call!"

In front of Lanthanum, a human like shadow began to manifest onto the battlefield before dispersing to reveal that the unit that was now called was Anne, only something was very different about her compared to the last time she was seen. Her armoured dress was relatively the same as it was previously, only the black ring behind her back had wild spikes sticking out of it and the tip of her new staff had a strange shape that resembled an eye of some kind.

**Despairing Melody Star-vader, Anne/Grade 2/Intercept/SLD: 5000/POW: 9000/Link Joker/Human;LRIG/Star Gate**

"Soul Blast!"

Upon Futase's command, Anne hoisted her staff upwards so that the eye like symbol at the tip of her staff was pointing towards one of the Locks that was on Misaki's side of the field before one of the rings suddenly broke apart in a red flash, releasing Pray Angel. Then, the ring began to make its way to her back before sparks flew from it onto the Regalia Angel.

"Why are you releasing your own Lock?!" gasped Misaki.

"First, match the Unlocked Pray Angel's power to your Vanguard's and Stand her," Futase continued "Now behold. One of the forbidden arts of the Planet Cray's history, generously donated to Schwarzschild by a benefactor. Now see it firsthand for yourself. Dominate!"

Suddenly, as Pray Angel's power rose to match Freyja's, she stood back up onto her feet and glared towards her comrade with blank and gleaming dark red eyes as the black ring remained her back. The Fertility Regailia who simply remained starled, could only step back a little as her companion primed her weapon and before Misaki could even question what was going on, Futase gave another command.

"Pray Angel attacks your Vanguard!" she declared as the card suddenly rested.

Pray Angel jumped up and came down to strike with her weapon as Freyja could only close her eyes and scream in pain from getting struck as Regalia of Far-sight, Clear Angel entered the damage zone.

"My own rear-guard attacked me?!" the clerk gasped.

"That is correct," Futase answered "This is the power Anne and Schwarzschild now possess. In exchange for freedom, your rear-guard will fight their true enemy and if you choose to guard any of their attacks, they will simply become Locked again."

"That's not fair!" Ratie exclaimed "She has to take damage from her own allies or have them Locked again?!"

The Selector simply chose to ignore the former Quatre Knight's complaint and call another Anne to the rear-guard as once again, she pointed her staff towards the only remaining rear-guard of Misaki's that was locked.

"Unlock!" she commanded as Mihikarihime was freed before the black ring possessed her too "Then Dominate!"

The Battle Maiden then growled aggressively with gleaming red eyes before firing away at Freyja, only for Lot Angel to take the brunt of the attack head on. As Misaki Soul Charged a card for guarding with that particular unit, Mihikarihime then became Locked again as the card on her table turned face down once more with red sparks flying off of it.

"This is.. Schwarzschild's new power...!" she gasped quietly.

"Lanthanum's skill!" Futase continued "Since the Dominated unit was Locked again, add 2000 power! I attack with Schwarzschild Intrumental Dragon!"

Schwarzschild roared loudly as sparks flew from the giant black ring behind its back to its jaw that opened up and began charging up a purple orb of energy that was being concentrated into this next attack.

"Cold Blast Regalia, Svalinn!" Misaki called as the unit appeared in front of Freyja along with Kukurihime, Lot Angel, a second Freyja, Eir and Pure Angel came to the defence "Quintet Wall!"

**SLD: 35000**

"Twin Drive!" the Selector announced as the first card was turned over as Star-vader, Pixie Powder "Heal Trigger! I give 5000 power to the left Anne and recover one damage!" She then turned over the second card as another copy of Schwarzschild with no further triggers to boost her offense.

Schwarzschild's attack then erupted into a devastating beam that struck all of the guardians and retired them in a single fatal sweep, but Freyja remained unharmed and the smoke soon cleared up.

"Anne attacks your Vanguard!" she continued as the left Anne continued with her attack.

"Guard!" Misaki called as Kukurihime appeared to take the brunt of the attack.

"My other Anne attacks!"

The second Anne with Lanthanum's large boost leaped into the air and gathered energy within the tip of her staff before firing a large fiery beam towards Freyja who could only scream in pain as Eir entered Misaki's damage zone.

"Heal Trigger!" she called "I recover one damage!"

Futase despite remaining in her harsh neutral expression couldn't help but be inwardly surprised that her opponent didn't suffer as badly as she did against the first round of her relentless attacks. But she had a mission of her own to fulfil and felt that sentimental value was meaningless on the battlefield, regardless of which side was offering it to whom.

"Turn end," she concluded.

**End of Turn 5**

**Misaki vs Futase**

**Hand - 4 : 6**

**Soul - 1 : 0**

**Damage - 3 : 2**

**Misaki's Formation:**  
**Battle Maiden, Mihikarihime (Locked) - Regalia of Fertility, Freyja - EMPTY**  
**Regalia of Prayers, Pray Angel - EMPTY - EMTPY**

**Futase's Formation:**  
**Despairing Melody Star-vader, Anne - Enigmatic Star-vader, Schwarzschild Instrumental Dragon - Despairing Melody Star-vader, Anne**  
**Star-vader, Robin Knight - EMPTY - Demon Claw Star-vader, Lanthanum**

"What power..." Misaki breathed "Locking rear-guards, then offering them freedom by forcing them to attack their own Vanguard..."

"Are you alright, Misakin?!" cried Ratie.

"I'm alright..." she panted in response as she looked over to Futase who kept her neutral expression "You keep saying that I need to see the world and its people for who they really are and that your 'Dominate' ability is a reflection of that. Would you mind telling us why and who exactly this former Selector of yours was that you mentioned earlier?"

Upon hearing the last portion of her question, the Selector could only frown, only being just able to hold back a tear from falling out of her eye before placing down her hand and facing Misaki and Ratie.

"You really are that desperate to know who I really am," she spoke "In that case... I will enlighten you!"

The cybernetic lens covering over her left eye suddenly emitted a blinding red glow, causing everything around the three people that were present to vanish all around them until there was nothing but white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Re-adapted Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Hanayo Two Remodeled, Roaring Flame  
> **  
>  Grade 2  
> Intercept  
> SLD: 5000  
> POW: 10000  
> Dragon Empire  
> Human;LRIG  
> Dragon Empire  
> [CONT](VC): Skip your ride phase.  
> [CONT](VC): During your turn, if you have a card with "Hanayo" in its card name in your soul, all of your units in the front row get [Power]+5000.  
> [ACT](VC): {COST|Counter Blast (3)} Until end of turn, your opponent cannot call Grade 1 or Grade 0 cards from hand to (GC) and all of their Grade 3 cards get [Shield]+5000.
> 
> **Hanayo Four, Snow, Moon, Wind and Fire  
> **  
>  Grade 4  
> Twin Drive!  
> POW: 13000  
> Dragon Empire  
> Human;LRIG  
> Dragon Empire  
> [CONT](Hand): If your Vanguard doesn't have Hanayo in its card name, you cannot ride this card.  
> [ACT](VC): {COST|Counter Blast (1) & Choose a card from your hand and discard it} Choose one of your rear-guards. Until end of turn, it gets [Critical]+1.  
> [ACT](VC): {COST|Counter Blast (1) & Choose a Gem or Ore card from your hand and discard it} Choose one of your opponent's rear-guards and retire it.  
> [ACT[(VC)[1/Turn]: COST [Soul Blast (2)] Draw 3 cards. Until end of turn, this unit gets "[AUTO](VC): At the start of the battle phase, discard your entire hand. If you discarded one or more cards, this unit gets [Drive]+1 until end of turn".
> 
> **Story Original Cards debuting this Chapter:**  
>  **Despairing Melody Star-vader, Anne  
> **  
>  Grade 2  
> Intercept  
> SLD: 5000  
> POW: 9000  
> Link Joker  
> Human;LRIG  
> Star Gate  
> [AUTO](RC): When placed, if you have a Vanguard with "Schwarzschild" in its card name, {COST|Soul Blast (1)}, choose one of your opponent's Locked cards, unlock it, then Dominate that rear-guard. Its power becomes equal to their Vanguard, attacks it and gains the following effect "[AUTO](RC): At the end of the battle this unit attacked a Vanguard, if the attack did not hit, Lock this unit" until the end of the battle.
> 
> **Card Erratas:**  
>  Hanayo Five can now only gain the [ACT] effects of Hanayo LRIGs in the drop zone with different names (she cannot gain two of the same abilties of two copies of a Hanayo card)


End file.
